The Eyes have it

I was inspired this morning - Kate has a picture up on her blog of some crazy new lipstick she plans to wear for an 80's party (WHY would ANYONE want to do THAT again!). The fantastic part of the photo for me, however, wasn't the screaming red lips (and they were, LOL) but rather how beautifully the shot captured her lovely eyes. This was the result:

I thought the quote was especially perfect in light of her current occupation ;) Love you, sweetheart.

Random, Oh So Random, Thoughts

1) DH and I drove to Utah yesterday, because he had to come here on business this week, and what sort of idiot would try to actually fly out of Denver this week? LOL. Good time to be gone, for sure. So now I sit in air conditioned comfort gazing out my hotel window at lovely mountains after eating food someone else cooked for me out of dishes someone else will wash - all this makes up for having to sleep in a ::gasp:: queen sized bed! However, for such a tiny (ha ha) bed, it was insanely comfortable, which in itself is very unusual for a hotel. Only downside is that it's supposed to be 99 degrees here today, but again, see above-referenced air conditioning comment.

2) I've been enjoying reading all about my older daughter's adventures teaching English in South Korea. While mulling it over in my mind yesterday, I came to the alarming realization that many key elements in my life lately have been Kate's leftovers. Seriously. The job I recently quit? Originally hers. My car? Hers. My hamster? Hers. Yikes! When I mentioned this to my darling husband, he quipped, "Hmmm, I've heard it said that parents try to live vicariously through their children, but that might be taking it just a little too far!" I want to establish NOW that I have no intention of going to South Korea and teaching English. NONE.

3) Speaking of DH quips, his latest amusement is to talk about what a "Hot" wife he has. Unfortunately, the punch line is "hot for ten minutes, then she's too cold, then she's hot..." Let me say right now that menopause jokes aren't that funny. Except it really was, and I laughed right out loud (no rolling on the floor however).

4) Today is Molly's first day of school, and I won't be there to make chocolate chip cookies. Sad. Yeah, sure, she's 22 years old, and it's her 5th (!) year of college, and yes, she made them herself yesterday, but still...

5) We drove by an IKEA yesterday. This fascinates me, and I hope there's time to stop when we drive back the other way. I've read about IKEA for years, with the deepest of interest (yes, and jealousy) and Denver isn't scheduled to get one for another 2-3 years. Besides, how can you not want to go to IKEA after reading IKEAGoddess' blog for so long? LOL. If I had a car today I would be sorely tempted to try to get there, although getting back to where I belong would be interesting as "direction" is not a word my brain works well with. (apologies to all English teachers for that last sentence - just trying to prove that I'm not stealing Kate's job in Korea)

6) Am I the only one who wonders what I'll watch on TV now that the olympics are over? :)

For the Boys.

Ok, moms of boys! This one is for you!
Download free mini kit HERE
Then check out the full kit at my STORE!

It's getting to be that time, again...

It's starting to get cool at night, again. This is a big sigh of relief for me, because I am just not a hot weather person. Even though we have air conditioning, and I am not reluctant to use it, I still miss the cool crisp Colorado air. We've also had some rain, which has cleared up the view of the mountains quite a bit, lol. I miss them without their defining topping of snow, though.

With cooler air comes thoughts of fall, and with thoughts of fall comes... thoughts of school.

Do I hear cheering from the parents' stands? LOL, I thought I did. After all the shock of paying for supplies and wrangling new clothes for impatient kiddos, it's just about time to send them back. And you know there will be pictures. I have pix of my girls from nearly every year (I just don't know where they are, and I haven't scrapped any of them, heh heh. Yet.), usually grinning on the front steps - it was a tradition of sorts. They always look so clean and tidy. Notice, there are no pictures of the last day of school, because everything is usually in shreds by then (mostly my patience.)

So for those of you who take those pictures and need to scrap them, I've put together Back2School - there's a mini here to download, and the big kit is available in my store (image is linked). Happy scrapping, and who's baking cookies?


Download mini kit HERE.

Then visit my store at Plain Digital Wrapper for the Full Kit! Our sale is still going on, so it's 30% off!

Games! Fun! Scrapping! Prizes!

The International Scrapbooking Games
have begun at Plain Digital Wrapper!

Join us through August 24 for

• fantastic challenges,
• fun trivia
• 29.9% off STOREWIDE and more!

Over 40 winners will be awarded more than $2000 in prizes!

See the International Scrapbooking Games Forum
at Plain Digital Wrapper for complete details

An announcement, And a Freebie. Maybe they're related?

I'm pleased to announce that this morning, the Julie. It is. store opened at Plain Digital Wrapper. I'm so thrilled to be a part of this great group of designers, and hope you will come visit us often! Plans are in the works for some exciting events in our forums, and I will be back in the next day or so to give you the all of the details.

I'm also excited about the new goodies I have in my store!


In order to celebrate, here's a mini kit to go with Sultry Summer :


(Links are further along - keep reading!)

Lastly, a friend and fellow scrapper could use a little help. Well, actually...her son could use the help. He is trying to win a $20,000 scholarship and a large part of winning that scholarship is getting people to view his YouTube video.

Here is the info on the scholarship so you know it's on the up and up.

So, instead of leaving me comments, would you please take a minute and watch his video? I know he and his family would appreciate it!

Here is the blog post with the video

Thank you, everyone! Download HERE