embracing change

Change. It's surrounding me these days. Professionally. Personally. In my kids lives. Just everywhere.

And it is OK. I am embracing the motto that change is good. Right now I am in survival mode while the new schedule morphs into the new normal. So blog posts are less frequent for a while. It's all good. 

On Friday night,  we had a great evening with family and I captured this cool photo.

Now, whether you are the praying type or the cross my fingers and hope type, if you could send up a few positive thoughts today for my little as she gets her first filling :( Let's hope she doesn't take after her mother who can still recall vividly laying on the ground in the dentist office waiting room with the death grip around the furniture legs...

Sorry about that to my own Mom.

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CatScrap Blog Hop:: Spring CatWalk FREE project life Journaling Cards

This is my first time to contribute to a CatScrap blog hop and I am really excited.

1.  I managed to create an official download with product I created!
2.  The Project Life style journal cards are my newest passion. Love them.
3.  Download my creations by clicking the link below the Product Preview.

DOWNLOAD: http://www.box.com/s/ada5726cf60b2b081a90

4. To continue on in the blog hop, up next is Kelley at http://www.designzbykelley.blogspot.com/.
5. You just came from Susanne at http://www.pixel-magic.de/Iheartscrappin/.

Enjoy all of the goodies and be sure to visit the CatScrap shop to download the great kits used to make these freebies. Pin It

InstaFriday: a week's worth of cell phone pics

All the coolest bloggers play along and share their cell phone pics for the week and link up at Life ReArranged. I am not that cool but here are mine:


Custom Kisses (designed in PhotoShop by me). A tutorial for this may follow. These are for Shelby's First Communion party in May.


My girl picked these for me.


The most incredible grilled chicken tacos. The shrimp version was even tastier. The shrimp recipe was a Pinterest fine.




Witness the incredibly organized book case. I packed all the board books up and sent them to the basement until a grand niece or nephew comes into my life. Someday.


School picture day for the Catholic Girls! In the Spring, you don't have to wear a uniform.



 Shelby's soccer team: the Peach Slammers.

Thanks for reading!

- Photos uploaded using BlogPress from my iPhone Pin It

How to make your website URL visible in Facebook

 As a social media specialist, I constantly view and evaluate Facebook pages of both small and large companies. I often encounter very savvy yet easy ideas that make Facebook pages easier to use and navigate. Below is a great tip for including a link to your website directly from your Facebook page. The red arrows (>>>>>>) indicate the areas being discussed. Click the examples to view larger.

(sample page used CatScrap Designs)

To access and edit the ABOUT section of your business Facebook page, you must first be an Administrator. If you are, than a dashboard will display above your Cover Photo. In that dashboard, click Manage and then Edit Page as shown below:

xx

The next page that opens will show many options available to customize your Facebook page. Click Basic Information:

Scroll down to the About section and write a brief description. (It is important to leave room for your URL to be visible when it displays on your page.) Next, add your URL to the end of this description by copying and pasting your URL from your browser so that it will result in a "clickable" link. (example: http://www.catscrap.com). Scroll to the bottom of this page and click Save Changes. Scroll up and click View Page.

You will return to your business Facebook page. Check that your description AND website link are now visible. 

I hope this tip contributes to the success of your business. If you have questions, please leave a comment. 

***this option exists for many of the Business Facebook types such as Retail and Consumer Merchandise. Other business types may display differently in the About section. 

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InstaFriday:: Friday the 13th

Joining in with the masses who participate in this thing:

Modeling her new dress and shoes.




Counting the 300+ eggs for our big hunt.





Chickies--a Pinterest inspired idea. So cute and fast. These were gobble up before we even had lunch.




Me and my girls. Major proof that using the camera on hand beats no photo at all. This is a keeper.




My favorite photo from Easter. Shelby racing around the yard during the hunt.
Below: wish this depicted how insanely windy it was at the soccer field. Notice my car hood in bottom of the pic. Yea, I was NOT outside.

 And one of my latest Project Life inspired layouts. You can view more of those here and here. I have recently been told that these really do look like traditional, paper scrapbooking. Guess what? This is all done digitally.And in the case of the above layout, every one of the pics came from my iPhone. In nearly every layout I have made this year, they are all cell phone camera pictures. Amazingly good stuff.

- Photos uploaded using BlogPress from my iPhone Pin It

Digital Scrapbook pages:: Project Life Inspired

The following two pages take me to 8 total for the year and have me caught up through March. I am very happy with this format and I have used a good mix of CatScrap Products along with the numerous freebies available on the web. I am getting a bit antsy about printing and how the final copies will look, especially using my iPhone camera almost exclusively. I am going to print a page or two at Costco soon to get a feel for the results.

To learn what products I used specifically, visit my CatScrap Photo Album. There you can also view all 8 pages.

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InstaFriday-April 6:: 2012

 Join in at Life ReArranged.

Here we go! Most of these are not even via Instagram so they are straight out of the cell phone camera and still an authentic way to capture memories. Love that.




I chaperoned a very fun field trip this week to CoSI. The Center of Science and Industry is located in Columbus, OH and is a wonderful way to spend the day. The girls in my group were delightful.




My girl on one of the outdoor exhibits.



If you are on Pinterest, surely you have seen the cinnamon roll bunnies. Well, the brand I purchased did not unroll so I had to improvise by creating my own bunny ears out of the second roll. Still managed to slightly amuse my girlies.



I attended, along with my daughters and neighbors, my first ever, Cincinnati Reds Opening Day Parade.



I love this shot of Shelby (lower right). She clapped and waved the entire time. While I may not have been wowed by the parade itself, when I stop and look through her eyes, I could appreciate the magic a bit more.




A peak at the crowd directly across the street from us....and a mohawked child looking for the parade to start.

It's been a great week! Pin It

Project Life style Scrapbook Layout

Extraordinarily, simple layout but a wonderful snapshot of the day and our creative egg creations this year! All of the digi scrapbook products used are by Creashens. Get her free kit at My Scrapbook Art.

I created the template with 12 openings myself. Is this something you'd be interested in as a freebie? It would not be anything fancy but it works. 

Looking to store my pages in a 12x12 binder for this year. I have never used this format before. Any suggestions? Pin It

Pinned It, Made It - Invitation

My niece is hosting a bachelorette party on May 5. She asked me to help her design an invitation and I remembered this very cool, striking one I had pinned on Pinterest.

The original source is Invitation Consultants. Here is my version:

The black border is for viewing purposes only. And you can see the wording has changed a bit to accommodate the Cinco De Mayo theme. The best news? These are being printed at Costco, 4x6, for a mere $3.50. That is a great cost savings for a 25 year old girl who is in two weddings this summer and hosting two parties!

So that is one more for the books in the Pinned It, Made It journal. 

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Meal Plan Monday + More Pinterest Makes

Hoping to make lots of the food, Easter themed treats and ideas from Pinterestthis week. First though, let me share this:

{source via Pinterest}

I made these yesterday and honestly, anything wrapped in a Crescent Roll is destined to taste good. Am I right? These could not have been easier and they were TASTY. Dipping in spaghetti sauce is a must.

Monday: Grilled cheese, fruit and chips
Tuesday: order pizza

 {source via Pinterest}

Wednesday: Philly Cheese Sloppy Joes

Thursday: Hot Dogs and Sausage on the grill, sauteed onions and peppers

Friday ?
Saturday ?

 {source found via Pinterest}

Sunday: I plan to take the ingredients for personal fruit pizzas to my in laws house on Easter Sunday. So pretty! I am hosting my family here so I will be making some of our traditional favs like Potato Casserole.

 {source via Pinterest}

My girls begin their Spring Break on Thursday so not sure which morning I will surprise them with these bunny cinnamon rolls.

So...I can count the pizza roll ups as a Pinned It, Made It and by the end of the week I can count some of these others in the complete column too.

Made anything delicious lately?

Linking up with other meal planners ::HERE::. Pin It

Creative Egg Decorating

I am leading with the scuba eggs.




These guys came courtesy of Pinterest.



Chef.



Harry Potter.



Pirate.



Bunnies.




Angry Birds.

Many of these were inspired by Family Fun Magazine. By far this was our best year in recreating our inspirations. Coloring eggs with my family is one of my favorite traditions.

Adding the scuba eggs to my "pinned it, made it" list. Join in!

I updated my blog header and a few other things around the blog. If you read via Google Reader or another source, click on over to see. Thanks for visiting!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone Pin It