We just returned from taking Miss Emma to her first day of second grade. Unbelievable. Where does the time go? She is so excited…nervous…and just about every other emotion in between. And this year started a new tradition of sorts. My hubby has always taken the girls to school on their first day. And I loved that tradition until Emma started kindergarten, and I was home alone! Well…this year Taylor starts middle school and will be on a different calendar than Emma. So we decided we would ALL take Emma to her first day of school.

Here’s my favorite pic from this morning. Notice anything different?!? Yep. You got it. Emma has bangs! She took a nasty fall on Friday morning and has a giant (I’m not kidding!) bump across her forehead. It’s not black and blue yet, but it won’t be long. And she certainly didn’t want anyone to see it…so our solution…bangs. LOL! I still can’t get used to sweet Emma with bangs. I keep telling her she looks like Hannah Montana. LOL! As long as her bump is covered…that’s all that really matters.

And now the countdown begins until time to go pick her up…

So…
to help me pass the time…
Let’s do a RAK!!!
Just post a comment and we’ll draw a name at 2:00 this afternoon.

And it only seems appropriate to give away some Appleton papers!
Compliments of Nancy from Scenic Route. Thanks girly!

Happy Monday to YOU!!

ETA:
Woohoo!! We have a winner!! Emma was so excited to read all of your comments when she got home from school. And…just in case you’re wondering…she had a fabulous day!! And our winner…who I’m certain was selected by Miss Emma because of the “diva” part of your username…LOL!!…is Suzy (aka FarmDiva)!! Congrats girly!! We’ll send the RAK your way!!

August Card Kit
{featuring Pink Paislee Pop Fashion}

Stay tuned for Sneak Peeks of 4 fabulous cards by designer Danielle Flanders using the August Card Kit…

And a peek of the September Layout Kit featuring Pink Paislee Vintage Moon…

You will NOT want to miss these upcoming kits!!
Subscriptions available NOW!!

The August Layout Kit is HERE! Classic ivory and black with a splash of watermelon and a touch of olive…I’ll be back to add the inspiration piece. We will be packing kits today and mailing subscriber kits tomorrow! There are still subscriptions available. You can purchase a subscription now for August (shown below), September, and October.

Oh my goodness. I have no idea where the time went! Friday was gathering day. Saturday was selection day. And Sunday was order follow up day (and driving took the rest of Sunday and all of Monday…so good to see my girls though!). I did take one break on Saturday to eat dessert with the girlies…Tina, Krista, Carrie, Norma, Audrey, Karen, and my sister Marcia…they are all so sweet and so amazingly gorgeous! Sunday was wild…I was so worried I wouldn’t finish…but my hubby helped a ton. Have I told you how amazing he is?!? The Basic Grey booth said my husband is “a stud” because he grabbed a super early ship date for us! LOL! Anyways, I was feeling the pressure of one less day…CHA-Winter is 4 days but CHA-Summer is only 3 days…yikes! But have no fear…we have wonderful goodies headed our way…both for the store and the kits! Speaking of new product…American Crafts arrives TOMORROW! I cannot wait! And then Scenic Route and Pink Paislee will be soon to follow! Beyond that…it’s all a blur…I’ll have to do some tinkering with my spreadsheet later and update the Coming Soon section on the site.

Okay. You girlies are GREAT guessers! First of all…yes…my grand prize was from Making Memories! But…no…it wasn’t the amazing scrapbook room…Kayla from SIStv won the goodies from the room…a HUGE WOWZA congrats to her!!! I had two super sweet MM girlies tap me on the shoulder and scream YOU WON! Honestly, my sister had thrown an apron at me earlier Friday morning and said “wear this you could win something.” I had totally forgotten all about it…bet I looked really confused when the MM girlies stopped me. LOL! But then it all came back to me! They handed me a postcard that said I won a free Slice starter kit! I was screaming and making a huge scene…but that wasn’t all…then they rolled over a black leather Runway tote…and said I won that too! Oh my goodness. I was ecstatic…I could see from the liner around the handle that the inside was black and white POLKA DOTS! How cute is that?!? Very CUTE!!! Some scrappers from booths around us stopped and listened to what I was winning. I was so bummed because my hubby had the camera. But a random and very sweet lady offered to take my picture and handed me a business card so that I could email her for a copy of the photo. Guess what?!? She is from my home state…just 3 hours away from me…what are the chances?!? So then we rolled back to the MM booth for me to fill out information. I had to call my hubby to come help me as I was already rolling one tote of catalogs and was pretty sure I couldn’t handle two rolling totes in the masses of floor-walking CHAers. It wasn’t until we got back to the concession area for lunch that I realized the rolling tote was FILLED with MM goodies. Wow! I haven’t even looked at the goodies…my sister was in charge of gathering items for CMK prizes…so I just handed her the tote of goodies. It will be fun to go through it all.

And the winners of some NEW Scenic Route goodness are Joli (for being the first to guess MM Slice) and Patti (for being the first to guess MM Runway tote of goodies). Congrats girlies!!

So what have I missed?!? I’m so excited to catch up with you all…

Hello to YOU!! I miss you girlies!! Have you been curious about what I’m buying for us?!? Me too!! LOL!! I’ll be sure to give a report as soon as possible…I’m working on store items and kit items and can barely tell which way is up…and having a complete blast every second!!

So…guess what?!?
Wanna guess?!?
Let’s have a little extra fun…
Guess what I won today.
Not like a little something…
but like a HUGE somethin’ somethin’…
the kind that “makes you stand in the middle of the CHA show floor” and scream something!!
Yep.
I was a grand prize winner.
Now I wasn’t the only one…
but I was ONE!!

So for the CMKer who can guess my grand prize…
(or at least part of it)…
will win some brand new Scenic Route papers!!
Courtesy of the super sweet Nancy from Scenic Route.
Thanks Nancy!!

Okay.
Here’s how it works.
Post your guess in the comments here.
Then go to the forum and give a shout out about our little guessing game and send someone else here to guess.
Make sure they list your name in their guess…so that you’re qualified.
Just in case you’re wondering…
the first and last guess qualify for the Scenic Route goodness automatically.

This little RAK ends whenever I can check in tomorrow night.
Good luck and Happy Guessing!!

P.S. I’m so sorry I have no photos to share today…my camera died…well…just the battery. I was so bummed because I chatted with Michelle, and met Terri, Norma, Audrey, and Carrie for the first time!! I will find them and grab photos tomorrow…PROMISE!!

I love these girls…

Having them home for summer break is one of my favorite things of the season!!
Wanna know what else I love?!?
Scrapping in the summer!!
Is it just me or do you have more pics in the summer too?!?
I was just thinking that my hubby really needs to pick up my latest photo order…the little photo guy may no longer be my friend. LOL!!

But I can’t wait to scrap…the Scenic Route Appleton is burning a hole in my scrappy stash!! And the July Card Kit is ready!! And wouldn’t you know…Taylor has a polka dot outfit that matches the Sundress collection by Luxe Designs featured in the “Summer Love” card kit. Yay me!!

And check out the hot creations by Danielle Flanders…

Detailed instructions for these stunning cards are included with your purchase of the July “Summer Love” Card Kit…available to members NOW and coming to the CMK store on July 15th. Enjoy!!

And we’re headed to CHA-Summer…
Stay tuned for LIVE reports from Chicago…
WOOHOO!!!

Here is an up close view of the July Layout Kit. We promised it would be hot, Hot, HOT!! What do you think?!?

And don’t forget…3-month CMK Layout Kit Subscriptions are available NOW!! The purchase of a Layout Subscription today would pay for this “Pops in the Park” kit (at a great discount!!) and prepare your account for automatic billing and shipping of the August and September layout kits. Add-ons are also available via subscription.

Shop Layout Kit Subscription

Happy Hump Day to YOU!!

The new Passport collection by Making Memories will be showcased in the June card kit. And it is absolutely gorgeous!! And wait until you see Danielle Flanders’ creations for this month…simply stunning!!

I hesitate to put up a sneak peek…
tomorrow I could show you more…
today you may think my combo is crazy…
of course…
you may still think that tomorrow…
soooooo…
here’s a peek of the June Layout Kit:

We’ll round out the layout kit after the FedEx truck pulls out tomorrow.
But for now…what do you think?!?
And we have some super fun surprises for our Layout Members!! Stay tuned…

LOL!! Apparently it takes two giant pieces of bubble gum to create the best bubbles…at least according to Emma. I just had to grab a photo of her tonight because she immediately told me that her gum matched the new color of our kitchen walls…let’s not discuss how she discovered that fact!! Isn’t she the cutest?!? I can’t wait to scrap these “how to” photos…

And guess what…
I’ve already selected the perfect papers…
You’ll see them in the May Card Kit released on the 15th (or the 13th if you’re a member!)…

That’s the BEST part of the card kits at CMK…you receive detailed instructions to create 4 amazing cards by designer Danielle Flanders AND you can use your extras for layouts! How cool is that?!? I’m hooked. How about you?!?