OHIO...My little Shoebox...Scrapbook Memories...24 hours....

So I just had one of the most fun experiences with my good friend Helen. Helen is the owner of My Little Shoebox. Her products are FABULOUS and we can't keep them in stock.

She was asked to do a filming for the show, Scrapbook Memories in Ohio, so we practiced filming and getting her prepared for this awesome show for about two weeks prior to going. I asked some of my design team members to create projects for them to be seen on tv and they did an amazing job!

We will be putting together a design team, so if you are interested please link me to your gallery, We would love to see your work. The official call will go out in the next month but we would like to see some of your work now. (hope that makes sense,LOL)

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our 24 hour trip....took off at 2pm here Sunday and arrived at 1am at our hotel. It was funny telling him we were checking out in less than 7 hours. We got up and started filming at noon. We were out of there by 2pm and got home at 11pm last night. CRAZY!!! LOL

This is me in front of the set of Scrapbook Memories.

Helen, Julie McGuffie, and I in front of the set.

It was so blazing cold in Ohio but a lot of fun!

I took pictures of Helen on the screen . I got to watch her film live. She did such a great job!

Stacy from Paper Crafts Magazine was there.

My good friend Wendy from Simple Scrapbooks was there too. It was so much fun hanging out with her. We had been meaning to pow wow but both of us have been so busy we didn't get to do any of that until we were in Ohio. It is so great to see where the magazine is going, they are working really hard to listen to their readers and put out a magazine that will inspire and teach. You will be seeing some amazing new ideas in their magazine so get your subscription!

Huge thanks to my girls Nichole King, Pattie Beltran, Michelle Tornay, Erin Yamabe, Krista Lund, and Rocio Duran for creating such beautifuly projects in such a short period of time!

Hugs, Suzy West

***sorry about the posting problem. Just fixed it and tested it myself, so it's working. Thanks for the scoop!***

Happy 60th birthday daddy!

SURPRISE!!!! We told my dad we were going to take him out to dinner for his birthday...yeah so not! We planned a surprise party for him. He was so thrilled...and surprised!LOL

We had ordered a ton of food.

We bought a pinata!!

We sang and got just a little excited over him blowing out the candles. LOL
A picture of my daddy and I.
I love you daddy!

I've been tagged...by ERIN!!

So I was tagged by my partner in crime...ERIN YAMABE

here’s the info:

Here are the rules…

Link to your tagger and post these 3 rules on your blog.

Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

random pieces of me-

1. Everytime I order a burger I always ask for NO Pickles because I don't like them and yet I'm allergic to tomatos and take them off MYSELF when I get it.

2. When I sleep I put a blanket over my body but must have one leg out. WIERD!

3. I get nausious for EVERTHING! My friends laugh at me because it's for stupid things!

4. I hardly where make-up (use to be a make up artist), but when I do I use everything including liners, bases, eyelash curlers, etc.

5. I can't go to bed with out watching re-runs of Will and Grace every night. I have a ton recorded for the weekends.

6. I've been on TV many times!! Including...talk show, reality show, news, shopping shows, etc.

7. I'm going to Alicia Keys and Jordin Sparks with Erin and Kristin!! Yippee!

Okay so I'm going to tag the following people....
Nikki,
Diane,
Sasha,
Celine,
Shell,
Dayami,
and Allison.

Hugs
Suzy West

Loving American Idol!!

OMG I am so loving American Idol this year!!! Normally I like the girls the most but this year, it's all about the guys!! I especially love David Archuleta!

He's is AMAZING!! If you haven't heard him sing, check him out here!!

First Week-Shop Around

Second week--Imagine

So lucky to have parents like you

I was uploading some photos to the computer and stopped when I saw these three pictures. I couldn't help but stare at them for quite some time, and honestly I was filled with such love for my parents that I began to get teary eyed.

You can see the love that my parents have for my grandson. They are like this with all the kids! These two have so much love in them that it literally bursts when we are all together.

My mom is so beautiful!! She's extremely humble and shy(I so didn't get that from her. LOL). She has spent the last forty years being an amazing mom to me and my two brothers!

My dad is literally the nicest person I know! He spews niceness and it's all real! He's totally funny too!! If he thinks there is a problem he's famous for calling family meetings!LOL
I love them so much and am blessed to call them my parents!!

Hugs, Suzy West

You know you're losing it when...

you start looking for a set of keys...
have everyone helping you find them....
hours have passed...
you sit down...
something is bugging you in your pant pocket...
and realize...
it's your keys!!! LOL
Yeah, I'm so losing it!! LOL

Here are a couple of layouts I did today. I love playing with Love Elsie products!!!

Have a great day!
Suzy West

Turning 21 again! N-O-T!!

My birthday was yesterday and it was so much fun!!!!

Christiane and Pattie bought a fondue pot and had tons of yummy goodies!

I received a lot of fun gifts

Christiane and Erin doing the bump!LOL

I was cracking up with Erin!!

Erin was cracking all night long!!
Maria and I!!
Pattie, Christiane, and I! I love these girls!!
Rocio, Erin, and I--it took 5 times of trying to get this shot! LOL
Thank you to everyone that made my birthday so much fun!!! It was such a nice surprise!

Hugs, Suzy West

Lots of emotions...

CHA was an amazing experience!! I've been to many of these events and I gotta say this one was one of my most favorite!! It was filled with laughter, amazement, creativity, and more!
As much as I loved seeing everything and ordering tons for the store, it was the girls that I was with that made the experience so wonderful! Erin was so funny! She had us cracking up the entire time with some of the things that came out of her mouth...literally!LOL
OMG Kristin was ROCKING!! She did an amazing job at making sure we got everything for the store and marking all the books. It so came in handy last night when we started doing pre-orders.
Oh and then there was the one and only Jenny Deal!!! Dude, you had me at Hello!! I've never, EVER, EVER seen someone so organized in my freaking life!! We called her the FINISHER. She completed the orders. The girl made phone calls, had us on time frames, made sure we made our appointments, and more!!! Man, everyone needs a Jenny in their lives!!!
We got to hang out with "MAINE!!!" It was so much fun seeing my good friend Jenn from Maine. She's one of the funniest gals I have ever met. She had us cracking up the entire time.

So the bad thing...
Angel found out that she miscarried while I was away. We tried to get an earlier flight but couldn't. She's being a trooper about it. I have tried to be really strong for her but gotta admit when the words, "I'm really sad and I need to cry but I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me" came out of her mouth it made my heart drop.
Thanks to everyone who has called and emailed me. I really appreciate it. We all do.

So what's new?
I came home to a list of things to do a mile long. We have classes, crops, events, and tons more coming up. I so enjoy seeing everyone everday!!! Next week is my birthday. I can't believe I'm going to be 27...Oh wait...37! EEEK!! I'm going to celebrate with my girls on Friday night and go out with the family on Saturday! I can't wait!

I'm going to try to post some CHA pictures next week.
Big hugs,
Suzy West

The family is growing...

Guess who is going to be a big brother?

Angel and Christian are so excited!! They are expecting their second little one, of whom I think will be a GIRL!!! She is about 7 weeks pregnant.

Hugs, Suzy West

This past weekend...this upcoming weekend...

This past weekend was so much fun but as busy as it could get!!!

Friday we cropped. Saturday I went shopping with Erin. We got our eyebrows waxed, ate sushi, and went clothes shopping. I think went to work.
Sunday we had our annual garage sale and it was so CRAZY!!! People everywhere. We then had a cookie lee party. I went home to spend time with the kiddos and then went to bed.

This week we have classes, crops, and a trip to Anaheim! It's the CHA show. We are so excited! Kristin, Jenn, Erin, and I our headed up there on Saturday. I'm going to work the store for a few hours and then I'm outie!

Have a fabulous week!
Hugs
Suzy

Garage Sale!! Check it out!!!

We got tons of stuff!! We just finished setting up!! People are already waiting outside!!! COme and see us!

Annual Mechanics Garage Sale!!

Picture Me Perfect

Annual Mechanics Garage Sale

Sunday, February 3rd

12pm-2pm

Located at the store.

39199 B Farwell Drive

Fremont, Ca 94538

Our garage sale is so much fun!! Every year our design team gathers up a lot of their scrap items that they no longer use or have too much of and sell them at really awesome prices!!

This year we have a lot of kits, embellishments, tools, totes, stamps, and a whole lot more!

Cookie Lee Jewelry party

Sunday, February 3rd

3pm-5pm

At the store

Come and join us. Angel is going to show you a ton of brand new jewelry from the new catalog.

Hope you can make it!
Hugs

Suzy West

Tanner's story

Yesterday I got up at 6am and was out the door by 6:30am. I was so nervous about the surgery that I didn't realize until I was going over the bridge that I was driving on BELOW empty! I have no idea how I made it all the way to Stanford.

When I got there they had just given Tanner meds to help "relax" him. Ten minutes later, Tanner was a happy little guy. He was giggling for everything and his head was all over the place. It was pretty funny but still scary at the same time.

Once he was "relaxed" the nurses got him ready for surgery.

Tanner looking a little confused but "relaxed".

Tanner was taken away. Mommy and daddy were so scared and sad.

Tanner after his surgery. Poor little guy. He woke up and was soooooo mad and scared! He was throwing himself everywhere. He was a lot happier when his mommy and daddy got him.

He's doing a lot better. Mommy and daddy said he didn't want to sleep much last night but wasn't complaining of pain. This morning he woke up pretty good.

Thanks again for all the prayers!

Prayers needed for Tanner--UPDATE

Tomorrow my little grandson will be going in for surgery. The whole family is so scared and sad for our little guy. He's such a sweetheart and is in great spirits considering he's in pain. Please keep him in your prayers. Also include mommy and daddy because they are besides themselves.

UPDATE: Tanner went in this morning at 7:30am. He was really upset because he wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything from 8pm on. He loves his bottle of milk and had a cow when he couldn't have any, sooooooo he was up from 2am crying. Poor baby!

I met mommy and daddy this morning at Stanford hospital. They gave him a medication to get him all loopy and happy. We could totally tell when that kicked in. LOL (I have a really funny picture) Anyways, they took him in and did the procedure. Everything went well. He woke up and was SO UPSET!!! He was SCREAMING until they gave him a bottle of water. He then fell a sleep. They said he would be back to normal around 4-5pm. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow.

Thank you for all the emails, posts, and phone calls.

Big hugs, Suzy West

Hambly ROCKS!!!

So today I went to Hambly Studios in San Jose and went NUTS!!! I forgot my camera or I would have taken pictures. I took this pic with my phone. LOL

Anyways, I got to meet Mr. Hambly. He was so nice!! He knew who I was. LOL

I went to the other side to say Hi to Allison who was working on NEW CHA stuff. I can't wait for it all to come out. I'm going to go nuts!!! Rose at Hambly was so nice. Great customer service!! Everyone there was nice.

Here's the display that the girls did tonight when I came back.

It happens in 3's

So you know the saying, "it happens in 3's?" OMG was that true last week!
It was a rough one for our family, especially for Sierra, Tanner, and my dad.

Thursday night we took Sierra to Urgent Care because she was really sick. She got phnamonia. Poor thing was coughing and had a huge fever. As many of you know Sierra has a blood disorder so everytime she gets sick it affects her a lot worse. Last night was the first night that she slept with out waking up all night from coughing so much.

The next day my dad had to go in for surgery. They found a hole in his palette in his mouth. The poor guy was having problems breathing and eating. Everytime he drank something it would come out of his nose.

While he was in surgery, Christian called me hysterical! He told me to tell Angel to go to the hospital. Poor Angel had just started work. She rushed to the hospital! It turned out that Tanner has a hernia. So now the poor little guy is going to have surgery. It's been a rough week for Christian, Angel, and Tanner.

I am so grateful for an amazing family. When things are tough the entire family is there to help heal. Angel constantly tells us how grateful Christian is to have our family. We are all close and love him and each other very much!

Thank you for the prayers!!
Hugs
Suzy West

Tanner...

Tanner is...

adorable

SWEET....

FUNNY...

Curious...

Absolute perfection!!!

Picture Me Perfect--24 hour crop!!!

Picture Me Perfect

ONE year anniversary 24 hour crop!!

Saturday, March 8th-Sunday, March 9th

Starts at 6pm on Saturday and ends at 6pm the next day

Cost: $55.00--includes dinner on Saturday night & light breakfast on Sunday. We will have make n' takes, games and prizes, and there will be a queen of the crop!!!

To sign up please call us at 510-744-9583. First come first serve.

Hope you can make it.

Hugs
Suzy West

Crazy weekend and more

Our weekend was so much fun!!! It started out on Friday night at our usual crop night. Erin and I could not stop laughing!!!! I went home with a stomache ache from laughing so much!!

The next day I worked a few hours and then met Rocio and a bunch of the girls at Super Suppers. We got to make a meal for free since Rocio's mom won the free meal during our Crop for the Cure event.

Love this picture of Sierra and I.

Bring it on baby!!! We had our couples game night and it was a blast!! We played a ton of games including Newly Wed game, Apples to Apples(which was a request by many. You need to have this game!!!), pictionary, and more.
To start the night, I requested everyone come up with a team name. They had to tell us how they came up with their name. The person with the most votes won.

We had a hard time coming up with a name. Rocio helped me the night before to come us with the name. LOL Our team was the "Wild Wild West". Angel and Christians name was "the holy ones". So funny!

This is a group shot of all the teams with our score board!!!

A shot of all the girls!!! Trisha, Angel, ME, Nichole, Erin, and Kristin

Love this picture!!
Wild Wild West
The winners!! Team Shake n' Bake!
I totally forgot to post a picture from New Years. This is one of my favorites!! We had a blast!!
Have a fabulous day!!!

Hugs, Suzy West

Today I am...

--grateful for my beautiful family. They really truly are amazing people. Everytime I think about all they do for me and the way they love me unconditional I feel so lucky.

--grateful for good friends. I have "friends" and then I have FRIENDS!! I am so lucky to have good FRIENDS in my life. The ones that think of me while at the store and say, "I was doing some shopping and wanted to know if you needed anything", or the "I made you something", the ones that travel hour distances on bart and then take a taxi to get here because, "I could tell you weren't okay" friends.

--grateful for work. Every morning even if I'm tired, I can't wait to see my store. I think of what it looked like before when I decided to have my business here and look at it now and it makes me smile that I got it to look like I wanted it to in such a short time.

--grateful for scrapbooking. Even though I don't do it as much as I'd like to, I know it's there and I'm so lucky to have it in my life. I am so happy when I complete a page!!!

--grateful for my camera. I was just looking at a ton of my pictures and I'm so grateful to have something that gets to capture the favorite people in my life!!

Today I am grateful!!
Hugs
Suzy West