Things I am totally lovin’

Yep, it has totally been a while since I blogged! I have been a busy bee with summer starting and the kids being out of school. Lots of pool time, smores, grillin' out, friends and other stuff! I just wanted to share them and hope you would share some of your favs also!

1. $1 diet cokes from McDonalds. Yep on sale until Labor Day!!! I love it when they do that!
   
2. Dane Cook on Sundays on Comedy Central. Any form of him on the weekend just makes me smile!
   
3. Weekend smores. 'Nough said.
   
4. Don't laugh… triathlon training. The race is slated for Aug. 2^nd, so wish me luck. I love having athletic goals.
   
5. My online grad class. ROCKS!!!
   
6. My cozy front porch nook. I have a super soft chair, a citronella candle and am surrounded by flowers.
   
7. The Bachelorette. I am watching it right now.
   
8. True Blood, the first series on DVD. Thank You Movie Gallery. Don't think me weird. Thanks Shana!
   
9. Old Navy Flip Flops in every color of the rainbow. I picked them up for a $1 a piece a couple of weeks ago. They hold up super nice too.
   
10. ANYTHING by JR Ward. She is now my all time fav author. Right now I am totally lovin' the "Insider's Guide".

Ridden Hard and Put Up Wet

Haven't we all heard this saying? Or is it just the nurses out there? But, I gotta tell you that is how I feel. This semester has been draining, almost overwhelming at times and has in it's own way, worn me OUT. For now, I can graze peacefully at home allowing home "work" and not homework to come to the forefront again. It is pretty bad when your afternoon jog consists of brainstorming how you are going to write the last page of your thesis where you thank everyone that has helped you along the way.... Thoughts like, "thanks to my hubby who always 'leaves the light on for me' when I come home late from some school related thingy. And other thoughts like... ooohhhh you will just have to read it for yourself when I am done! LOL.

Now, for all you Paper Pixie fans out there... stay tuned to the shop for more items are on the way.... i never lie about that!! I also plan to do some more scrapping this summer for the kids and get my layouts out there. It has been a while since I was published and I like that feeling...my kids seeing their faces on layouts in print... I ran into some of those old issues today while I was cleaning.

Wish us luck as we redecorate Lily's room this weekend. My fingers are a mess from stripping border paper off her wall... NEVER AGAIN!!

I hope all is well with everyone out there and so sorry I haven't blogged in so long!

((hugs))

Kelly

What is coming to our house!

Lily Mae has totally outgrown her bedroom set and it is time for a bedroom overhaul! We decided it was time for a big girl bedroom set and this is what is coming! It is so pretty with a white Mother of Pearl finish... hopefully she will take care of it...

Spring Break is officially over...

Yep, this week totally flew by. My spring break is officially over in the morning, but tonight, ah... tonight I am relishing in a little snacky, diet coke from Mickey D.'s and a little "Wedding Crashers" just before I hit the sack. What a feel good movie. Pretty bad when I can lip sync the entire movie.

Anyhoo, I am still trying to keep up this marathon training amidst full time school, work and etsy... oh and yeah.... A FAMILY. Why must I thrive on chaos? I think most of us, just only dream of stopping and smelling the roses and a few of us ever really do.

Speaking of etsy, here are a few more little goodies I added that are super cute. I can't wait to use them on my own pages. Yeah, yeah, yeah... i keep saying that... "my own pages". Since I last blogged, I was scheduled to go on my yearly retreat to scrap. I was totally organized and ready to go... more organized than ever. Then, BAM. I woke up totally sick. I literally had to call my neighbor to come over and take Lukey to preschool and then take me to see the Nurse Practitioner down the street. I had strep and bilateral ear infections. What? I was soooo sick i had to miss the retreat. But, I totally didn't care, as I was so ill, I was in bed for 4 solid days. It took me down.

I am all better now.

Here are the photos of the goodies in the shop. All colors coordinate perfectly with each other if they say "roygbiv" "earthy" "funky" "primary" etc.

These Happy Words would be totally cute, mounted on pieces of chipboard, adhered to your pages or projects with 3D dimensional adhesive. That is what I plan to do with them. Maybe even make them shiney with mod podge or crystal effects glaze. Hmmmm....

These little gems are the spirographs I have had in the shop, but I made a boo boo in printing them and made them mini as well. They turned out super cute, and thought they complemented the originals perfectly. Check out this listing, as it gives a cute example from Kristina on how to use them.
((hugs))


Kelly

Goodbye MBDT

Just a shout out to my girls at MBDT ~ Brandi, Lily, Lisa, Codie, Tana, Melissa & Nehali. All of you girls will be missed. I truly loved being on the Design Team with you for the last couple of years. I am blessed to have gotten to know you all and truly value all the fun "chats" and drama we endured together. You are all remarkable artists and I hope to one day design with you all again. My life is just taking me in so many directions, I hope you all understand. I wish the team nothing but the best in the 2009 season. You all know where to reach me if you ever need anything at all! Free shipping in the shop to all my buds, Love You!!

As a tribute to the DT, here are some snippets of projects done for the team.

Don't forget to comment in the post below to win the giveaway!

Comment to win these!!!

Another giveaway!! Fresh from the shop are these adorable ticket strips for your little prince or princess! I love how these turned out. There is plenty of room between each ticket to cut them with deco scissors if you wish. Just leave me a comment and on February 14th a winner will be picked from the bunch!

Hope all is well out there and everyone is enjoying the season!

((hugs))

Kelly

How Lovely!

So I am in much need of lovely kindness from people right now... boo hoo me. So I was so excited to discover this wonderful little I "heart you" note from Melissa at My Whimsy Life. Her blog is super cute, and such fun and playful layouts and projects. My heart yearns to get back in the groove. Eventually I will.

Here are the rules:"Pay It Forward":1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.3. Nominate 5 blogs.4. Provide links to their blogs.5. Leave a message for your nominees.



Here are my nominees!



1. Kara

2. Michelle

3. Kim

4. Kristina

5. Jennifer

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Complete Renovation

Yep, total overhaul is what we are doing at The Paper Pixie. Our plans are wrapping up nicely and loads of fun new and fresh items are on their way to the shop. Head on over to check out items that are being discontinued right now and for new the exciting new items to come!

On a lighter note, I am getting excited for the next semester of grad school heading my way. With all the holiday drama, I am ready to get focused on other things.

Getting centered with family, Christ... regrouping.

Your plans?

Marathon training started 2 days ago for me... I am trying to go Advil free as long as I possibly can.

I love drugs. LOL!

Peace!

Catching up

Now that the semester is over, I can FINALLY scrap. I spent the day doing proofs for customers, kit clubs and some personal scrapping. I haven't really scrapped for the kids and myself for about 2 years. Yes, this is a 2 year old photo of my Lily... she has grown so much in 2 years.

I plan to do 2 years worth of scrapping in the next month.

That is a personal goal of mine.

I have done 3 pages today already.

You know, I have finally let go of the fact that I DON'T NEED to scrap every single month and photo of the kid's life. I am picking and choosing my favs and going from there. The goal is to get them all done and then stay on top of it.

Does anyone else have some personal scrapping goals? If you do I would love to hear them.

Another personal goal is to find a way to organize all of my stickers. Dude, I have SOOOOOO many stickers, rub ons and stuff that is suffocating me and my studio. I try to tune into CK's organize column every month and have some really cool ideas... unfortunately, all of them involve my hubby and some sort of power tool.

Yikes.

I hope everyone is having a great Christmas.

New and improved Paper Pixie items are coming soon, so don't panic ladies and gents!

Go figure...

Turkey Day at our house was great! Brent and I ran the race and made it home in time to put the bird in the oven. We had lots of family over for the holiday and had fun, but next time, next time... it is someone else's turn. Don't get me wrong, I like doing the cooking and hosting the event, but sometimes I want to relax and play Trivial Pursuit too, LOL. B and I ran the race and when we went to check the results... I was struck by the what was on the homepage of the race.

Me.

Yep, last year's photo of me. 15,000 + runners in the Cincinnati Thanksgiving Day Race and they pick my photo. At first I thought it was computer specific and plugged my photo in there as I logged on.

Wrong.

Nope, there I am in the full hideous glory, smiling like a dork for all to see.

See, people always made fun of me that I am a "cheese ball" at the races. When I spot a photographer I always wave and smile. There is nothing worse than looking like you are dying when you are running a race. Even if you are relaxing and just breathing, you still look pained. Heck, I am having fun right? Now it has come back to haunt me.

Why didn't they pick one of those cutsey little girls dressed up as Indians, with their cutsey pie feathers in their hair, all of them running thier little foursome? Why not the man pushing his face painted twins in the freezing temps and cheiftan hat on?

Why me?

Ok Ok Ok... here is the link if you must go and see....

http://www.thanksgivingdayrace.com/

My time was pretty good and so was Brent's this year, better than last year as I am pretty surprised. I have been plagued with injuries after the last 2 marathons that I didn't think I was going to run it. Thank God for Advil Liquigels... a runner's dream. I finished about 22nd out of 800 ish runners in my category. This year, however good the time was, I didn't smile at one single photographer. I was pretty deep in concentration and will probably regret any future photos this year....

I plan to take 2 solid months off of running to heal and gear up for the next marathon. I hope I can last 2 months... "yeah right", as I tell my physical therapist. She just shakes her head.

On another note, don't forget the December Giveaway in the shop is tomorrow, so get your comments in asap.

Peace.

DECEMBER GIVE~A~WAY

Listen up ya'll. Here is the final give~a~ way of the year! Get ready for some Holiday cheer with these Kraft Tags and Color Me Holiday Tags from the shop. Love these Kraft Tags for that country gift wrap. Start bustin the dust off the watercolor pencils and blendy pens for sure with those Color Me Tags. Your kids are going to love coloring those as you and hubby wrap gifts this season. It'll give them something to do. One lucky winner will get these goodies in the mail the first week of December. The random drawing will take place on December 1st to of all those who comment on the blog from now until then!

Tell us at The Paper Pixie the silliest/dumbest gift you have ever received. This could be a sad regift, something totally used and sent as "new", something frightfully off the wall or moldy... Anything. Lily will pick the winner Dec 1st and the winner announced that day.

Don't forget, if you have Paper Pixie goodness, toot here for this is the place to be seen and heard. Also, EVERYONE is welcome to join and upload layouts and photos using Paper Pixie embellishments to the Flikr group so head over and take part!

Thanks to Lisa for informing me of yet another Paper Pixie Toot Toot this one in Cards Magazine this month! Whoot!!

~~~Clay Nest Pottery~~~

Ok, so we had 45 minutes left before the Ryle Craft Fair was about to end... we thought we would get Lukey out of the house for a smidge after his surgery, as he was getting stir crazy. Anyhoo, I ran into this lovely little booth with this amazingly earthy and fun pottery called "Clay Nest Pottery". Now we all know how hot earthy pottery is, especially if it has those fun little nests and eggs with that "Peter Rabbit" feel. I purchased the most lovely, one of a kind cream colored bowl with a clay branch going right throught. Something right out of Winnie the Pooh, totally. I can't wait to serve some Peanut Butter Brickle in it for dessert.

I told her, that her items would be perfect for etsy... as they are hand crafted, unique and well priced. Come to find out she is an etsyian too!!

Here are some photos of the lovelies in her etsy shop. Go and visit now, and get a one of a kind piece for yourself or your loved one for the holiday! I totally treated myself and am so happy I did! Good luck with your store Maggie!!

Hope all is well, stay tuned for a give a way post tomorrow!!!

New and Fresh are here!!

Man, it has been a while since new items were added to the shop! After many requests to get off my duff and get some new tags and journaling spots up and running... here they are! There are lots more to come, but here is the first installation of newest items. The barcode tags are rockin' and fun! Let's plan for another giveaway soon shall we? Maybe some of these guys will be included...

Lots going on here on the home front lately. Lukey is gearing up for his tonsillectomy on the 21st, this FRIDAY. I am nervous and put him on the prayer chain at church. Lily is in her second swing of cheerleading, this time it is basketball. The coach is a total nutcase. Seriously.

I am trying to get my hands on a Wii, but why I waited this long to get one instead of buying one earlier this year is a mystery to me dude... well no mystery... i am a busy lady.

School is going well and feel more plugged in than ever into my studies and work on the unit. Just trying to piece it all together and soak it all in. The semester ends this time next month, so I am totally stoked about scraping for the kids, baking, shopping, nesting for the whole month I am off of grad school. I have also decided to take a small break from teaching to focus on some other areas that need my attention, mostly family oriented stuff. I am still planning to run the Thanksgiving Day Race, although injured, it is a tradition. Brent is begging off... he's out, WIMP. Thank God Sarah will run with me!

Here are some shots of the kids and I at Kinman Farms a couple of weeks ago. Lily is cute as ever and Lukey... well... he thinks he is the Incredible Hulk and this is his standard smile for photos lately. Drives me insane. He even growls when he does it. I shake my head and smack my husband for letting him watch that DVD.

I hope everyone is having a good Fall and we at The Paper Pixie wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday.

Kaysibley you are the WINNER!!!

Contact me girlfriend at gypsy61398@insightbb.com to claim your tags!!!

ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!!!

Ok guys, thanks for waiting patiently for this one! We just got back from the Columbus Marathon, and the weather was wonderful. We have been so busy with training and me with grad school that the giveaway got pushed waaaaay back. So, here goes!

What is your favorite fall memory? Simply reply to this question in the comments and let me know a way I can get back to you... leave your email addie if your blogger account is private... etc.

I will be giving away these fall flourishes from the shop! These colors are coordinated perfectly with these and these. So head on over to the shop today and stock up!! Shipping is LOW flat rate and not to be beaten on etsy!!

The drawing will be held on OCTOBER 31st!!

So, my favorite memory is running the Thanksgiving Day Race in the morning and then going back to the house to catch a nap... if I am not cooking the bird, LOL. If I am hosting the dinner at my house, then I love cooking and getting the house ready for my family. I love running that race, because it totally bites getting up that early and running in the cold... but you know when you are done all your calories are FREE!!!! Turkey and mashed potatoes get you across the finish line.

Come on... what's yours??

Hey Sarah!! I can't wait to run the race with you... it has been too long girlie... train hard and we'll have a blast!

Having way too much fun!!

Just a little something I whipped up tonight! Love this lots, especially since it is a year ago I took these photos at her birthday party!

Thanks for looking!

Lovin these!

Hope everyone is well out there! I spent all afternoon yesterday creating some winter season newbies and mothering a sick child. My little guy has the plague - I am still trying to figure it all out. Anyways, I am up before the rest and thought I would check in on my blog... boy there are lots of people tuning in lately from all over the country and the world. Blogging is so cool, huh? I wish I could do it more often.


Anyways, with being banned from running for 2 weeks (which is killing me BTW), I have to really pay attention to the items I shove into my pile hole. When you are running long distances you can pretty much eat anything you want and not gain weight, but when you stop... well let's just say my butt wants to pudge up. LOL.


I am totally in Love with these!!!

They tack on a mere modocom of calories and are truly delightful and PRETTY! Just look at them. They have such fun stories on the cover - totally fun. One even has an appetite suppressant (pretty safe as I can tell)! Lots of vitamins too.

Another is the Raspberry Chipotle Salad from Quiznos. The raspberry dressing is low cal, low fat and low carb and is AMAZING!! I asked the manager for nuritional info (yes, I am a nerd) and he was nice enough to give me 3 packets to take home. I just love great customer service, don't you??

P.S. I did not take that photo, I pirated it off the internet, LOL.

Last but not least, my favorite! Dessert.

These couldn't taste anybetter and with only 90 calories-------> Come on!

Hope everyone is enjoying these last few weeks of sunshine, hopefully cool days with the AC off and windows open. I feel the furnace days are coming soon. Gosh I miss Florida.

Peace.

You know you are loved...

Today is my birthday. I had forgotten and then the phone rang. "gosh it's early" I thought. But, I am totally up, and finishing up a 20 page powerpoint presentation for class tonight....

Friends and family started calling around 8:00 am and internet buddies soon after. You know you are loved when people remind YOU of your birthday and call just because. Nehali, reminded me of my birthday this morning with an early email stating just that. What a nice gesture from a DT member who I have not spoken to in a while, but I always know she is there. Love Ya girl!

I promised myself a few years ago that I was going to stop counting birthdays, as it was depressing me, LOL. But, my grandmother reminded me when she said, "kid, when you get my age... you will start praying for more." Well said Gram! Thanks for the shout out this morning.

I hope everyone is having a good day, whether it is your birthday or not.

Oh, BTW, another giveaway is coming up. I just have a few things to wrap up before I go into detail.

Cheers!

TODAY IS THE DAY!!!!

The winner of the giveaway is.....









maddymazestudio. Congrats!!!



My lily picked the name out of the hat tonight! Please send me an email to

gypsy61398@insightbb.com with your address and I will get it out to you!



Well on another note, i am currently laid up with my foot on ice with my ankle wrapped in saran wrap and a cold pack... nibbling on frosted mini wheats (low cal of course) trying to shove this organic/bio chem- cellular- garbage into my brain. My brain doesn't want it there, it is rebelling. I am having a hard time getting this info to stay put up there. I often want to hit delete. The plan is to learn this for the exam and then flush all the useless info down the crapper.

I am not one to take photos of my homework...but here is an example i pirated off the internet of some useless bio chem stuff that makes some sense to me now.

My ankle is so sore, my knees ache... these back to back marathons are killing me-literally. After the 19th of October, it is easy going until the Thanksgiving Day Race and then hiatus until Feb. No more pounding. I've got lots planned to do instead. My body will thank me. My brain won't, but my body will.

For all of you Paper Pixie Fanatics, more is coming, lots more. Fall and Christmas/Holiday items are on their way. Just as soon as I can expel-purge-vomit-delete-barf this test material out of my head, new items will show up. Lot of off etsy custom orders have me hoppin and I LOVE IT.

I hope all is well and get ready for another giveway... details to follow!

Have a great night.

Well, grad school started this week...nasty. I have homework to do. Who gives homework in grad school? JK. I am trying to deal with it as best I can... (my husband just plays his air violin when I get to b_chin). I digress...

Tonight we went to the new Olive Garden that closed down, then got torn down, rebuilt yada yada yada... the place was not that great. I was thinking that we would see some new things on the menu. Nope. Infact, they still gave us the same dirty/greasy menus from the old building. Geeros. Anyhoo, the place was like Perkins inside. Light yellow curtains and white walls, terrible service.

I am totally PMSing.

I am trying to frantically get the St. E scrapbook done, as I have had the pile of pics on the table for months now and wouldn't cha know it, the phone rings... "we need it in 2 weeks". I want to say, "what do you mean? I can't have another 6 months to work on it?". How professional am i?

I always bite off more than I can chew.

Oh, and BTW I hit the 2000 mark on etsy. I am so excited that my little shop has done so well in 8 months. My sales really didn't start happening until last Dec, so i feel grateful and happy about it. Many thanks to the haters out there, believe me... there are some pretty bad haters. You can't have it all ladies... you know who you are.

I need to go and take a midol and then delete this post!

LOL.

Not.

Have a great night all!

Don't forget to sign up for the drawing for the RAK! See the below post!

Oh, happy Labor Day everyone! I will be at the hospital doing something less fun, believe me on that.