Toothless Beauty

Toothless Beauty

DD#1 a couple months ago when she lost her first tooth.

Journaling reads: All of Alyssa’s friends lost teeth throughout Kindergarden, and Alyssa had several loose teeth, but not that ever feel out. Finally, about 5 days after school ended, while Alyssa was brushing her teeth for bed, her bottom front right tooth came out as she spit into the sink. She came running out of the bathroom balling and screaming that her tooth came out but went down the drain and now she couldn’t give it to the tooth fairy. Fortunately, Daddy was able to rescue it from the pipes and we put it in a ring box (the tooth box). The tooth fairty gave ther $2! for her first tooth!

Credits: Papers and tag from my (Sarah VanDyke) Spring Free kit
Sequin flowers from my Sequin Pastel pack
Stitching from "Girly Girl" by Taran Conyers
Fonts: Century Gothic and Kunstler Script

Blog Freebie & Contest!!!

Finally, I'm making my "official" announcement that I'm now legit and am a new designer at digiscrappin.biz, and to celebrate I've created a little blog freebie and a contest for you all!

Blog Freebie
The freebie is a set of four sequin flower elements in pastel colors (pink, blue, purple, and yellow). There are NO STRINGS attached...the download link is below and they are yours to enjoy, though I'd LOVE for some feedback if you do take :-) The freebie will ONLY BE AVAILABLE FOR 3 DAYS (will be gone at midnight EST Aug 1).


(Freebie link has expired)

On to the Contest Part
The first FIVE people (edit: and three additional random numbers!) to email me a link to a LO you've posted using my sequin flowers will win. Email me at scrappinsarah@aggienetwork.com with Blog Contest in the subject line. I will announce the first five here on the blog and they will win my full Sequin pastel pack (below) that will soon be in the store at digiscrappin.biz, AND your choice of one of my paper or element packs shown on the announcement LO above. Prize is worth a total of $6.00. I will personally email you the links to download your prizes. In addition, I will pick 3 random numbers and those that come in on those random numbers will win the sequin pack ($3 value) to allow more people to win even if they didn't come across this posting right away! :-)

Be sure your link to your LO is emailed to me before the contest ends August 1st at 11:59 Est - I will announce all the winners on Aug 2 here on the blog!



The full sequin pack comes with 28 sequin elements (not all are shown in the preview) in four colors, 4 that are dual color, and a small silver metal brad that you can add to the rounded flowers if you like. There will be darker color sequin pack coming soon too. This full pack should be in my store at digiscrappin.biz soon with the darker colors to follow soon there after.

Remember email me (scrappinsarah@aggienetwork.com) a link to a LO you've created using my freebie sequin flowers above for a chance to win the full sequin pack and maybe another of my packs FREE before Aug 1, 11:59 PM Est!

Good luck!!

Dh to the rescue!

{computer}

yay!!! The benefits of marrying a computer savy guy... they can fix your computer when you're totally ready to throw it off the balcony and turn it into a little fishy house lol. Finally after working 6 or 7 shifts this week (since Monday!) Eric had this evening off and is beginning to take my comptuer all apart again to reinstall my operating system. This does make it a TAD bit difficult to get to photoshop for a few days to finish my kits, although I wasn't getting far anway between the computer problems and the crazy mood my kids have been in. BUT again, dh is such a smarty, he has a separate hd that stores all my files separate from the operating system and another drive that has all my programs. SO, he's taking my files hd out and putting it in his computer, and installed PSE for me on his computer so I can sort of get to my things to work still while he wipes out the operating drive and reloads things. PSE isn't quite the same as PSCS2, but it should allow me to maybe get some work done again still. I can also access my files then from the laptop too, so finally a good reason to have a million computers! lol

OK...so on to other news, since I've now posted about my darn computer 3x now lol

{Shopping yesterday}

Yesterday I had to get out of this apartment and decided it was either shopping or swimming...since it was sunny and hot, and I don't realllly like to wear a swimming suit...I elected for shopping - less required to get ready to go shopping. :-) Swimming requires sunblock, swim suits, toys, towels, blah blah blah and then baths immediately upon returning. So...we found this outdoor mall (actually pretty neat since it isn't blazing hot here like it would be in TX now). Alyssa loves Build a Bear, but they don't seem to have one here. This mall though had a store very similar to it and Alyssa made kitty and picked out a maroon (for Texas A&M) cheerleader outfit. Very cute. I didn't get one for Ky because she doesn't care much for her bear from build a bear, but...yep you guessed it..she is in love with Alyssa's kitty! Guess we'll have to go back and get another soon. For now Aly is being really good about sharing with her. Then we looked around the Bombay for Kids to get some ideas for Alyssa's new bedroom. She'll have a full size bed in the new house, so I'm going to get new bedding for her. Then we headed over to the Yankee Candle store where Aly whinned "do we HAVE to go look at candles?" lol Once she was in there though and we were smelling all the different scents, she was having just as much fun as mommy. We couldn't decide WHAT to get lol Finally we settled on a new tart burner and 8 awesome tarts. :-) (yes, Eric thinks we're crazy! lol). We picked up:
Cinnamon Stick, Juicy Watermelon (this is one of my faves!), Vanilla Cupcake (one of Aly's picks), Autumn Wreath, Butercream (mmmmm def the fave!), Sweet Strawberry, Vanilla Caramel, and Peach & Sweet Berries. Needless to say...we were HUNGRY when we left. hehehe

So then we walked around a bit and came across at little play area by Caterpillar. I decided to let the girls run around and just have fun for about 30 min - Ky LOVED getting out the stroller and just playing. I wanted to take some pics, but didn't have a camera with me. This other guy took a pic of his kid in one of the tractors with his phone and then I remembered OH..My phone has a camera too (yep...had this phone for 2 or 3 years now and still forget this), but I didn't want to do it after he did and look like a copycat dork..si I tried to wait him out, but I was ready to go before he and his kid left. Will have to throw the little sony camera in the backpack next time we head over there.

After all our fun we stopped at the Cat store on the way out to get pink Cat shirts for the girls and a plastic tractor like daddy supervises the building of. Then we ran to McD's to grab some dinner (chicken nuggets and apples for the girls and salad for mommy - not tooooo bad for fast food). By the time we got home, ate dinner and such it was already bed time ! yay...what a great way to pass the day. :-)

{Today}

Today dh worked the day shift (nice after he worked 7 am - 11 pm yesterday), so this morning after breakfast the girls and I went to see the house. I haven't been over to see it in about 2 weeks. The tile is all done, the stair banister is done, all the doors, all light fixtures are in, and he was putting in the kitchen cabinets. It's looking nice. I didn't get any new pics since the builder was there working and I was trying to keep the girls from getting into too much. Ky was having quite the time going up and down the stairs (def need to get some gates immediately! lol) and Alyssa had a blast playing in the dirt while I was talking to the builder! sigh..my girls...they were so dirty when we came back...but they had fun and that's what counts. The builder said he'd be done for sure in Aug and will aim for a closing about the 21st so we can be sure to get our stuff out of storage by the 25th. (our storage time limit will be up about then and that's when it becomes about $60/day, plus I will be going out of town again that weekend for another meeting, so it would be nice to have the STUFF delivered on that Friday so I can help before I go. hehe) Hopefully we'll be moving in then over the first week of September. whoo hoooo (as long as some other pieces fall into place - PLEASE pray for our other house to sell SOOON - it will really help with me NOT having to get a job right now).

Dh got home about the time Ky woke from nap. He hadn't seen Ky since Wednesday, cuz he worked 2 shifts yesterday. She was asleep when he left and already asleep when he came home last night and then still asleep when he left today. lol So the kids pretty much played with him for a while and enjoyed some daddy time and then we all went to dinner. ummm yeah...the Golden Coral here is pretty ewww lol. It wasn't terrible, but I don't think we will bother again. On our way home we attempted to stop by this little scrapbook store out in Washington, but it was closed and there was some car club show going on in the downtown square - so we wondered around for a little while looking at all the old cars, Alyssa danced to the music, and Ky enjoyed running around in the grass for a little while.

I'm beginning to get used to the idea of being here, and maybe not in such a hurry to leave. Maybe it's the house....I still don't know anyone, but hopefully that will change when we get in the house and school starts for Alyssa. Yesterday I found myself in tears when I crossed the bridge from East Peoria into Peoria. Crossing the bridge reminded me of a conversation with my dad about Peoria and for some STRANGE reason that brought me to tears. :-( I may just have still been a littel emotional yesterday about the previous days discussion about me having to get a job. who knows...I'm a girl! lol

Well, I think this is a good enough novel for today...It's getting late and we have several errands to run in the morning. Then I hope to get some progress made on my kits on dh's computer while he fixes mine. Hopefully I will be back on my desktop by tomorrow night. The sooner I can get back on, the sooner I can put up my blog freebie and start my little contest. :-)

Sweet dreams...

So frustrated....

Yes, I've been awake for about 1 1/2 hrs and I'm already ready to tear out my hair this morning. Ky has been into EVERYTHING this morning and made more messes than I can even keep track of anymore, she's rest both my and dh's computer (mine while I was working on something), Alyssa has a MAJOR attitude this morning, and my computer is still SLLLLLOOOOWWWW. I'm about to kick it. :-) I've been trying to update OPA email addresses - something that should maybe take 30 min and has already taken me a few hours between yesterday and today! aaaaaggghhhhh and Hello STILL won't let me share pics or post them to my blog. I can't send any email either.... whhhaaaa
(c) Sarah VanDyke, 2006

My computer sucks

uuuuuuugggggggghhhhhhh I sooo want to scream at my computer today! My computer itself and my internet are soooo slow! I don't know what is actually causing the problems, but it is totally driving me batty because it is taking me forever to do anything! Hello won't let me share any pics either! I will have to post a better update tomorrow (the girls and I had a bit of fun today shopping! hehe) I also have a blog freebie to celebrate my new designer status, and a contest to go along! If I can JUST post it, we can start. :-) hopefully soon.....
(c) Sarah VanDyke, 2006

Late night here...

Just as I was getting close to my "bedtime" Ky woke up screaming and won't go back to bed. It's been an hour already and now she's running around playing! ugh.

So, I had the preview all ready for the gone dotty element pack, and then found a snag with the alpha. I'm evaluating options on this now and hope to have the problem resoloved in one way or another in a few days. Tonight I started on the elements for the Rustic Meadow papers, and haven't gotten as far as I'd like since little miss Ky woke up.

Today Eric broke some more bad news to me about our house situation, and basically I'm looking for a job now. :-( Not quite what I was planning, but I guess plans are changing now.

OH, I finally gave in and took Alyssa to get her hair cut...I was only going to do a few inches to maybe the middle of her back, but I figured if we're going to do this, then let's go ahead and cut enough to donate to locks of love (min of 10 inches) which would put it about shoulder length - where she wanted it. So we cut about 11inches. I did cry, but I got over it quickly since I really do love her new hair and she is sooo happy about it.

Will post some pics below...gonna try to get Ky back to bed again so I can get SOME sleep tonight.

Gone Dotty Alpha

Well, I've got to put the preview together, but I am very excited about how my alpha and elements for Gone Dotty came out...I'll be getting the preview together later today and send to the store asap!!! :-) Hope you like how they look too - a little alpha preview below. :-)

Alpha for "Gone Dotty"
(c) Sarah VanDyke, 2006

Coming Soon

I've got a few more paper packs ready to go in the digiscrappin.biz store this week (some of you may recognize at least parts of each of these). I am going to finish the element packs for these first and then post all at one time. I expect they should be in the store though no later than the end of this week! Don't forget there's a storewide sale at digiscrappin (20% off) through August 1!


Gone Dotty has been given as a chat freebie in 2 parts before, at two different chats, so yes, you may have the papers or at least 1/2 of them.


1/2 of Summer Fun was released quite some time ago aslo as a chat freebie, but the other half was never released.


Same thing with Rustic Meadow, 1/2 of these papers were released quite some time ago as a chat freebie, but the other half was never released.

I am still alive

I've been so busy lately with trying out for SBB DTM and putting together my stuff to start selling at digiscrappin.biz (Check out my goodies now that I'm OFFICIALLY selling there!) I've put the full denim kits there, and two paper packs for now. I'll be working on some new stuff this week. Everything is 20% off right now till Aug 1, so you may want to run by digiscrappin.biz and grab some of these things while they're on sale now. :-)

Previews of all my stuff at digiscrappin.biz (Many of these have been limited freebie releases in the past, but there is ONE brand new paper pack too!)













I've also been out of town in Hartford, CT all last week for a convention - convention was OK but the traveling there and back was a nightmare and I have to say I will likely NEVER fly on United again so long as I have a choice! I'm too tired to really even get into it, but the short of is that I was delayed 3 hours in Chicago going and then 4 hours in Hartford trying to get back today!

So, other than all the busyness, not a lot of great stuff to tell y'all about tonight. I will have to post a better update later when I'm not so tired. I've just got to go recover from my convention and the travel today first.

Later gators!

Join me tonight in the SBB chat room for my first Chat! Birthday theme, sketch and themed freebies provided for inspiration, blut additional posting bonus! See you there at 11 PM Eastern!!!!
(c) 2006 Sarah VanDyke

I'm baaaaack!

Howdy howdy everyone! I'm back finally! Moved into a smmmmaaaallll apartment in IL while we await for the house here to be completed and while we continue to wait for the house in TX to sell still to (sigh). Just FINALLY got my cable modem today so I can finally get a decent connection to get online and do some things. I've totally been soooo frustrated without a good connection and my list of things to do when I got a connection back has gotten so long..it will certainly keep me busy for many days to come now.

BTW, I'm hosting my very first chat at SBB on Friday at 11 PM Est - it's my "try-out" for DTM. PLEAE join us if you can! We'll be scrapping birthday pictures. I have a 2 page sketch to help with inspiration (so get together several pictures) and I have freebies for you to download in advance that you can use during the chat if you want (password to unzip will be given during the chat), PLUS there will also be a posting bonus for those that post a LO in the gallery.

OK...so, on with other news...

We left Corpus Christi on Thursday the 29th of June and drove to the DFW area. Then we left there Friday morning about 10:00 am and got here about 4:00 AM Saturday morning. We grabbed just the needed items for the night and went to bed. Saturday we spent here in the apartment unloading the uhaul, washing clothes, repacking suitcases, and running some errands. Then Sunday morning (6 AM) we left for MN. Got to Bemidji about 9 PM! The kids were pretty good in all the days of driving, but just a few hours from Bemidji Kyleigh started throwing up and we had to stop 2 or 3 times to clean her up and change her clothes.

We spent all day Monday in MN - we were there for Eric's grandmother's 90th birthday and family reunion. I took several pictures of all the nieces and nephews and a few of Kyleigh and Alyssa, but wasn't fortunate enough to get my kids to cooperate enough to take a picture of just the two of them together. I also met up with Tracey (Haley64), SBB DTM, for about an hour or so. Ashley had intended to meet up with us as well, but was unable to make it - we missed her! Maybe we'll catch her another time. :-)

Then Tuesday we left MN about 10 AM and got back here to the apartment by midnight! And now...we've been here since! Eric went back to work on Wednesday (the 7th) and has been working every day since (he worked sat and sunday too). The kids and I have been getting stir crazy after just a few days and finally on Saturday (the 9th) we went out driving around to see if we could find a park. We've been doing some other outings since to help time pass...walks, pool, running to the store, etc... Today we're couped up again though because of the weather. :-( BUT we got cable so Alyssa's having a great time watching some cartoons today. I've been getting little craft things together for Alyssa to do during Kyleigh's nape time to help her pass some time. We've got to get her involved in some things outside the house so she can meet some kids. We do have her signed up for Vactation Bible School which is in the next week or two, so she should enjoy that.

Back on Wed or Thurs last week we met with the builder for our house here. We were hoping the house could be ready for us to close the end of this month, so we could go ahead and move in. Unfortunatley, he told us there is NO WAY he can be done the end of July, and he'd TRY to get us in by the end of AUGUST! whhhhhaaaa We had really hoped to be able to get in the house and get settled before Alyssa has to start school, but I guess that may not happen now. :-( Hopefully we can get in though by the end of Aug, or we're really going to be hurting. Cat only covers storage for our stuff for 2 months (till the end of Aug for us), and after that it will cost us about $60/day! That plus apartment rent and our house payment in TX, and we're going to be broke REALLY fast! Please pray for us that doesn't happen to us.... I really hope we sell the house in TX soon - even paying for rent and that house payment for too long isn't going to be easy.

I finally started on my diet yesterday. Hopefully I stick to it a while and can lose some serious weight. I've gained like 30 lbs this last school year, and I really need to lose about 50 now before I really feel ready to start trying for another kiddo...I'm aiming for maybe being able to start trying in Jan if the weight loss goes well. We'll seeeeeee. I am tired though of being too embarassed to put on a swimming suit to take my kids swimming - it's not fair to them.

OHH some designing news.... I finished a kit that I collaborated with Raechel Knight and Lisa W. (Momy4him) on a few days ago, and submitted it for a prize for the International Digiscrapping Championship. They have a toooon of prizes lined up for the contest. It started yesterday and goes for 5 weeks, you should go check it out and see if you're interested. I think the first LO is due by Thursday, so be quick!!!!

(this is the kit we've donated as a prize for the International Digiscrapping Championship)

While making this one kit we had so much fun that we decided to create a whole collection! We are working now on these and hopefully will release them soon. They will be available on Sarah's Scraps when the time comes.

Speaking of which...I'm working on the store and hope to have that ready to go soon too, and maybe can finally have that Grand Opening! :-) I have a few surprises too in the works for the opening, so stay tuned! :-)

oooh I did a new scrapbook page the other day too, but I wasn't able to share it until today when I finally got a decent connection: Here's little miss Kyleigh totally enjoying her very first ice pop!

{Kyleigh's Firs Popscicle}
Credits:
sketch from Jen Caputo
papers and elements from SBB elements team Eclectic Bytes CD (mostly from the hope kit, but flower brads from the dream kit).
paint brushes from me (Sarah VanDyke) Paint & Splatter brushes
font - Chelt Press

OK...well, if you've lasted this long, and to thank all my blog readers for sticking it out with me through my 2 week MIA....I have a little blog freebie FINALLY for you (this is something I meant to have for you all before I moved, but didn't get to finish). This is a blog freebie, so you don't have to connect to Sarah's Scraps to pick it up, BUT comments if you take are greatly appreciated still and it will only be good for a week, so don't delay! :-)

Happy Day everyone!

sorry time is up on this freebie