Texas, This, That & The Other Thing...

Whew! What a crazy weekend!

I'm back from a whirlwind trip to Texas and the amazing store, Crop Paper Scissors! The owner, Emmalie, is such a beautiful and hospitable lady with a stunning home. I really enjoyed spending time with her and all the wonderful ladies who came out to for both the crop and my classes. A special, huge shout out to my Studio Calico ladies - Jacquie, Diana, Rita, KLiz, Reyanna, Aimee and Stephanie - it was so awesome to see all of you! I had a ball! We'll have to do it again sometime!


And speaking of Ms. Stephanie...I had the absolute joy of hanging out with her and her girls on Sunday at her home and over lunch. Those three are so much fun and I swear if I could have fit Harper and Sadie in my suitcase, they totally would have been coming home with me. I think I could justify it because then I wouldn't have to steal Steph's pictures anymore! HA!


Instead I settled on taking a few pictures of them myself while I was there. Have you ever seen anything more joyous than these faces? Ok, so they were actually screaming..uh, screeching?...initially but then they got laughing so hard! I love that I captured some real smiles, especially this grin from Miss Sadie who's still waiting for her front two teeth to come in! ;) Thanks again for everything, Stephanie! Next time, you have to come up here!

So with all that warm Texas weather (ok, at least warmer than Kentucky, but cold for Texans!), it was a bit of a shock to come up to a threat of snow. The boys are NOT thinking that's a cool way to be spending their Spring Break, especially since some of their friends are down in Florida. Ah, well, perhaps next year. Carson did get to have an Easter Egg hunt on Friday before break, though. It had been scheduled to be at a classmate's house, but due to some horrible rain that morning, got moved to the church gym. No matter to all the kids - it just made the candy eggs that much easier to find! A big thank you to my friend, Stacy, for taking these sweet pictures for me while I was away! I love them!

Where are those eggs again?!


Look! Here's one!


And a whole basketful!


And even though the May issue is now out, I'm holding on to the fact that it's still April! I'm so excited to share this month's cover of Creating Keepsakes Magazine with you. I had the huge honor of working with this beautiful Amanda Bottoms photo (of her own gorgeous daughter) to do one of three cover options for this issue. I was thrilled when Brittany Beattie surprised me at CHA by telling me mine was the one selected. I think they did a beautiful job with it and it was so exciting to get my copy in the mail.

I've had a few people email me about how I did the flowers - they were cut from KI Memories lace cardstock and then backed with coordinating colors of Bazzill. The button centers are by BasicGrey. They are super simple to do and I think they look very spring-y!

Supplies:
SEI & Scenic Route PP, KI Memories Lace Cardstock, Bazzill cardstock, BasicGrey buttons, Zig pen, Colorbox (Clearsnap) chalk ink, Heidi Swapp (Advantus) chipboard alphas, DMC floss

That's it for now! Hope you had a beautiful Monday!

xoxo,
k.

Scrap for a Cure

Hi, all!

Months ago, Patti at Scrap for a Cure emailed me to see if I would be interested in being a guest designer for them. I jumped at the chance because I always love supporting good kit clubs, but also because I completely think it's an amazing thing they're doing in supporting various charities each quarter. I just love that. And add to the incentive, the month they asked me for happened to be a BasicGrey packed month. Ah! So I'm officially Miss April...or something like that! ;)

Here are a few projects I created with their fantastic kit:

I don't often do layouts of myself, but I'm trying hard to do better. These shots are from a self-portrait session I was doing to try and get a new headshot! They crack me up and I thought they'd be fun to put on a page. I love love love how the ledger paper by Little Yellow Bicycle (that is also that orange on the reverse side) goes so beautifully with BasicGrey's Marrakech. Good stuff!

This layout was based on a sketch by my uber-talented friend, Becky Fleck. I LOVE sketches when I don't have time to think of a design on my own and Becky's are some of the best. She rocks some serious sketches. I think this is one she did when we did some joint efforts over at the Hero Arts blog. If you haven't checked out her site - PageMaps - you must do so now! :)

And here are a few cards. The first one is a window design that was inspired by Lisa and the girls over at Hero. They just did a week of window cards and I was completely fascinated. This is my first attempt at something even 1/2 as creative. It was definitely fun and I've already tried the technique again!

This is the front (it's laying flat so you can really see the window):



And this is the same card opened:



And a couple of more:




I had a lot of fun with this kit and I really hope you'll check Patti and the girls at Scrap for a Cure out! Thank you so much for letting me be apart of it!

xoxo,
k.

The LOOT (oh yeah, and the winner, too!)

Because so many of you asked...here's a little peek at the loot I'll be shipping to the lucky gal who's number came up in the Random Number Generator. This is one time when you might just hope you're number would come up!


It's just a sampling...it could be more as I finish purging. I like doing things "superdidooper" as some of you know. Several things got added last night. And well...I'm still not done. It's a pretty good haul if I do say so myself. But I do want to clarify one thing...there's not much BasicGrey in there because I'm purging and I don't purge that very often as I never know when I'll be having to use it. There are a few things though, so don't despair - things like papers from each of the four most current lines, possibly. Technically those aren't purged, but I had enough to share and I thought you might enjoy them (along with the oh, 50 or so sheets of other papers that are hidden a bit here and are gorgeous but I can never seem to find time to use!) I was hardcore this purge, no lie.

Ok, so to prevent further rambling - the lucky number was:



Which means KANDI - You're my gal! Send me an email at kelly.goree@gmail.com and I'll mail off your winnings!

Thank you all so much for playing and happy Monday!

xoxo,
k.

Friendly Reminders!

Hey all!

Happy Sunday to you!

I just have a few little reminders that I wanted to get out there so that you can get in on some fun stuff going on.

The first thing I want to put out there is that I'm going to be teaching in Waco, Texas at Crop, Paper, Scissors this weekend! I'm so excited! I'll be attending their Friday night (April 3rd) crop and then we have three classes on the books for Saturday (April 4th) - two different mini album classes and a layout class. For more info, please click here. It's going to be tons of fun and I really hope to see you there.
I'm so looking forward to going back to Texas, especially during bluebonnet season...and I have a date with two little chickies who need their picture taken with all that blue around them!

Also, please make sure to leave a comment on the post below by midnight tonight to win my version of a TOSGA give-away! I'm cleaning and purging and there is a big box that could be headed your way!

And...because I hate posting without a photo (especially twice in a row), here's Turner getting ready to ride a roller coaster on the midway at a little Irish Festival down in Tennessee last weekend. (How's THAT for a run-on sentence??!) Have I mentioned my kiddos are dare devils? Especially Carson - it's the teeny ones you have to look out for!

xoxo,
k.

Cleaning & Purging - CONTEST NOW CLOSED!

*****Contest is now Closed. Winner to be announced shortly.*****

Ok, that doesn't sound so appetizing but boy is it liberating! My local scrapbook store (the only one still left in a 30 mile radius) is getting ready for their annual yard sale and I figured this was a good time to get rid of all those old supplies I've been hoarding. I wouldn't have thought my little scrap closet would hold so much, but I've been surprised, let me tell you!

So in celebration of getting rid of all this stuff, I thought I'd do a little giveaway. I'm taking a cue from my friend & fellow Kelly/i, Kelli Crowe, and doing a TOSGA (Thursday Old Stuff Give-Away) but on a Friday! I can't promise you what will be in it, but I can promise you I'll fill up a Flat Rate box with all the goodies I can shove in there. Some may be newer than others but it'll all be good!

So I'll give you to say Sunday Night at 11:59 EDT to leave me a little comment to be entered to win. I'll draw the winner Monday morning and your package will be on it's way!

Happy Friday!

xoxo,
k.

The Wall

I have been a huge fan of this crazy wall ever since my mother-in-law moved not three blocks or so from it. I can see it when I stand in her yard and I couldn't get rid of this mad desire to take some pictures there. This weekend I got my chance!

I dragged Ethan with me first. He was not happy about it but evenutally gave me a few fun shots. And seriously? That texture just knocks me out! LOVE it!

Since Ethan didn't want to stay long (in fact, he ran back into the car not long after we got started - HA!), I begged my 18-year-old nephew, Kyle, and his girlfriend Natalie to come with me for a few minutes. Kyle's a ham and always game for just about anything. I adore that about him.

And isn't the way Natalie is looking at him so sweet? They've been best friends since they were freshmen I think and have dated off and on since junior year. It's not much longer until prom (her dress is amazing!) and then graduation. I've known this kid since he was three. It's all going way to fast for me.

And finally they all indulged me with a few jumping shots. These were my faves. I crack up every time I look at them! I can't wait to hit that wall again with the entire crew and a bit more time.



I hope all is well out there in blogland. Carson had his first soccer practice of the season last night (always a hoot!) and we're still trying to get the croup out of this house. Oy. Here's to a great Tuesday (and a Happy Birthday to my Daddy - I still miss you everyday).

xoxo,
k.

for my sister-in-law

Hi all!

I'm home again....again...I spent this past weekend in Nashville visiting my husband's family & celebrating my mother-in-law's birthday. It had been over a year since we had been down and it was so nice to be back. I really had missed them - especially this sweetie. This is my niece, Tristen. While I was down, my super-persuasive sister-in-law convinced me to do a quick portrait session in her gorgeous Easter dress. Of course it didn't take much persuasion. We know how I jump at the chance to take some girlie pictures! And her mama had just the place in mind - an old farm with beautiful fencing and blooming buttercups made a perfect backdrop.


I can't believe how grown up she's gotten. She was much more happy to pose for me this time than she was in our last session and even more so when we let her do a few with her new puppy. Aren't they too cute together?


More photos to follow from a busy weekend. I also conned my 18 year-old nephew and his girlfriend into a few shots along with a few of Ethan when I found this awesome wall. I'm feeling very inspired and can't wait for a productive week!

Hope you had a great one, too!
xoxo,
k.

Home Again!

Hi all!

I'm finally home (and re-settling back in) from a long weekend up on the Jersey Shore! I had some fabulous students attend the classes I taught at Scrapbook Cafe and I enjoyed every minute of it! Thank you so much to all of you, especially Angela, for having me up there and making me feel so welcome!

The extended part came because I also got to visit with my best friend, Ann Marie, and her adorable daughter, Lydian! It was a much needed girl's weekend even if one of the girls was only 16m old!

To say I was in heaven would be an understatement and I won't begin to bore you with even a portion of the 1000 or so pictures I took of the baby girl! (I'll just share one or two - ha!) She was a real trooper as her mama and I drove all over the Jersey shore (including Atlantic City - a definite, um, adventure!), outlet shopping, eating out and everything in between. I even did a couple of mini sessions - one on the beach with her mama and one with a couple of fun, green balloons. Thank you so much, girls, for having me and I love you both! Can't wait to see you again very soon!

But as much fun as I had, I was so glad to get back to my boys. Turner, especially seemed to miss his mama as he kept telling me over and over again as he climbed in bed with me in the morning. So sweet!
Hope you all had a fantastic St. Patty's Day and managed to not get pinched...unless you wanted it!

OH! And ETA: Today is the last day to enter BasicGrey's FABULOUS FABRIC Contest! See my post below for all the details! Good luck! :)

Here's to a glorious Wednesday! It's 75 and sunny here in Kentucky. Happy Hump Day!

xoxo,
k.

For all you Sew Scrappy Happies

This is for all my sew scrappy happy people out there - BasicGrey is offering yet another contest and his time it's for YOU!

As was announced in our March newsletter, BasicGrey is having a FABULOUS FABRIC contest and here are the details:

Smell something sweet? It’s contest time here at BasicGrey and this one offers three opportunities to win! Enter our card, layout or album/altered category by uploading your entry into the BG gallery online using “Fabric Contest” as the subject line. Entries must use fabric (any brand or style) in creative, innovative and beautiful ways. A winner in each category will receive a Sultry™ fabric “Sweet Roll” (1” x 36” strips of all 40 fabrics) and a 40-piece set of 5” x 5” fabric squares. This fabulous fabric contest begins 3/5/09 and ends 3/18/09. Winners will be announced in our April newsletter. Fabric — make it your new favorite embellishment!

So hurry and enter to win! We can't wait to see what you can do with fabric!

And speaking of the March newsletter, I want to send a huge thanks to Suzy West, Kristina Proffitt and Joy Uzarraga for lending their talents to us this month! You ladies did a fabulous job and I hope everyone will check it out! And one last thing before I head out for the day to enjoy this beautiful weather we're having (Sunny & 75 - yay!!!), I'll leave you with the two projects that were my contribution to this month's newsletter.

The first is from Becky's sketch and features the line LIME RICKEY which will be shipping in just a couple of weeks.

This is Carson and his frog wellies - the kid can't get enough! But I have to tell you, it's even better when he wears them with shorts! ;)

The next one is featuring my favorite line from our Winter release. I adore it because it's so very versatile. This is Marrakech used on a layout about my Turner at six. (These were his six-year-old portraits).

Have a fabulous day!
xo,
k

Teaching

Hi all!

I promised more updates and I'm trying to live up to that claim! It's easy when you have something you really want to share. Some of you may have noticed on my sidebar (to the right) that I have a lot (to me!) of upcoming travel dates. Some exciting things have been happening at BasicGrey and one of them is that we are now doing the Scrapbook Expo circuit! YAY!

So beginning with the San Diego Expo in May (where you'll get both of us! A two-fer!) until the end of the year, either the awesome Becky Fleck or I will be teaching at these events for BasicGrey! Becky and I have been working hard to make these some knock-out classes (there will be four different ones offered per show)and we're excited to share them. I really hope you'll come out and join us if the show comes to a location near you! I think you'll be glad you did! (I have to put out a disclaimer that unfortunately this will not include the Santa Clara Expo as we both already had conflicts with that event. I apologize to those in the SC area.)

Additionally, I'll be traveling to more local scrapbook stores as I can to do weekend sessions. The first one for this year is coming up next weekend (March 14th & 15th). It's at Scrapbook Cafe in Tuckerton, NJ (on the Jersey Shore) run by Angela, one of the nicest gals ever! I'm pleased to be offering two classes while I'm there - a "Love Notes" mini album class featuring BasicGrey's Porcelain collection (offered both Saturday and Sunday) and a double-page layout class featuring BasicGrey's Marrakech called "Now & Forever" on Saturday. I'm so excited to be there as I've never been to the Jersey shore AND I get to see my best friend who just happens to live in Tuckerton. She's not a scrapbooker - yet - but I'm hoping this trip might convince her! ;)


For all the details, please contact Angela at scrapbookcafe2@yahoo.com or visit her website at http://www.scrapbookcafenj.com/. I hope those of you in the area will come and join us for an amazing day of scrapping! :)

So lately, life has been a bit like this...

Seriously.

I can't even explain how insane the past couple of weeks has been but I think this picture gives you some clue! (But isn't Ethan rockin' his new trampoline trick?!)

So, she lives. She lives. Thank you so much to those of you who have been concerned and taken a minute to inquire about me! I assure you it's nothing more serious than a crazy weather pattern that has put the sickies in our house and a super-heavy workload. On the upside, the sickies are going, the work is being done and I feel like I can breathe for the first time in a bit. Of course now that I say that, I'm sure I just shot myself in the foot. It would figure, wouldn't it? :)

I hope things have been calmer for you and yours and I am going to try and be around more. I miss me, too!

xoxo,
k.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I think this might be one of the best valentine's I ever got! Love this from my little man, especially because when you open it up, it says "THIS MUCH!" all in his cute little five-year-old handwriting! So sweet...and those feet? Ha!

Just popping on here a minute to announce the winners of my Valentine Giveaway but first I want to THANK YOU so much for all your awesome ideas! WOW you all are so creative! So far we've done heart-shaped powered sugar donuts and there's more to come :) Hope all of you are having a day dedicated to those you love, too!

Huge congratulations to: #14 and #30 which means Ms. Harley Dee (who's name just happened to be sandwiched in between two past winners!) is the winner of the Porcelain pack and Ms. Erin Sweeney (whooohooo!) is the winner of the Lime Rickey goodness! Email me at kelly.goree@gmail.com with your addys, ladies, and they will be on their way!

xo,
k.

Quick Reminder!

Tomorrow is the last chance to get in on my Valentine's Day giveaway! Don't forget to leave a comment a couple of posts down! The ideas you creative people have come up with are just amazing! I can't wait to try some of them out!

I'm hoping to be back tomorrow with a few pictures! Until then I'm off to get some work done and enjoy this gorgeous day!

xo,
k.

I can see the light...

...the sweet light of the sun, that is! FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY we had a break from all our snowy weather to have a weekend that was in the 60s both days! Glorious! Even more glorious was that the boys could spend most of the day outside playing, which they did. I loved it. They loved it. They especially loved all the mud created by the huge melted snow drifts. That *I* didn't love as much! Ha! Check out the pants and wellies on this boy. His big brothers were worse, but they wouldn't stop for pictures of course! I'll take the mud any day if we can bring on SPRING! Who's with me?!
Don't forget to sign up this week for the PORCELAIN and LIME RICKEY giveaway I have going on in the post below! I need some awesome Valentine's ideas! Keep 'em coming!

Have a wonderful day! It's Parent/Teacher conferences here today. And let me just say it's MUCH better on this end than it was being the kid! ;)

xo,
k.

It's a Two-fer!

I mentioned last week (earlier this week?) that I just *might* be a little giveaway sometime soon...and it looks like that time is NOW! And since I felt so bad that it took me so long to get it posted, I'm not doing just one, but TWO! The first is a PORCELAIN prize pack that included the 18 sheets of Porcelain papers, the glazed brads, regular brads and a set of bitty stamps. The other prize is exactly the same, but features the new LIME RICKEY! Fun, fun stuff here! Perfect for getting you out of any *February Funk* you might be in. Trust me, the funk is dangerous....just ask my best friend! ;)
Anyhow...the details. I'm going to make you work a bit for this one, folks. I am looking for Valentine's ideas. Lay some of your best ones on me, I've got some planning to do :) You have until 11:59 PM Friday, the 13th (eeps!) and then I'll pick two winners (one for each package) this Saturday morning, Valentine's Day, as my own little thank you.

XO,
k.

More BasicGrey from CHAW09!

Ahhhh! Can you hear the angels singing?? My internet is back up and running, the kiddos are all back in school after a week of snow days, and I have my McD's diet coke right next to me. All is right with the world! (We won't discuss the Groundhog incident and the more winter thing...we're focusing on the positive! :))

Since I failed miserably at posting more projects from BasicGrey's Winter Collection the other day, I'm going to try and fix that now...in abundance. AND I might even say that perhaps...a little later in the week...I might have a giveaway of some of that goodness from the show. Not confirming or denying here, just perhaps, so you might want to keep checking back this week! ;)

More LIME RICKEY:



Some MARRAKECH:



WISTERIA:



And Finally some PORCELAIN:



I hoped that helped get your creative juices flowing and that you'll check back later in the week for some blog candy - rumor has it it's a little Porcelain and Lime Rickey... just sayin'!

XO,
k.