Jake Shimabukuro Concert

Wow, was he amazing. Amazing is not even a sufficient enough word. I was just literally stunned the whole time he was playing. He completely ROCKED the ukulele and I have never heard anything like it. Just brilliant!!

Here are some pics from the show, of Jake playing and talking to the audience (that's us!).







After the show, he hung around and we were able to get autographs, hugs and pics with him. He was SO sweet, humble and gracious and we were so honored to get to meet him.

Here's Brian talking to Jake and getting an autograph.



And getting a pic together:



Here's Jake with me.


And our friends Ed and Billy, with Jake.


It was incredible. If you ever get the chance to see him live, RUN to the show!!! You will not regret it. Here's the link to his website so you can check out tour dates, videos, etc.

I would also like to take a moment to plug my husband Brian's blog, where he also wrote about the show.

Thickers Sighting At Big Lots!!

Based on a tip I got on the forums at scrapbook.com, Brian and I headed over to Big Lots in search of Thickers. We were successful!! They had at least 100 packs in stock, all for $2 each! I may have bought a quarter of their stash, but whatever. THICKERS!!!! :D



I may have gotten a little carried away. But I should be set for a while. :D

Jake Shimabukuro

Tomorrow, we're going to see this guy in concert in Atlanta. He is soooo amazing on the ukulele, and he is totally Brian's hero. :)



Should be fun!

Awesome News!

On Tuesday, I received a phone call from the awesome folks at Scrap N' Art E-Zine. I was invited to join their awesomely talented group of designers!!! I am still a bit in shock, but I am soooooo excited!

If you've never heard of Scrap N' Art, please definitely check them out!! Now. GO!!! :D Lots of exciting things are coming to the e-zine in the near future, so stay tuned!

Also, page calls are up for the September/October issue, so go submit your work!!

Just wanted to share. Yay! :D

New Layouts To Share

Here are a couple layouts I got done over the holiday weekend.

This first one is of Brian holding and brushing Beatrice. She is usually a very anti-social and OCD kitty, but she loves to be held and brushed. Her face was just too sweet and cute. I had to scrap it!



The next layout is of Sleepy, getting cozy in a quilt.



Hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend!

An Entertaining Week!

So, last night.


Kris won!! I truly love both these guys! They are each so talented in different ways. So sad that American Idol is over for another 7 months. What will I do on Tuesday and Wednesday nights now?!

In other news, Summer just got a little better.
New Basic Grey coming in June!!!

June Bug:

and Lemonade:

I can't wait! :D

This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend. Brian and I plan on doing as close to Nothing as possible. Yay, three-day weekend! I want to have some time to get to know my new Tori album better, too. It's really lush and awesome. Her work takes several listens to really absorb. It's so layered and complex in parts and I LOVE IT!!! It's different from her previous stuff, yet it seems familiar at the same time. She is a master at reinventing herself.



That's about it. Happy Memorial Day Weekend! :D

Lord Help Me.

I am going to need an Intervention.

NSBD Prize Pack and Some Layouts To Share :D

Imagine my surprise and delight yesterday afternoon when the Big Brown Truck pulled up with my prize package from National Scrapbooking Day on Scrapbook.com!!

I was so excited to tear into it and see all my new goodies. Here's a pic:



Inside was: Tim Holtz by Tonic Studios Non-Stick Micro Serrated Scissors, an EK Success Cupcake chipboard album, some Bazzill Just The Edge Card Stock strips, a Teresa Collins notebook paper transparency, a Bo Bunny Cascading Edgy chipboard mini album, some white puffy Thickers, We R Memory Keepers journaling spot pad (there are some CUTE ones in there!), Pink Paislee Enchanting petals fabric flowers, two bottles of Stickles (pink and eucalyptis), some Zva Creative self-adhesive pink crystal flourishes (bling!), and some Jenni Bowlin chipboard buttons!!!

WOW!! That's some really cool stuff!! I can't wait to play with it all!

I also got another layout done this week. This is of Sleepy and her "baby", this little stuffed animal kitty that she carries around everywhere. She kicks and bites it one minute, and licks and loves it the next. It's hilarious. :D




Here's another of Sleepy, back when she had to wear her cone to keep her from obsessively cleaning her surgery incision after she got spayed.



Tonight is the season finale of The Office. I'm sad. : (

This weekend (Saturday), we are going to Atlanta and seeing Cinematic Titanic! An excerpt from the Woodruff Arts Center page:

"From the people who brought you Mystery Science Theater 3000 comes a whole new movie-riffing experience: CINEMATIC TITANIC.
Starring the creator & original cast of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000,
Cinematic Titanic continues the MST3K tradition of riffing on ‘the unfathomable’, ‘the horribly great’, and the just plain ‘cheesy’ movies from the past, with a different each night!"

If you've never heard of MST3K, basically, these guys take a pretty crappy movie and make fun of it while it plays, by commenting, sometimes changing dialogue, singing, etc. It's freaking hilarious!

What's so awesome about this is that instead of just watching the movie and the cast of MST3K on TV, we get to see them on stage, LIVE, in front of the movie screen while it's playing. A very rare and special occasion!!

The movie we'll be seeing is 'Danger On Tiki Island'. It is going to be hysterical!! Brian and I are both excited that the original MST3K cast will be there. Joel! Awesome!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!! :D

Weirdness

Last night, Brian and I were driving over to Kohl's to shop for Mother's Day gifts. I have TMJ Disorder, and it tends to flare up often. It's been flaring up this week, so in the car, I was doing my jaw exercises and all of a sudden there was this huge, loud, "POW!!". Brian didn't realize it was my jaw when I turned to him and said, "Wow, did you hear that? It was my jaw" and he said, "Really?! I thought something hit the car".

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

It was THAT loud. I don't remember a time EVER that it has popped that loudly. But man, did it feel evah so much bettah after that!!

So, anyway, we got to Kohl's and went inside. We immediately went to the handbags and purses because that's what my Mama had asked for. We were over there not even a couple minutes when this really weird guy and his two daughters appeared, obviously shopping for a purse as well. That was fine. What was NOT fine was how his crazy-looking, wild-eyed face was around every corner we turned. Seriously, it was bizarre. We'd go to another section of purses (they have quite a large selection), and he'd suddenly appear. And he would just smile this big, toothy smile at me. Dude. Go out in public much?

I didn't get any bad vibe or anything from him, like he meant any harm, he was just always THERE, grinning. He looked like a school principal. You know how they have the crazy eyes. (No offense to any school principals reading this.)

Anyway, we lost him for a minute and left that section and headed back to housewares to pick out some new coffee mugs. Guess who was there? Weird guy. With his big crazy eyes. I was like, how the heck did he get back here so fast? Dude teleported or something. He was already back there and heading BACK up to the front of the store when we passed him on our way back to housewares. He just grinned all stupid at us, as if to say, "yeah, it's me again".

Seriously, what?! It was just bizarre.

So after that, we didn't see him again. And we got both our mothers nice things and some really awesome new red mugs for ourselves. Yay!!

Today, we went over to Kroger and now we're back home, just chillin' like villains because it is about a million. freaking. degrees outside.

I think I need a nap.

Happy Weekend, everyone! :D

Just a new layout to share.

Our niece, Kyrie, in a tree at my parents' house this past Easter. She is just growing up so fast! I entered this layout in the May Cosmo Cricket challenge at scrapbook.com.



Speaking of Cosmo Cricket, scrapbook.com finally got their Early Bird Collection in the superstore!! I just checked tonight and it was there. Even though that collection is included in the May challenge prize pack, I went ahead and ordered it because I doubt I will be the lucky winner!

I mean, just look at it. The cuteness. It's ridonculous.


I cannot wait to get it!

In honor of my Mama...

I created this layout.


Journaling:

She is the strongest and bravest woman I know. She is kind and generous, with a heart full of love for her family. She is hard-working and self-sacrificing, and eager to help anyone in need. She is beautiful, talented, and encouraging.
She is my True North, the Beacon that guides me and lights my way. She is my biggest fan. She is truly a blessing. For those reasons and so many more, she is...the best Mama.

****************

The Mama layout is for a self-inflicted challenge over at the Eiffel Tower Group on scrapbook.com.

The top pic is Mama holding me, and my brother Ricky and sister Ginger on the couch beside us. Check out my pants. :D The Eighties left no doubt they were The Eighties. (Thanks, Mike Nelson. :D)
The bottom pic is of me and Mama this past Easter.

The following layout was the second monthly challenge for the ETG (also self-inflicted, LOL) :D.

It's of Tori Amos, my most favoritest musician. :D I had to dig deep into the depths of the Internet to find the pictures of the marquee from that first Tori concert I attended in Atlanta, and also to find the pic of Melinda and me. Melinda, if you're reading this--girl, I had to stick my hand all in the Crazy to find that picture. I think you know what I mean. :D Here's a hint: they came from the blog of a fellow concert-goer. Yeah.



I printed and cut out miniature images of all her studio albums, and placed them as a border near the bottom of the layout. The pictures are a collage--the actual sign from the first Tori concert I went to, some pics of Tori from the Scarlet's Walk era, Melinda and me at a diner before the concert, and myself now. I also included a scrap of sheet music from one of Tori's songs, "Pancake".

The journaling on this one:

My Tori Story began on November 10, 2002. I went to a Tori concert with my friend Melinda and was forever changed. Since then, Tori's music continues to inspire me. I can't imagine my life without Tori's music. She is, by far, my favorite artist. I know I will always feel a deep connection to her music. I am so excited for her 10th studio album, coming May 19th!

**************
I have created an 8 x 8 album all about Tori in the past, complete with these same pictures, concert descriptions, set lists and ticket stubs. I might have to take pics of that some time and share it. :D

In other exciting scrappy news, I received word today that I will have THREE layouts published in Scrap N' Art E-Zine, in the July issue. How exciting!! I am really trying to submit more now, so hopefully there will be many more publications to come!

National Scrapbooking Day

Happy National Scrapbooking Day, everyone!!

Edited to say that I just won a prize pack on the second hourly challenge of the day! Awesome!

Below is my entry into the all-day challenge. It was a random drawing (I didn't win that one). But we had to create a layout all about ourselves.