Lauren Ferguson | There are no mistakes in art, just opportunites to embellish. (tm)

I ran away from home today!!!

OMG!!!

Have you ever had one of those weeks were you know that you have too much on your plate?

You can get it done if you don't get overwhelmed but as soon as you slack you are done...  Stick a fork in you... done...

Well, it was on of those weeks.

I just had to keep moving.  I could not make any time mistakes. 

I have been making books to the point where my fingers hurt from pulling the needles.  But I love the way that they look and I love even more how it all came together in the end.

Sorry, I cannot show any photos.  I have to keep a secret.  So that is all that I can say, without getting beat up by my new friend.

I promised my mother that I would go over to her house with the kids for a BBQ today.  We were suppose to be there are 2.00pm and I did not get there until almost 3.00pm.

Then I had to run back to the house for things that you inevitably leave.

Oe my way back, I realized that I just did not have the energy to deal. 

I mean not that there were any bad feelings or good feelings. 

I just plain did not have it.  I was beat.

Y'all, I ran away.

I told my Dad that I was leaving and he could not tell my Mom.  Yep, y'all, I asked my Dad for permission to run away from home and leave him with my kids, my husband, and a slew of other people.

He told me to run as fast as I could and not to look back.

So I ate some food, made my rounds of hellos and snuck out the garage on the way to empty the recycling. 

I have been home in my quite house cleaning my craft room and doing my laundry with my friend Cat from Chicago on the phone..

Oh, it has been a great Mama.

I ran away from home day.

Y'all should try it.

until we meet again,

I cannot keep a secret like I can't hold my water!!

Now for those of you who know me, I cannot keep a secret. 

Well, that is not true... I can keep a secret if you tell me it is a secret. Please let me keep hope alive.

And that is only a gaurantee if I either forget what you told me or don't find it gossip worthy.

But most of the time people do not tell me things that are going to effect the outcome of world peace.

Well, I had no idea that I was suppose to wait until today to tell about Tattered Angels Design Team.

MY BAD!!  OPPPSSS!

OK, so now I can tell you that it is OFFICIAL.

And apparently the ladies have heard and had me sign a confidentiality non-disclosure agreement.  Now it is all legal and I have to keep my mouth shut.

Oh, the pain that I am going to suffer through silently. 

I am so excited to introduce y'all to the rest of the ladies.

Vicki Chrisman's is vickichrisman.blogspot.com,
Tena Sprenger's is tenasprenger.typepad.com,
MichelleVan Etten's is trendyscrapper.typepad.com,
Trisha Ladouceur's is trishaladouceur.blogspot.com
and
of course me.

I am once again surrounded by some of the most amazing women.  They just amaze me in what and how they do that thing that they do.

Today I have been busy trying to meet some deadlines.  I am completing the finishing touches tonight. 

I will catch y'all up again tomorrow.

until we meet again,

Some days are good and others are great!!!

Yesterday was not so great... But today was a super fantastic day.

First, I woke up with Yoda energy dripping off the side of my bed.  I have a project to do and it all came together this afternoon.  As a matter of fact, I am almost done.  I just need to make sure that it is as perfect as perfect can be.

Then I read my email before I took the kids to school and there was an email from my new girlfriend, Julianna Hudgins from HSN.

Julianna was at Memories Expo in NJ.  She sat in one of my classes for two hours and hung out with the girls.

We sat at the crop together and chatted about what inspires me and how I got here.  It was such a wonderful brush with greatness.

My whole weekend was all about how I met the "HSN Lady".  Of course, everyone would laugh at me, but when she told me that we were now girlfriends, I almost wet my pants.

Can I say that what really made it even nice was just her down to earth personality and her approachability.

I did not start to sweat until about 45 minutes into the 2 hour class.  Yes, she made me sweat when I realized that she really did come to hang out with me.

And you and I both know that there is never such an encounter without a story behind it...  So let me get to telling y'all what happened.

After class was over and we are all getting ready to take pictures, I am up front taking a drink of my Special K₂O water. I just wanted to wet my whistle so my lips are not dry before my closeup with Julianna. 

Well, you guessed it.  I got a hole in my lip and dribbled right down the front of my clean white shirt. 

OMG I was so mad, I could not take a close up with a dirty shirt on.  I was not willing to Photoshop out the stain. 

Have no fear ladies, no need to find another shirt.  I don't know about you, but my shirt has two sides a front and a back. 

Yes, I did!!  I turned that bad boy around and proceeded to smile like it was all good. Everyone laughed and thought that I had lost my mind.

You know what they say a girl has got to do what a girl has got to do.

But that is not all that happened today. 

Tattered Angels the manufacturers of Glimmer Mist have decided to create a design team and they asked me if I wanted to be on it. 

AHHHH  YEAH!!

Need they ask me twice.  I love this stuff.  I have every color they make and would love to just take a bath in it.  I use it all the time. 

And in spite of what everyone is saying, there is nothing like Glimmer Mist.  The colors are to die for and the "glimmer" does not clog the mister.

Today is a really progressive day.

Well, I would tell you more, but then I would have nothing to tell you tomorrow.

So as we say in blog land...

until we meet again,

How many ways can you eat CLAMS???

I had such a blast in Manchester, NH.  Manchester is only about 30 minutes from Boston. 

I have not been back to Boston since I graduated.  I have not found a reason to go back. 

One of my best friends passed away suddenly three years ago.  The majority of people that I went to school with moved to other places.  So there was never any reason to go back until now.

I had to teach at CKC Manchester.  I had a great time.  The first thing I did when I landed was run to the Clam King.

I ordered fried whole clams and licked my fingers when they were all gone.

I then went to a local seafood bar and had everything that I could have ever wanted.

I had clams on the half shell.  I had oysters on the half shell.  I had  cherry stones on the half shell.  They were small and out of season, but they were good none the less. 

I had New England clam chowder. I had a clam roll, I had fried fish sandwich, I had it anyway I could get it.

I never realized how much I missed the whole fresh fish thing. 

It was a regular on a Saturday to go to Boston Fish Market at 6.00 am to get the first catch.

It was a great time. 

I am tired and going to spend some time with kids. 

until we meet again,

I finally put the camera on auto focus...

I was trying to figure out why all of the other photos were so out of focus.  I had to put the camera on auto focus and the waving hand.  So that it would stop shaking when Chi-Chi took a photo.

When we were at Shannon's we went to one of those artsy fartsy towns. 

I gave Chi-Chi the camera and told her to have a blast.  Well, I was surprised at how much better she has gotten with taking photos.

She loves taking pictures now!!!



until we meet again,

bagles, pizza and dunkin donuts... oh my

Yep, I have finally gotten over the fact that I will not have these things for a long time.

OK, so let me back up a bit...

Shannon's husband Ken took Chi Chi fishing for the first time in her life.

According to Chi-Chi the worms are "gross" but the fishing in fun. 

Ken is a strictly fish and release type guy.

She really had a great time.  When she came back she was all smiles and quite excited about her accomplishments. She caught 4 fish.

Then I went and spent some time with my Uncle Van and Aunt Glenda. 

It had been over a year since I had seen them and Chi-Chi loves going there. I think it is mostly for the pineapple upside down cake that she makes.  I forgot to ask for one this year, but don't you worry, I will not forget next time.

I drove past the house I lived in two times this weekend.  I really miss that house. I know that I have not lived there in years. I just always thought that mom and dad would be there forever. 

We had a blast and I can't wait to go back.  I had a blast. 
I love Atlanta.

And I miss my Bagels, Pizza and Dunkin' Donuts.

until we meet again,

family portaits by chi-chi

I was looking through the photos and saw that chi-chi had taken a bunch of the whole family and some of them are just precious.

It is amazing what she sees and how she sees it.  Don't you just love the mind of a 5 year old. 



I had to stop and take a really good look and figure out which one of the kids these pictures were. 

I love the look into her world. 

She is just amazing. 

And to think that these are the body parts that she focused on.  Yes, that is my mouth.  Say no more.

until we meet again,

the world according to chi-chi

OK, I have a new category to introduce...

It is called the world according to Chi-Chi.  Yep, that is what I have finally decided to call it.

I had an old digital camera and was going to throw it away.  A friend told me to give it to Chi-Chi and let her take pictures of her world.

What a great idea!!! 

I loved it and that is what we have been doing for a while now.  She is having a blast taking pictures of anything and everything.

So every so often, I am going to go through and share some of them with you.  I promise not to change, enhance, edit or rotate any of the photos in any way.  This is chi-chi's world unedited.

Now you know and I know there is no way that I could share them all, she has taken too many photos to even begin to do that, but I have decided that I am going to keep them all. 

Yep out of focus and all.  Then I am going to make her an album of my favorites with a CD inside of the rest.

Just one more thing to put in her time capsule for when she turns 16.

until we meet again,

home sweet home

Can I say that it is good to be home!!!

I had the best time in New Jersey.

I got a chance to hang out with old friends and meet new ones.

I met some really great women.  They were just fabulous.  They made me laugh like we do in Jersey. 

Loud and from the pit of our stomachs.

PLUS, I got to go to AC Moore.  We don't have one in the Atlanta area, and I love it even more when I have a coupon.

It just amazes me how young our kids are starting out crafting.  I am always impressed with the lack of fear to try something new and different. 

I am so excited to have the young ones in the class.  They really show the adults what it means to step out there and have fun.

until we meet again,

I am truly blessed!!!

Can I just tell you how blessed I am!!!

First let me go backwards to go forward...

In my other life, I was at the top of my game and people came to me to ask for help or get answers to questions that seemed impossible.

Now in this whole paper crafting thing, I am the one running and asking questions and getting help and getting answers.  And each time I thank my lucky stars that I have enough phone numbers in my iPhone to get most of my needs met.

Well, here I am in NJ visiting one of my best friends in the whole wide world.  I have known Shannon for over 20 years.  She knows stuff about me that my mother does not even know.  You know, we all have a group of girl friends like that.  Trust me, she could write a tell all book about me.

Anywho, as we are driving to dinner, I jump in the car with her husband Ken.  He is a great guy and just worships the ground that she walks on.  I love him because he loves her like cooked food.  He is also an avid fisherman and he took Chi-CHi fishing for the first time this evening.  Yes, She caught her first fish... But that is for another blog entry.

OK, no more digressing...

Well, I am telling him about this life changing experience that I am living and some of my struggles right now.  He looks me dead in my face and says "Lauren, I can solve both of those problems for you with a phone call."

He gets on the phone, set up an appointment for me on Sunday before I get on the airplane to come back to Atlanta and he has a friend shipping me a box to my house that will be there before I get home.

Never ever in my wildest dreams did I ever think that my non-scrapbooking friend's husband would ever be able to help me the way that he has this evening.

For me it is not the details of the help, but the fact that no matter what road my crazy life takes me down, all of my friends are willing to support me in this process and they wish the best for me.

All I can say is watch out because I am woman and hear me roar...  with the help of my friends and family.

Y'all, I am truly blessed to live in my skin!!!

until we meet again,