some new goodies!

we just all our winter merchandise in at the bucks today... can i just say yum! there is so much, and not that i need anymore mugs and coffee parafanelia, but i just couldn't resist...


this is the cutest art journal... it is filled with colored pencils and a blank tablet...



okay, we are off to a friends house for a new years party... nerdy fun like apples to apples and cranium... we'll share my resolutions tomorrow as i am still narrowing them down...
Happy New Years and here's to a wonderful 2008!
love nikki

top 10 in 2007

okay, so i saw this super cute idea over at the SIStv message boards to share your favorite layouts of 2007.... so in no particular order, here are mine...

i love this one cause it was the begining of a style change.. a change to start doing 1 pic LOs and only single page spreads... plus i just love that i used the entire pack of stickers...


this one because it is a lot more simple than most of my LOs and Rachel is just too cute


okay, how can i not include an entire page devoted to my love of the color green, plus this is the one that was scrapjacked


this one cracks me up cause it is so me.... notice the major journaling error... yup i was talking on the phone while i journaled and never caught it until a few weeks later... oh well!


this one is the first in a series i like to call "i get bored and take too many pictures of my self in the mirror when i have better things to do". plus this LO was for the RVA kit and that was such a fun and cool experience to be a guest designer.


#2 in above mentioned series... love this pic, love these products... love taking pictures


not much to say but the colors make me smile and the journaling and concept is so utterly true


this is the one. the one that jump started my creativity in the beginning of the year, when i thought i couldn't scrap another page and felt so uninspired.... i created this one in under 30 minutes and was hooked back into this awesome hobby


i love all the open white space on this one and photobooths and our relationship go hand in hand... we have 10 years worth of photobooth pics... i love watching us grow each year in a new photobooth series (too bad i grew a little too much)


this one is just plan fun! and the thought behind it rocks (thanks for the idea Elsie) i have actually checked a few off the list already...

a few more...

pics from tahoe...

my dad and i drove up the mountain to watch the moon rise over the lake... it was wonderful and it just made the lake glimmer as it rose....

cute lil dad


lastly, i have to share that i am just so excited for the january PDW kit.... looks so yummy, i can't wait to get my hands on it....

snowmen and sledding

Chistmas is Tahoe was great. We stayed at the cabin by the lake for 4 days. Watching movies, drinking margaritas, playing in the snow.... it was awesome. My dad and I built the best snowman on the block and my brother and I turned the driveway into our own personal sledding hill.... i myself enjoyed riding the shovel, like in "It's a Wonderful Life."

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.... now I'm off to work!
-nikki

happy birthday!

to this guy! my wonderful husband turns 30 today! Happy Birthday Ronny!
We're off to Tahoe for the weekend. Happy Holidays Blogworld!
-nikki

a starbucks christmas...

so it seems everyone this year is making cute little trees out of just about anything... we at the Bucks didn't want to feel left out of the trend so we created this lovley out of coffee and tea bags, coffee filters, a cup and a straw.....
happy holidays!

happy blogger!

cause my blog is working today....
even happier cause i am off work till thursday! yippe! i can't ever remember having 4 days off at christmas time... oh the life of retail....gotta love it!
so as promised, here are the rest of my LOs for PDW..... these ones were made with the December specilty kit.... can't go wrong with some Love, Elsie....

enjoy!

keeping secrets is hard...

but i can finally share this one....
I am on the design team for Polkadot Whimsy, a super cool kit club but together by the talanted Michelle Hill. I got the Decemeber main kit and the specilty kit last Saturday and I was overwhelmed at how much stuff was in them... seriously, this girl packs those kits with tons on yummy goodness. Here are the layouts I made, and the cool thing I still have tons of stuff leftover and can make a bunch more, hopefully after Christmas with some good pics of the family on Christmas day.



okay, well blogger is being stupid and slow today so i will share more layouts later from this kit as it is taking forever to upload the pics.... time to get ready for work....

i almost forgot!

starbucks just announced that this weekend december 14-17 all wholebean coffee and merchandise is 20% off.... this is super cool cause they never do sales like this, ever! also, if you are in my neck of the woods, come on by cause we are doing free gift wrapping at my store along with the sale.....

sharing is caring!

here is my latest creation... this pic was taken at on's grandparent's house on thanksgiving. Afte dinner they got out boxes of really old pictures and we all went through them. then we watched a home movie.... so much fun, i love doing stuff like that. I had a eally hard time ripping this post card... it is a reall vintage postcard i got a bunch off of ebay years ago and never had the guts to use them... i figured it was time to scrap with them....

i'm off work today... hopeing to either scrap or clean my mess of a studio.... or both...

have a great day!

happy sunday!

just wanted to share this layout i did the other day with the new love, elsie zoe line.... my wonderful husband order this whole line for me as an early christmas gift....



thanks for looking!

i've been scrapjacked. I'd love to see you come jack my layout.... check it out!

off to see this girl!

and this dog! tomorrow is my sister Kacy's birthday so i'm off to San Diego to visit and bbq and bowl. super excited. tomorrow is also cowboy's gotcha date... the date she first got her dog. in fact this is their first picture together exactly 1 year ago.

happy thanksgiving

this is one of the first thanksgivings i have had off work in 10 years. we are leaving soon to drive to Parasise, CA to visit Ro'ns family and feast. We'll be back tonight cause i have to work tomorrow and all weekend for that matter.

The tree is so not what was shown in the ebay pic. I am a bit dissapointed. The box made it look so much fuller..... oh well, it is fun and adds a quirky touch to our living room.... if my husband will let me i want to put up the classic green one too....

cupcakes take the cake

i am perfecting my recipe and i found the trick... madagascar bourbon vanilla extract... it is a bit more expensive then regular vanilla but it makes such a difference... it is also the vanilla that sprinkles uses. so i made some thanksgiving cupcakes for my kids at work. the turkeys didn't turn out exactly as i planned becuase i couldn't find the right ingredients but they were still cute... and they tasted great which is the most important part.

oh, my pink tree is here too so i am decorating it and will share some pics later.
happy weds.
-n

photo swap lovin'

i did one with the lovely Rachel Denbow and look at this amazing one she did of me. I freakin love it. she rocked it!
Here's what i made for her. she makes scrappin easy cause her pics are so fun. i love how the red one turned out.... so not my typical colors... plus i love Rachel's creative croppin on that pic.
tfl
-n

mom's always right!

she said the black and whites had to leave the living room. they just don't go anymore. she was right. i want to do something like this


minus the wall paper and with this deer head from pottery barn teen


also, thanks to the encouragment to get my tree up... who cares if it isn't even thanksgiving, i'm goona enjoy this holiday season for as long as i can.... and the tree will go up as soon as it arrives in the mail.....
okay, off to start on some holiday crafts. we'll share later.

cucakes and chirstmas trees

our date last night was great. PF Changs was sooo yummy and we stopped by the cupcake store after and got some yummy treats. I also bought my pink christmas tree yesterday a la ebay... super excited about that!
so is it too early to put it up? i want to start decorating as soon as the tree gets here next week.
I hate when people complain about seeing christmas decorations already. Working retail i hear this alot.
"It's not even thanksgiving yet.... and you already decorated for christmas!!!!"
yes, just like last year and the year before that and the.... deal with it, it is the same time every year! I love it. I celebrate it. I saw a house with lights up yesterday and it made me giddy inside.
so, climbing off my soap box..... is it to early to put up the tree??

running with scissors

so i decided to cut my bangs today.... this rainy weather made me a little bored so i skipped off to the bathroom with some scrapbooking scissors and voila.... i'm happy with the result.... now off for my date with the hubs to PF changs and cupcakes {smiles}

channel your inner girlscout

it's cold and rainy here so i am off to build a fire

Crumple up eight pieces of newspaper, and set directly under grate.
Place four sticks of fatwood kindling (a resin-y pinewood sold at most hardware stores) on top of the newspaper.
Lay down three pieces of firewood in an H formation, and light paper in a couple spots. (If you can find it, try kiln-dried firewood. It has a nice appearance and an ultradry texture, which makes it burn amazingly well.
Let fire blaze a bit, then put in a few more logs, creating a boxlike configuration.
As the fire burns down, add logs in twos.
Pat yourself on the back. Fire-building isn't just for dudes!

pop culture

i am nearly done with my living room redo.... i wanted a pop art feel.... bright colors and funky finds.... i wish i could paint the whole thing, but since we rent it would be kinda silly... so for now white walls it is....
love how this turned out. it makes me smile to look at it.

i love how these turned out, just some old frames that i spraypainted and hung without the glass or pics... i attached black ribbon onto two of them and i love!

this print was in my studio but it now fits much better in the LVR, i will hang my new elsie prints in my studio to replace it

i think i shared these a while back, but they are retro suitcases filled with dvds in the corner

these pics have been in the LVR for a while but i like them, they kinda work for now, until i can do something else on that wall...

sushi cupcakes and itunes, oh my!

it's been another busy week.... we just launched our holiday season at work so i have been busy putting out the red cups and brewing the
christmas blend.
but i did make a super cool purchase from elsie
here

pretty excited to frame it.... and cause i have gotten all of these things this week

i new resturant opened acroos the parkinglot from my store called Sushiholic and it is amazing... i have gotten it for lunch everyday this week, anf they make their rolls with whole grain rice if ya want and tey have a gigantic sized menu...yum!

plus i found the tea cake bake shop on tuesday in emeryville and they have the best cupcakes i have ever had.... we are going back tomorrow cause ron and i can't stop talking about how good they were

and i have been listening to tegan and sara non stop this week, i love all their songs