**Insert Gnarls Barkley Song**

I feel like I've been MIA for awhile. I haven't chatted with my girls on yahoo in a really long time. I'll be on tonight. I miss those crazy ladies.

The next few days are going to be a whirlwind for me. I'm taking a breather from doing layouts to post an update.

I'm leaving for the Netherlands on Thursday. Wow. Thursday!! I'm not even close to being ready. Last night I pulled down my rolling scraptote and found my cropping bag that I've never used. I plan on packing light since I'm hoping to score a lot of stash while I'm there.

There's nothing like the unexpected to put a little shake in your hands. I was trying to scrap yesterday for "Scrapping the Music" and I found it extremely hard to concentrate. I did my layout THREE times before I was satisfied. My anxiety is a bit on edge but this morning my transportation from the airport to the hotel was confirmed. For a while I thought I'd have to take a train from the airport into Amsterdam. Then from there take another train to a different city, then ride two different buses before arriving to the hotel. *phew* That is one thing I DO not want to do.

Here's some work:

The newest Scrapping the Music challenge is up, "Lost in the Moment" by Big and Rich. I don't remember the details of the day when I took this photo. One thing though, Josh rarely takes naps. I don't know how he does it. My mornings start around 630-7 am, depending if Anberlin goes to school. His starts with exercise at 530 and then he works until 5 or 6 pm. Naps are wonderful and if I can get one in with the kids, I'll do it in a heartbeat!

I have another layout up at A Daily Inspiration. Actually I whipped this one out this morning. Please visit the blog for a how to.

I started making cards in hopes of selling them on my Etsy. I liked the way these came out, although Josh thinks he would like them better if I didn't age/distress the backgrounds. At any rate, I used a mix of prisma color pencils and Sakura Gelly Rolls (Glaze and Souffle) to add a bit more dimension. I plan on making 2 more designs to sell tham as a set.

Lastly, I have decided to sell my Cricut. If anyone is interested please email me at jessica.griffinsummers@gmail.com. I have the machine, instructions, one new mat, one extra cutting blade and FIVE cartridges to sell. I'd prefer to sell it as a set and I'm asking $375 for all of it (that includes S&H). Please pass an "enabler alert" if you know anyone who has been wanting one of these.

Ok. I've procrastinated and have to do my Mojo layout.

Remember.

Cricut for sale. Pass it on.

xoxo

ho hum hum

One more day down, only 6 more to go until Josh is home again. I so need a break from the kids! lol. I was supposed to take a trip to Poland on the 20th, but yeah. Those plans went down the drain. So to make myself feel better, I bought myself a Polish Teapot from a Bazaar that was held on our base a couple of weekends ago. It's so pretty! I found a very similar piece online:

The spout on mine is slightly different and there's a thumb rest on the handle. But it's the same print. One day I plan to go to Poland though, and go to one of the pottery factories. It's ALOT cheaper to buy it here than in the states! There was a cute blue with white polka dot dinner set that I saw that I REALLY wanted.

Anyhoo. On to some layouts.

Have I mentioned A Daily Inspiration is up and running again! I'm pretty sure I have. Here's my latest layout that was posted today. My silly crazy little boy! He's always into other people's shoes. Early today he was marching around in Josh's army boots. I'm really starting to like the color orange! That and the color yellow. Such happy colors.
The new Scrapping The Music challenge goes up tonight! I suppose I'm giving some of you a headstart, but it's night time here and I wanted to post it now. LOL. The photo was taken the night before Sebastian's surgery back in January. I wanted to make sure we had a recent photo of us 4...well because I'm paranoid and have horrible situations running through my head constantly. Ah,the worries of a mother. Anyways, you can see how sleepy Josh and I look.

Here's a layout I did for Say it in Scrap. It's a cool new challenge blog put together by my buuuuuuuddies. :) The colors are off...it's brighter IRL. The journaling says, "I love it when yo put aside your rockstar 'cool' and go along with what I want to do. Makes my ♥ go flip-flop." The photo is from our trip to Sea World in San Antonio about a month before we left the states. I love this photo. :D

Hmmmm. I think that's about it. OH. If you want to see a cute video, peep this: Ring Around the Rosies. I love my crazy kids.

xoxo
Jess

ps- Yes, those are dish towels wrapped around their waists. I think we had watched "Lilo and Stitch" that particular night and they were pretending to dance the hula....they insisted on wearing them. :)

blah blah blah

OK, I guess it's time to climb outta my hole. Josh has been gone a whole week now and I miss him terribly. I've been a huge bum around the house. Last week I was sick sick sick (thanks to my wonderful kids), the weather sucked, thus adding to my hobbit state. But despite all that, I am now officially licensed to drive in Germany. Beware the granny driver. I don't like going over 70, which apparently is slow here.



Not alot of scrapping going on. I guess in some sort of off the wall way, Josh is my muse. lol. I've been feeling uninspired lately. Thank goodness for Rhonna Farrer's 21 Day Challenge. Basically, I'm making a mini book out of this Melissa Francis star album I've had for what seems like forever. Each day, my goal is to draw, paint, etc and include a quote that Rhonna has supplied. I'm not going all out...no papers, embellies, etc. The purpose of it is to create a habit...I used to draw like crazy when I was younger. When I was in college, I painted alot. I took a couple of art classes and I loved them. Now, I'll draw a bit here and there...doodle on my layouts, but I don't just sit and draw in my sketchbook like before. I'd like to get into that habit. We're only into day 4. Some of the pages I REALLY like...others are, engh. But it's the process that's important. Actually taking a little bit of time each day to sit and work towards your habit...even if the end result isn't perfect...is the key. At the end of the 3 weeks, I hope to have an inspirational mini album that I can pull down from my shelves and look at during times like this; when I'm feeling a bit uninspired.





Now I don't want you to think that just because I feel like I'm in a bit of a rut, it means I'm not creating at all...because I am!! :) I just don't feel those "creative juices" flowing out of me. The new Mojo challenge is going up tomorrow!! Here's a sneakie. :D





Things have been a bit slow over at ScrapbookMate. February was a slow month for newly released products, buuuuuuut CHA is over and our new boxes are on their way. My german mate got hers today, so I'm going to go by the "depot" in the next town to see if mine is there. And hopefully the young guy that speaks english is there. LOL! Pathetic, eh?



So guess what? I pulled all my etsy goods and they're all sitting on my table, ready to be photographed and put up for sale. It's time to make some spending money! lol. I've been really, REALLY thrifty as of late. I think I've shopped for scrapbooking items twice since the start of 2008. Being on a design team that hooks you up with new product helps, you know?

Also, I am working on a project with some Grungeboard. I can't wait to complete it. If it comes out the way I have it pictured in my mind, it's going to be awesome. :D


I got a new videocamera. The wonderful little "Flip." I decided on it after reading Donna Downey's blog and her rave reviews. This puppy is cuuuuute and super easy. And even cooler? I have a little something in the works for all you scrappers out there. It's still in it's creation mode, but it's going to be totally neat.

That's all! Oh! It snowed a bit today. I couldn't believe it. Just once, I want to see a blanket of snow. This Texas gal hasn't experienced a big snow.

xoxo

LO's GALORE!!

I've been in a scrappy mood lately. First though, my first LO for ScrapBookMate went live this morning!! So exciting! http://adailyinspiration.blogspot.com/. What's great about this blog is that there is a new layout everyday by a super talented European scrapper. And it gives a complete materials list and tells you how it was made. It's definately worth checking out.

Here's a LO for the latest ScrapDragons challenge. Pardon the mess on the left hand side of the LO. Just as I was finishing up, I leaned into the WET puff paint and dragged it all over the paper. >:O I tried to salvage it with some black paint though. LOL.

Yesterday I got my prize from the Chit Chat Challenge I won a while ago from Care Free Glimmer. She makes these CUUUUUUTE felt flowers and you can see them on this layout on the bottom right. I got a BUNCH too. eeee!
Another simple layout. It's a bit far from my usual, but I do enjoy clean lines too!
Sorry Starbucks fans, but I found a new coffee to brew at home. Not only is the taste smoother, but it's alot cheaper than Starbucks. This LO is my "Dear John" letter to Starbucks. Oh, and this is for my All About Eve entry.

Well, I have more to talk about, but I'm currently doing a "cyber crop" with some of the ScrapBookMate gals tonight and I must go concentrate on scrapping!! I'll update tomorrow.

xoxo

Back from the Hospital

Let me start off with the Urban Lily Secret Keeper album. There were was a bit of confusion on how it works, so here is a photo of the boards pulled apart to expose the journaling. :O) Cool, huh?

Sebastian's surgery went well! Thanks for all the well wishes. My experience was pretty good despite the language barrier. Some of the nurses spoke a bit of english, others didn't at all, but I toughed it out. I'm going to admit, despite the fact that I was there helping Sebastian recuperate, I had a pretty awesome break from everyday life. We had a private room. All of my meals were brought to me (and unlike American hospital food, the German food was YUMMY), in the afternoon a lady brought me cake and whatever coffee drink I wanted (regular coffee, cappuchino, machiatto, etc). I didn't have to do any cleaning, and I was able to do a bit of scrapping and Sebastian got alot of one on one time with me. :) Plus, just down the hall was a fab coffee maker at our disposal. It was SWEET! Seriously. At the push of a button (choose which type of coffee you'd like) it would grind fresh coffee beans, and then make your drink. FOR FREE. lol. Josh kept going back...he'd get an espresso, then cappucino, macchiato, regular coffee, then hot tea. LOL. And they also had about 7 tea bag assortments for us when we tired of coffee.

(I brought my old digital camera and it's been on the fritz. Alot of my photos came out blurry.)

Anyways, enough about coffee. So the day of Sebastian's surgery, they gave him some drops to make him "sleepy." He seemed fine to me! When it was time to go to the operating wing, the nurses said we couldn't go past the doors. :( He seemed fine when they wheeled him away, but I started sobbing. I've always been one of those "what if" type of person and a million scenarios were going through my mind. The night before I sat all of us down and did a quick family photo just because IF anything happened, I didn't want that regret...you know, not having a family pic. I'm a sap. What can I say? About 2 hours later, they brought Sebastian back to his recovery room and he was screaming bloody murder. The nurse was holding him because he tried clawing his way out of his bed. When he saw me, he nearly jumped into my arms. He was shaking and my heart nearly broke. I hate seeing my kids like that. It took about 20 minutes for him to calm down. He was kinda out of it for a couple of hours, but once the anesthesia wore off, he was nearly back to normal. He was sitting up in his bed, playing with toys, watching movies that I brought. :) The next day he was out of bed and didn't even act like he had surgery. He only has one stitch on his abdomen and I think it took like one or two stitches to fix the problem on his inside.

Anberlin did pretty well with the whole experience. After her visit on Saturday, she got to spend the night with her best friend (Josh's bandmate's daughter). Josh stayed the night there too so they could leave together in the morning. She loved it. The next day she talked nonstop about it.

Now that we are back at home, he's back to his normal, hyper, crazy self and it's driving me crazy!! LOL. I guess I'm freaked that he'll rip his stitch or hurt himself. Anyhoo, here are some older pics from a couple of weekends ago when we ate sushi. This was the best Chirashi bowl I've EVER had. I just wish it wasn't so darn pricey.

Anberlin couldn't quite get the whole purpose of chopsticks down, so she used them the best way she could. :D LOL. She was really proud of herself. Pardon the grainy photos. I'm still figuring out the settings for indoor, lowlights on my camera.

I'll leave you with some sneaks. If you haven't yet, you NEED to check out the European DT that I am on. http://adailyinspiration.blogspot.com/. It's pretty awesome. Everyday a new layout is posted by our extremely talented design team. Seriously. These ladies blow me away! Also, don't forget that Scrapping the Music has weekly challenges and ScrapMojo will be having an uber cool new challenge coming up. PLUS we're having some pretty friggen cool guest designers in the upcoming months. Some serious talent that will make you shriek. I know I did. hee hee.