hello November.

First of all, wow. We did it. Whew, so very exciting!
“We have witnessed tonight in America a revolution of values, a revolution of ideals. There’s been a transformation of America, and it will have unbelievable influence on the world.” – Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.

(And now back to life as usual. That was a terrible segue. My apologies.) But. You really must check out the full monty on November's RVKC kit, 'Thankful.'

Honestly, this kit is mind-blowing. You get a ton of amazing stuff this month. Do you see all the possibilities here? And it gets better...






Enough to make a seriously fabulous fall mini book.
Or lots of layouts.
Heck, you can easily do both.

Um, hi, did I mention that the mini book is even included? If you've been on the fence before as to whether or not to buy a Red Velvet kit, trust me, you will want this one. It's on sale right now, here. Whether it's your very first kit club purchase or your 35th, do not let this one slip away!

I'm 100% addicted to checking Leanimal's Etsy shop for updates.

Yup, Leanne from PR. She has an Etsy shop!

You know I'm obsessed with the girl. And just look at these pretties.

Poor Leanne has been inundated with hundreds of emails since her win, but I'm stalking her shop in hopes of finding a gem of a little dress or top that hasn't been reserved.

I am in love with her gorgeous dresses but I would absolutely wear her more casual every-day stuff. I loved what she wore on the show.

I would pretty much give my left arm to have any of these in my closet. So pretty.

And then there's this dress - sigh - the Printing Press Sheath from Anthropologie. Even the name is so good.

It's just all kinds of beautiful and I've been lusting after it since I got the first fall catalog this season. The flutter sleeves aren't really my thing, but that inky jet black print is to die for. And therefore I could live with the flutter sleeves. But the price... egads. I will wait. To see if it goes on sale. Sigh.

Challenge #6 just went up over at The Creative Type. I just love those girls, I really do. And this challenge was fun and easy - mix it up, mix it up! The type, that is.

And here's a random page that I finished at Get Inspired. Which was such a fun time. Fifteen hours of scrap; yes, fifteen.

Minna and Angel did a fantastic job and the whole day flowed without a hitch.

I got to spend lots of quality time with my girl Erin.

I helped Amy out with the supply booth and got snapped by the Des Moines Register, dolla-dolla bill in hand. (That girl I'm talking to in the photo was making me laugh so hard.)

And scrapped with Brandy, Tonya, Jen H. and Angie!
(Group photo snagged from Brandy's blog.)

New friends, old friends, and some friends you didn't know that you already knew. Loved it.

And speaking of Get Inspired, I have some kits left over from my class. If you'd like to make a cute 6x6" mini chipboard book, head on over to my Etsy shop where I'll be listing the rest of the kits. They all include paper from the American Crafts Metropolitan line plus lots of other supplies and can be used for any subject, although I will include three pages of full-color instructions if you want to make the same project I taught in class. :)

yes we can.

Please take a couple of minutes to watch. If you weren't planning on voting, if you don't think your vote matters, please know that it does. And it's not too late.

Let's do this.

this is it.

Bored? Need something to do? Join GOOD. It takes about 3 seconds. This lovely girl inspired me to go check out their website, as I had only seen the nifty little Good sheets around at Starbucks. For a donation in the amount of your choice to the charity of your choice ($1 + up) you get a one year subscription to their ultra cool magazine. They donate 100% of your subscription fee (again, in the amount you choose) to whichever organization you choose. Now that's nifty.

I have decided to embark on Ashley Wren's 'evidence' adventure. Starts today. Brain starting to warm up with ideas already. I'm the girl with too many blank journals laying around, waiting for something cool to magically appear in them, so I'm stoked to break one out and put it to work. (AW is already blowing my mind.)

Last year, I had such a blast participating in Shimelle Laine's Journal Your Christmas class. If you're thinking of making a daily Christmas album for the month of December, this is the way to go. If you sign up once, you're in it for life - yes, every Christmas, every year. And Shimelle emails you a pdf every day (37 in all) starting December 1 up through the New Year. It is one of my all-time favorite projects that I've ever done, and I promise you'll be thrilled with everything she has cooked up for the class. Especially when it comes to writing down the stuff that matters most - this is all the help you'll need. You can see my book from last year here and here and here.

And thanks to Sarah and Angie for the heads up on NaBloPoMo. (Not making any promises here...)

We all know it's almost time to vote, right?
One more day. Let's do this.

And have you seen this offer from Starbucks? There's no excuse not to get your butt to the polls - go VOTE! (and then go to the 'Bux and pick up your free coffee.)

dude.

Today, I'll be here. All day, all night, word to your mother.

I'll be teaching this class. (It didn't sell out so I'll probably be selling extra kits on the Etsy shop if you're interested - only $15!)

I have been seriously illin' all week and today I completely lost my voice, which is lovely timing knowing that I'm going to need to say something during my class, and it's going to have to be louder than a whisper. Wish me lots and lots of luck. ;)

And wow. Get ready to pounce on this one. Check out the goods in November's kit from Red Velvet Kit Club. It will be officially up for grabs Monday, November 3, so be ready! You'll be sad if you miss out. (Umm, check out those colors! Doesn't Rachel do an amazing job? Yup. I know.)

this is about to get heavy

First off, check out the sneak peak of November's 'Thankful' kit from RVKC! I'm loving the little owl paper, felt leaves and the Hambly rub-ons. Can't wait to show you the rest - papers from Cosmo Cricket and Basic Grey. More photos coming very soon!

We took Lo (a.k.a. Foofa) to Night Eyes at Blank Park Zoo last weekend. Trick or treating at the zoo is very fun. And the weather was sunny and perfect.

Check out that lion...

Awesome huge monsters along the trick or treating path.

Gotta get a pic in front of the huge Night Eyes pumpkin.

More pumpkin love...

Um, arm around the pumpkin.

And I was just about to tell poor Curious George that he probably shouldn't touch the L. At all. She's not the touchy-feely type.

Saturday was the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in downtown Des Moines.

A team of us girls braved the cold morning air to walk for a good cause.

I met these girls through a local moms' group. And we've become pretty tight over the past year or two. It was fun to spend this morning together, supporting 'the girls.'

And we finally saw Metallica on Sunday night. The last time they played in Des Moines was Lollapalooza '96. I was a senior in high school, and I was there. Their show this time around was just as tight as it was twelve years ago. Plenty of the old stuff along with a few of my new faves from Death Magnetic. You've probably heard enough about them from me already, so I won't drone on about how perfectly awesome their show was. (I do have to mention, though, that Down opened, and I am definitely down with Down. Phil Anselmo of Pantera is the lead singer and he is absolutely nuts on stage. I was lucky enough to see Pantera (before Dimebag's murder) in the 90s and experience one of the most memorable concerts I've ever been to. Phil's energy on stage is hard to match and I hope to see them again around here soon.) Anyway, here are some photos from Sunday night's show. (The top five are snagged from the Des Moines Register.)

James Hetfield delivered. (And there were lazers!)

I love Kirk Hammett.

Rob Trujillo, formerly of Suicial Tendencies. This dude is scary on the bass.

Lars played crazy fast.



And this is why I love Metallica so much. The video quality sucks but the audio isn't bad. Feel free to close your eyes if it makes you dizzy. And wait for it, wait for it ... you must see the pyrotechnics.

the weekend is here.

It's Friday, people, and that means the weekend is finally here. It's going to be a good one. The second challenge at Work Your Soul is up. Go-go-go check it out if you have a minute!

I made a crazy little book documenting our entire San Diego trip this summer. Fifty photos + vintage postcards + the notes I took down in a little notebook while we were in Cali. (So glad I did this because I had forgotten about a lot of stuff since then.)




Yup, that's right. Fifty photos.

Tomorrow morning my friend Yana is picking me up bright and early so we can get our butts downtown for the Race for the Cure. (We're not actually racing, more like walking. And speaking of Yana, you must check out her new photo blog. This girl is talented!) I assembled a team of Y.U.M.s (Young Urban Moms, a local moms' group) this year. And made the logo for our t-shirts for the walk. The final two choices for our slogan were 'support the girls' or 'kicking some A to save the Ts.' :)

This is what we'll be rocking on our t-shirts tomorrow. Because we'll have some kids walking with us and none of us wanted to explain the T&A slogan to the little ones. Funny as it is.


Still getting ready for my class at Get Inspired, and getting so very excited for Metallica this weekend. And on that note, I leave you with this. Courtesy of my friend Amy. Take off your t-shirt, Miss Metallica. Hahaha.

take my hand... we're off to never never land

Oh yes, thanks to Bo, we have killer tickets for Metallica on Sunday. There was a time in my life when general admission was the only way to go, but those days have passed. At least for a Metallica show. We got seats this time around, but good seats; I want to sit back and enjoy. I'm short and always have a hard time seeing the band from the floor anyway. So stoked to be seeing them live again... it's been awhile. (And Bo has a four day weekend, and Lotus is staying overnight at her grandparents' the night of the concert. Yay, us.)
e.t.a.You can read more about my love for Metallica in today's Datebook article - read to the bottom. (blush. i am such a nerd.)

In other news, we survived L's annual Halloween costume party - it was a big one! (blurry photos, I know... point-and-shoot + treats in one hand + toddler clinging to my legs = these lovely photos.)

For a costume party filled with 50-some kids/babies under the age of five, everything went pretty smoothly. There was tons of food, toys for the kids to play with, and trick or treating. Great practice.

Lo surprisingly kept her Foofa costume on the entire time (even the hat) and loved carrying around her treat bag like a purse. Once she had treats in the bag, she carefully laid them all out on the ground and put them into piles.

She devoured a purple frosted cookie with sprinkles and a handful of Mike & Ikes before I even knew what was happening. The girl likes candy. And who am I to refuse candy to a kid at a Halloween party. ;)

The new challenge over at The Creative Type is up! Pick a shape and fill it with words. My question mark is filled with the lyrics to the Flaming Lips song 'yeah yeah yeah/what would you do.' We saw them at an outdoor festival over the summer, and I have wanted to scrap these pics forever. I love the song's lyrics/message and somehow, this has become one of L's very favorite songs. She sings along in the car and wants to hear it every time we go somewhere. Whenever I hear this song for the rest of my life, I'll flash back to this time. It's on the daily right now. ;)

Be sure to check in at Work Your Soul this Friday for a new prompt for your weekend! It's going to be ama-zing. We're having so much fun with this and love to see what you can do, too!

I can't even believe that November 1st is coming up so fast. I'm teaching a mini-book class at Get Inspired here in Des Moines and I'm getting all the last-minute kit stuff finished this week. Nervous and excited - hope to see you there! (9 am - midnight ... can you even handle it?!)

Okay, so I'm in the basement on my Mac as I type, and I here thud thud thud on the ceiling of the room I'm working in. I get freaked out easily this time of year anyway, with all the horror movie commercials on tv and what-not, so I kind of ran upstairs almost half-thinking it was a ghost. (I'm tired.) No, it was just Bo tapping on the floor upstairs telling me to get my A off the computer and come to bed. No ghosts. So with that, I'm off. Good night. ;)

oh yes I did use CrackMan for my new blog header... :)

And oh yes, I am going to torture you with another post about Yo Gabba Gabba...

We found these YGG t-shirts at Wal-Mart (of all places) last week.

They're pretty cool, I know.

We also snagged a very awesome pink Brobee hat and mitten set but I didn't get a photo of those yet. They're so funny - one mitten has Brobee with a happy face and the on the other one, he's sad. And the hat is lined with fleece and is reversible. I know, exciting, right?

And I finished up the L's Foofa costume just in time for our Halloween costume party on Wednesday. She's not crazy about the hat but she'll keep it on for small periods of time. I'm attempting to get a better photo of the whole outfit but she's a moving target who is hard to dress, and I'll take what I can get.
(*If you're wondering, I made this out of a pink sweat suit. I sewed a t-shirt to the inside of the sweatshirt, and then stuffed the sweatshirt with poly fill to make the round tummy. I bought an extra pair of pants to make the hat, and sewed on some pink binding to make a strap. I may use the rest of the pants fabric to make a treat bag. I made the pink scalloped collar and flower for the hat out of felt. And she's wearing pink Crocs for shoes.)

Update! Check Lotus out on GabbaFriends! We love that site. :D

let it be

This weekend:
* garage sale
* apple crisp
* blueberry muffins
* crackers and cheese
* hot chocolate/caramel apple cider
* attempting to stay warm

Sooooo happy that Leanne won PR. She totally deserves it, and I loved so many pieces from her collection. I really liked how Korto's line came out, too.

Wednesday, Erin and I went to Against Me! ...

... and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists downtown at Peoples. It was a pretty good show. Funny girls who were surprised/angry that people were pushing them around, but hey, sorry, you're at a punk show. Crappy photos, but here's what I got. First photo flash, second photo no flash. Both suck. (help me Kim!)

Speaking of Kim, I wasn't sure what to do with this page for my Wreck this Journal. So I sent it off to the UK in a little package to her, and now it's in her hands. Or it will be, once the package gets there.

This week, we are really noticing how many words L can say. She can count (kind of) and point out numbers that she sees. She can say certain letters in the alphabet. She knows her colors. Animal sounds. Please and thank you. She can 'read' a few of her books by herself. She can put together 2-3 word phrases. She'll attempt to repeat almost anything. And as shown in the photo above, we are finding that she is really blossoming as an artist. (hee)

My mom visited last weekend. My mantra when she's here is 'keep calm and carry on' but things have been okay with us lately. Despite our troubled past. I gotta learn to let go, and let it be. It's easier to forget the bad stuff when I see her having fun with little Lo. And L is the exact reason that I need to keep the past in the past and focus on the new and the positive. That should probably be my new mantra.

We had such a fun afternoon last Sunday playing at Pearson Park. Lotus can go down the slide by herself. This is clearly the look of pride.

So is this.

And like most kids,

she could swing at the park all day.

Pearson has grassy hills and big trees, and the leaves were falling all around us. The weather was awesome - just a perfect last-of-the-warm-stuff fall day.

Leaves are cool...

...happy day. :)

I heart Leanne

Dear Leanne,

I love you.

Please win. I know you will. Your wedding dress was divine, the bridesmaid dress was perfection, your collection appears to be killer, and your color palette is dreamy + crisp + full of my fave hues of blue. Go on and womp those other girls. Do this. xo.

I finally got caught up on some missed episodes of PR last night and now I am positive that there is no way that Leanne will not win this season. I have been in love with her all along (how adorable was she when she was lurking around the workroom like a spy on the Diane Von Furstenberg challenge?! And remember in the first episode when she said she thought her fellow contestants will underestimate her because of her quiet demeanor but assured us that she is the “silent fashion assassin?”) It's thrilling to see what she's going to make, I like how she dresses herself, she has such a cute, quiet personality, and she really is the best of the bunch.

And waahh, Kenley... calm down and check yourself before you wreck yourself. Never mind, too late. Check out this extended scene of Kenley's rudeness to the judges (and everyone on earth.) Unless you think she's had enough attention. Then don't.