Embellish

Adventures at Legoland Chicago

We didn't tell the kids we were going here until the morning we left, and they still drove us insane in that short space of time. They were SO excited! We could see the giant giraffe from the interstate. Dan was just beside himself in a perfect agony of delight. These are the times I am so thankful to only have two kids--one for each parent to follow around. It was fairly crowded in the early part of the day and of course the sound level was deafening : )

Inside, they have rides and games, play areas, a "factory," a cafe and a store (well, yeah). We let them each get one set as a memento. Hey, at least we know they WILL play with them, unlike a lot of other souvenirs one brings home from travels!

Dan's favorite ride was the Dragon ride, and of course his favorite characters made from Legos were Star Wars ones. I don't have space for all the photos here, but we have individual portraits of Batman, Indiana Jones, Obama, and various famous buildings and jungle animals.

Natalie did NOT like the Dragon ride. Overall, though, she did very well for everything that was going on. When you consider she'd never been on any sort of ride other than a carousel, and that the theme was a dark castle with dragons in it--who could blame any six year old for freaking out?! She liked the play areas best, of course, and the 4-D show, surprisingly. I was worried that it might be too intense with everything going on. I'm so proud of my little SPD baby!

We were really lucky to get into the last showing of the little Lego show before the projector overheated. Lots of firsts here--the kids had never been in theater seating before, and none of us had ever seen one of the new 4-D shows with lights, sounds, air bursts, snow, etc.

Then towards the end of the day when we were winding down, we went to the Master Builder workshop and learned to make these cute little penguins--which kind of went with our theme for the next day, when we went to the Shedd Aquarium. After we staggered to the hotel with our new toys and spent some time in the pool, we all collapsed. What a great little break we had!

Easter Egg box

Helen Meisner made this cute Easter box to show us at the Creating A Stampede regional meeting in March. Retirement has been awesome for Helen's crafting! She has time now to make all the things she's had on her "want to try" list.

Do you have a list like that? It's not a bad idea--and it will help you be more efficient when you DO get time to sit down and craft. You won't be sitting there wondering where to start--just pick something off the list and dig in. I have a list of cool Big Shot things I have run across here and there and on the rare occasions when I have nothing pressing that has to be made or done right that minute, I try to get one of them accomplished. 

Ok now, enough stalling--back to taxes. Yuck! But when I'm done I'm treating myself to ten minutes to work on something off my "want" list instead of something off my "Must Do Yesterday Or Else" list.  Actually, my "want to try" list is more like a "Procrastinate Because I Hyperventilate When I Work on my Regionals Presentation" list these days! But I have nailed down a direction to head in at least, so that's progress! 

An awesome Mother's Day idea--floral pick

My friend Tanya made this fantastic floral pick on a bamboo skewer, to be inserted in a pot of flowers for any occasion, really, but specifically for Mother's Day. I thought it was a GENIUS idea, but knew there was no way I'd remember it by the time the holiday came around again. So I jokingly left her a comment to remind me a month before Mother's Day 2010. And guess what--she did! Isn't that the sweetest thing?

I am thrilled all over again. This idea is PERFECT for our church, because we give a tiny pot of flowers out to all the mothers every year.Tanya said I could share it with you, too. If you'd like to see more of her awesome projects, she has a gallery over at my favorite upbeat stampin' chat site, Stampin' Addicts. Enjoy! And call me ASAP to order your own Big Shot or the Beautiful Butterflies die, before Sale A Bration ends TOMORROW!!

Big Shot Club needs more members!

Come as my guest tonight to Big Shot Club for FREE and try it out! If you decide to join us for our next three month stint, cost is just a $25 minimum order each month or $30 each month for four months to buy your own machine. Call me right now to let me know you're coming! (920) 261-3962

A fall wedding ensemble

My friend Jeri shared the wedding invitation, response card and favors she made for her daughter's wedding this past fall at the area meeting last week. Aren't they lovely? She used the amazing Autumn Splendor set from the Holiday mini catalog and embossed all the leaves in gorgeous fall colors. Here's hoping that set carries over into the next main catalog, because it's so beautiful!

 

Amazing Big Shot textiles!

This is a fantastic eyeglasses cases made by my friend Kim Bozenthal. Let me by very clear that the items in this post were not made by me! I brought them to a demo meeting and my friend who took the photos labeled them all thinking I had made them. I got most of them through a fantastic Stampin' Addicts swap or saw them at the demo meeting. So don't ask--I don't have instructions for you : )

 

CUTE melted Flower Folds headband by my friend Paula.

 

This hot cup sleeve was actually made by my friend Tandra. So cool!!!

 

Owl pincushion also made by my friend Kim B. What a hoot!

 

Quilted hair clip above by my friend Amy Bell, and pink calico one below by Kristen Bryant.
 

 

Scrapper's Sketch of the Week: 3/25/10

Here's a quick one for you. This is the antidote to that boring scrapbook rut I see so often, with all the photos spaced out evenly all the way to the corners of the paper. Visually, groupings have more effect than individual pieces, ironically. For instance, the impact of three brads in a row is much greater than four brads spaced out in four corners. Take that principle and apply it to the photos--and it's magic.

You can use mats, or not, depending on how quick you want to be done. Keep the background very simple--steer clear of heavily patterned papers. Make the headline dark and bold enough to really hold its own with the randomness of the layout. The lightweight journalling in the upper right is a good counterpoint to the massed photos.

If you dabble in photography, this spread would be good for a study of a single person, maybe with one or two good photos of them head-on, and then several smaller photos of different parts of their body, like their hands or their feet. Maybe a contrast of your grandma's hands and your baby's toes. Or "four-generations of (insert endearing family genetic quirk here)." Or even a "guess who?" page. This could be fun! Leave a link to your pages here if you would like to share how you were inspired by this sketch. Happy Scrappin'!

WOW WOW WOW news today

I am still reeling from the shock, so forgive me if I'm slightly incoherent in this post. NO, I'm not pregnant! : ) I know how some of you leap to conclusions! I would be more than slightly incoherent if that were the case, I assure you.

No, the second big phone call of the day (first was from our newly acquired Aunt Megan, asking Natalie to be her flower girl when she marries Michael's only brother, Mark, this June, --much to the munchkin's delight) was from Shannon West, one of my favorite people from SU HQ. Hey, that rhymes. Ok, calm down, Griffin. Spit it out.

I GET TO BE A PRESENTER AT THE STAMPIN' UP MILWAUKEE REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON APRIL 10TH!!!! Wah-HOOOOO!!! I'm so excited! Can you tell, huh, can ya? Can ya?

This has been a dream of mine for a little while now--and a word of warning--be careful what you dream for with Stampin' Up, because you probably will get it! It sounded very cool to be up on stage and on camera in front of hundreds of women IN THEORY but now that I am going to be doing it IN REALITY I am pretty freaked out. 

SO anyway--WOW--April is just an insanely cool month for me. It's my fifth anniversary, for one. I get to have Shelli at our team meeting on the 15th (that's us at my first Milwaukee regional), AND go on my first cruise ever on the 24th, AND attend regionals with my extended SU family and downline, AND I get the honor of sharing what I love in front of a big (gulp!) crowd of crazy stamp ladies. Yeah, my feet pretty much aren't touching the ground anymore. 

Ok, so, focus here, Lyssa. I need your help. Yes, you. I need you to email me with ideas about what to present. Is there anything you've seen me share that you thought was just super-rific? I don't have a lot of time, so help me out here, ok?! I'll be everlastingly grateful! Send suggestions and Cadbury Creme Eggs here: zwolaneks@att.net

Stamps I wish they made

"Well, it isn't a good family fun night if someone doesn't end up with an ice pack on their head."

--taken from my friend Penni's Facebook status last week.

Chicago's Shedd Aquarium

 

I know you'll forgive my silence yesterday when you find out that I got out of town for a little break with my family this week. On the spur of the moment we just packed our swimsuits and drove to Chicago for an overnighter. It was great! We took the back way there and only got lost twice. On the way back, we made a wrong turn and wound up enjoying it immensely as we drove through Arab, Pakistani, Indian and then Jewish neighborhoods before we rejoined the interstate. We saw Bahai' temples, Koren Baptist churches, Greek and Coptic Orthodox churches, synagogues and cathedrals. It was really a neat slice of the world all in one relatively small location.

We spent Wednesday at the fabulous Shedd Aquarium, one of the premier aquariums in the world, where Daniel about busted from joy getting to see his favorite animal, the dolphins, perform at the Fantasea show. We also heard at least four languages that day not including our own. Very educational for my wide-eyed little ones, between the critter-watching and the people-watching!

  At the Shedd we took in a fifteen minute 4-D penguin show, complete with snow, bubbles, gusts of arctic air and other cool light, sound and visual effects. I was really proud of Natalie because it got very intense and was truly a sensory overload, but she kept calm and didn't flip out. Note to prospective visitors: this is not for really little kids! There's a couple of sad parts and one really scary part, although they are very short.

We had a great time marveling at the enormous variety in God's creation--sea dragons, jellyfish, sharks, rays, "Nemo" fishies, and just all-around gross-looking things from the bottom of the ocean. This ten foot long Amazon river fish was really something. That would feed a whole village for a month! We also learned a lot about pollution's effects on the world and what is being done to minimize of all the amazing little eco-systems which we are continually discovering.

The Shedd does a really nice job of making everything very accessible, with plenty of places to sit and take a load off while you listen to some cool facts, and there's a totally awesome place for kids to get the wiggles out, called the Polar Play Zone. Natalie and Daniel put on penguin costumes and played in an "exhibit" with ice slides, caves and rock walls.

Really fun day filled with new discoveries and old favorites. Stay tuned for a post with part two of our trip, awesome "creations" of a completely different kind--Legoland!

Creating a Stampede regional meeting

Here's the group photo we took of those able to attend Sunday afternoon's regional meeting of my fifth level upline, Kristen Bryant. Bless her heart, she comes all the way in from the Twin Cities to throw meetings for us! They are a little bit of a drive for me but I never miss a one because they are chock full of ideas and encouragement. We celebrated lots of achievements together, stamped, shared, and had a great time--just like SU demos always do!

Punch art from the demo meeting

Many thanks to Ginger Ambrose for these great pictures of Helen Meisner's punch art work! We saw so many awesome ideas at my upline Kristen Bryant's regional meeting that I don't know where to start to share them all.

Some really cute ideas here! Call me if you need any punches and I will be happy to place that order for you. Sale A Bration ends on the 30th--make sure all your orders are to me and payment arranged for by five p.m. one week from today, or you'll miss out!

Scrap A Stack club March pages

I now have an opening in our monthly scrapbooking club, which meets on the second Thursday night of each month. There is a $25 minimum order and everyone will get a turn getting the hostess stamps and benefits from our orders. Come and try it out on April 8th as a guest--and if you like it you can start immediately!

These are two of the three spreads from March. Can you tell I am enjoying my new Simple Alphabet and Simple Numbers dies for the Big Shot? I ADORE them! We had great fun last club using papers from the Sale A Bration DSP stack and the new Sweet Pea Stack, Playground buttons, the Petal Pizazz stamp set and the new XL Fancy Flower punch. 

Come join us for a fun night out and a way to ensure you get at least a little scrapping done every month. 

What took me so long?

I finally ordered the Lattice die for the Big Shot and now I am just kicking myself for having waited so long. I love it! It looks amazing on cards and scrapbook pages. This is a pretty, springy 5.25x5.25 card I am doing in Big Shot Club and Incredible Cards Club this month. It uses multiple papers from the Sweet Pea DSP stack, the Scallop Square die, the Beautiful Wings embosslit from the Mini Catalog, and a small Fire Circle rhinestone brad.

And here's a really fun one on which I adore how the colors worked out. The base is Bermuda Bay, with Thoroughly Modern DSP and Bermuda Bay polka dotted grosgrain ribbon. The dress form (Chic Boutique stamp set) was colored with Yo-Yo Yellow and Barely Banana markers, edged with Barely Banana as well. 

Recognize the lattice, behind the flower? I cut it in half for this project and used just the rectangular piece instead of the full square.

Then I stamped two flowers from Petal Pizazz in Yo-Yo Yellow, and punched them out with the new XL Fancy Flower punch. To get the look I have going here, you just crumple them up in a tiny ball, then smooth them out with a bone folder. A Fire Circle rhinestone brad in the center was the perfect touch of bling. And a spritz of Shimmer Spray, but of course! 

Look for more samples from the Chic Boutique set from me soon. I really like this one and have been having fun with the Eiffel Tower image especially. Bon jour!

Spring 10-10-10 Saturday

What's a 10-10-10, you ask? Ten different cards, ten minutes each, ten dollars total, ten percent off!

Saturday, April 17^th from 10:00am-12:00pm, Watertown, WI

Fast and fun way to learn ten new layouts, pick up some new color combos, and get your hands on the newest stamps, accessories and papers from Stampin’ Up! Work at your own pace as you move through the cards.

Coffee, snacks, envelopes and all supplies except adhesive provided.

Cost is $10 per person with ten percent off anything you order that day!  

RSVP a friend and get a coupon for $5 additional merchandise for every $25 you spend!  

This will be my last Bon Voyage event before the Stampin’ Up cruise. I’ll also have a copy and some advance products from the upcoming Summer Mini Catalog to show you. Don’t miss out—RSVP today to hold your spot!

Scrapper's Sketch of the Week: 3/18/10

This one's purely for fun. Map out your summer, chart your road trip, or relive your favorite day with this time-line layout.

Start with a straight line running horizontally across the middle of both pages (use a ruler if you're like me and can't draw a straight line to save your life). Then adhere your photos, cropped small enough that you can fit at least six on a page, to all different sizes of squares and rectangles. Draw the lines to connect them to the main line and add your headline. That's it!

You can either journal on the photos, if this is a digital layout, or underneath them, or my personal favorite, in the lines leading out from the central time-line to the photos. 

Additional fun theme ideas for this type of page would be: "a day in the life of so and so," "the year in review," "A picture says a thousand words," and "cool stuff you don't see if you stick to the paved roads."

Happy Scrappin'!

Stamps I wish they made

"You're not Irish. Get over it."

Spot opened up at Big Shot Club

One of our members had to drop due to other obligations and we now have a space open in Big Shot Club. I will give it to the first person to contact me--don't wait! We meet on the fourth Monday of the month, so our next meeting is Monday the 22nd for March. In April it will be on Tuesday the 20th because of the Stampin' Up cruise later in the month. The vacant slot was set to be the hostess in May on the 24th.

You can either just make the projects ($25 minimum order required) or purchase the Big Shot on the installment plan of $30 a month for four months' commitment. Either way you'll have a great time, learn a lot, and have a fun night out. Call me today! (920) 261-3962.

Easter/Spring Basket

I made this paper basket some time ago (notice the retired In Color Purely Pomegranate) and recently spruced it up with some tropical colors for a wedding shower. I used the Beautiful Wings embosslit and the Beautiful Butterflies die, along with the Little Leaves sizzlet for the Big Shot, and a doubled Five Petal Flower punch as well. The ribbon is Certainly Celery satin from the Mini Catalog. I want that ribbon in every color!

I haven't woven a paper basket since I was a little kid and actually it didn't take very long and was lots of fun! It's also quite sturdy. This one is made from one-inch strips so it's about six inches by four inches on the footprint and about three inches high.

A little more work than the usual gift bag, but so adorable! And perfect for spring, Mother's Day, or Easter.

Happy Birthday, dear Dad

I love this picture. My long-suffering dad with toothless, shrieking grandkids piled on his back, up on the mountain in Casper where we have so many great memories! Happy birthday (yesterday) to my beloved father, otherwise known as Grumpa Boot.

Wish we could have celebrated together--but I can't stand that cheese spread stuff I sent you from Kraemer's Dairy here in Watertown anyway. So you can have it all to yourself! See you in May, Popsi-Cola!