6 Degrees

Here it is!

Garland!

Deck the halls this season with Scenic Route’s new Garland holiday line!  Whether your holidays are filled with cold, snowy days or warm, tropical breezes, Garland’s whimsical colors and patterns are the perfect pick for adding a creative spin to your holiday creations.  This mini collection of paper, stickers, chipboard embellishments, stamps and die cuts is the perfect collection for capturing your winter & holiday memories this season.

Garland is a mini line with 6 double-sided papers, a 12x12 die cut alphabet sheet, a 12x12 die cut shapes sheet, chipboard embellishment, sticker embellishment, Product Kit and 2 new clear stamps.

Garland starts shipping October 20th, so keep your eyes peeled!

Click any of the images below for a larger view.

   

 

Did you know we name all of our lines after cities?  Any residents of Garland, Maine out there?  That's where the name for this new line comes from.  Sarah drew the fun ornaments on the 1st paper, so we thought it would be fun to name the line something that went along with decorating a tree!

OK, all of you die hard regulars, you know what comes next - the giveaways!

Leave a comment on this post between now and midnight MT Friday, October 3rd, and on Monday the 6th I'll draw 12 random lucky winners for the 12 days of Christmas.  Each person drawn will receive a Garland Product Kit along with both new stamps.

We're currently planning our 2009 releases over the next few weeks.  If you have any mini line themes you'd like to see Scenic Route release, we'd love to hear it!  Leave your ideas when you post.

Good luck!

The Big 2-0!

(Not to be confused with this post)

Things that weigh 20 pounds -

Jack when he was 6 months old (have I mentioned he was 9 lbs, 8 oz when he was born?  ouch)

$400 worth of quarters

 

1.5 bushels of oats

3/4 of a bar of gold

80 cups of flour

70,000 calories

3.2 gallons of gas

.18% of an average elephant

And as of yesterday, me.  No, I don't weigh 20 pounds, but I DO weigh 20 pounds less than I did at the end of June.  It's been a slow & steady process via Weight Watchers. 

Yes, for the 3rd time in 13 years, I still swear by it.

20 down, 20 to go and I'll be back at fighting weight.

Not that I was ever fighting, per say, at that weight. 

Whatever 'that' weight is.  Don't think you're going to get that one out of me, no siree.  A girl's gotta keep some secrets.

Make a Time Capsule - check

Taking a quick break from kitting my class for Inspiration Unlimited.  Can't believe after all of the work and planning, it's a week away!  And as of this afternoon, we are officially sold out!  YEEHAH!  If you're coming, I gotta say it's going to be one heck of a good time!

While I was taking a break, I was thumbing through a book I bought a few weeks ago at Scrapbooks, Etc. when I was teaching - To-Do List by Sasha Cagen.  Such a fascinating book!  A collection of 100 real, handwritten to-do lists and the stories behind them, sent to the author after she put an ad in a magazine requesting that people send her their to-do lists.

I'm a HUGE list maker, always have been.  Something about writing down what I have to do and then the thrill of crossing it off when it's done.  Sometimes I put things on my lists that I've already done, just so I can cross them off.

Now come on, don't roll your eyes at me and think that I'm nuts.  (ok, yes, I am nuts, but not when it comes to this).  If you're a fellow list maker, you know just what I'm talking about...

One of the lists I was reading from the book said 'make a time capsule' and it reminded me of Jack.

Back in January when we had our stairs redone, Jack came to me and said he wanted to make a time capsule and put it in one of the posts before it was capped off. 

Yes, 10 year old Jack.

Here's his time capsule-
Complete with a handwritten note, a picture of himself, and an assortment of things he chose to include, along with a note attached to each one explaining what it was -

a Pokemon card

the front page of the Salt Lake Tribune from that morning

a brochure from the Guitar Hero Wii game

and a few other things

And wouldn't you know it, I was NOT thinking lists that day, because if I was I would have made a list of exactly what he put inside (see, lists can be a good thing...)

Here's Jack with his time capsule before he put it in the post

When we eventually move from this house (not for a long, long time), we'll make sure that the new owners know there is a time capsule in the post and give them our forwarding address and ask that they contact us if/when they find the time capsule.  And one day, when someone decides that the stairs are dated and need to be redone, they'll come across this little gem and learn a little something about Jack and 2008.

He's such a cool kid.

Remember Salem?

Remember our Salem line from last year?  It's a great Halloween themed mini line. 

If you didn't get a chance to purchase it and are thinking it would be great for this year's Halloween layouts, make sure to tune into QVC tomorrow - Tuesday, September 23rd - at 3:00 PM EST. 

The kit shown here will be available for sale on the show!  That little package of embellishments on top is new - includes brads and leaves that coordinate with the Salem collection, exclusive to this QVC kit!

Here's a fun little paint can Trick or Treat container I designed for the October issue of Paper Crafts magazine using the Salem line.

Oh yah, one more thing.  I've been getting LOTS of emails asking if we'll be releasing a Christmas/holiday themed mini line, and the answer is YES!  Stay tuned next week for details as well as some giveaways of the new line!

A Week of 2's

A week of twos.  AKA 'when life takes over'.

It's been a crazy 10 days since I last posted.

2 stores in Phoenix teaching 3 classes

2 days of Creating Keepsakes Convention in Phoenix teaching 6 classes

2 parent teacher conferences

2 birthday parties - 1 for twins

2 lacrosse practices

2 flag football games (including an interception and a 15 yard run - go Jack!)

2 lacrosse games

2 11 hour days this past weekend at the Scrapbook USA Expo here in Utah

2 online chats - one last Monday with Scrapbook Dreamer and one tomorrow, the 22nd, here with Scrap 4 Life. 

and a playdate for the boys today with 2 brothers.

Phew.

And boy am I feeling it...

Things should be settling down tomorrow or Tuesday, where i'll be here and back to the regularly scheduled programming :)

Overheard

Driving home today -

Me:  So boys, how was your day today?  Give me the low down, give me the skinny.

Jack:  What? 

Me:  The low down, the skinny.

Jack:  What?!! 

Me:  You know, tell me about your day.

Jack:  Huh?

Me:  If you wanted to know how your friend was doing, what would you ask him?

Jack:  What's up.

Sam:  Mom, stop using language from like 400 years ago.

Jack:  Yah, that language from the 60's doesn't make any sense.

HELLO?!!!  The 60's?  Doesn't the kid know I was born in the LATE 60's and really didn't even start talking until the 70's?  Come on.  Am I that old?  I prefer Sam's take on it .  Just think, I would have been pretty hip back in the 1600's walking around spouting that type of talk.

Headed to Arizona tomorrow for 4 FULL days of teaching.  Back on Sunday.  Have a groovy weekend, cats (now there's a little 'language' from the 60's.  Or so I hear....)

SR Guest Designer & a Challenge

Meet Caroline Ikeji!  Caroline is our Guest Designer this month.  We noticed Caroline and her work after she'd submitted to our Monthly Product Challenges several times.

Click here to check out the fun layouts she created for us this month!

Up for a challenge?  Each month we issue a new product challenge on the website.  We select a product, a line, or a theme and you submit a layout or project based on the challenge.  At the end of the month we select our favorites, post them on the website and send some new Scenic Route goodies to the designers.

This month's challenge - birthdays!  Wanna play?  It's easy.  Before the end of the month, email me ([email protected]) your birthday layout or project using Scenic Route products.  Please keep emails under 500k and make sure the majority of the products used are Scenic Route.

Got some of our Surprise birthday themed mini line burning a hole in your pocket?  Whip something up and send it over to me.  You just might be one of our favorites! 

Here are a few Surprise layouts and projects to get your creative juices flowing -

I'll be teaching this mini book class on Thursday night at Making Memories Unforgettable in Tucson.  I used our new Panorama Window Chipboard Album along with LOTS or Surprise products.

Courtney Kelley created this super fun Surprise paint can for us. How about that COOL paper bow she made for the top?!

Here's one more that Nicole Eshelman created using... you guessed it, Surprise!


Ok, now the challenge has been issued. 

Show me your stuff!

Color Combos Gallore

Have you been to this blog - Color Combos Gallore? 

From the blog - "Each week a new color challenge is posted.  The challenge gives you the opportunity to try new color combinations. Try it! Need a great color scheme for an assignment, or a submission? Do the colors match a certain paper or photo you've been wanting to scrap? You can also just use the colors for one of your other challenges! Or maybe you just haven't experimented with these colors yet. Whatever the reason, JUST DO IT!!!! Your layout will just POP and I am sure that you will be happy with the results!"

It's a great source for color inspiration.  Most of us have SO MUCH PRODUCT that it's hard to pick a place to start when working on a new layout or project.  At least for me, if my choices are narrowed done, it's amazing how quickly inspiration and ideas come! 

Janet contacted me early in the summer asking if I wanted to select a color combo and guest design for the week.  I love doing challenges like this, gives me a reason to scrap just for the sake of scrapping!   Sad to say, but I don't have too much time for that anymore these days!

Here are the colors I selected for this week's challenge - aquamarine - pale turquoise - deepest brown - goldenrod.
 

And here's my layout based on the color challenge -  

Check out the blog to see the layouts the other designers created using the same colors!

Wanna play along?  Create a layout using the colors shown here and leave a comment on the Color Combos Gallore blog with a link to your layout.  If your layout is selected by their designers as one of their favorites from the challenge, you'll be the lucky winner of a RAK on their site.

If you play along, leave me a comment here too with a link.  I'd love to see what you do!

And if you read my post here, you just knew a layout about it was coming, didn't you....  ;)

Cup #2

Ahh, nothing like starting the 2nd cup of nice hot coffee early on a Saturday morning.  Almost as good as waking up bright and early on a Saturday morning out of the blue, without the alarm and knowing you don't HAVE to get up, but feeling a ton of energy and WANTING to and bounding out of bed.

Quick share of a picture I shot 2 summers ago when Sarah and I were in Australia for a teaching event that reminds me of this morning.  The place we were staying in was scary.  SCARY.  Oh so long story there, but I'll leave it at that.  BUT, the wonder of wonder of wonders of the camera - you'd  never know looking at this shot.

The sun shining in, looking so promising.  Just makes me happy.

Listening to a little Tristan Prettyman and Vienna Teng on iTunes (know either of them  If not, you really should check both of them out.  I love their stuff) and doing a little blog surfing, which I have not done in ages.  AGES.  Why?  My blog feeds have stopped working and I don't know why.

I need some help friends in blog land. 

I've had quite a few people tell me they're not receiving feeds from my blog since Blogarithm was bought by RSSFWD and the feeds moved over.  Yah, I know.  Because I'm not receiving feeds from the blogs I've signed up for on RSSFWD either!  And it burns me.

So, this is where you guys come in.  How do you get feeds in your email box from the blogs you like to read?  I'm not looking for a site that I have to go to to read the feeds, looking for one that delivers the feeds to me in my inbox. 

Hope you can help!  Thanks!

And Her Name Was Drowsy

In most cases I'd be revealing my age by talking about the best doll known to little girls in the 70's, but since I've already revealed my years, I'm in the clear.

Does she look familiar to you?  Her name is Drowsy.  She was one of my first dolls - at least that I can remember.  I don't have her anymore, had to settle for finding this picture on the internet.  This is exactly how I remember her.  Well, almost.  Her hair was a little dirtier, her outfit was a little more worn, most of her stuffing had settled around her waste (hey, sounds like me!) and I'm fairly certain one of her arms was close to dangling when I was done with her.  And she certainly didn't stay in the box for long, if you know what I mean.

Her hands and face were made of vinyl.  Her cute pink and white polka dot body was soft, stuffed with something.  She had a string that you could pull that made her talk.  Things like "I'm sleepy", "I want a drink of water" and "Kiss me goodnight".

Notice her eyes - half closed.  Always.  Must be why they named her Drowsy....

Most girls name their dolls.  I didn't with this one.  The name Drowsy stuck and that's what I called her.

Just before CHA I was working on projects for the booth and I ran across a picture my Mom had given me a few years ago.  Christmas in 1970.  I had just unwrapped Drowsy. 

I used papers from our Sonoma line on this layout  Ever noticed that some of the patterns and colors in Sonoma work great for Christmas?

Such a treasure to have pictures like this.  How about that look on my Mom's face as she's sharing my
excitement?!  Love that you can clearly read her name on the box!

It's been a busy week at work and at home.  The kids are now fully entrenched back in the swing of things at school, including homework!  Sam starts lacrosse tonight and Jack starts flag football next week. 

I've been wrapping up and kitting classes like crazy every night this week in preparation for my classes next weekend at Making Memories Unforgettable and Scrapbooks, Etc.  It's all gotta be done this weekend and ready to ship on Monday. 

Oh how I thrive on deadlines!  I swear, if it weren't for deadlines, I'd never get a thing done...