"D.A.R.E. Graduation"

Speaking of graduations... tonight was Alyssa's D.A.R.E. graduation ceremony. The 5th grade, at her school, just completed a 10 week program, with Officer Mitchell of the Milan Police Department, where they learned how important it is to be drug free! We are so proud of all of them!!

Below, is another picture of Alyssa with her homeroom teacher, Mrs. Tassin, and Officer Mitchell.

"Graduation Items"

These are a few of the graduation items I'm working on for my April booth. Since graduation around here is mostly in May, I'm going to try and have a variety of graduation themed gifts.

Here, I've got a tea tin covered in 2008 patterned paper; a candy filled Making Memories container wrapped with ribbon and a cut-out stamped diploma; and, a female graduation card with an adorable Bella image (thanks to Rochelle).

I'm going to do several more items, including male cards, and I'll post them later.

"Purple Pouches"

Here are some of the chocolate pouches I've started on for my April booth. These are the pouches that you fill with a Hershey's candy bar.

They always turn out so cute, so I'm making up abunch of different color pouches for my booth. I'm going to wait, of course, until April, to fill them with the candy bars.

Here, I started with my purples, but I'm going to do some in blues, reds, green, etc. I'll post all the pouches together when done. I think they make the perfect treat to give to anyone and for any occassion!

"Surprise, Surprise...A Clipboard!"

This is my first decorated clipboard for my April booth. Well, I can't have a booth without throwing in a couple of clipboards! I don't know why, it's just something I do?!?!

I love both of these Bo Bunny paper collections. The bottom half is from the school collection and the top portion is the double dots collection. I've never used black on a clipboard, but I really think it made it pop!

I'm going to decorate 3 more clipboards for my booth, but I haven't decided on the papers yet. I'll know them when I run across them and they jump out at me and scream....clipboard!! LOL

"Papertrey Tins"

These are my two favorite types of tins from Papertrey. I will be decorating both styles for my booth in April. They were both good sellers for me in October.

The nugget tin holds a perfect dozen Hershey's nuggets, so it makes a great gift to give or receive. You can decorate the nuggets for any occassion.

The tall tea tin is the perfect gift to hold chocolate sticks, small candy, mixed nuts, etc. It can also be decorated for any occassion, as well. I've decorated this one kinda masculine and have filled it with trail mix. It would make a perfect Father's Day gift.

"Mini Autograph Book"

My dear friend, Pam, and her daughter are going to Disney in April, so I decorated the cover of this 4x5 book for autographs Lily is going to love getting all the characters autographs, so I wanted to fix her up something special to take with her. That way, when they get back, Pam can scrapbook the pictures with the signatures! I hope Lily likes it!

I know that when Alyssa and I were in Disney, getting all those autographs were awesome!! I fixed an album just for all the signatures and it is one of my....oops, I mean, Alyssa's treasured albums.

This little album is a spiral 4x5 memory book by Paper Reflections. I used solid yellow, red and white cardstock; plus, some leftover patterned paper from my trip. The mickey head is epoxy from Creative Imaginations and all the ribbon is misc. Offray.

I know they will enjoy their trip. Disney is one of my favorite vacations.....I'll never forget the memories we made!

"Birthday Mailboxes"

I just love these little tin mailboxes! I've "officially" started on projects for the booth I'm vending at the 2nd Annual Mission: Crop held in April. These mailboxes were my first projects!

I used boy and girl birthday papers by Doodlebug to decorate both, along with coordinating ribbons on the flag. I love these papers because they are so bright and fun! These mailboxes would be great to put a present in for someone's birthday!!

"Finally A Big Sis!"

My dear daughter has finally become a big sister! Her dad and stepmom had their baby boy on Valentine's Day at 10:13 a.m. He weighed 7lbs, 15ozs, and was 20 inches long. His name is Robert Douglas Goodman, IV, but they are calling him Robby. Alyssa was so excited to see him! She's going to be such a great big sister!

"Rated Excellent"

Thanks so much to Lauri at Paperville who nominated me for the "Rated Excellent" award! There are so many great blogs out there and I am truly honored to be chosen!!

I am now suppose to pass this award on to other bloggers. So, I am nominating the following:

Wanda, blog My Creative Corner

Lisa, blog Bella Rose Creations

Jennie, blog Simply Caffinated

If you've not had the chance to check out their blogs, you should, they are great inspirations! Thanks, again, to Laurie for nominating me!!

"My Sweetie"

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's! This is my dear daughter with her "Cheerleading Bear" that got delivered to her at school. Of course, Cupid left her tons of goodies here at the house, but 'mommy' had to let her get something at school!

Also, my sister's birthday is on Valentine's, so my mom and I took her out to lunch and gave her presents. We enjoyed our time together!!

"Empty Pouches?"

This was the last of my Valentine's orders. And, I just couldn't help myself, I ate all the chocolate bars, except one!!! HA/HA Just joking!

My dear friend, Gina, just had me make the pouches for her son's class, and then she filled them each with a Hershey's bar.

Again, I like the brown and red together, so I think they turned out great!

"Clean-Up Combo"

I got this great combo idea from lzappa at SCS. It is a tub of wet wipes and matching hand towel from the $ spot at Target. I just decorated the wet wipes with decorative paper to coordinate with the lid, then added ribbons to it and the hand towel.

Since almost all of us are using inks with our scrapbooking, this is a great set to have on hand at crops to clean up. Also, it would work great at stamp camps for clean up, as well.

I think I've found the perfect hostess gift for this Saturday's crop! (**wink** -- Jennifer)

"Another Valentine's Order"

This is another order that was picked up today. My dear friend, Pam, had me do bubble 'cards' for her daughter's class, and pull out gum holders for her son's class. I like the way they both turned out, but I love the color combo on the gum holders. I think the deep red and brown really looks great together!

I have to say a special thank you to my sweet friend, Linda, for coming over Sunday and giving me her help!!!

"Birthday Boy"

Happy 17th Birthday, Craig!!! My nephew's birthday was actually yesterday, but we all went out tonight to celebrate! As usual, the birthday person gets to pick the place we eat, and more often than not, it's pricey! (But, that's the whole point, right?) Well, tonight was no different. Craig decided on Flatiron Grille in Jackson. A rather upscale restaurant, that only he had eaten at before.

Well, after all of us finally figured out how to translate the menu, I decided on 'Wetlands Pasta'. It was my first time eating duck! Not bad...just a little too spicy. However, below I've posted a picture of my dessert...I thought it was too cute and it was yummy!

"Valentine's Order"

This is an another order I put in the mail. I made up some cupid poop in cello bags and pull-out gum holders for Wanda to give out to her co-workers. I hope they like them!

"I've Been Tagged"

I was tagged by my friend, Rochelle.

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.

B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.

C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 Years Ago:
I lived in Bells, Tennessee, and was a stay at home mommy with my then 1 year old daughter, Alyssa.

Things on my to-do list today:
1. Finish up more of my Valentine's orders.
2. Meet my nephew and family for his birthday dinner in Jackson.

What I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire:
I would build me and my daughter a new house with the perfect craft room. Buy me a brand new car. Take care of all my family. Put money back to pay for Alyssa's college. Travel and shop!

3 of my bad habits:
1. Drink way too many Dr. Peppers
2. Being inpatient
3. Having the beginnings of OCD

3 places I have lived:
1. Bells, TN
2. Nashville, TN
3. Milan, TN

5 jobs that I have had:
1. Runner in mailroom at Law Firm in Jackson, TN
2. Legal Secretary at Law Firm in Milan, TN
3. Hostess at O'Charley's in Jackson, TN (part-time)
4. Mother
5. Owner of Scrapbook Store in Milan, TN

5 Things people don't know about me:
1. I love to drink dill pickle juice.
2. I love the word 'Manhatten'. (Don't know why?!?!)
3. I've been to both, Hawaii & Disney World, on vacation, and if I had the pick of one to go back to, would pick Disney World. (With my daughter, of course! We loved it!)
4. I believe one of the most emotional thing I've ever experienced, besides the birth of my daughter, was to be present went a group of troops returned from deployment.
5. I'm currently living back in the same house where I grew up in and where my mom has lived for the past 37 years.

I would like to tag:
Michelle, my sweet neighbor.
Lisa, my dear friend in CA.
Amanda, my cropping buddy I miss.

"Nugget Wraps"

This is an order that I am mailing out today. I love making these 'nugget wraps'. They always turn out so cute and you can make them for any time of year. This order is for a ladies' grandchildren for Valentine's. I made the pink ones for the girls and the red for the boys. I hope she likes them!

"Thank-You Card"

This is a thank you card I made to send to the managers of the theater in Dyersburg where Alyssa and I went to see the Hannah Montana 3-D movie.

They were so kind to us. Since I have to use my cane to get around, and am alittle slow, they allowed Alyssa and I to enter the theater and get seated before everyone else, which was such a blessing. So, I wanted to send them a card to let them know how much I appreciated their thoughtfulness.

"I Adore You"

This is a Valentine's Day card I did for Alyssa. I can't post all the goodies I have for her, because I'm sure she'd sneak a peak. LOL

This card came together quick & easy, because all the pieces came together ready to assemble. I have no idea where I got the kit for the card, I've had it so long. (Probably at a convention, or something) I thought it turned out cute -- it looks like Alyssa to me!

"Baby Gift"

Alyssa is about to become a big sister for the first time! Please let me clarify! LOL Her daddy and his new wife are expecting any day now, so Alyssa and I fixed up this little basket with misc. baby items so that she would have something to take to the hospital when the time comes. Also, I could not help myself, and made a quick 5-page 6x6 scrapbook for them.

Alyssa has been the "only child" for 11 years, so this change has taken some getting use too. I thought that if she could fix something to take to the hospital from just her, that would help alittle.

I let her pick out the rattle; socks; and, washclothes. I got a heart-shaped basket from Dollar Tree and filled it with blue filler. We rolled the socks and washclothes individually and tied ribbon around each, before adding them and the rattle to the basket. We also included a diaper tag initial "r" I made out of chipboard and a ballchain. She's so proud of the gift!

"Popcorn Gift"

My nephew's 17th birthday is this Friday, and at this age, all I can get out of him that he might want is gift cards. So, since he loves popcorn, I thought I'd decorate this Target $ spot popcorn bucket up and add a gift card with it. I think he'll like it!!

Inside the $ spot popcorn bucket, I added white filler; microwave popcorn; and, a box of Reese's pieces. I also made a big, hanging tag with red, white and yellow layering cardstock. On the tag, I stamped "Happy Birthday" and added a Jolee's 3-D popcorn bucket.

"Girls Night Out"

Alyssa and I had a 'Girls Night Out' Friday night! We drove to Dyersburg for the opening night of the Hannah Montana 3-D movie! It was a mad house there! The local news channel even showed up! We had a blast! It was, by far, the coolest thing I've seen in a theater! The movie was sold out and the theater was filled with girls, who, by the way, knew every word to every song! LOL Alyssa thought it was very cool and that is definitely what mattered the most!!

Alyssa with her 3-D glasses on!