We are anxiously awaiting our CHA order from Pink Paislee!  Check out what is on its way..

As we gathered together to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, football, and a fabulous turkey feast, I slowed down enough to enjoy the day.  For me, Thanksgiving is a time to spend with my family and close friends, to combine family traditions  and to think about all of the things that I am thankful for.  I am thankful for my wonderful family.  I have been blessed with 3 daughters who are the light of my life.  My husband who supports my dreams and passions.  My Mom who loves us all unconditionally.  My sisters who are my very best friends.   Lola Sophia my little niece who was born 2 weeks ago.  My Mother-In-Law and Father-In Law who are such important parts of our lives.  Noelle, Jennifer and Amy who are like sisters to me.  I am also thankful that I have such a wonderful opportunity to share my passion for life's little moments through the art of scrapbooking.   Life is not made up of the big events - it is made up of lots of little everyday moments.  With scrapbooking, I have a chance to stop and take notice of each of those little moments and share my observations with those that I love.

Happy Thanksgiving!

As a mother, wife and entrepreneur life is absolutely crazy.  The past 2 years have passed at turbo speed.  As every day goes by I wonder how working parents do it.  Each minute of each day is a valuable commodity that needs to be used to get laundry done, dishes washed, kids to school, kids to sports and other activites, get homework done, feed the dog, cats and fish and run my store in my free time.  I wonder how working parents do it all.  How do they find time for their families, friends and for themselves?  When my husband and I decided to open Hip 2-b Square - we did it because scrapbooking is something that I love  and something that I have a talent for. I love being able to  share my passion for creativity with others.  Over the past year - I have been caught up in the business side of the store, which is vital to making it successful.  However, I haven't  even dabbled in the parts of the business that originally sparked its creation.  In comparison to other's, my life is not so different from anyone else's.  As parents, employees, employers, spouces and friends we spend much of our time giving to others.   This is very apparent because, at least a couple of times every day someone will stop by the store and gaze at all of the beautiful papers, embellishments and inspiring layouts, only to comment that they need to "get back into IT", or that they really want to start scrapbooking "when their lives calm down" or "when their kids get older".  The thing is, life never slows down it just keeps moving.  Minutes turn into hours.  Hours turn into days.  Days turn into months.  Months turn into years.  Time just flies by.  We all need to stop and smell the flowers.  For some of us, that might mean getting a massage or a pedicure, for others it might mean doing something creative.  Regardless of what your "ME TIME" is, we all need to take some!  With this in mind, I have taken some time to do a few  pages over the past couple of weeks.  I grabbed some random photos that I love!  They were from various times in lives of my kids.  There was no "STARTING" point.  There was no getting "CAUGHT UP".  It was just about creating something with photos that I love.  This is my "ME TIME", and boy, does it feel good.  There is something therapeutic about scrapbooking.  We all spend our days getting through them.  Each day ends with a thought similar to... "I made through another crazy day."  When we scrapbook we take time to reflect on our lives and the lives of those we love.  We cherish the simple memories of our kids eating a popcicle on a hot day.  It isn't about the events in life - it is about the moments that make up our lives.  With this thought, I am giving myself the gift of taking time to smell the flowers, and take time, even if it is only an hour, to do something that makes me happy.  For me, this is creating my scrapbook pages.  I encourage you to care for yourself and take time to do something that makes you happy!

 For those of you who feel entirely overwhelmed with the idea of scrapbooking every moment and event of your family's life, take a step back and ask yourself this question.  Why do you scrapbook?  Is it to create a timeline and story of the lives of your children?  Is it give yourself a creative outlet?  Is it therapeutic for you to reflect on your life or the lives of your loved ones?  Regardless of the answer, each scrapbook journey is a personal one.  You might even find that your reason for scrapbooking might change from time to time.  When I had more time, I loved scrapping all of the moments of our lives, this is not to say that I ever got "CAUGHT UP".  Today, as life is more hectic and I have less time, I love treating myself with the time to create - and work on my photos.  I don't take less pictures, but I am more selective about those that I work with.  I find myself scrolling through hundreds of photos until I find one that speaks to me.  I use this as my inspiration for my page.  I absolutely  love the whole creative process, and I don't want to let the pressure of what others are doing to take the joy out of it.  So, for those of you who don't want to commit to scrapping every photo, but might want to play with one here and there - I say DO IT!  With this in mind, as I was going through my many photos, I came across and fell in love with this picture of my sister and my oldest daughter.  This was the inspiration for this page.  I am so happy to be able to share it with you.

This layout was created with the products that were included in our March What's Hip Club Kit.  I love this stuff!!!