wild for wausau

i got a couple of boxes of cardstock from wausau paper in the mail the other day, and worked on a few projects for them this past weekend. the boxes of cardstock had been sitting in my scraproom for about a week while i was waiting for mr. mojo to show his shining face. i needed some mostly cardstock ideas. there was all of this really cool metallic/pearlecent type cardstock, but in pretty bright colors... then it dawned on me... why not try running that baby through the printer. (i wasn't really sure if it would dry well, but it dried instantly!) it gave the coolest effect. all of the printing looked metallic, too! it is the coolest look! i wish it showed up better in these pictures! i used several of the glitz digital overlays and simply changed the color to give it a tone on tone effect. you can stamp on it for a really cool effect, too. (i used stampin up classic ink.) you can even print photos on the metallic white. i am seriously in love with this cardstock now! wausau will be launching a new website this spring, so i'll link to that when i hear it's up and running.

the idea for this card came from a card by alexis hardey over in the label tulip gallery.

this is a version of a card i made a couple of weeks ago, only with the metallic silver cardstock. almost everything is cooler when it's shiny! :D

what i've been working on

i've been working on a few projects for things locally. some postcards for our church, programs and a few other things for a women's retreat at a local christian conference center, and the yearbook pages for my girls' classes. the fab girls at glitz designs let me use their super cool digi designs on the yearbook pages! thanks laura, ginger & erin!!!

now that i have all of my "extra" projects finished... tonight i'm planning on a wild night of scrappin' in my sweats while the snow falls outside.

a memorable easter

the girls were beautiful on easter morning... we had a great morning at church. we spent the afternoon at my sister's and were just getting ready for dinner when torrey came down with a really rotten tummy ache. it kept getting worse & worse... so no egg hunt... instead we ended up in the e.r. thank goodness it wasn't appendicitis, just a nasty an infection... but curable! so we were finally in bed at around 1:30am... but today the sun is shining, the tummy is doing better and we've been in jamies all day!

happy easter!

just a quick check in to say happy easter! i hope your day is fabulous & filled with much love and happiness!

thursday - date day

almost every thursday emma and i have a date day while torrey is at school. this week we went to the daffodil field. holy amazing blocks of color. these are always the kick off to spring. they come just before all of the tulip fields come into bloom, and are such a ray of sunshine on a gloomy day.
then went to the very cool la conner, wa . i love that cool bridge! we walked bunches of cool shops and did a little photo document of our day...

i thought these buttons were so cute & clever... i picked up a bunch for giggles and scrapbook embellishments at the museum of northwest art.

then we stopped by one of my favorite shops/galleries called two moons. the lady working was so cool. she let emma play with these beautiful umbrellas. she opened every single one in the store... that is a LOT of years of bad luck! lol! she also opened several cases of jewelry so emma could try stuff on... to which emma replied, "this is the best day of my whole life ever!"

and then off to lunch at the la conner brewery... where we colored, had brewery root beer & ate artichoke and smoked cheddar dip.
next it was off to the world famous nasty jacks antique store. where we browsed through some of the cool schtuff.

our last stop was by childhood bliss to pick up a couple of goodies for some friends... and to do a little playing. she has the coolest kid stuff ever. if they had diaper bags like these when my girls were little... and the little gift notes were just too darn cute!

so that was our day... i hope yours was as fabulous!

everybody's got a baby kangaroo

yours is pink but mine is blue
(the veggie tales song that's been stuck in my head all day)

we went to a kangaroo farm today with emma's kindergarten class! it was so fun. i got to hold this baby kangaroo... and they're lucky i didn't sneak away with it... just too darn cute for words! i didn't even know there were such things as kangaroo farms, let alone one that is only about 15 minutes from our house!


you get to pet & feed the kangaroos. this one's name was zoe... she big daddy jack's girl.


they had a bunch of other animals, including turkeys... he's got a waddle and i have an enormous vein in my forehead. seriously, where did that thing come from???

the sun was peeking in and out today, but at one of it's peeking out points it caught the brilliant blue of this peacock's feathers. wow! they're so pretty... but that noise they make... freaky. lol!

and if you want to hear the silly song with the baby kangaroo part in it... (it's at the end of the song)

ACCOMPLISHMENT!

(finish wha-cha start)

this layout, well more like this stack of papers & pics have been sitting on my desk for 2 years. yah, that's right, 2 years! (you can even see how the paper has faded in the corners. i started it... picked out a quote i wanted to use, picked the cardstock, messed around with layout a little bit, and NOTHING! just never found the groove, so it got stacked in my "lost my mojo" pile. so my challenge to myself today (spurred by cindy (crs16) on ckmb) was to finish a layout that was in my unfinished stack. woohoo! i finished one! below is the finished result. the picture isn't the best, but it'll have to do! i used some of the stuff from my march scarlet lime kit. (i heart scarlet lime!!!)

supplies: cardstock: bazzill basics; patterned paper & buttons: making memories; letter stickers (green): basic grey; chipboard letters: american crafts; rub on letters: american crafts; bird rub ons: hambly; felt flourishes: fancy pants; other: embroidery floss

happy st. patrick's day

i'm looking over a four leaf clover, that i made this morning in about 35 seconds! hehehe. i had planned yesterday to make little pins for the girls and i for st. patrick's day today... but had a friend stop by, and completely forgot my grand plans. lol! so this morning, as we're walking out the door, torrey says, "MOM!!!! it's st. patrick's day! we need something green!" shoot!

off to the scraproom we rushed. a heart stamp, circle punch, scalloped circle punch, a piece of ribbon and a safety pin later... we were all in business! they have kept us "pinch free" all day!

the super cool necklace i'm sporting in the pic was made yesterday by torrey. pretty darn cute, i thought. the girls acutally made me 4 necklaces yesterday... lucky me! looks like i found the pot of gold at the end of our little rainbow. :D

happy stampy sunday

i made a few projects this weekend. i do a stampin up class once a month at my house... so these were this month's projects. i am totally digging using orange on projects right now... it just seems to pull me in. maybe it's the bright orange mock croc purse emma picked out for me that is influencing me... who knows! lol!

recently published

thought i'd post a couple of pages that were published in recent issues of creating keepsakes magazine. the top page was in the february issue and the bottom page was in the january issue.

the top page just makes me happy since it reminds me that spring is almost here... and we'll be able to head up to the tulip fields for some spring time picnics. there are hundreds of acres of tulips about 15 minutes from our house. we're so lucky!

the bottom page is of my mother in law and her mom. it's such a beautiful picture, and part of the hundreds of pictures we recently inherited from my husband's grandma. the hairdo's and dresses & near perfection of everything in the picture just screams 50's society girls!

have a great day! :)

**a service dog for aaron**
my face of autism

this is a two page spread i made & framed for my sis a few years ago... this is one of my favorite pics of aaron walking into the water, and the quote is one that keeps my sister going from day to day.

1 in every 150 kids born this year will be diagnosed with autism. that's a staggering number. autism effects so many of us. and it has touched our family. my nephew, aaron, my sister's youngest son has autism. he just turned 7 in february. he was diagnosed when he was 2 years old. and he is smart, loving, funny, cute, and so much more. he also rarely makes eye contact, only says a few words when prompted, and has a knack for escaping.

this year, we're hoping aaron is going to be able to get a service dog. you see, aaron is a runner... an escape artist (click here for a few of his escape stories). he's fast & he's stealthy. he wears a search & rescue tracking bracelet, as well as a medical alert bracelet at all times. but often times, even this isn't enough.

the only catch is that it is pretty expensive to get a service dog. there is so much training that goes into each dog, and his dog will be trained to work with his specific needs. if you're interested in helping in any way, i know it would mean the world to my sister, to aaron & our family. you can donate right here on my blog in the side bar **make sure to add "AARON CHOLLAR" to the designation line**

click here for more information on the trainer for the service dog. most of all i ask for your prayers for aaron's continued progress & for hope. if you'd like to add the donation button to your blog, click on share then on the copy button to copy the html code for the button! thank you so much!

here's a little video i took of aaron tonight at my sister's house. he is singing head & shoulders, knees & toes... this in and of itself is a little miracle for him. it was not that long ago that aaron had NO words... and here he is SINGING!!!

{{hugs}} and much love to you & yours!

tagged by collin (bon jovi) kartchner

... ... ...

i just saw on my sweet friend liz 's blog that her hilariously witty husband collin "tagged" me. so here you go collin....

What is your full name? Noel Joy Culbertson

How long have we been married? 8 1/2 years of wedded bliss... well, if you subtract the time stan's been deployed... it's only 6 years... so really, we're still like newlyweds. ;)

What's your dream job? oh, i'm living the dream, baby!!!!

What's your dream car? bmw roadster

What's your claim to fame? ummmm.... i'm friends with the scrapbooker of the year! :) lol!

What do you like to do? hang with my family & friends, scrapbook, blog surf

What's your biggest fear? passing out in the shower

What animal describes you? i have no idea... an alligator. since the embossed print graces several of my purses, shoes, wallets & scrapbooks... lol!

If you could live in any era which one would it be? the 40's & 50's not sure why... just seems like a cool all american era to visit

What's a goal for 2008? to spend every moment available with my hubby when he gets home

What your guiltiest pleasure? guilt, what's that??? weekly mall visit with emma.

What do you love about your spouse? that he cooks, cleans & treats me like a queen. ::wink:: oh, and that he inspires me to want to be the kind of person i should be.


my tags go to... stan, my mom, ali davis, ingunn, annie, & liv

one crazy week!

the girls' school has tons of fun during march with dr. seuss and tons of fun activities... so far we've had crazy hat day & crazy hair/backwards day. :) here are some highlights... and if i wasn't so sleepy i'd add some details... perhaps tomorrow. :D