My mom and I took the girls and my sister to "Fashion Farm" last Friday for a day of pumpkin picking, hayriding, maze finding, art display! It was such a cool little place. The neatest thing about this farm is the tour they have where pumpkins and gourds of all shapes and sizes have been put together, painted, and formed to make fairy tale stories and other fun things. They even had a "Dolly Parton" pumpkin LOL! It was great! Here are some of my favorite shots from our trip:









I spent an interesting day in the ER today. I started with chest pains early this morning. Chad and I dropped the girls off at a friends house and went to the hospital. I have mitre valve prolapse so anytime I have a heart problem I need to go. Well, I was there for around 7 hours while they ran tests. When I first came in I had elevated levels of something (I forgot the term!) in my blood which meant the heart was in distress. They needed to wait 4 more hours to run the test again and the levels has fortunately went down. WHEW! Had I of known that they would be checking my pulse regularly ON MY ANKLES I would have shaved for crying out loud. I kept apologizing, hoping I wasn't cutting their hands with my prickly beasts. So it is good to be home now!

I also wanted to share some of my Papertrunk layouts. Carrie's product is just wonderful to work with and she is such a sweetheart :) :) :)

Thank You Paper Trunk!

So my amazing talented friend Carrie Postma (owner and designer of Paper Trunk)has graciously asked me to be one of her guest designers for the month of October! She has designed 2 fabulous paper lines as well as a stamp line. You can check out her company here Paper Trunk Blog I am thrilled to work with her product this month! And for some reason the picture I posted above came out wonky! Gotta love computers, hmph.

I managed to score a publication with Scrapbook Trends for February 2008. I thought I had been blacklisted LOL! I haven't had a pub with them for A WHILE now. So that made me happy!

Nothing much new here on the homefront. I just got back from one of Hanna's soccers games...I am STILL thawing out. It was FREEZING! And of course I went to the grocery store several hours earlier in flip flops and capri sweats LOL! Yes, I went to the game dressed like this too. Not.Too.Bright.Tina!

The RAK Winner Is....

ABIGAIL!!!!

Please e-mail me at tinalyn33@hotmail.com so I can get these goodies out to you!

They Call Me Moose Track Fudge Stripe...WORD To Your Mother

I found this on my friend Carrie Postma's blog:

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car):
Oreo Blazer
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie):
Moose Track Fudge Stripe...WORD!
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name):
T-Alb...not very "fly" if you ask me.
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal):
Orange Monkey
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born):
Lyn Fort Wayne....huh???
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first):
Albti....*snicker*
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink):
The Green Diet Pepsi
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers):
Kenneth Albert
9. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names):
Marie Taylor
10. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter):
Thompson Tahoma
11. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower).
Fall Poppy
12. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”):
Strawberry Undie....hehehehehe
13. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree):
Toast Willow
14. YOUR ROCK STAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour” and the year):
The Scrapbooking Sunshine Tour 2007

This is hilarious!

I Love This Time of Year!

There is something about fall that just makes me smile! I love the cooler fall weather, the changing colors of the leaves, having bonfires and roasting marshmallows...I am really amazed with any season change really as it reminds just how amazing God really is!





We went to Hilger's Farm Market over the weekend and I got some fun pictures. Too bad we would have had to mortgage our house to actually participate in any of the activities LOL! So we just enjoyed walking around. They had a farmers restaurant, a sunflower maze, pony rides, hay rides, and of course a HUGE market full of pumpkins, ghourds and indian corn.

The girls are really excelling in soccer. Hanna keeps telling me, "Mom, I will try harder next time, I promise." I don't know what it is in society that tells our children they have to be #1 and that winning is the only way we can receive any glory. It is frustrating! I always hold her face in my hands and tell her as long as she tried to hardest, and had fun, that mommy will be proud of her no matter what. Bless her little heart for wanting me to be so proud of her!

I created this layout yesterday (about Chloe and how she persists that a hot dog is not a hot dog, but chicken) and I crack up everytime I look at it. In fact, I showed it to Chloe and asked, "what are you eating in this picture Chloe?" Wanna know what she said? Anyone wanna wager a bet?! Yep, she said "chicken mommy!" Love that girl!

I'd love to hear of any funny stories or experiences you've had lately! Post one here on my blog and I will pick a winner by next Tuesday to get a fun little RAK from me! It will include some new American Crafts chipboard, some Heidi Swapp journaling spots, and an adorable little Rhonna Farrer (Autumn Leaves) stamp.

I recently put a stat counter on my blog just out of sheer curiousity as to who was reading my little ol' blog. Suffice to say I am amazed at the amount of page loads! Thank you so much for "stopping by" to read about my ordinary life!

Taylor Turned Eight!!

We had 15 little girls at our house on Saturday for a birthday party!!! We played bingo, did make up, hair, and nails, and the girls loved it!! I didn't know how it would go having 15 screaming, running, giggling girls in my house for 3 hours. I was pleasantly surprised (well, yes they still did all 3) at how well it went. The girls were all so sweet and loved getting dolled up. Hanna's birthday is in 2 months but I'm not sure I'm ready for another party LOL!

And little Chloe really did it tonight. She got into my liquid chalk for stamping. Oh yes she did! She stamped herself, my scrap table and chair, the carpet, a bunch of buttons and an adorable crocheted flower(GASP), she also chalked up my mattress in my room and my bedroom floor. Chad immediately grabbed her, threw her in the tub, and was really mad that I made him step aside for a picture, hehe. I was stunned and angry but never get any of her antics on film.


Later, as I'm trying to clean the black mess, Chloe comes into my scrapbook room. She puts her hands on her hips, squats down, and proclaims, "YUCH mom, that disgusting!" OH little girl it's a good thing you are so darn cute....she then hugged me and told me she loved me and did the same to Chad. He suggested that she is like that candy called "Sourpatch Kids." Have you seen the commercial before? It states, "first their sour, then they're sweet." That would be my Chloe!

I'm ready for the fall shows to start. There is nothing on! I have been watching "Rock of Love" with Bret Michaels. It is something like the bachelor except the chicks are expected to be able to hang like a rockstar. It has been quite entertaining!

I also finished a mini album from our monthly sponsor at CMK. Creative Imaginations sent me this adorable BE heart mini album. I will only share a couple of pages. There are 10 total. I love making mini albums. Hope you have a great week!

Got Kn{owl}edge?

Well if not, you should!!! Create My Keepsake now has monthly kits and this one is perfect for back to school. I love the mix of product. To check out Rebecca's kits just click here Got Kn{owl}edge? It is packed full of goodies from Jenni Bowlin, Scenic Route, and has the cutest custom stamp (journaling lines with a cute nerdy owl!)

Create My Keepsake is also hosting a contest this month in conjunction with Creative Imaginations. Details are here Creative Imaginations ContestYou have the opportunity to win some cool prizes! They also sponsored our Design Team this month. I worked with the new "Blue Bell" line by Karen Russell. It is beautiful! Here are some projects I did with her papers and embellishments:


The scan came out a little dark, but, what do you do?!! I can't take a picture of a layout to save my life, so....I did a really fun mini album with this line too and will post it once I get pictures! I also worked on a boy layout of my cousin Elliot. He is such a cutie, and I used pink and butterflies! Never thought I'd do that on a boy layout ;)

Chloe is finally starting to potty train. I mean really POTTY train!!! (Insert hand clap here). I'm thrilled. I'm sick of buying wipes, and pull ups, and diapers. Does that mean I can buy more scrapstuff? (Yeah right!)

Well, I'll catch you all later. I'm having family over for my SILs birthday. Fun times!

One of Those Days

Ever have one of those days where you wish you could just crawl back into bed and throw the covers over your head? Yep, I had one of those days today. It started out fine, normal, I just had a lot on my mind. So I took the girls to the grocery store, loaded the Trail Blazer full of goods, and was on my merry way. So I get home and my first intention was to unload all the groceries. Well, I got side-tracked. I'm a mom, I multi-task, and obviously a little too much sometimes. I get the girls lunch, make sure Hanna's book bag is ready for school,and make some phone calls. Yes, the groceries are still in the truck. So I leave to drop Hanna off at school. I come home, get Chloe ready for a nap, and get several more phone calls. By this time, I have completely forgotten about my milk, frozen burritoes, and corn dogs. Fast forward a couple of hours, the girls get home from school, my mom stops by, and my SIL drops off her 2 boys so I can babysit for several hours. I am now getting supper ready for 5 rugrats. I take a bag of doritoes (for yummy taco salad) and open the bag. A LARGE FAMILY SIZE bag. Can ya see where I'm going with this? I dumped them, like a big clumsy idiot, I dump the bag onto my kitchen floor. I stared at it for a couple of seconds, in disbelief of what I just did, then turned to the kids and asked "who wants doritoes?" They all look at me, look at the floor, back at me, and all raise their hands. Good. We're all eating dirty floor doritoes tonight. Glad we're all in unison on this. My nephew asks for a glass of milk which I happily oblige to though when I opened the frig, there was no milk to be found. Wait a minute, where in the heck is it??? Then it hit me, HELLO Tina, you're groceries are still in the car! I gasp, then sigh, I mean I REALLY sighed, enough for my nephew to turn to Tay and ask, "what the heck is wrong with your mom?" Nothing besides 2 gallons of milk, hamburger, 2 packages of hot dogs, frozen food, and my "can't live without it" coffee creamer ALL GONE. WASTED. Because I'm good like that people. I clean up the dinner fiasco and put a video in for the kids. Veggie Tales songs are blaring, kids are screaming, jumping, and hanging from the lamp. I so didn't care at this point either! I'm sitting on the chair, feeling defeated, tired, irritable, and out walks little Chloe. Anyone who knows her knows she is terribly sweet but oh so much trouble. She managed to unscrew the lid to a GIANT sized bottle of Aquaphore. Essentially a big expensive tub of vasoline. It is in her hair, on her legs, on her clothes, on MY FLOOR and COUCH , everywhere. So I throw her in the tub. As I'm sitting there feeling sorry for myself, Chloe looks up at me with her big brown eyes and says "I wub you Mommy!" OK, now my heart is melted. I grin from ear to ear and scoop this little ball of sweetness up and plant a million kisses on her. My life isn't so bad afterall.

Scenic Route!

I just love their new releases "Sumner" and "Ashville." Scenic Route was our DT sponsor at Create My Keepsake for the month of August. CMK is having a contest featuring Scenic Route this month as well. If you're interested, details can be found here: Scenic Route Contest The prize packs are amazing!!! There will also be a live chat with Layle Koncar on August 29th. Hope to see you there!




Chad is still working alot at the railroad. We miss him a lot! Taylor and Hanna will be starting soccer in a couple of weeks. They love it. I love it except for when it rains the night before and Chloe runs loose in a muddy field *insert eyes rolling*.

The girls start school tomorrow. The summer sure went fast!

Let's Catch Up K?

I'm still here lol. Just lots going on in my life right now.

Well, I attended my first CHA in Chicago last week. It was F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S! I met Elsie Flannigan and Becky Higgins. Both were totally sweet and down to earth. And of course I'm a HUGE fan of Elsie's work and new line so it was such an honor to "meet" her :) I met so many of my on-line friends. All the girls on my 3 Bugs DT, Kris & Rick Turner (the owner's of 3 Bugs), Creasa Brown and Lydie, Gretchen McElven, the fabulous Opel Sisters, Rebecca Cross, Kim Musgrove, Carrie Postma, Barb, Vicki Boutin, Greta Hammond, some wonderful girls from Scrapsupply, my friend Andrea Deer released a new line for Scrappin' Sports and More (she rocks!), my pals from Fort Wayne Carrie and Sue were also there, not to mention all the girls I ran into that I may not have "known" but had good laughts with, and so many talented designers who's work I really admire. I also "stalked" from afar Jennifer McGuire (she was across our booth working for Hero Arts), and yes I know no shame whatsoever. I think my friend Lydie turned me into a "scrapstalker" but that's a whole different story! I totally stole this photo of Beth, Susan, and I as I DID NOT bring my camera, GASP!

This was my first "break" away from my kids, well aside from giving birth LOL! It has really refreshed me. The last night of CHA a bunch of us girls went down to Navy Pier for a rockin' meal and some drinks. I felt like such an "adult" haha. I love the city life but I would never want to life there.


I was also thrilled to come back and get my comp copy of Card Creations 5 which I was lucky enough to have a card featured on the cover. Mine is the one with the flowers, butterfly, sun, and fun little cut grass.

We are gearing up for Harlan Days (a local fair) and the start of school. Can't believe it is that time again! It is bittersweet really. We will get back into a routine but now I have to wake up EARLY...sigh.

At Create My Keepsake we had Crafter's Workshop as our July sponsor. If you've never checked them out they have some kick butt templates. I made this rainbow with their "circle circle dot dot" templatelayout is a total throwback to the 80's. Rock on!!!
I'm also hosting a manufacturer challenge at Create My Keepsake. Gotta make room for all the new CHA goodies! So come on over and hang out! The site is also hosting a HUGE contest this month where you can win LOTS of the new Scenic Route goodies. You've seen the new Scenic Route right? Yep, it is gorgeous!!!

My Class Kit Debuts At CMK!

I am so excited...a mini album I designed is debuting as a class kit for Create My Keepsake. Here are some pictures:



And here is some information about the kit:

On occasion we will prepare special project kits or holiday themed kits just for our kit members! This month our Design Team Member Tina Albertson has prepared a special project kit just for you! This kit is perfect for your little prince or princess. It would also make a great gift album for any new parents. We have 2 versions available (boy and girl) and quantities are very limited.

The project kit comes complete with all the materials you will need to finish an entire mini album. All you need to add is adhesive and a journaling pen! Here is what you will receive:

(2) Bazzill Bling Black Tie cardstock
(6) Scenic Route Hampton patterned papers that are doubled sided
(1) Pack of Scenic Route Hampton Coordinating Chipboard
(1) Creative Imaginations Bare Elements Nicole Chipboard Album (6"x6")
(2) Heidi Swapp coordinating bling stickers
(1) set of step by step instructions complete with color photos!
*Please note...photos are provided for the girl version only. The boy kit contains exactly the same products except they were assembled using the blue and green papers and chipboard sets from the Hampton Collection.

Project Kit is: $23.00

More information can be found at: http://www.createmykeepsake.com/home.php?cat=643

Another Cool Find At Target

Who would have thought that deco scissors would make such a big comeback LOL??? Anyway, I was perusing Target's dollar section as I do each week when I came across these scalloped scissors. They are "smaller" than the large ones found at Dollar Tree and the "normal" Fiskars size. Of course I had to pick some up...love me some scallop!!!


We have been having a lot of fun outside. Chloe loves it and cries everythime it is time to come in. Chad told the girls the other day that is was OK to turn on the hose to play in the sand. UM, hello???? What was he thinking? This was the result of that mess:



Chloe loves the swingset. She has graduated from the baby swing and is obsessed with flying on her belly using the "big girl" swing :) :) Love that girl!


And this is "Sammy the Seal" as Hanna calls him. She asked if he could stay the night in the house, haha. I gently informed her that pool floats have a home in the barn, not in her bed. She was sad and disappointed but is ok now :)

Visual DNA?

I saw this cool thing on several blogs now. It is called "Visual DNA" and I just had to try it. You get to go through several options to choose your "likes" and "dislikes" and then the site puts it into this cool little slideshow for you:

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

So this is my "visual DNA", my favorite would have to be the "this is gross" slide, haha!!

We bought Taylor a "big girl bike" at Walmart last night. Surprisingly enough she taught herself how to ride w/o training wheels on her old itty bitty bike. Her poor knees were slapping the handlebars. So we picked her out a purple and pink girly girl bike complete with sparkly tassles, ornaments on the spokes, and a "must have" zippered pouch on the front to store all the treasures of a 7 year old :)

Have you seen the new kits at They are simply fabulous and Rebecca is adding more kits for the month of July.

I have been having fun using the new "Love, Elsie" line by KI Memories. Here is a fun layout I did last night:


Toodles (OMG haven't said that in FOREVER, haha) for now!!!

Is It REALLY Almost June???

WOW. Where did May go? Seriously. This has been a crazy busy couple of weeks. The girls have had games 2-3 times a week, I've had a game every Monday night, we had a garage sale, went to Fox Island, to the Toledo Zoo, and are wrapping up the end of the school year for the girls. I am thrilled for summer!!! Best news yet, our pool will be open this weekend...YAY!

Here are a couple of photos from our Fox Island and Toledo Zoo trip:








I've also been super busy scrapping!




Hope everyone has a great week!!!