Day 1- Disneyland

Warning- posting heavily with pix. First day at Disneyland. This is our second year going to Disneyland in October. We love it because it is less crowded, not as hot and the cool halloween decor. We got there before it opened so we were waiting to get in... they let us into main street then we had to wait some more until 10a to open. Weather was beautiful and Ella was so anxious. They finally let the rope down and everyone darted to whatever was new. We first went onto Space Mountain. They had changed it up a bit into Ghost Ghoul theme. Ella didn't like that part but she did love the ride!

I was on vacation and we went to the happiest place on ....earth

Well, I've had the privilege to have a whole month off in October. I loved every minute of it. My daughter was on their 2 week break and we planned to take her to Disneyland. We drove there and once we got there we hung out at Downtown Disney and ate at our favorite restaraunt HOUSE of Blues. Their food is so delicious! Ella was sooooo excited she couldn't wait! We walked around and ended up running into my husband's family from LA. We shopped a little bit then went back to the hotel to rest for tomorrow.

San Francisco

We went to San Francisco back in September which is one of our favorite places to go to hang out with my brother, his girlfriend, her sister and my husband's cousin and wife. Walked around emarcadero where they were having an Art fair, then to the wharf, Ghiradelli Square where we enjoyed some yummy cupcakes. Then dinner at a French restaraunt.

Baby shower

Back in September my coworkers and I threw a baby shower for a good friend of ours that was expecting their third child. It was a mommy shower and a tea party. It turned out to so much fun. Down to the decorations, food and of course the company. Most of all, the mommy to be AGAIN loved it! Here are a few details from the mommy shower.

Back in September my coworkers and I threw a baby shower for a good friend of ours that was expecting their third child. It was a mommy shower and a tea party. It turned out to so much fun. Down to the decorations, food and of course the company. Most of all, the mommy to be AGAIN loved it! Here are a few details from the mommy shower.

I'm back... so sorry for not updating

It's been a long time and a lot has been going on. Back in November I had entered a layout for a chance to win Heidi Swapp's Create'08 in Brisbane- Australia. I won! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend. So sad. I had sent an email to Heidi Swapp asking if she could just send all the goodies from the event and of course she said yes. As busy as she is, I finally received it last month. Here are some photos of the HS loot from Heidi Swapp Create '08. For some reason, the rest of my pix won't upload. Here's some from the Create '08 website.

HOF 3 heart boxes

Love these HOF 2 heart boxes that HEidi Swapp created. Check it out!

Heidi Swapp created this

Heidi Swapp's Creative Escape

Check out Heidi Swapp's blog about this year's Creative Escape in Arizona. It's so popular that they do lottery for those who want to go and I was chosen. Ughhh! It pains me to say I didn't go. There's next year and the next but one thing is for sure ... I'm going to Creative Escape some day. Maybe I can win a chance to attend if they'll have a contest. Hmmm.... I wish!

Also, if you're not into facebook which you should because there's so many of the scrapbook celebs on there that you can connect with. IT's so cool. Of course, Heidi Swapp is on facebook and on her profile people posted a lot of pix with her, pix from CE and videos as well. This year they auctioned off lamps for charity and the two main lamps from Tim Holtz and HS made a killing raising money! Tim Holtz's lamp raised 29,000! Heidi's about 8,000! Amazing! Wish I was there. I think that scrapbooking and the people in the scrapbooking world just have this amazing connection to each other. Scrapbooking brings meaning to our lives and that's why it's such a HUGE part of my life.

So want to go to Heidi Swapp's Creative Escape next year

Heidi Swapp techniques

I'm lovin' all the videos that show all the different techniques.

From Scrapbook.com

More Heidi Swapp....

Lovin' this mirror album kit with HS papers and HOF 3 kits.

Scrapp Fever Graduation Album

I had made this Graduation album for a customer of ours using My Mind's Eye Bohemia collection and scrapworks album.

New Gadgets from CHA summer '09

There are some new gadgets that were just released at CHA summer.

Provo Craft for the Cricut the new Gypsy

Gypsy by Provo Craft

Scrap Review gives you the low down on this product. This product is for the Cricut. So those of you that own one check it out!

Making Memories Pink Slice

We R Memory Keepers new corner punches

Imaginisce iTop tool

Quick Cutz

Scrap Time - CHA Summer 09 - Quickutz from Mark Giles on Vimeo.

CHA summer '09

There's new stuff that was just released at CHA summer. Some new gadgets from MM, Provo Craft and the new letter press. My favorite are Halloween papers that were released such as, Pink Paislee's Twilight line, My Little yellow Bicycle and MM. I didn't see any christmas papers that I liked. 7 gypsies came out with some cool products for their ATC and photo carousel. Tim Holtz, Maya Road, Hambly, Basic Grey and American Crafts has tons of new stuff. Check out Scrap Time where she updates the latest and greatest. Two Peas in a Bucket has some videos and info from CHA summer. Paperclipping has some videos as well. Scrapbook Update also has updates from CHA summer '09.

Scrap Time - CHA Summer 09 - Little Yellow Bicycle from Mark Giles on Vimeo.

Scrap Time - CHA Summer 09 - Pink Paislee from Mark Giles on Vimeo.

Tim Holtz

Donna Downey and Prima

Tattered Angels

The Tree of Life

Been MIA... Sorry.

It's been a crazy summer! I've been busy with weddings, family get togethers, beach trips, weekend getaways and work. In fact, here are some pictures.

We went on a weekend trip to Monterey Bay and hung out at the Monterey Bay Aquarium which had the coolest exhibits. We got to see in their big tank the fishes get fed, sea otters and their new seahorse exhibit. We also for the first time went Kayaking. I was bit nervous and got a little sea sick but overall it was a great experience.

Karen Russell's photography workshop begins....

So excited to be taking Karen Russell's Photography Workshop! Karen Russell is such an amazing photographer and scrapbooker. She has her own line of scrapbooking products with Creative Imaginations and they're AMAZING! I'll be posting some photos later.

Cachola reunion

This past weekend we had family come and visit from Hawaii.  We first met them in the city by the wharf.  It was such a beautiful day in the city.  We love hanging out in the city especially when the weather was perfect.  Such a huge family.  That's not everyone.

Free class by Jessica Sprague

New Scrapbook kit by Margie Romney... The Girls Loft

The Girls Loft is a new scrapbooking kit club debuting in June by Margie Romney Aslett and her two girls.  You won't want to miss it.  Go and check it out! 

HOF 3 GRanD Prize Winner announcement.....

I'm sooo excited to announce that I was chosen as House of 3's grand prize winner for their very first submission contest!  The contest was to create their housewarming book using their housewarming printables/digital kits (housewarming digital kit,house warming quote kit, frames printable kit, valentine printable kit, housewarming printable small kit, housewarming printables large kit, housewarming background kit, house of 3's frames kit, ornate frames kit) .  

I love traditional scrapbooking and began learning digital scrapbooking.   I love it!  I love the endless possibilities of the two types of scrapbooking together.  Digital kits allow you to create different projects using the same kits without having to replenish them.  At the same time for those who love to collect or shall I say "hoard" scrapbooking products ( you know who you are) that comes with traditional scrapbooking, otherwise known as HYBRID SCRAPBOOKING, gives us that flexibility.   It takes Scrapbooking a whole new level.  

Check out Rhonna's, Heidi's and Janet's books.  All of which gave me the INSPIRaTION to create.  Thank you Ladie's for giving me the opportunity to be part of HOUSE of 3's first ever book submission on your Fabulous site.  I look forward to many more.......

Here's just a few more pages....

Thanks for looking.