Winkasheart Scraps

I have moved

2010-06-12T14:33:00.004-05:00

I have decided to change things up a little. Lots of plans going through my mind. Lots of things I want to accomplish in the next months and I thought a move was in order. It's still pretty bland, using a template, but hopefully that will change in the near future.

You can find me here http://winkasheart.wordpress.com/

Join Me for Some Sweet Talking!

2010-02-01T09:11:00.002-06:00

We’re kicking off a month-long challenge at one of my favorite sites today … the Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge at Log Your Memory!

I hope you’ll come on over and check it out today … there will be an entire month of scrapbooking challenges with a focus on “real life” journaling, plus the chance to earn points and prizes along the way! And if you’ve never visited before, you’re in for a treat! We have a wonderful group of friendly, helpful scrapbookers just waiting to say hello and show you around!

Get started by visiting the Log Your Memory Blog HERE and get ready to journal your way to becoming a Log Your Memory Sweet Talker!

(And tell them Winkasheart sent you!)

Life in Limbo

2010-01-12T16:48:00.005-06:00

Ever feel like you are in limbo? That is how I feel right now. I am still looking for my own apartment. I am still waiting to hear when Niki and Rocky will be home. I am still waiting to pack up my stuff, the things I use daily. I have been cruising around the web today, checking out blogs and all the wonderful things people are creating and I want to play! But I can't, not really, because most of my crafty things are all packed up in the garage in the freezing cold and I just don't feel like going and hunting. And have you ever noticed that whatever it is you are looking for is always at the bottom of the pile, the last box you look, or just plain hiding on you? I can not wait to have a whole area again just for all my pens, paints, papers, books, inks, stencils, ribbons, scraps, and other fun things. Whether it is a whole room, which is my wish, or just an entire wall, I can't wait! I want my table to be full of papers, glitter, glue, scissors, rubber stamps, and other fun finds I have out, waiting to be used or in the process of drying or just waiting for inspiration. For the most part this past year I have not done a whole lot of things in the real, touching the paper kind of craft and I have missed that. I have done a few hybrid items for the Daily Scrapper, but that is about it and I am ready to play again!

I am working on using my Memory Log Book and that is the closest I have come in a long time to putting pen to paper, or ink and paint, or cutting and pasting, or adding tid-bits to a journal and I am loving it! It is actually pretty boring still, but I plan to change that in the next few days, once I find my colored pencils and water colors. By the end of the month I want to see little parts of my life when I open that book, like I have done in the past.

I have always loved putting the things I pick up when out doing something during the day into my monthly planner, and now I have a daily one with the Log Book, and it has so much room to grow in. This book will be a treasure trove of ideas for scrap pages and I should never again have a problem remembering the moments I want to scrap again.

And on that note, here is my latest from one of the sparks in week 2 of the log book. I used Captured mini kit, Paper Perfection vol.6, (and today is the last day to get these 2 for only $1.00!) and Glittersplat Frames for this one, by Karen Lewis Designs at GP. I really love that little date stamp in the corner.

I am doing good with P365. Kind of, lol. If I miss a day, I make up for it the next day or I use a picture from one of the other days. I am actually trying to get in the habit of just taking photos so there have been a few days when I have taken a few pictures and then I have to choose which one to use for THE photo for the day, but I like that. And the others I can use another day or print out and put in my log book. Having a choice is freeing and fun. I thought I would share the Gotta Pixel blog with you also, the link will take you to the 365 category. I found this today and was thrilled! I have not seen anyone else doing a daily photo prompt like this and having this to go to when I am clueless as to what to take for the day, I will have some inspiration, and that makes me happy. Already there are 12 photo prompts and I am going to go and read each one and add them to my list.

Also, another link for you. If you haven't checked out the forum yet at Log Your Memory, then get clickin' and check it out! We even have a section for people doing Project 365 with a couple of freebies so far and more to come as we go through the year. We have also started a flickr group to post our photos and that is another great resource for ideas if you are stumped on what to snap for the day. That is where you will find my P365 photos. I knew I wouldn't do well making a separate blog for that, I can barely keep this one at a weekly post, so Flickr seemed the easiest thing. I can post a comment if I feel like about my photo so it is there when I am ready to make a page and want to remember why I took it, lol. And as soon as figure out how to post my photo stream here, it will be up.

I want to leave you with this: don't worry about what other people are taking photos of or how awesome their pictures are. Just keep taking them, at the end of the year it won't matter how good or bad they are, you will have a fabulous slice of your life to look back on, even if they never get onto a scrap page.

Have a great day!

One Word

2010-01-01T14:37:00.004-06:00

I have had a hard time deciding on my word for the year. A few days ago I thought I had it and I was going to go with believe and I even wrote this as a comment on Ali's blog:
My word for the coming year is Believe. I need to believe in myself, that I am good, that I can accomplish what I set out to do and also to believe that God will provide for me and lead me in the right direction. If something doesn't work out how I had envisioned, to accept that, knowing that God is working in my best interests. So I need to keep remembering to believe and not doubt.

And then the past few days so much has been going through my mind and I have had a hard time deciding where to start, what I want from this new year, will things work out as I want them to, what to do, where to go, and so on. Then I thought maybe my word should be focus. I really need to learn how to do that, take things one step at a time. Make a plan, lists, whatever it takes to stop this going around and around in my mind and therefore getting nothing done.

But then I re-read what I had posted as my word and I wasn't sure that was it. But I think I have finally found it, Faith. Which is almost the same as believe. Almost. I am turning it around and starting with the second part of what I wrote above and changing it slightly to this: Faith in God, that He will provide for me and lead me in the right direction. Faith to know that when things don't go as I had envisioned to remember that He is working in my best interests and this is how it should be, no matter what. Any and all obstacles are just a learning process and happen for a reason, and there is something I need to learn from it. And with this word I believe the first part of what I wrote about the word believe will follow. I will have the belief in myself to do the things I want to do, I will know that I am good, and I can accomplish what I set out to do.

I also think that by having this be my one word, the focus will come. I have faith that it will.

I am also going to do project 365 again this year and this time I will finish it. Last year I kind of fizzled out around summer time. I have a folder on my hard drive with just my pictures from those days and I love going through it and looking at the pictures. I also did about 4 layouts with a couple weeks using some of those photos and it saddens me I didn't do more with project 365. So this year I am going to do the photos and the weekly pages so that at the end of this year I can have a whole book to look back on. I know I will enjoy it so much.

I have my Memory Log Book open and ready to use starting today. This is something else that will help me to accomplish project 365 along with getting things down that I want to remember such as photos I want to take, pages I want to create, and just tidbits of the days as I go. One place to put all this...amazing! If you haven't gotten one I really suggest that you do, you won't regret it.

So I leave you today with my first photo in this year long project. I worked yesterday until 8 pm. I had plans to join my sister and go out and paint the town red. But then I went home to get something to eat and change and it was just so cold out and I got all nice and warm that I decided to stay in. Plus I had been up until 2 am the night before reading Angels and Demons, lol, so I was kind of tired and really had a hard time keeping my eyes open until 12 am last night. However, I did stay awake that long and celebrated the old year ending and the new year coming in with the kitties. I even put on the head bands I had purchased for the night and took a photo. And then I went to bed, lol.

My wish for everyone in the new year is love, joy, laughter, and adventure!

Fun Times..but it always is when Niki is around

2009-12-18T11:57:00.017-06:00

Gosh, it has been almost a month since I posted last, time has just flown, and I have been so busy. I was going to post my fantabulous news about 3 weeks ago, but then the news arrived and she kept me very busy for the 2 weeks she was home. Yes, my daughter decided she needed to come home, so she checked to see if there was any leave time left, signed up, and it has been a little over a month of keeping quiet about it because she wanted to surprise a few of her friends. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy! But it was well worth it, the reaction of one in particular was just priceless.

We (including my Mom) went to dinner at Sloopy's, which is where she bar-tended part time before she left.

As we walked in, I said, hey look what we found! Everyone was so surprised to see her, not expecting her back until late January. But there were a couple people still to come in to work, so we sat and ordered dinner and waited. A little before they were supposed to start, Niki pulls up her hood. Since they know my sister and me, they came up to say hi. Talked with us a few minutes, glanced at Niki, and then started to turn to get to work....Niki pulls her hood down as she slaps him on the arm, hey! He turns back, and I just can't tell you how funny the look of surprise was on his face! All of us laughed and every head in the bar turned to see what was going on. If I wasn't trying to be nonchalant about the whole thing, I would have had my camera out and maybe been able to get it on film, but it wasn't to be. But we did get a few shots from the night, they made her have a shot of Polish which she hates, lol, but she did it, and then just a couple random shots of her.

We waited to have Thanksgiving until that Sunday so Niki could have turkey dinner with us and then we went and checked out the Christmas lights put up by the Rotary Club (at least I think that is who does it), down by the river front. It was beautiful and we just did the drive through, but I still plan on going back and walking trough it and hopefully getting some decent photos.

Then we headed to Racine and Gma's for cookie making. I was so happy we were able to d0 this together this year. I sure wasn't expecting to be able to, that's for sure, but it was one of the things she wanted to do while home. Although on the drive there we had to stop at Culver's for a burger and get a pic because she has been craving one of those for awhile now, lol.

We made her and Rocky's favorite ones, peanut butter kiss and the cut outs.

Oh, how could I almost forget...we went to see NEW MOON! I waited for her to come home before I went and saw it. Specially since she is the one that got me hooked on the books and movies.

And then while she was home we had our first snowfall of the season and it was a dilly! 16 inches by the time it was done. And while I always love the first snow of the year, specially when it comes before Christmas, since she was wishing so much for snow, I let her do most of the shoveling, lol. But really, I think we did an equal amount.

The Friday before she left, she got a party bus together and we all pitched in and went of all places, to a strip club, lol.

I have to say my daughter sure has fun in life and I am so thankful she lets me in on most of it. I think the guys in the bus enjoyed it more, but I do have to say it was quite the experience and loads of fun! Of course we made a couple stops along the way at a couple other bars, and it was kinda fun riding in the limo/bus. Then we ended at a bar that had karaoke which she loves to do. And since I didn't drink that night, I drove us home.

She has such a joy for life and lives it fully!

The 2 weeks ended all too soon and we had to take her to the airport for her return flight, and it was a little hard, but I just kept telling myself, she will be home for good in a little over a month, and that helped. Sigh, and now I am recuperating and missing her so much.

If you have made it to the end here, I thank you for joining me on remembering the fun we had and please forgive the quality of the photos. I haven't had time to edit. I was going to post some pages I did, but this has become so long that I will be back a little later to do that!

On a High...

2009-11-23T21:50:00.004-06:00

I am flying high today! So much good news to share with you all today. First, I actually made it to week 3 of My Scrapboook Art's Ultimate Artist Challenge! I truly was shocked to see my name up there saying I was moving onto week 3. So thank you to everyone that voted for me! I am still doing a little jig and I checked first thing this morning, lol. And I am making the template I created for the layout available to anyone who wants it, just read a little farther.

As I said yesterday, I am now a calendar girl for Log Your Memory and I did get my page finished for the first weekly prompt in the December Log Book and I posted it today around digiland. Then I went to work. I got home about an hour and a half ago, and was checking my email and saw some new comments had been made on this page at DST, one of which said, Congrats your layout has been featured on the Gallery Standouts blog! Can we say knock me over with a feather? This truly made my day complete and it's so hard to explain how excited I am over all this. How happy this makes me feel, how much it means to have someone else like my pages, someone that isn't family or friend. Anyway, enough gushing, but I just had to say it. So here is my page, and it is linked for credits.

I wouldn't think this week could get any better, but I know it is going to and can't wait to tell you what is happening later this week, so stay tuned! And as promised, here is the template for you. Just click on the image to be taken to the download. Thanks for stopping and if you like the template please leave a little comment, I love to read them! And to those that celebrate, Happy Thanksgiving!

If you have any problems DLing, just let me know in the comments and I will get it fixed.

I'm a Calendar Girl!

2009-11-21T10:18:00.004-06:00

I am so excited that I was chosen to create this next year with 11 other wonderful ladies at Log Your Memory! I can't wait to get started on creating some pages. And what's even greater is Kristin created a book just for this December so everyone doesn't have to wait until January to get started saving those memories. And the thing I love most about the whole concept at Log Your Memory? It's prompt and calendar all in one, so you can record all the little and big things that happen during the year, so all the information is there in one spot for you, for when you are ready and have the time to create layouts. However, for those of you that don't really want the calendar part, today there is a new book in the store, just the 52 weekly prompts. Read about it here. I have to work a little later, but hope to get a page done for the first weekly prompt in December, sometime tonight. So anyway, check out Log Your Memory and come join in the fun! The link is in the sidebar.

I decided to join in the fun at MSA last week and try my hand at the ultimate artist challenge and to tell you the truth, I did not think I would make it past the first week, but I did! I was happily shocked to see my name on the list of people going on to week two. Do I think I will make it into week three? Not really, but I am having fun and making some pages which is what it is really all about. I do want to share my page for this weeks challenge and if you haven't already, head on over and check out all the awesome pages in the gallery over there. There is definitely some stunning layouts created. And make sure you cast your vote for your favorite page! Here is what I did. It is linked for credits.

And that is my post for today. Although I am thinking of giving away this page as a template sometime this week, so be sure and check back! Have a great weekend and thanks so much for stopping and if you have a minute leave a comment, I LOVE reading them.

It's that time of year again...

2009-10-27T09:40:00.007-05:00

...when I start wondering where the heck the year went to, and scrambling to get my gifts made for Christmas. I think I am even a little ahead of the game this year! Not by much, but at least I have an idea of what I want to do. I do know I am going to make a couple glass block lights like the one below for my nieces maybe. I made this one for an article in The Daily Scrapper. LOVED how it turned out. Here is a picture of the one I made which has been claimed already, lol. If you click on the image, it will take you to the issue of The Daily Scrapper it was in with the directions on how to create it. It's really very easy.

Last year I also made a couple altered books (can't find the pics of those for some reason), some candles and votive holders,

and of course some calendars. A few years ago, I made some photo blocks, a set of 5 for each of my sisters and my Mom. I also altered a kids board book into a mini album and although it wasn't for Christmas, it was for a gift and something else to think about making. So I either start to repeat myself, or I have to come up with something totally new, which is why I am thinking of having some books made this year with some of the many pages I created. And maybe even a canvas made from a favorite layout. Now to just decide on what I want to do, lol.

So, while I am still deciding what to do for this year, I thought I would give you a few ideas!

On a Roll...

2009-10-22T10:28:00.004-05:00

I am just thrilled! I entered the best gift challenge at Log Your Memories and it won! Ok, so it won by random number generator, but still, I am excited! AND I am even more excited to see that I won admission into The Best Gift Online Workshop! (it's linked so you can check it out yourself and see what it's all about.) This will be such a big help to me since I was thinking about making something like this as a gift for Christmas this year. One more thing I will be able to check off my list of things to do. Here is the layout I entered. I made it last year, and this is actually a re-do of the first one I did and it has more journaling on it, which in my book is a good thing.

I have not done much of anything this past week, just been kinda lazy, but I did get one challenge done for the Every Life has a Story workshop at TDC. This one was for the Let's Try That Again challenge, where we took a layout with little or no journaling and added that. Here is the original one.

I changed up a couple things and then added some journaling, and here is the re-do. I really like this better.

And now I am off to try the next challenge in the workshop. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Yes, child of mine, I am a Favre fan...

2009-10-16T12:07:00.008-05:00

I am just bursting with excitement and can't wait until Thanksgiving! But alas, I can't say yet what exactly is happening to make me so happy! But, I can tell you about the other thing that has me grinning from ear to ear! I usually click on the notify me button when I post my layouts in galleries so I can see any comment made on them. I like to see that others like my pages, and to return the love, so this morning when I checked my mail I had a notice for one of my pages at a new site, which by the way, looks like it will be loads of fun and very helpful for getting the journaling down. And the comment was that my layout titled Beginning, was featured on their blog! How awesome is that? But the thing I liked the most about the blog post was the comments made about my page. The author made this comment, "it reminds us how much we’re all alike … and that we’re not alone in our struggles." I have to say that alone made me feel so good, because truly, I forget that small fact sometimes when I am struggling day to day with myself to just get going. I am not alone, other people have some of the same struggles, and this helps me get through the day. And isn't it funny how it took me putting that out there, for it to come back to me in this way? This really is an awesome thing we have in our lives, the internet, and being able to share with others and maybe even touch someone else to help them get through their day. And the digi-scrapping community especially, is an awesome group of people! Oh, and here is the site in case you want to check it out. Log Your Memories. This coming week I am going to be working on a layout for the grand opening kick-off challenge, which will be kind of hard since I usually cringe when I have to create a page about myself, lol. I hope to see some of you over there.

In other news, I have a challenge going on at Polkadot Plum, the One Word Challenge. You will have to go check it out to see exactly what it is, but here is the page I did for it. Before I print it I will probably make some tweaks to the journaling, but I really like how this turned out.

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The Digichick has some wonderful challenges going on all month, one a day, and here is one I did which is a scraplift of Seattle Sheri's Layout titled Heartbreaker. I really love the composition of it and loved how my page turned out.

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Then I did a challenge at Oscraps, using a template and pictures of my daughter just being her usual fun self. And for this one, I decided to use my bamboo fun tablet and write out the word you. I need to do that more often I think! It turned out fantastic. Although it did take me quite a few times before I actually liked how it looked, and that was just one word, lol. So I am thinking practice will make it better.

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I have a photo of my daughter today that she posted. I live in Wisconsin, and I am a Packer fan. But not only that, I am a Brett Favre fan. Now, while my daughter is just so irritated with Favre going to the Vikings, I on the other hand, love watching him play and while I wish he wasn't with the Vikings, I am not upset. The man has a love of the game that makes him just fun to watch! SO, she found some t-shirts online and had to order them and here she is modeling it. This was a day when she was missing home and decided to dress in civvies and do her hair and show off how much weight she has lost in the last 7 months, and get her dig in, lol. I love her to bits, but this is something we are totally on opposite sides on.

And with that, I am off for today. I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! Thanks for your comments, I love reading them!

Oktoberfest

2009-10-01T12:12:00.013-05:00

It isn't Sunday, but I had to work this past one, and I am actually getting to a post in the same week! And truth be told, I was a little hung over this past Sunday and about the only thing I managed to do was go to work later in the day. I live in LaCrosse, and come this time of year they have a huge, huge week long Oktoberfest. It starts with the tapping of the golden keg and then a parade, and then a party. You can walk or drive down the streets and wherever you look, there is some sort of party going on somewhere. Now this is the first time I ever been here for this and I had originally decided to wait until next year when my daughter is home, to partake in any of the festivities going on around town, but my sister was asked and decided to work at our hangout carding people, so when I finished work Saturday, I headed down there to keep her company. Here she is getting the number of the guy who makes those Favre shirts.

I had no intention of really drinking, maybe a beer, but that was it. Best laid plans and all that...I had quite a few. Good thing she wasn't drinking, because she was my ride home. But I have to admit, I had a wonderful time, and there are still things I will do next year with my daughter, like getting to see the parade. I am told you have to see it at least once. And the best bet for the whole party time is to find a nice place that you call home, and stay there to have fun, which is what I did. Knowing the people that are bartenders here, and friends of Niki's and now mine, I knew they would not let anything happen to me. And I did one of the things I hadn't done yet from my summer manifesto, which was to dance like no one was watching. I danced and didn't care about anyone else, didn't even have to dance by myself. It helped that the band was pretty darn good. I'm going to miss the Torchlight parade tonight as I work, but next year I really want to see it. All things decorated with lights, sounds awesome. Here are a few more pictures from that night.

Almost done working. Having polish...an acquired taste, but I am learning to kinda like it, lol. It's blackberry brandy.

After the band, we headed inside.

Showing me the trick she leaned for doing jello shots...makes them go down much easier.

Yep, I was having fun!

Right this minute I am trying very hard not to laugh my behind off. As I sit here and write this, my cat is on the arm of the chair next to me, sleeping. She just rolled off, and you know, if you laugh at your cats they know you are laughing at them. And they try so hard to make it appear that whatever just happened, they meant to do, lol. So she walked it off, and is now purring at the other side of the chair. See, it pays when you don't laugh, she came back and gave me some loving.

OK, and now I have some pages to show you. First off, a couple using some kits from Roben-Marie Designs. I LOVE her stuff! This first one is a mix of different kits, so click on the number to be taken to the credits. My daughter has 3 cats, and each one has their own unique and awesome personality, Fez being the most awesomest one. He is always doing something that makes me run for the camera and in turn, turning me into a cat lady...I have so many pictures of the cats I am sure that is what people think anyway, lol.

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This next one is using a brand new kit Art Nouveau a collab by Roben-Marie and Dawn Inskip. I love showing off my beautiful daughter.

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These last two are using kits by Kelley Mickus. Another one of my fave designers! I especially love her papers lately, I want to use every one in my layout, lol. First up is Beginnings which is new at The Digi Chick today. An about me page.

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This month, Kelley made the kit Happiness for DST Gold Members. And it is another fabulous one! You can find out how to become a gold member and get this kit here. The photo in this layout was from the last time my daughter returned from overseas with the National Guard. I am waiting a little impatiently for her return this time round.

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if you made it this far, thanks so much for stopping by! I almost forgot....her friends from the bar sent her one of the t-shirts they all wore during the weekend festivities and she got it yesterday and modeled it. She worked there a couple nights a week before she left.

Re-committing

2009-09-20T13:20:00.006-05:00

I have not been doing a great job on project 365. It has been hit or miss if I get a photo these past few months, and doing layouts with them? Nada. So, today I am going to re-commit to doing them. I have been thinking on this for a few days now, and I don't want to quit, so I will just get back on the wagon and go from there, and hope that next year I can actually do the whole year. And that means, I actually have one for today. This one was easy because we had a visitor and who can resist a baby? This is Xavier at 3 weeks old. He is just adorable!

The next thing I am re-committing to is my blog. I wanted to be blogging every day, and that has not been the case. I am lucky if I get one post a month. For the rest of the year I am going to aim for once a week, and since I have Sundays off (most of the time) I am going to post on Sundays. Sounds like a plan to me, lol. If I get more than that, great! If not, that is cool too.

This month has been so hectic. Lots of hours at the job, a death in the family and trying to get the days off to go to the funeral, and just in general feeling behind almost every single day this month. I hate that feeling. When you are out of town and then working 6 days a week, when you do have time off, the day is filled with catching up. I have not done more than a few layouts so far this month, although when I look in my folder on the comp, I am always surprised at how many I really did get done, which is a whopping 5. Which means that I am behind on my CT pages, which isn't good, and always makes me rethink how many I am on. And truly I am not on that many, so I will wait to make any decisions until I am feeling more normal and not like a chicken with its head cut off!

I have been looking around the web when I do have time, for some different challenges and I found Hodge Podge Art. I have done the past 2 challenges and find them so much fun and interesting, and they make me think and try something new for a page. This is my layout for the last one, The End of an Era. I used supplies from Rachel Young for this page and you can find links and journaling by clicking on the number under the page.

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Another fabulous challenge this month was the Oscraps Creative Challenge. This challenge made me look at my photos in a whole new light and brought me back to the reason I scrap in the first place which is to get the stories down and not worry about not having the perfect photo. I truly loved this challenge and will do more layouts like this. Here is what I did and I used RooRah by Kathryn Wilson Designs for this one.

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There is another challenge at Oscraps also, called Embrace Imperfection, which I am going to do also. I love challenges that are different and not your ordinary type. And speaking of different, I am loving the journaling challenges over at PolkaDot Plum that Suzyqscraps is doing called, Journey Journaling Challenge. They are different and make you think, so make sure you check it out. I haven't done the first one yet, but I will, after I do the second one, lol, which is on my list of to-do things today, right after I am done posting this. I AM on the CT at Polkadot Plum, but believe me when I say I am horrid about posting all the different challenges going on there during the month, and I really truly like this one!

I am waiting for the Digi Dares to get back so I can check them out again. I love finding new and different challenges and especially ones where I am not limited to using the kits from any one store or designer. However, when I do a challenge at a store site, and I have supplies from there, I DO use them. I just don't like being limited sometimes. So if you know of any fun and different challenges, link me up in the comments!

And on that note, I am off for today. Thanks for any and all comments as I truly love reading them and always try to visit your blog and comment back! Have a great day!

Was that Summer?

2009-08-26T20:31:00.006-05:00

I don't know where the summer got to. It really didn't make an appearance in my neck of the woods. My Mom's tomatoes did not grow at all, although she did try that new fan-dangled hanging pot for them. My sister's grew, but not like normal. They are just now getting red. And it's all because we have not had our normal hot sticky nights. This is the first summer I can remember when it didn't stay hot and humid day and night. And even when we had some warm nights, it wasn't longer than a week or so. Most of days I woke up cold and it took most of the day to warm up. Not very good swimming weather either, although we did get a few great days in for that and for the first time ever I swam in The Mississippi. I loved it, and could imagine I was back in time as the paddle boats and barges floated past in the background. And since the area is a lot smaller than Lake Michigan, it was even kind of warm. The water in Lake Michigan never gets to much warmer than 65, and that is in late August!

I am so NOT looking forward to fall. OK, so there is one reason I want the fall to come and then winter, because that means Niki and Rocky will be coming home.

We are counting down the months, weeks, and days now.

Hahaha, I was talking with her the other day and she was telling me how humid it has been there the past month or so. And how bitchy she has been. She hasn't been handling the humidity well at all. I tell her I know what she means, four words, THAT ONE SUMMER VACATION. I tell you, I don't know what happened, but I was bitchy with a capital B! I am surprised my family didn't leave me there on the side of the road. However, she keeps insisting that it is MUCH worse there and that is why she has been so horrid, I have no idea if that is true or not and I will have to take her word for it. But I was so hoping she would finally let me live that one down! Not gonna happen.

I am now working now, got a part time job. Nothing major, but it gets me out, gives me a little more money, and helps me to start leading a more normal life. Which is the goal. And so far I am enjoying it and have not had too much of a problem facing the days and going in. My goal is to not have any sick or late days. And so far I am doing it. Yes, there are days when I have to really talk myself into doing it, but I think that is a good thing since it means I am learning and doing and beating this stupid depression/bipolar. Yea me!

I also got on 2 new CTs and I am so thrilled! I am now creating for Karen Lewis Designz and Kathryn Wilson Designs. I am about to start on my first layout for Kathryn when I am done with this post. I have truly been enjoying being at The Daily Scrapper and coming up with one or 2 hybrid projects a month for that. That seems to be a more manageable number of projects for me.
I had to take Max in to get a shave. He was just so full of knots and he hates to let me try and get them out. So now he looks just a tad goofy, but even more like a lion with a mane.

My sister and I had a couple of Niki and Rocky's friends over for a cook out last Friday. I really love that her friends like us and enjoy hanging out with us even when they are not here. I even played a bean bag game and enjoyed myself. Yes, I am stepping out of my box and doing, even if I think I will do horrible. And I am surprising myself by not doing so bad! I guess that is about it for now. I will leave you with my latest layout I created for Digi Dare #147

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Thanks for stopping and commenting. I love reading your comments!

Jessica Sprague ROCKS!

2009-07-08T17:49:00.004-05:00

I signed up for Jessica Sprague's new free class Photo Editing: Frame-Ups and Special Effects. The first 2 days, I was just a tad disappointed, thinking well gosh, I know this. So today, I went and watched the first videos and then after a reference in one of them to the set-up video, (which I truly did not think I needed to watch, hehehe), I went and watched that one too, and I learned something from each and every one! OK, so far so good, and I am feeling a little sheepish. I am pleased I learned something and ready to tackle the next one. If I learn nothing else, lesson 3 was enough to keep me happy for weeks! I totally loved it and not only made an awesome photo, but I used it for something a little different to. So, after this class is over, and I have saved for a couple of weeks, I am now going to sign up for the other class she offers on photo editing. I LOVE learning these things and being able to make my photos do what I want. Let me show you what I did today.

Here is my first photo, before and after. I just love the new look!

Now for this other photo. Outside our apartment is this sign. And one night, when I couldn't sleep, and I was sitting outside all by myself, it just reminded me of all those scary movies with the vacancy signs out front. And I kinda got a little chill, because truly, it could be used for just such a movie. But you know, just taking a picture of it, in broad daylight doesn't convey what I was seeing in my mind. Well, after this tut and a frame from Paislee Press, and viola! I think it gets the feeling across perfectly! And now I can almost start work on a page about this sign out front. All I need is to find some kits from my stash to work with, lol. So, anyway, here is the before and after of this one. I felt so good to be able to take something I had learned and use it for something else.

I have added a link to her site on the side bar. Check it out, it's a fabulous place to learn. She also posts on her blog every Friday with tuts in Photoshop and has lots of free tuts and items to go along with it.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping!

Long Distance House Hunting

2009-07-06T15:56:00.005-05:00

I am house hunting. Not for myself, but for my daughter and her husband. They are in Iraq right now, and they were planning on waiting until they returned next February to buy a house, but they want the tax credit and we aren't sure if it will still be available when they return. I am still not sure if I am really all into this. I don't mind doing it, I have been to a few houses now and I kind of like looking and doing the leg work for them. The thing that makes me a little leery is telling them that yes, I think you will like this house, put an offer in for it. I mean, what if they come home and totally hate it? I would feel horrible!

Don't get me wrong, it's not like they have no idea what I am looking at. They look online and find ones they think they might like, then I go and look at it. I take tons of photos, ask tons of questions, and then go home, upload the photos, and wait to hear back from them. I think by the time we are finished, the realtor is going to hate hearing from me, lol. And then, if I can, I get my sister to go back and look at it with me, and sometimes even my Mom if she is here in town. And then I IM with my daughter and I go back with a ton more questions and another list of photos to take. I am thinking at this point that maybe I should make sure the place they eventually get as a mother-in law place. After all, I am doing all the work, I should get something out of it don't you think?

I hope everyone in the States had a great 4th. Me, I did absolutely nothing. Stayed in pretty much, and I didn't even go out for the fireworks. I just wasn't in the mood to deal with all those people. I did however get some pages scrapped. I surfed around the different sites and had fun creating pages for challenges I liked and using non CT items. Sometimes, it's just good to scrap. Of course, I scrap for myself even with the designs from the CTs I am on. That is what it is about for me. I have never understood why people create pages using stock photos, unless it's for something you are creating a page about that you don't have a photo for, like a thing...not a person. Don't get me wrong, I think those pages are stunning, but when it starts to make me feel insuperior, I just remind myself that my pages are just great and I get enough satisfaction using my own photos. And I am forever trying to better my photography skills, but I still feel mediocre sometimes when I see these other pages.

Which brings me to my next thought. I am thinking about maybe taking some photography classes. But they are hard to find unless you are working on a degree. Do I want to do that? Will all that other knowledge in all the other classes really help me in the long run? Because really, all I want to know is how to take better candid shots. I have always told myself that it's all in just taking the photos, LOTS of them, to get those good shots. But, I sometimes forget to just keep shooting. Will these classes improve me in anything I really want improvement in? I don't plan on going into the business of photography. At least not at this moment. It sometimes crosses my mind though. And I am starting to take photos in RAW format now. My family thinks I am good. I see photographer's photos, the ones that get paid for it, and mine are not even in the same class. Sigh, must be an introspective day today.

I had my second interview today for a job. I think it went pretty well. Now all I have to do is wait for the phone call. Which I hate. What happened to the days of going in, them liking you, and saying, ok, you have a job you start tomorrow? Things like that makes yearn for the simpler times. But then, I would have this cool thing called the internet!

Today I leave you with the pages I did this weekend. And my desktop for the month. Have a great week everyone! and remember, to see credits, just click on the number under each one.

A little story...

2009-06-18T14:16:00.001-05:00

I posted a page the other day that I had done about a pose I get from my daughter when she is tired of me taking photos and I got a few comments about how familiar that is, or how they usually get an arm or hand in front of the face, or even a whole body turn. So let me tell you a little story.

All kids get to that age I think, when they start doing this. And back in the day, when my daughter was younger, we only had film cameras, and I got tired of wasting my film on these horrible photos. So, I stopped taking pictures of her.

And one day, as we are looking through photos, she says to me, "How come there are none of me?" To which I replied, "You always cover your face when I try and take a pic, so I stopped trying to take them of you."

Would you believe that suddenly there was no more of that?? Yes, I still get the tongue sticking out, or goofy faces, or whatever she has planned for me, but now, and specially since digital, I can just keep snapping away and eventually I will get a good one. And I also scrap those not so great ones too!

And really, I do believe they grow out of that faze...until they become adults that is, and we never like our photos taken do we?? Which, if you think about it...if you set a good example and put yourself in front of the camera more often maybe they wont mind so much, plus...your family will get to see you without the camera in front of your face!

Just some food for thought...

Have a great weekend!

It's the Middle of June...

2009-06-17T11:02:00.004-05:00

...and it still is not summer around here! My daughter keeps telling me not to complain. She is in heat that melts...her words, lol. And she says to me, "and if you were in this hot of weather, you would be grumpy. I seem to recall a trip to South Carolina....mean mom!" Hahaha...I guess I have to agree with her, up to a point. When she graduated boot camp, we drove down to South Carolina for the ceremony. Yes, it was hot and humid and I was a tad bit grumpy. We went to her barracks, which was not air conditioned, and she was stopping every time we turned around to say goodbye to the people she had made friends with. I finally said, can we please just go?? That is why she called me a mean mom, I wouldn't let her say goodbye to all her friends. But that was a horrible time in my life, I was 8 years younger, my body had done an about face on me...I was a total bitch when I got hot, and I had on the most uncomfortable shoes! She will never let me forget that, lol. Plus earlier that day at the ungodly hour of 6 AM, we were at the stands waiting for the ceremony to begin and I fell going up the bleachers. Yes, you read that right. I am not one who falls DOWN the stairs or whatever, I always fall going up!

Anyway, I am a little older now, my body seems to be changing again, and I am wanting it to be sunny and in the 80s or 90s. I can do without the humidity, but that comes with it around here. As long as I have air, I am good to go! You know, even just a couple years ago, as soon as it hit 50 degrees in the spring, I was opening up windows and heading outside without a jacket. This year? I am cold when it is only in the 60's, lol. And I am NOT opening windows or going outside without a light jacket. So, I am either getting old...not possible, hehehe...or my body is just going through a change again, just because it can! I mean really, I was only 35 when it went through that first change. And I am craving warmer weather. Florida is looking better and better to me...and don't ask my daughter about the family trip we had down there, oh...close to the same time she graduated boot camp...can we say bug-eyed, sweaty monster?? And lesson learned...never share a hotel room with my sister. I do like to think that I have grown some since then...I can share a suite with her now, lol.

Hmmm, let's see, project 365...not doing so great on that lately. However, I am not going to let that stop me. I will be plugging along and not berating myself for days missed. But some days it is hard to think of something to take a pic of. I was happily taking photos of the 5 cats that allow us to live with them, when someone (who shall remain nameless) said to me, you need to stop taking pics of the cats, or people are going to think you are an old cat lady. Pffft!! I happen to think the antics of said cats are hilarious sometimes and I like to get that down. But I really don't want people to see me as a cat lady....so I am trying to take other things too. But what is a person to do when you live mostly alone with 5 cats? My sister is here, but she works like 60 hours a week and soooo hates me to take pictures of her..like anyone does really. So most of the time, it is just me and the cats. Hmmm, maybe I need to get out more?

I have actually been doing pretty good with my layouts and stuff. I was getting behind, so I decided to quit quite a few of my CTs. And that was prompted by actually being let go from one of my favorite sites because I wasn't doing as much as I should. I was on the hybrid team there, and just couldn't keep up. So it was a good thing really, and I am feeling less stressed and having more fun making my pages. I did however get on the CT of The Daily Scrapper and had my first items and instructions published this month! You can see them here, I did the boy party stuff and the birthday board book. What a thrill that was! There are tons of other things in this issue, so check out the whole thing while you are there.

I will end things here with a few layouts I have done recently. As usual, you can click the number under each one for credits.

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Thanks for stopping by!! Have a great week!

{inter}national Scrapbook Day!!

2009-05-02T10:32:00.004-05:00

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog! You are aboard the Scrapmatters Blog train and should have come from Kari's blog and after you pick up your freebie here you will head on over to Heather's blog.

Our theme is My Idea of Paradise and for me that one is easy! It doesn't matter where it is as long as I am surrounded by family. That puts me in paradise. It can be just one family member or the whole brood with extended family. We always have fun, laugh, giggle, cry, and love one another. We get on these giggling jags when something strikes any one of us as funny and we all start in and can't stop. Sometimes we giggle and laugh so hard we cry. And the men in our lives just look at us and smile. And sometimes they get in on the fun, like when there is THE pile up!

Whenever I see these layouts, I see love, fun, and laughter.

We all love to go and see places and sometimes takes trips together which is even better. There is ribbing on each other, jokes, lots of walking together and swimming, and whatever else we all decide to do while away from home. My Mom, sisters, nieces, and daughter all live relatively close still and we get together as often as possible. Sometimes it's just a day out shopping around town, but to me it is paradise!

OK, enough of my rambling, I could go on and on about this, lol. But you came here for a freebie and here it is! Just click on the image to get the download. And have a great weekend! And don't forget all the sales and speed scraps going at Scrapmatters today! See ya there!

And now for the reason

2009-05-01T11:09:00.006-05:00

I couldn't say before why I was so sad because my daughter and son in law were traveling with their unit to Iraq and we aren't supposed to advertise the fact that they are traveling there. But they are safely down on the ground now and starting their year there. I am not sure exactly why it is hitting me so much, they have been in Texas preparing to leave since late February. I guess it is the fact that I won't be able to talk to her on the phone as much and just knowing that they are no longer in the states and could run into trouble at any time. I have been through this before as this is their second tour, but the first days are always hard for me. I get through them, but right now inside, I am just so sad. I am keeping myself busy and that puts it at bay until a stray thought pops in, and then I do my best and pray, and it passes.

It also saddens me that for a whole year I won't have any pics to scrap of them. Weird thought process I know, but its just one of the many little every day things that pops into my head. But I am hoping that this tour they send me more photos while they are there and I won't have to wait till they get home. She seems to have a block when it comes to sending me photos. Just this past week I finally got her to send me a photo I took for my project 365 using her camera, from February. I forgot to put it on my computer before she left. I asked her quite a few times to please send it to me and finally last week she finally did, and this was the subject title...Here woman....now leave me alone. Gotta love her! And remembering the little things like that, always puts a smile on my face and makes me feel better. So, onto other things.

My Mom returned yesterday from her trip to Florida. She had a great time and is thinking of buying a house and moving there. Her Mom, my grandma, and two of her sisters live there and she loved seeing them and doing things with them. She also loved being able to just sit outside and read or whatever. It's still too cold to do that here except for the occasional warm one that comes around to tease us. Then we open all the windows and let the fresh breeze come in and blow out winter. I will be following my Mom down there sometime in the not too distant future. I don't mind the winter, I just hate that it is 9 freakin months long! And as much as I don't really enjoy the thought of her being so far away, I know she will like it so much better. But give me a couple years and I will be there with her!

The festivities have started at Scrapmatters! It's {inter}NSD weekend! I am so excited to check out all the challenges and goodies and sales going on! Here is the link to take you to the forum where a couple challenges and games ahve already started. And don't forget about all the speed scraps going on this weekend. OH, and be sure to come back tomorrow for the blog train!! You won't want to miss this one!

My picture from yesterday. The photo prompt challenge #14 at Weeds and Wildflowers was to snap a photo that represents love to you. Something that shows how love is expressed. I thought about this and the first thing that popped into my mind was AIM. With AIM, you can put a little message that shows up along with your name. And in our family, it has become just one of the ways I see love being expressed. We go back and forth, changing the sentences and ribbing each other, or sending out bday messages or just have a little fun with each other. No one else knows what the heck is going on, but we do, lol. And I LOVE it! Even my Mom is online and some days, the little barbs going back and forth between her and my daughter have me rolling. Then there is the added plus of being able to chat with each other daily. So it's not really a photo, but a screen shot of what that looks like.

And a few pages I can post now. This first one I did for the Grand Theft challenge at SM. It was so much fun lifting Christy and the subject I chose to scrap was just as fun!

This next one I did for Akiloune Designs. She had a one kit call and allowed me to play with this fantastic kit, Coccinelles. It was the perfect colors to do another wedding page for my daughter. The photo was taken by Luann Dibbs.

And this last one I did because I was feeling blue and I found this fun pic to scrap of my daughter.

With that I am off to do some scrapping and surfing for some great deals. Have a fantabulous weekend!

Sad Today

2009-04-29T12:47:00.008-05:00

I am really bumming today, but I really can't say the reason right now. But those of you that know what is going on, can probably guess the reason. I just needed to get that out there. I will touch more on that in a couple days. So, lets get my mind off this and onto something else.

I did 2 weeks of pages for my project 365, woohoo!! I found out that Weeds and Wildflowers does a bimonthly incentive to help you stay on track and get your pages done, so I will hopefully continue with them now and get caught up with past weeks. Gina is just awesome for doing that! As I do the weeks I haven't done yet, I will post them. Here are the ones I just got done.

And lets see, I am behind on posting my daily pics, so here are the past few days of those.

Part of my daughter's DVD collection

We had a couple warmer days, and then some rain. Then POOF! we had green all around.

I finally got a MP3 player. Not an Ipod, but I decided for what I would use it for, this was just fine.

As I said, a few days of rain, and today the sun came out.

Now I am also caught up on that, lol. Last post, I mentioned Scrapmatters and the sale for NSD and promised I would link you up to things going on this weekend. First, make sure you sign up for the Queen of Scrap challenge that will be going on all month, starting May first. You could win a guest spot on the SM CT!! How cool is that? Go here to check it out and sign up. Then there is a TON of speed scraps going on all weekend. With the amount they have planned, you should be able to attend at least one. Go here to see the schedule and put them down on your calendar. I plan on checking out at least a couple of them, so I hope to see you there!

I am sure my niece will just kill me for this, but she got her first period this week! That is always such a milestone in a young girls life. We wait patiently for it to happen, and then once it does, we wait patiently for them to stop. Or in my case, I waited rather INpatiently, lol. Then she also got her braces on yesterday. Remember those times?? I do, barely, lol. She is growing up so fast! I will surely miss all these little and big milestones once Mantha reaches them and we are done with those kinds of things. We have a few years to wait on her, thank goodness! And as I write this, I am thinking I bet my daughter is so happy that I wasn't a blogger when these things happened to her! I think I will close today's post with a couple more layouts I finished. I hope you are all having a great week so far!!

A Little Taste...

2009-04-25T14:21:00.012-05:00

...of summer the past couple of days. And while I totally enjoyed it, I just need to state here and now, "I HATE bees and wasps!" And with the warm weather the past couple of days, they came out in force. I am not sure where there is a hive around here, I am pretty sure there is because the wasps are horrible here. And I mean horrible!! I have never seen so many in one area. I opened my patio door in the bedroom on Thursday, and killed my first one because it was inside the screen, and 1.) I DON'T want them flying around in the house and 2.) I don't want the cats to chase them and get stung. So, it died. The second one met an untimely death because, well, it landed too close to me when I was outside, lol. And the third, because it decided to follow my sister and me into the house. Normally, as long as they stay away from me I am fine, but these things are all around and way tooo close for my comfort. Yesterday I opened up the whole house as it reached a very warm 89 degress, woohoo!! And all wasps managed to live, although there were plenty buzzing around the front windows, driving the cats crazy. I have a feeling this summer is going to be a battle between them and me. And today and the rest of the weekend, we are back in the 40's and wet and chilly. I am waiting not so patiently for summer to get here and stay. Then I can start to complain about the hot and humid weather, lol.

My picture from yesterday.

I am trying different ways to show them to you, and today I am following a little bit how Gabs showcases hers. And if you haven't been following Gabs, you should! She has been taking some awesome photos AND keeping up with her daily pages!!

I am going put this here in the middle of my post because for those of us that scrap, NSD is coming up next weekend and I need to tell you about a sale going on at Scrapmatters. Be sure to check back next weekend when we will start the blog train and festivities and I will link you up to what I can.

I talked to Niki for a little bit yesterday on the phone and in IM. They are gearing up for the move to Iraq soon. She was standing in line yesterday for another shot for something or another. She always seems to call me when she is standing in line somewhere and bored, lol. But I will take the phone calls any way I get them. She is team leader and has a few soldiers under her, and so she is now dealing with having to reprimand when someone does something wrong. Something that is new for her this time around. I know she will be a great leader.

And last but not least today, a couple pages. Oh, I forgot to mention that I am participating in the SUTUCS contest that has been going on. Been having lots of fun making pages for the challenges on that. And once it is done, I will show all my pages from that. But here are a few from April so far.

And that reminds me, I have set another goal for myself for the rest of the year. I really want to get a page a day done but I have to be realistic, so I am going to start with getting 4 a week done. I have been averaging 3 a week this month, so for next month, I want to move it up to 4. I will stick with that for a few months until I manage to do that. I may not get past that, and that is fine. I am keeping it real, lol.

And now I am off to start on a page. Have a great scrapping weekend!

Making it a habit...

2009-04-23T12:14:00.004-05:00

Since moving to my daughter's home, taking care of 5 cats, and my DD and DSIL are away from home for the next year, I decided there were some things I wanted to change about my life or habits and figured this would be a good time. Some things I am doing very good with, such as cleaning the litter boxes every day. You kind of have to with that many cats or else your house will start to smell like cats, lol. I also wanted to get in the habit of doing up dishes before I had a sink full and no more cups to use, lol. I have been doing good with that too. Of course, having a dishwasher sure does help! I wanted to get in the habit of doing laundry every week instead of just when I really need some clean clothes to wear. Can you tell I am a horrible house keeper?? I have been doing great with that too. So I am well on my way to making these things that I have to think about and make myself do, into a habit. Something that comes naturally to me and will do without thinking about it. I am on my way and feel good!

However, there are still some things that I really need to work on to get myself started. Like blogging every day, scrapping my project 365 photos, and losing my tummy. I am doing pretty good taking pictures, just not scrapping them or posting them here. To help with that, I am may be posting the day before pics instead of that days, since sometimes I don't get around to taking them until much later in the day. Having said that, I hope I won't worry about not having a photo to post from that day and just go ahead and blog. Which will in turn help me to blog every day. My DD said to me the other day, "Mom, you haven't posted anything since January!" That made me realize how horrible I was doing. And part of that may be the fact that they haven't left the country yet and I can talk to her on the phone still. But they will be leaving soon and via the computer will be the major way I will communicate with them, with a phone call thrown in every now and again.

A few weeks ago I went out and bought some sweat shorts and sports bras to start working out in. I have a plan on how to lose my stomach and get toned up and lose about 20 pounds or so. Have I started it yet?? Nope. So, while I have been doing great on some things, there are still things I need to concentrate on. Will I do them?? YES!!! Starting today. I am posting on my blog, even though Fez is making it a little difficult by sitting on my lap and right in front of the keyboard, hanging his head over one arm, lol. And I have a couple pics today, even one from today. Days 112 and 113.

The lamp on the big screen TV in the living room went out and after one being shipped to us broke, many irate phone calls and 4 weeks later...we finally got a new lamp for the TV and can watch it again!!

When we go outside, whether the front or the back there is usually one or more cats watching and waiting for their chance to get out. They try, and sometimes make it, but not for long,lol. We chase them back into the house. But they always make their presence known, lol.

I have a couple pages to show you also. I created my first ever kind of scene. I am not totally happy with it, but think it turned out pretty good for a first attempt. And then I scrapped a page about my nieces birthday last year. I used the fab kit Vintage by Soval at Scrapmalin.

And that is it for me for now. Have a great day!!

Technology amazes me yet again...

2009-01-19T11:16:00.004-06:00

The other day I was watching Life on Mars. My daughter has most of them saved on her DVR. It's about this man who gets hit by a car and is transported back to 1973. And as I watch this, I see how much things have changed, and in all reality, in such a short period of time. In the police station where this guys works, they show a policewoman who really is more of a glorified secretary than anything at that time, using a mimeograph machine to make copies. And how old am I to even KNOW that is what she was using? There are no computers in the station, no cell phones, and all the other things we pretty much take for granted in this day and age. And that was only 30 years ago! How awesome is that? They now have women on the police force that are police officers, not someone they call on when they need a caring ear when they have to tell someone a loved one is gone or to make copies.

I have always loved history, and if you really sit and think about all the things we have in our lives now that our parents and grandparents didn't have, it just truly amazes. But what really prompted this is my day 18 picture. But first I must show day 17...

Friday after being cooped up inside for days with the below zero weather, I needed to get out, and I had found a camera shop in LaCrosse and they had a battery charger for my Canon DSLR, so my sister and I headed out to get it. This is a shot of downtown LaCrosse. Kinda pretty isn't it? I like when cities try and keep the old buildings and use them and keep the downtown area so interesting. I could probably spend a whole day down there checking out all the little shops, which I will do once the weather is nicer.

Day 18

OK, when I first took this picture I thought well that didn't turn out so great, but the more I looked at it, the more I like it. So, why did I take this? I went with my sister last night to Sloopy's while they threw darts. Now this is not the first time I have been there, but it was the first time I really looked at the juke box. It's hard to read here, but at the top it says, Internet Jukebox. How cool is that?? You can pick from 1,000's of songs now! I just thought that was amazing and very cool. Can ya tell I don't hang out at bars all that much? I don't know how common that is to have a juke box like that, but it was very new to me, lol.

And day 19

SO, moving to my daughter's house to take care of her 3 cats and bringing my own 2 in the mix, we knew we were going to have some not too happy cats. I have to say it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. A few little skirmishes, and still a little growling and hissing, but this morning 2 of her cats and 1 of mine decided to finally let things go so they could share a saucer of milk. And if any of them want any they have to share because Dori, the tabby one, will drink it all up if you don't get your little tongue in there, lol.

Now onto my layout for ADSR #4 challenge 4. I had a lot of fun with this one and used stuff on my hard drive I forgot I had. It was supposed to be a little arty and journaling from the soul. Something that is important to you or you want others to know, heartfelt. I really liked how it turned out.

I finally got the chance to upload my January Desktop. I love how it turned out. I used Winter Magic by Jule Designs at The Digi Chick. You can find it here. I used one of my favorite pictures from Rocky's birthday last year. Oh, and Happy Birthday Rocky!!

That's all I have for today. Have a great day!

I am back, project 365 and ADSR

2009-01-16T14:30:00.015-06:00

This is going to be a long post...

Man, what I thought would be an easy thing once I got to my daughter's house turned out not to be. I figured all I would need to do was plug in my computer and I would be set and connecting to the wireless internet here. Not so!! I thought my computer already had a wireless set up, and it didn't. I went to the store and got a card to put inside my computer. Now this is an easy thing for me to do. I have changed out hard drives, put in more memory, replaced CD drives and so on in my time since I started using computers about 10 years ago. I opened up my computer, which by the way companies have made easier for us to do. Figured out where the card had to go, but it wouldn't fit! ARGH!!!

So off I go back to the store and find out I have an express CPI or whatever slot on my computer, so the guy suggests a USB wireless connector. That was easy to do. I am all set to go, or so I thought. It kept connecting to the wireless but with limited access..which meant I couldn't get online. Now what does it matter that it is connected if I can't get ONLINE?!

I call the internet company. And after trying a few things, the lady tells me, it must be your connector. Maybe you got a bad one. So I resign myself to waiting until the next day to go back to the store and get another one. In the mean time, my SIL is trying to connect on his laptop and is getting the same thing. (obviously NOT my connector). SO when he calls, they decide to send someone to check it out. Now I already had someone coming to connect another DVR to the TV upstairs so we figured we would wait and see what he could do, if we were lucky enough to get someone that knew about the wireless connections.

We lucked out, he knew how to check and do things with that also. And I ended up not getting another DVR, he talked me out of it, lol, by showing me how to connect my VCR so I could record things and not have to disconnect my daughter's DVD player. This very nice guy spent about an hour here, trying to get it working. Still no go but he determines that maybe the router needs to be changed and he doesn't have one, so he sets another appointment for someone to come out and replace that. So we wait another few days for this guy to come out.

He comes out and says, "but one of your computers is connected to the network so its not the router, let me see what I can do." And then he proceeds to do EVERYTHING the guy from the other day did...except he didn't have the CD to install the USB connector to my computer, so he decides he will come back on Friday with the CD and do that. Mind you, the other guy already tried this...but does he listen to me?? Oh and while talking to the tech guy on the phone he says, "she tried installing a card, but she did that herself." EXCUSE ME?!!! I wanted to pound that guy into the ground! Like I didn't know what I was doing, the jerk! OK, I am calm, and tell the guy all that was already done..but we must wait. WHY can't they send out the same person that was here the first time?? After telling the guy that I KNOW what I am doing, he tries to mollify me and tells me that if he can't get the USB connection to work, he will send out the tech guy the next day. So now I am waiting over the weekend for him to come back out and try it himself.

It's monday and after 12 and still no one. On the phone to the cable company again. They inform me that I have no appointment scheduled. GRRRRR! They will send out someone tomorrow. OK, I am calm....I am calm...I am calm. And a new guy comes out the next day and does the EXACT same things the first 2 guys did. I am calm...calm...calm...and he can't get it to work either. NOT so calm any more!! But what can I do, I can't get mad at this nice man who came out. He was here for over an hour trying to make it connect. And FINALLY, he makes an appointment for a tech guy to come out. I have been thinking that every time they wanted to send out another installer...just get me a tech guy!!

The tech guy comes out and hallelujah he gets it to work!! Then he says, but you only have one bar showing, did they replace the router? Nope. Well, why the heck not, you would think they would have at least tried that. And this wonderful man not only got me connected but he had ALL the supplies he needed to do so and another router and he replaced the old one and now I am connected at almost 100%! And so is my daughter's computer. I am happy.... And to show you how excited I was here is day 14...

see, I have yahoo and AIM and I am connected to them!!

I have decided to go with project 365 this year. Not a self portrait but just a photo a day. I have been doing pretty good so far. I started late, and so I missed a few days. I cheated and went back and took a few extra photos of things I wanted for the the first couple of days and I am still missing day 8 I think,but I am caught up. Will I keep it up? I hope so, and this will give me an incentive to post on my blog every day. I can at least post my photo of the day and a little journaling so when I go to do layouts I won't forget anything. I am not going to go back and post all of them so far, but I do have a couple a want to share and then today's.

Day 10

My daughter took me to see Twilight on my birthday, the 6th. LOVED it and since she had just finished reading the books, she let me read them. By the 10th I was done and want to go back and see the movie again. Awesome series! And yes, I love Edward, lol. I have to say, I have never seen her so happy to go and see a movie. She had already seen it once, and I swear, she was skipping to the theatre with this huge happy smile on her face telling me to hurry up.

Day 13

I woke up after the 4 inches of snow we had the night before, looked at my car, and thought, "Seriously?!" I can't believe the guy who plows the parking lot for the apartments did this. I mean, really, the snow is up and ON my bumper!

And here is today's photo
Day 16

OK, this photo I had to take after I had gone out for a smoke and came back and made this comment to Kate. "Ya know, Mother Nature has a wicked sense of humor. It is a beautifully bright, clear, crisp looking day. The sun is shining brilliantly just inviting you to come out and play. And when I go in the garage to have a smoke, it calls to me to open the door and enjoy the sunshine. So I do, and then the -22 degrees slam into to you, actually slaps you in the face and takes your breath away. And I can hear her, Mother Nature, laughing at me." She said, OMG, you need to use that on a layout...so I shall, lol.

And now I come to ADSR 4. This is the first time I have played in this and so far it has been loads of fun. It has been hard for me to get the pages uploaded, but I did it and we are doing pretty good so far. I am working on challenge 4 at the moment. But I wanted to share the first 3 we have done so far.

Challenge #1 We had to tear a photo into 3 pieces. I tried doing this on my own and I think it turned out ok. Love the layout tho. This is not the one I put in the ADSR gallery, I can't find that one at the moment, but basically I had to change the 3 tears to make it look like there was 3 pieces.

An aside here, I am taking a page from Gabs blog and numbering my layouts starting with this year so I know how many I did at the end of the year. Thanks for the idea Gabs! And also,by clicking on the number it will take you to DST where you will find credits. (something else Gabs does, lol.)

Challenge # 2 was a layout we both had to work on. We had to redo the middle photo to make it one photo to go along with the rules. We could only use 8 elements which was very hard for both of us to do. We thought it was very plain...but we liked it.

Challenge #2
We had to redo the first layout posted in a gallery. I went with my gallery at SBB. Not only was it the first layout in the gallery, it was my first digital layout. We could not change any of the words and we had to use the same photos. I like the original which is here, but I do really like the new one too.

And finally, that is all from me for today. I am all caught up on this at least, lol. Lots more to get caught up on. Have a great day!

Organized? What's That??

2008-12-02T14:40:00.002-06:00

I am so unorganized! And I so need to get that way soon, or I will be wondering where the heck the time went. I haven't packed a darn thing since last time and I am just not in the mood to do any of it. So today I makinga To Do list and breaking it down into little steps and hopefully keep on track so I am not freaking out in 3 weeks. I also have lots more to do on the gifts I am making this year so that will go on the list also. Other than that, I have not much going on right now. So this will be a short little post and I leave you with my latest layout I did for the template challenge at ScrapMatters. It's a wonderful template and I am sure I will use it again and again. You can find all the info here.

Another Blog Train!

2008-11-28T05:00:00.001-06:00

Good Morning! And welcome to Wisconsin! Today is the day, and you won't want to miss one stop on this here train...it is chock full of some amazing holiday printables! Everyone has worked hard to bring you some amazing stuff, so when you visit the blogs and start downloading, don't forget to leave some thanks.

Before I tell you one of my favorite Christmas traditions, I want to remind you of the Black Friday Sale going on at Scrap Matters. After you have all the freebies be sure and check out the shop. Image is linked to the ScrapMatters shop.

One of my favorite things every Christmas is the stockings. I have loved digging into those every year. Always something small and fun inside and always in the toe is an orange. And even now, at 45 y/o I still love it! After our individual families have had their Christmas morning, we head over to my Mom's for the day. And she has the stockings lined up in front of the tree, in front off the presents. Each one geared for the recipient. Mine is a snowman design because I like them, my SIL's a Camouflage design because he is a hunter, and so on. And yes, my Mom makes them up for everyone! So as everyone starts arriving, there are now 8 stockings lined up, waiting for everyone to arrive and get situated, so we can dive in, lol.

And in our house, it wouldn't be complete without a few pairs of underwear stuffed inside. One year she decided not to put that in there, and we were all just a tad disappointed, and the following year, they were back, lol. Sometimes a necklace or ear rings, a CD, some body soap, all sorts of fun little treats to be found inside those stockings, which is why I think I have always loved them so much. And yes, we also make one up for my Mom, lest you think us heartless, lol.

OK, ok, you came here for a freebie huh?? So I will get to it. I have a couple treat toppers, and cone shaped ornament or treat holders for you. The treat toppers I think you all know what to do with...print 'em out and fold and staple onto a baggie filled with treats. The cone ornaments, and I am so sorry I don't have a completed one yet to show you, but print them up, shape them into a cone and adhere closed along the edge. I like to put ribbon or wire hangers atached to the top on the sides and maybe a little jingle bell or tassle hanging from the bottom, and then you can fill them with treats and hang them. Or you can fill with some stuffing and have some sort of decoration coming out the top. I have one I left plain for you to add all sorts of scrap supplies to the outside. Some tags, or brads, bling, whatever suits your fancy! And then you hang them on the tree as ornaments. Sometime today or tomorrow I will have finished making mine up and will take photos and post them here. I hope to anyway. I have had the hardest time finding matte photo paper to print them on. Still haven't found any yet, but I have decided to just try using something else for now. Yeah, yeah, I am in a 'talkative' mood today, lol....so finally, thanks for hanging in with me, here it is. Just click on the image to download. And thanks for stopping by! I hope your Thanksgiving was fab!

Next up on the train is Kim and you can find her post at the following link.
http://kimbytx.blogspot.com/

And if you missed anyone, you can check back at the ScrapMatters Blog.
And remember everyone is in different time zones, so if they haven't posted yet, just check back a little later. Have a great weekend!!

A Challenge Between Friends

2008-11-24T08:03:00.003-06:00

My friend Kate has decided to challenge herself, and asked me if I wanted to join in on it, and I jumped at it. We are both on a few CTs and most of our layouts use the products just from them, which is not a bad thing, but we also find lots of freebies and still purchase kits from other designers and those kits tend to sit on our hard drives gathering dust. So our challenge to ourselves is every day we scrap and do layouts or whatever for CTs, we are going to also make something using a freebie or a kit we have purchased. We started yesterday and we each met our challenge. Go us!! I can't post my CT stuff that I worked on yesterday, for that you will have to come back on Friday, as it will be a freebie! I can post my non-CT layout, which is also going to be a calendar topper for the one I am making for my family this year. This one is Januarys. Two down, 10 to go, lol. And if you'd like to check out the beautiful layouts Kate did, check out her blog, Life In My Zoo. Image is linked for credits.

I woke up this morning to see the trees all covered in white. Our first real snow of the year! I always love the first snow, the first real blizzard/storm, and of course I always hope for snow on Christmas, although that doesn't always happen. But right now, the traffic is muted, and during the night the snow has covered everything in a white blanket. Unfortunately I am assuming it will all be gone by Wednesday evening, when I have decided to go out and take some pics of the lights downtown. And I will only be doing that if I can find my charger for my camera battery. It HAS to be around here somewhere. I am hoping anyway, because it's around $60.00 to replace it and I want to be positive it's not here before I go out and spend that much money. I could always use my point and shoot camera, it does fit on the tripod and I can go manual with it, but I know how to work my DSLR and I like using that for playing and trying new things. And the big plus is I have a remote for it, so I don't have to set it up and then run to get in place for the ones I want to be in, lol.

Have you ever been to the Photo JoJo site? It's a fun and informative blog with info about taking pictures, setting up a mini studio, and everything in between. My favorite so far is how to make an extender that is light and folds up, so I can put my camera up high and take a shot looking down on something. I have yet to it but it's on my list of things to do. First on my list is to put together the mini studio. I have been making quite a few hybrid things lately, and trying to get good photos in my home is next to impossible. At least I don't like them and I want to be able to show them off to the best. So, if I don't have to go and get a new charger, I am going to get the supplies for that and have my b/f help me construct it. Hopefully I will have that done by the end of December, if not sooner. Oh, and that just reminded me of something I NEED to put on my Christmas list for this year. Now I just have to find out what it is called, but it is that tripod thingy that can wrap around anything so I can carry it around and take a photo anywhere! Guess it is time for me to check out Photo JoJo and find out what it is called, lol.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Some gifts

2008-11-20T12:50:00.005-06:00

I have a couple things to show you today. I have been busy creating gifts for the family as you know. I am working on a book/journal/album for my niece. I will probably do that same for my other niece. Can't do one and not the other, lol. I was planning on doing something different for each one, but then thought, what if the other one likes what the other got better? So, I am going to make the same things. Just different color schemes.

Here are a couple pics of what I have done so far. I got the idea and the ring binder mechanism from Janet Hopkins on her blog It's All in the Details. So far I have used kits from Alma Townsend for this one. Pretty Birdy, Awesome You, and Brighter Tomorrows.

The other items I made are posted on the ScrapMatters Blog for the reNEWit project. It's a sort of altered book, but just the outside. I will post one of the pics here, and you can check out the instructions at ScrapMatters Blog here. There are 2 different types I did. Two more gifts done! Hope you enjoy these ideas today. All are actually quite easy to do and the altered book frames only took me a night to do. The other book is even better! So be sure to check it out!

Have a great day!

I am so excited!!

2008-11-18T09:15:00.004-06:00

This morning is all about scrapping! And I am just so excited! Why? Well, because my name is up in lights! So to speak anyway, lol. Last month I made a little luggage tag album for Kelley Mickus to go along with her collab Zoom, Zoom, Zoom. I was just making it as a freebie for her to go with her grand re-opening, but she put it in her shop too! How awesome is that?

And then late last month I got on Dianne Rigdon's CT, and I just finished up making a Thanksgiving hybrid project with her new kit Well Worn, which is awesome by the way! And it is in the shop today! I am just so beside myself with pride...that is allowed isn't it?? Of course, they both did all the hard work creating the gorgeous kits, and Dianne had the templates for some of the stuff, like the fry box, so all I had to do was have fun playing with it all. But it is just so exciting seeing your name along with their's. So, ya wanna see? Gonna show you anyway, lol. Images are linked to the products.

And, the Well Worn Thanksgiving Hybrid kit is on sale, so get it now and decorate your table this Thanksgiving. I am going to print them out and let my nieces put them together and write the names on the place cards. And I think maybe a couple of the fry boxes, so the families can write things they are thankful for on the cards, and add to them through out the year. And of course, they will love doing the napkin rings.

And now I have another layout I did yesterday too. I used Kiki Halbert Designs, Amethyst Nights. It has some awesome, gorgeous, deep purple papers with lots of texture. And since purple is one of my nieces favorite color, it was perfect to do a page about her birthday earlier this year. She was just so embarrassed when everyone sang to her in the restaurant.

Love the expression on her face! And that is it for today. Or I may come back, who knows, lol. Back to packing and purging. Have a great day!

Oh, and make sure you check back on Thursday, I have an awesome hybrid project to share with you all that makes a wonderful gift!

Small boxes, Fish Fry and Mozzarella Sticks

2008-11-17T00:42:00.005-06:00

I actually got some packing done today. I hate packing. It's worse than getting dental work done for me. But this time I promised myself, I am NOT waiting till the last minute and then running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. Have you ever wondered where that saying comes from? Do chickens really run around after their heads are cut off? Anyway, back to the packing. After many times going through this, and people complaining that I pack my boxes too heavy, I have learned to start out with smaller boxes. But it seems even that does not help, lol. I have been packing my books, craft books, and scrapping and misc specialty soft covers and the boxes are about 12" by 18".

As small as they are, I can hear them now as they help me move them...I don't know why or how, but they are still heavy. But then my theory was, less trips with bigger boxes, ya know? And besides, have you ever watched men move? "oh these aren't heavy." and so they stack up box on box to...and what did I just say was my theory..oh yes, because then they don't have to make as many trips. And of course now that I am older, and so are the people that help me move, I worry every single time they do that, waiting to be the one that made their backs go out. Me, after 2 back surgeries, I make the trips.

And this time, I have to differentiate between which boxes will be going with me, and which boxes will be going into storage. I am thinking most will go with me, but some will be going into storage with my bigger items. No sense in moving them up there with me and putting them in storage just to decide that I am moving back here and having to take it all back with me. So, that stuff will stay here until such time I decide on where I will go when the year is up.

Sigh...have you ever read The Creative Junkie Blog? I love her blog, She is funny, straight from the heart, and a great read. And when my blog grows up..it wants to be just like her's. Check it out, you won't be disappointed!

I went to my sister's for fish fry tonight. I love fish fries, and it's even better from there because it is fish my nieces and BIL have caught on their fishing trips to MN. Little perch, that my BIL has painstakingly gutted and all that fun stuff guys love to do, and recently even my nieces have been helping with that part now. But I have a problem now, every time I go out for a good fish fry, later that night and all the next day I am miserable. I don't know why this has suddenly started happening. Can't possibly be because I am older. I mean, I have been this age for a whole year now, why now?? So needless to say, as I entered their house I said, you realize if I get an upset tummy, this will mean no more fried fish for me. And my so nice BIL said, ya know I can just wrap some up in foil and cook it up on the grill. I declined. I guess I like misery, I am just not ready to give up a staple in my diet of a really good fish fry. But, as I write this at 1:30 AM, so far, so good. But it in my life, things like that like to make me THINK I am safe, and then wham...hahahaha, got ya!

Earlier this year, in April, I had some cysts removed from my ovary and the uterine burning to get rid of fybroids. In doing my reading beforehand, I learned that 80% of women that have this done, don't have periods any more. But I also know my body. Whatever small chance there is of something happening or not, I am in that small percentage. So every month that goes by, I thank God that I am still in that 80% this time, and I have not had a period since then. But if you look in my bathroom cabinet, you will still see all the personal hygiene us woman have to have. I just know, as soon as I decide to give what I have to my sister or someone, can't let it go to waste, that stuff is not cheap! I JUST KNOW, as soon as I do that...HAHAHAHA...fooled ya!! So anyway, I am hopping this fried fish thing is a passing thing and I can still eat it.

Like the year I ate like 5, yes I am a pig sometimes, mozzarella sticks. We always go to my Mom's house Christmas eve for horse derves...hehehe, I am too lazy right now to look up the correct spelling of that. And that particular year she tried a new brand of moz sticks, and they were awesomely good, so I pigged out on them. I remind you here that I live alone. And so does my Mom, although that night my other sister had come to town for the big day and was staying in the extra room at her house. Late that night, I had THE worst and first time really, heartburn. I am in pain, really big pain, the am I having a heart attack pain. So at 2 AM I am in my car heading to Walgreens to pick up some heartburn stuff, because really I am sure that is all it is. Then I went for a drive because every time I went over a bump in the road, I felt slightly better. I know, weird..but that is me. I went driving and actually looked for bumpy streets to drive down. I finally get home and about 2 hours later, I am thinking as the pain is stilll there, what if I am having a heart attack? I am all alone, and who will be able to call 911 or get me to the hospital? I sure don't want someone coming over here on Christmas morning and finding me dead on the floor. So, I gather my stuff together, and head over to my Mom's. I have a key, so I went in silently and laid on the couch trying to sleep. Just knowing that there was someone there with me that I could holler to, made me feel safer. Didn't help the pain any. And then on one of my trips to the bathroom, I scared the hell out of my Mom and almost gave HER a heart attack. She thought at first it was my sister, but my shadow was bigger...

But then she went into her pharmacy and got me something else to try which helped a lot. Needless to say, IF I have a mozarella stick again, it is ONE. I had heartburn for months after that, and I even went as far as writing down everything I ate to see what was causing it, and then poof, it went away. So, after taking you all so far off course here, I am hoping it will be the same with the fish. One can dream. I dread the day I may have to stop eating spicy food.

And I will leave you with a layout I did yesterday and a card. I got the chance to work with this beautiful kit, O Holy Night, by Connie Prince. She had a one kit call and she let me play. I loved the blue and white together.

Have great Monday!

A Little Rambling

2008-11-14T13:54:00.007-06:00

I don't know what happened, I used to journal every day, but now I can't even keep up with my blog, and as far as journaling in my paper journal...forget it, it has been months and months...maybe even a year since I last put pencil to paper. And I so need to get back to that, I feel an emptiness in my life without that journal getting filled with all the day to day stuff. And I miss playing with my art supplies to create visual pages. SO, I guess it is time to start setting aside a little window of me time and get back to that. Maybe start out slowly and aim for once a week. As for blogging, I need to start doing that every day, and there are reason for that, including one I am not all that happy about, more anxious than anything.

The reasons? My daughter and son in law will be leaving for Iraq for a second tour this coming year. They will be leaving the area in January, and I don't know, but sometime in April or May they will be leaving the country. While I know a little of what to expect this time around, it is still going to be a nerve wracking year, full of worry. I know in my heart that God will watch over them, but the worry still creeps in. And of course I hate not being able to just call her up and talk, or take a weekend and go visit them. I miss not being able to hug her or see her in person for so long.

So anyway, the last time they were in Iraq I tried myspace to try and keep her up to date on the happenings around here, but that didn't go so well, I hardly ever updated in the journal area there, so I want to do it more this coming year while they are gone, and I will do that here. And then there are other family members that I should send this link to so they can keep up too. And lastly, my responsibilities to my CT's. I should be posting my layouts all the time. For them and also for the family, besides words, my layouts usually show what is going on in my life and with my family. SO...I am starting now, today, to get something posted every day...even if it is just a few words or a layout. Now to decide on a time to do that, and DO IT! I am thinking I will have a couple friends try and help me out by asking me, 'did you blog today?" LOL. So if you check my blog and don't see an updated post...give me holler and tell me to get on the ball! I know Hummie is good at leaving me a comment every now and then when it has been a while since I updated...thanks Hummie!

I am going to plop a layout here in the middle of my post. I did this one for Digi Dare #108 and it was just the perfect dare at this time in my life. At first I was going to do it on my Mom, and I think I will still do one about her being my hero, but I went with my daughter this time. All images are linked.

Last time she went to Iraq, she lived in an apartment here in the same city as me, and she decided to put everything in storage and then find a new place once she got home. She has 3 cats, and we had to split them up within the family because we all have 2 and 5 total would have been a bit much. Now she is married, has a great place, and doesn't want to put her animals through that again. And she wants to be able to come back and be able to really come home to her own place, not live with someone while she looks. So, I am moving the end of December to stay at her place and take care of everything for them. I just live in a studio apartment and I still have my 2 cats, but her place is much bigger and I will have one of my sister's staying there too, so it will be easier for me to just move out there. And I don't have a bunch of stuff really, how can you in a small place like I have? I pretty much plan on coming back here, my Mom, my other sister, husband and nieces live here. I am thinking I will miss not being so close to them all. But who knows what the future holds. So for the next month I am going to be busy packing and getting most of my stuff up there. I think the big things I will put in storage here, maybe in my sister's basement, but I don't think she has room, lol.

And what else have I been doing in the scrapping area? Making presents! I have quite a few in progress and a couple done, so I will also be busy doing that this next month. I want to get them all done by this time next month. And I have been busy creating layouts and hybrid stuff. I am even starting to do a few hybrid layouts, which is harder for me to do than anything else, but I am getting the hang of it...or at least figuring out HOW I like to do hybrid layouts. I do most of it digitally and add accents from my paper stash. And I am finding that I like to use templates for hybrid. I can print out the main part, then hide that and print out other parts so I can layer with things that aren't digital with the digital. Here is my latest, and you can see how I did that.

I printed out the photo strip on the left separately and put it on top of the swirl. Plus I was able to write on it with my own handwriting, which I sometimes miss doing. Of course, if I ever sat down and finished doing my own font and sending it back in to Darcy Baldwin, I could put my own handwriting on digi layouts too.

I have also been doing some challenges from Get Digi With It and Scrap Matters. You should check them out, they have some great challenges. Here are a couple of those.The first one is for the everyday magic challenge at Scrap Matters. The second one was for the paper 2 digi challenge at Get Digi With It.

And this last layout I just had to show my funky hats, the large photo showing my new one, lol.

And lastly, I signed up for Jessica Sprague's Storys in Hand class. I have not even started it, but will do that this weekend I think. So far it has been awesome! And really I can't wait to make my little album to put my stories in.

If you made it this far, thanks so much for sticking with me through this long post! Have a great weekend!

A Cool Photo Effect!

2008-10-28T00:38:00.003-05:00

I just love when I find cool effects that are super easy. I was at the Scrap Matters Blog and Alamama posted this very neat and easy effect for your photos. And I just had to try it right away. So I went from this...

To this...

Amazing isn't it? I really like this effect. And it took me about 2 minutes to do it, really! To see how to do this, go here. And have fun!

Blog Train and lots of fun things going on!

2008-10-17T07:00:00.002-05:00

Yep, this is the spot if you are coming for All Things Visual blog train. We have an entire album for you to download today! It will fit in the new Maya Road Tag Album, and Kelley now carries them in the store! How awesome is that? We all used Moments Like These by Kelley Mickus to make the pages. And let me tell you, it is gorgeous! You won't want to miss a stop.

But first things first, lol...gotta take care of business. Check out some of the fun things going on at All Things Visual this weekend...

So be sure to click on the image to get to the store and take advantage of this great sale! And then once you get there and are finished shopping, head on over to the forum and check out the fun things going on. There is a speed scrap at 9 EST which I am hosting in the forum. Should be fun! And then at 10 EST there will be a scraplift challenge. And Saturday morning I will be posting a hybrid card challenge with some templates for you to use. There will be a treasure hunt, and some Halloween fun, so be sure to come back often during the weekend to see what else is new!

Now we can get to the freebie! Just click on the image to DL.

And here is the next stop.
Tricia's Blog

And just in case you missed any you can catch the train here! Have fun and hope to see you later tonight for the speed scrap. And have a great weekend!

World Card-Making Day!

2008-10-04T10:55:00.004-05:00

Today is World Card-Making Day and to celebrate, we have a mini blog train from Scrap Matters. So sit back, crab some coffee or whatever is your favorite drink and check out the blogs and grab some free templates! And then create some wonderufl cards! Here is my contirbution. Just click on the image to DL.
And here is the list of the other Blogs in case you missed any.
Team Blog
Heather
Kari
Jaime
Kim
Sharon
Kate S.
DT Kim
Andrea

Have great weekend!

It's in the Cards!

2008-10-02T10:58:00.005-05:00

Want to get a head start on some holiday gifts? Come join us at ScrapMatters as we start our newest hybrid challenges. Just click on the image to get there.I was lucky and got to be the one to come up with the very first template and I am so excited to see what everyone does with it! And since you earn points for each week you do a card and post it, while you are making something for someone else, you can earn some nice gifts for yourself in the process! I plan on following along and making a package of cards to give as gifts to my family. And this coming year, with Niki and Rocky being in Iraq, we will all use them.

I guess I will post another layout or two today also, I have been so lax at doing that. So first up is a 2 pager I did about the Greek Festival we went to a couple years ago. I tried flaming cheese, I can't remember what it was called. Wasn't bad, but definitely a different taste.

Credits

And next up is a layout I made for a CT application. I so love the photos from our trip to Virginia Beach and made another layout using them. I even included the photo with me in it this time, lol.

Credits

And that is all the news from me for today. Have a good one!

Fun Stuff and Not so Great news

2008-10-01T19:48:00.006-05:00

Lets do the fun stuff first! If you haven't been to the Get Digi With It site, you don't know what you are missing! And this month we are starting out with new challenges and a point system AND a costume party! This looks to be like so much fun and all the party goers are just having a blast with it. Just click on the image to get to the party. You can still join in on the fun. Just email Maria at the addy below. Yep, she is accepting late comers!

Lets see, so far I have seen Elvira, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Ridinghood, and a few others I can't quite remember off the top of my head. Plus, I am the posting diva this month, so if you can beat me in posting, you could win a super prize! So come and join the fun and party!

And now I have a couple layouts to share with you. I actually have a ton, but will limit myself today...hehehe. Been getting some wedding pages done and here are a couple of those. Ooops, can't post the other one yet, have to wait till Saturday to do that one!

Credits

Here is an album I am starting for one of my nieces, and this one is hybrid. It will be 5x10 and I am using backs of paper tablets and whatever else I can find as chipboard. And I am loving using bragbook QPs to help make it a little faster to get done. I plop that on my page, add some paper, and then I have lots of room to add real embellies.

Credits

I will post a couple photos of it when it is completed and all put together as soon as I am done with it.

Now, the not so great news. My daughter and sil are heading back to Iraq come Febraury and will be there until the end of the year. AT least this time, since they are married, they should be able to live together. Depends on how the rooming situation is once they get there. While I am not looking forward to this, I can say I am happy they are not going to Afghanistan at this point in time. And right now we are all kind of gearing up for when they leave, getting stuff ready, psyching ourselves up, stocking up on supplies so we can send them care packeages while they are gone. And I am working on a calendar for them to take, per my daughter's request. Although I was already planning on making calendars this year for gifts. And in the future I will probably add a little more person things on my blog so they can check in when they have time and see what is going on in the family.

Have a great week!

It's a Birthday!!

2008-09-26T09:32:00.003-05:00

Good Morning! You have arrived at stop # 27 on the ScrapMatters Birthday Blog train! You are now in Wisconsin, USA.

But before I get to the freebie, I want to tell about what we do in our family for birthdays. Even though we are all pretty much grown up, I do have 2 nieces that are still in the party age group, we all generally get together on the Sunday after the person's birthday and have dinner which the bday person has chosen and then cake and ice cream and of course gifts. We have a cake that is a favorite of the bday person, usually it is the same, but some years it changes, especialy for me. I love Danish Layer cake with whipcream frosting. But that is a kind of exspensive deal, and most times I like my Mom's home-made ones just as much. for those of you that have no idea what a Danish Layer cake is...once you try it, I bet you will love it as much as I do, lol. We live in a city that had a big Danish community way back when, so we still have a lot of Danish bakeries around here. Anyway, it is a yellow cake with strawberry and custard inbetween the layers, and there is 3 layers. YUMMMM!

So it is a pretty simple get together with whatever family is here at the time, and sometimes we have everyone here, which is of course the best! There is laughter, kidding, eating, talking, and just a great time with family.

One more thing before the freebie...there will be a chat tomorrow, Saturday, with lots of give-aways and fun games. Here for the info on that. So be sure to stop in and have some virtual cake with us and PART-TAY!! And in case you didn't know, the pages in this blog train brag book give-away are all created with the awesome collab kit you can get free with a $10.00 purchase in the store. And let me tell you, it is awesome!

OK, so here is my page without any further ado. Just click on the image to DL. And have a great weekend! And then click on the link to continue on your stops around the world. Remember that some people are in a different time zone, so if they don't have their page up yet, just come back a little later.

Last Stop http://www.simplysweetdesigns.blogspot.com/

Next Stop http://www.jeniscraftyblog.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday ScrapMatters!!

It's a Speed Scrap!

2008-09-22T13:01:00.003-05:00

Mark your calendars for tomorrow night everyone! There is a speed scrap at Scrap Matters, and let me tell you, they are fun, fun, fun! And a great way to get a layout finished. Click the image to find out more info.

Here is a page a did at the last one I attended. I missed the deadline to get it posted and get the awesome participation gift, because I was too busy chatting last time, lol. But it was fun anyway.Credits

Hope to see you there!

Hybrid!!

2008-09-20T12:45:00.002-05:00

Been doing some hybrid stuff lately and just loving it! Next week I will be posting a calendar but for now here is a candle I made which turned out awesome if I do say so myself, lol. For directions on how to do this, click here. I used Enchantment kit by Britt-ish Designs at ScrapMatters.

The next thing I made was a little keyplate album for my neice with a few of her photos from her trip. I put it in a slide show because there are quite a few pics of it showing the whole thing. I used the template set by ChrissyW and today it is only $1!! You can't beat that! And I used BBF Collab by ChrissyW and Angie Kovaks at Elemental Scraps. I think it turned out gorgeous. I even cut out my own album from chipboard because I didn't have that album.

News!!

2008-08-20T13:59:00.011-05:00

In the past few weeks since my last post I have lots of news. First off, my daughter got married! She is a Mrs. now and I have a son-in-law. He is just the best and makes her happy and that is all I can ask for. The wedding was perfect and the day beautiful and they were just thrilled to have so many of their family and friends come for this big day. I will just share a couple pics here and then the layouts as I make them. I just wanted to enjoy the day with my daughter, so I decided I wasn't going to take to many pics and I didn't, leaving it up to everyone else and the photographer. So here are a few I have. My sister was up on the hill behind and off to the side of the photographer, so she got a few nice ones for the most part. For some reason she kept cutting people out or off, lol.

4 Generations

Niki with me, her G-ma, and my sisters.

Then we added her Uncle, who gave her away.

And one with groom.

And just one I like of Niki and her cousin, the flower girl.

The area where the wedding was held was a little walk away from the building, so they had golf carts to take guests that couldn't make the walk and then one each for the attendants. They timed it so there was a little room between each cart as they drove to the spot where they would all park and then line up to walk down the isle. And while they were all getting out of the carts and lining up, then my BIL drove Niki down and pulled off to the side so she was out of sight pretty much. It was really nice looking actually and quite different. These photos are from the rehearsal and not as lined up as they were on the actual day, but it will give you an idea of what it is was like.

Onto my other news. If you check out my sidebar on the left you will see I have been accepted on a few more CT's. I am so excited to be working with Kelly Mickus, Amanda Kay, and Armina Designs. I was trying to link their blinkies with their stores, but it isn't working. Can anyone tell me how to do that? And in the coming months I have a couple different guest spots so watch for those also. And now I am off to start creating some layouts. Have a great day!

Featured Kit

2008-07-30T14:30:00.001-05:00

Featured Kit of the week

Lazy Days of Summer
by Miranda Scrap Designs
featured on Evitangels Blog
July 28-Aug. 3
This was such a great kit to play with. So many different layouts can made with just this one kit!
Be the first to get it this week HERE. And if any of the Heat team see a layout with the kit this
week, you could be RAK'd!! SO... go and get it!!

And here is a page I did using Lazy Days of Summer.

My First Freebie!

2008-07-21T15:34:00.005-05:00

First things first. I have done two pages so far to add to my nieces album I am making for her. She got home last Monday from her trip and had a couple photos that I scrapped right away. Here is the first one. I thought this was a great photo of her kissing the Blarney Stone, lol. And to do it right...you do have lay and do it upside down!

Here is the second one of her doing something she was totally scared to do, and she did it anyway! And because her Chaperon knew she was scared, she gave her a magnet with the quote by Eleanor Roosevelt to help her get through it.

So if you like the word art I created, just click on the pic below to download it! My very first freebie!

And I have a couple more layouts to share with you today. My AAM page for Gabs Heat team. If you would like to have a kit featured and promo'ed by the heat team, check out Evitangel's Blog and we can flood the digi world with your kit. Link is on the left. And I used the free kit by Cinnamon Designs that is on Gab's blog also.

And last but not least is a layout of my other niece from when we were at Sea World in 2004. Isn't she a cutie? This layout is one I created for a CT call. Crossing my fingers!!

Thanks so much for stopping by my little spot. Have a great week!

Time Flies!

2008-07-10T09:24:00.003-05:00

Hard to believe that in less than a week, my niece will be home from her trip! We got an email from her yesterday and she informed us that she DID do the rappelling down the side of a castle. She wasn't sure she really wanted to do that, lol. But she did, she went despite the fact that she was "very scared!" as she said in her email. I am so proud of her! Today and the next day she is doing the home stay with a family, so she will get a tiny taste of real life over there. And then on Monday she will be home. I can't wait to hear all about it.

I made another layout using Balance is Beautiful. My beautiful, outgoing, truly her own person, daughter, lol. This is from her 21st birthday which she celebrated in Las Vegas.

I have quite a few other photos of the same time, and would like to use them to do another page to go with this one, but I can't get the red eye out. For some reason the remover tool in PSE is not working on these photos and I am not sure why. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. I would really like to use those photos, but the red eye is just horrible! Talk about demon looking, lol.

Well, it is officially summer here in Wisconsin. The heat and humidity is getting up there and I turned on my air a couple days this week for the first time. It is off now, but may be turned on again today, lol. We are busily getting last minute things done for the wedding which is in about 4 weeks now. My poor daughter is just ready for it to be over now. She really wanted to just go to Florida or the Bahamas or somewhere like that and get married on the beach, but that was thrown out in the beginning. The things we do for the men we love, lol. I found a dress, ordered it, and have it in my possession, found some shoes, my Mom has a necklace and ear rings I can wear, so I am just about set. Still need to find a little purse and maybe an over the shoulder wrap in case I get chilly in the air conditioning, which I doubt I will, but you just never know.

And this all reminds me of a layout I have been wanting to do for ages now and will probably get to after the wedding. If I can get a picture of my daughter wearing the necklace. My Great Grandma had a necklace that her husband gave her for a gift on their wedding. And through the years all the women in the family have worn that necklace when they get married. My grandma, my aunts, my mom, my sisters, me, and now Niki. The necklace is entrusted to the eldest daughter in each generation, which means me some day, and then Niki. My Mom just got it a few years ago herself. On my wedding, that is the necklace I wore so it was visible, although with my sisters, they wore it pinned inside their dresses. I think Niki is going to do the same thing and pin it inside her dress. It is a gold filigree type heart necklace with amethysts and pearls in the flowers and leaves. So this is something I want to put down, again once I have a few more photos and make sure I have the correct story on how it came to be in the family, though I am pretty sure I have it right. I find these kind of stories, along with the every day things the ones we need to have around for future generations. And on that note, I am done for today. Have a great weekend!

Back in the groove

2008-07-06T22:14:00.003-05:00

I seem to be getting back to scrapping more, thank goodness! I have been applying to some new CT's and waiting to hear back from them is always a little nerve wracking! Been shopping and found some great kits..now to get to using them. I think I will check out some different sites and see what kinds of challenges I can find to inspire me. Plus I need to come up with my own AAM challenge for TTS for the 15th. Oh yes, and the beachcomber challenge also for this coming Thursday. I usually post that one after the chat which is 9:00 pm EST This Thursday, so if you have some free time, be sure to stop by and say hello! Last month's chat was a no show for anyone...so I didn't really have it. I hope this week goes better.

My niece will be home a week from tomorrow. I can't believe her trip is already half over! From the few calls she has made home it sounds like she is really enjoying herself. She said Scotland was pretty but cold, lol. They spent 6 days there and spent a night in a castle. That sounds like so much fun! I can't wait to see all the photos she took and to start on her album, although I think that will have to wait till after Niki's wedding in August. Tuseday I have to pick up my aunt from the airport. She is coming to visit and will be here till after the wedding. My Grandma and other aunt won't be here till much closer to the wedding. But My aunt D has a son here, so they will be doing a lot of stuff together. My mom's last day is this coming Friday. They have a donut thing in the morning that everyone can go to so she can say goodbye and they can all wish her well on her retirement. And then she gets to go home and still gets paid for the day! That is a pretty nice thing to do I think. And then they are having a retirement party for her in August. She is going to be working part time there for a couple of weeks and for a lawyer doing secretary stuff for him. I can't imagine her not working. But I know she is tired of getting up every morning at 5 AM, lol.

OK, I got a layout done. Another one with my kitties and how they are always on my desk keeping me company. And though I don't mind and kind of like having them by me...Missy does sometimes try her hand at trying to be a window, but she never manages to get that right and I am always telling her to lay down or something, lol. I think I am getting better at doing extractions now too. I did a couple on a layout which I can't post till the 15th when the TTS newsletter comes out, which I thought turned out pretty good! Anyway..here is my latest.

I used the fabulous Lets Connect Collab
A celebration of friendship and technology, Let's Connect is bright, bold, funky and fun! Jam-packed with goodies, this kit contains 85 papers and over 140 elements, including frames, stickers, flowers, glitter, ribbons, cords, speech balloons, word art and 2 alphabets!

Let's Connect is the collaboration of Amy Sumrall, Ellie Lash, Flergs, Franziska Altmann, Heather Manning, Kim B's Designs, Krystal Hartley, Lost Gurlz Venture Designs, mgl Scraps, Miss Crow, Moon Scraps, Polka Dot Plum, Sugarplum Paperie, Tracey Monette, Web Designz by Kristi and Wenchd Grafix.

You can purchase this kit at any of the links below.
Amy/Gotta Pixel: http://www.gottapixel.net/store/manufactur...nufacturerid=51

Krystal/FaithSisters: http://faithsisters.com/shop/index.php?mai...ufacturers_id=2

Nicole/SugarPlum Papiere: http://store.sugarplumpaperie.com/

Sunshine Girls/Sunshine Studio Scraps: http://www.sunshinestudioscraps.com/shop/home.php

Meg/Designs in Digital: http://designsindigital.com

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!!

She is now in England!!

2008-06-26T13:35:00.022-05:00

Yesterday we all went to the airport to see my niece off on her grand adventure this summer. I just have to say how proud I am of her once again!! They called last night around 1:30 AM to say that they were now on england soil and ready to start their day there. (It was about 7:30 AM there, I sure hope my niece slept on the plane, lol.) If you want to see what the whole thing is all about and why I am so proud of her, check out this link, second paragraph.

I went a little nuts and took 35 photos of her and her chaperon/mom for the duration, at the airport, lol. I won't post them all, but but here are a few. Frames by Doreen Stolz.
leaving home for the first time.
in her official people to people outfit.
checking in.
waiting.

Steph and Barb, her "mom" for the trip.
saying goodbye.
leaving.

And to post my layout I was trying to post last week. Thought it was a blogger problem, but it was a 'me' problem, lol. Layout links to credits.

Great News!

2008-06-16T14:59:00.002-05:00

I made it on Gabs CT!!! I am soooo excited! And the big secret? Check out the sticky above. Gabs and the team will be promoting a new, new kit every week and the only place to purchase this kit during that week is on Gabs Blog. So if you are a designer and need some promotion, check out her blog and get in contact with her!

Been Scrapping...and check out how to get a free kit!

2008-06-13T21:57:00.003-05:00

I am actually getting some scrapping done lately! I did a couple challenges and had fun playing with my photo on the second one. The first one I did for a chance to win a free kit from Cinnamon Designs, using a free kit you can find on Evitangels Blog. Why is she offering this free kit?? Well, Gabs is celebrating 15,000 visitors to her blog since Oct of 2007!! Isn't that awesome? It's a great kit too! So once you are done here, hop on over to Evitangels Blog and check it out!! Anyway, here is that layout. All layouts link to credits.

And the second one I did for a challenge at Oscraps for the Designer Spotlight with TaylorMade Designs. I did a close crop and a high contrast on the photo. I think it turned out pretty good! OK, guess I will have to come back later and post this other one as blogger is giving me a hard time.

Whoaa! Where has the time gone?

2008-06-02T12:14:00.009-05:00

I guess I will start out updating from my last post. While my niece did not get the scholarship, she does have all the money raised that she needs to pay for her trip. WTG!! And I know we will still be adding to that before she goes, for spending money. She got a digi camera for her birthday, so hopefully she will take lots of pics while she is there. Been pounding it into her head, lol.

My trip to Virginia was awesome!! I am definitely going to have to go back in warmer weather when I can actually go in the ocean and lay out on the beach. And with all the photos I took, I have only completed 4 pages so far, but I am still working on them. But here are the ones I have completed so far. They are clickable and will take you to see the credits.

This first one shows my nieces and sister on Virginia Beach. While it was about 60 degrees, and way to cold to go in the water, they just had to stick their toes in the ocean, lol.

This next page shows a ceremony they did at my uncles retirement from the Navy that I found awesome to watch. There was a member representing each stage of his time in the navy, and while a passage was read about the flag and all it has been through reprenting this great nation, the flag was passed from one to the other, and each one saluted the flag before passing it, until it reached my uncle. It was just a wonderful thing to see and hear.Then another one from Virginia Beach where they have this HUGE statue of Neptune.And this last one was taken at the party after the ceremony. I still need to change the photo in it before printing because in this one I am only half there, lol. But at the time, that was the only one I had.

I have done other layouts of other things also, but I will save those for another day, which will hopefully be much sooner than it took me to get back here and post this time, lol.

I have actually been in a kind of slump, just doing my CT obligations and that is about it. So for this month I have decided to give myself a goal of creating 3 layouts a week. This will hopefully get me going and bring me out of this lack of creativity. One can only hope, lol.

We have been busy this past month doing wedding stuff. Since I have the know how of doing basic calligraphy, I got nominated to address the little over 100 invites. I personally do not think it is that good, but they like it, so there I was doing that while everyone else put them all together. Not as young as I used to be, so I had to take a few breaks every now and then to rest my hand, lol. And since I have learned digi scrapping, I also got nominated to make the shower invites! They figured I could come up with something that was much better than anything we could buy. So this is what I came up with for that, and I have to say, I rather like it. Now to get them printed and addressed.

This month is TTS birthday month and we have so many fun games and chats planned with a kick off chat on June 8th at 8 pm EST. So come if you can!! The June digi edition of the newsletter came out today and there are quite a few freebies in it so be sure to check that out also. You can see it here. And this is the last layout I am posting today to show you, which is in the newsletter as a QP freebie. I used the June Treasure Chest.

Here is little preview of the kit and then I am off for today. Grab while it is on sale! It is finally a beautifully warm day here and I plan on enjoying it! Have a great day!!

Birthdays, a huge toot, and lots of news...

2008-03-05T14:28:00.010-06:00

Wow, I can't believe it has been so long since my last post...so much for being better at that, lol.

Yesterday my baby turned 24! Where did the time go? Seems like just the other day I was holding this little baby in my arms. Here is a layout I did about the passing of time. It passes all too quickly. She is now back in school after being away for over a year in Iraq, has moved across the state, and is planning a wedding for this August.
Next up is my niece. I did a layout the other day to start off an album I will be doing for her, but most of it will be done after she returns from England this summer. Yes, she is going to England at the age of 13. She is going with the People to People, Student Ambassador program which she was accepted to this past October after being nominated by one her teachers. This has been and will be an awesome experience for her! She has been doing bake sales, fund raisers, raffles,talking to business groups, sending letters out, and selling candy bars to raise the money for the cost of this trip. She has been working very hard and as of this date has raised almost the entire amount needed to pay for this. And she found out the other day that her chaperon has nominated her for a scholarship that if she gets it, will give her the rest of the money needed, plus some spending money. Why is she being nominated? Because her chaperon said that my niece is the only one she has known to raise the money all on her own. Usually there is a group of kids from one area and they do fund raisers and other stuff together, but all the others in her group have dropped out. She has been working so hard to raise this money because that is the only way she would have been able to go, as the family does not have that kind of money to spare. I couldn't be prouder of her..for everything she has accomplished!

Now onto business. Check out this awesome new Treasure Chest full of papers and elements in a wonderful color palette. Today is the last day you can get it at a 25% discount!
You can see it in action in this months Treasured Times. It is an awesome newsletter this month, and there is a QP, mini kit and a printable calendar for you to download, so check it out. Also, there is lots of fun in the Treasures to Scrap forum with the Spring Fling going on all month.

And that is it for me today and I think that is enough, lol. All images are clickable and will take you to credits or the respective areas. Until next time...which will be after I get back from my little trip to Virginia. I am leaving this weekend for about 10 days. My uncle is retiring from the Navy after 30 years and I will be seeing lots of family.

Harder than I thought

2008-01-11T10:56:00.001-06:00

I have been trying to do the self portrait and photo a day. While I have been taking some photos...I am not doing so great at the every day thing...sigh. Posting them every day I also have been lax on. But, it is a work in progress, so I am not giving up. I think I will just give myself permission to just do what I can and not stress over what I can't. SO in that vein, here is what I have done so far. Now I warn you, the photos are not the greatest, and they are not all fashion pics. I am going with what I want to record and remember, and they will end up in my journal or my calendar. And I have had no time to really play with them in photoshop yet except to crop. So without further ado...here are some of the ones I have taken so far.

Not eating like I should, lol. I turned 45

Reading up on my camera

Doing the measure thing..started walking..woo hoo!

I was going to take this down since Niki is home now...I don't have to, and in the end I decided not to yet. I kind of like the silhouette affect of this one.

One of the pics from my photo shoot. Not the best, but I liked this one.

And that is all I am going to bore you with today. Hope your day is a good one!

My new Mantra

2008-01-02T17:54:00.000-06:00

As I was out and about today, constantly thinking of pictures to take for both groups I joined at Flickr, and constantly debating with myself on whether or not I should take this pic or this one, etc., I suddenly realized one thing. Just take the darn picture! So that is my mantra now, just take it! I can always delete it, but I can never get the same thing I saw when I was debating with myself on whether or no to take it. Such a simple thing, you would think wouldn't be a problem, but today it was.

Here are my 2 photos today. The first is the self portrait as I sat in the car before heading back in from errand running. Who would have thought it would be so hard to take a photo of yourself in the mirror? My hope is that in a month or 2 I will be better at taking the darn things. Or at least start liking them, lol. I was so enjoying the sun today. I miss the sun during the winter when it decides to hide for days on end. One of the places I stopped today was the camera store. I needed new batteries for my remote control and since I was there, I picked up a couple lens covers, since I had mis-placed them. I take them off to use the camera and they just seem to disappear. She also looked at my camera because I was wondering if maybe it needed a cleaning, which it didn't! And to find out how to clean the lens that got soda on it...ugh! Luckily it was determined that I didn't have to send it in and pay upwards of $60.00 to clean it. I can do it myself at home.

This next one is for the photo a day group at Flickr. I wasn't sure I wanted to join this group until I read the tips on how to get started and ideas on what to take. One of the ideas was to snap a photo of something about the day that will remind you of it. And since that fit into my journaling goal perfectly, I decided I might as well give that one a go too. Now, I have no idea exactly why I decided on this photo, except that it shows a partial collection of shoes, and which ones I wear more this time of year. A lot of the ones out will be put away once the weather gets warmer again. When I print the photo to put on my calendar (my visual journal goal) I will most likely crop it to just show my new winter boots I got this year...which I love! Again, something my daughter laughed at when she saw them, lol. We have such completely different tastes in things. It's just a good thing I don't get offended when she laughs at me and the things I wear! As I have told her as she grew up....it doesn't matter what other people think, as long as you like it, that's all that matters. She just loves to tease me. Now, see this is a wonderful example of what a photo can do. It brings out thoughts and memories.

Lastly, here is layout I did using Di Hickman's template. Check out her blog for more examples and to find the template. She also has some wonderful card templates! I am hoping this year to get my daughter's album complete of her time in Iraq.

Credits

Alien Invasion!!!

2008-01-01T17:36:00.000-06:00

Where to start??
I have been added to the crew at World Scrapping Tour! Woo Hoo! It is a wonderful site that 'flies' around the world showcasing designers. And this month we have been invaded by aliens (Tracy and Wendi from Treasures to Scrap)! You can find all the info for both sites here and here.

Through the month of January there will be challenges and fun galore at TTS. We are giving away the Jan. Treasure Chest this month for participating in the challenges. The more you do, more pieces of the kit you get! How cool is that? We can do that because we have taken over the forums there this month..hehehe.

Lets see, what else? Oh yes! I am going to try very hard to get a self portrait a day done this year! And so here is my first one. I am doing something new this year, One Little Word, which I will get to in a bit. But here I am working on the page I am going to post at my desk about the word I chose. I seriously need to learn more about Photoshop Elements, so I can truly make great photos. I was trying to get the yellow from the lamp out of the photo, and I ended up with a blue cast to it. Not a photo I will ever be choosing as a favorite, but a nice start none the less! Hmmm, another goal for the year? Find a class to take in Photoshop. As good as any of the others I have thought of.

One Little Word. What is that? Check it out here and here. The first link takes you to Ali Edwards where she tells you about the concept. The second link takes you to the current entry she has made in her blog about her word for the year. And I have to say thanks to Emily Powers for sharing this and bringing this to my attention.

After some thought, and reading through some of the posts on this, my choice just kind of popped out at me from someone who went with a different word. My word is Consciousness.

This is my goal this year, to be aware of what is going around me, making conscious choices about what I do and don't do. I think this will be paramount in getting all the things I want to do this year, done! To be aware of time, and what I am doing with it. No more wasting it! When I get the page done, I will post it here too.

I leave you with a layout I did for the Treasures to Scrap newsletter coming out soon. I hope everyone has a wonderful year!

Credits

2007-12-23T10:47:00.000-06:00

First things first...I doubt I will be back blogging before Christmas, so...

I hope each and everyone of you has the very merriest Christmas!

I have lots to share today! First is a new kit. I love Kathryn Balint's Little Jake Collection! I love the fact that it is broken up into little kits, so I can pick and choose which ones I like the best, and start with those.

I like to create layouts where it looks like you are peeking in on an actual album, so this first part of the kit is my favorite! It has album pages with bits of paper peeking out, which makes it seem old and worn and very much loved and looked at. Plus it has a couple tabs, so you can make it look like a file folder. With just this part alone, you can do so many different things! Then with the accessories kit, your possibilities are almost endless. It includes frame, string, ephemera, paper in a pile (to add to that well loved and looked at page), a newspaper style background paper, and so much more. The papers come in 2 different packs also; washed and floral, which is great for those of us that will never use flowers (or can't figure out how to use those fab papers). There is a stamp collection and also an alpha, which is perfect for those old time layouts. This is a perfect kit for heritage layouts, but can be used for so much more! This kit is on my list of must haves! You can find it here.

In other news, I am doing 40 Days of Scrapping Purpose with Royanna Fritschmann at Divine Digital. Already I am behind, but will get to them all eventually. Here is the layout I did for day 1.

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I also did a layout for an example for week 7 of the Treasure Quest at TTS, which I thought turned out fabulous! As much as I love the eclectic and layered layouts, I sometimes have a hard time accomplishing that in my own layouts, so I was very pleased with how this turned out.

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And last, here is a layout I did about the day Niki and Rocky came home from Iraq. I loved this picture that shows how happy everyone was. I don't think we stopped smiling for days!

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And now I am off to clean and then I am working on a layout to enter into JenSurge's contest.

Treasure Quest week 7

2007-12-17T13:38:00.000-06:00

Here is challenge #7. Good luck!

Chipmunks!

2007-12-07T14:10:00.000-06:00

OK,I have a million and one things I should be doing, but here I sit, surfing blogs. I have been laughing and crying for the last hour! I came across this preview for Alvin and the Chipmunks, at Bunny Cates blog. Let me start by telling you that the Christmas album I have from them has been mine and my daughter's fave for many years, so when I saw the preview for this movie, I was on the phone to tell her about it. So, I snagged the YouTube preview from her. Thanks Bunny! It looks hilarious! Check it out.

Then I stopped at My Digital Universe blog, and this days post had me ROLLING! I have cats, and can so relate to this! Next stop was Sherry's blog, My Collective Life. I am catching up on them all, so have gone back a lot of days on some...and this days entry had me rofl....Sherry has such a way with words, and just about every entry puts a smile on my face. But in this one she writes about her mouth being numb...not fun, but made me laugh all the same. :)

But my first stop of the day was at Trevor's Treasures blog. What an amazing community digi scrappers and designers are! The new charity kit, Trevor's Treasures is now out! It is amazing in size, over 2 gigs! Check it out here, and read about how it came about. You can see the kit and purchase it here. The new digi store at TTS is awesome! Downloads are sooo much faster now! Which is great, since Trevor's Treasures is so HUGE! Yep, I got mine last night.

Last thing for the day before I get moving and do the next couple of layouts I need to get done. Oh, and that reminds me....note to self...print layouts as I make them...don't wait till the end of the year and print them all out at once! I am a little worried my printer is going to go out on me in response to all the work I am putting it through trying to get all the layouts I want printed for albums I am giving this year as gifts. Sigh...crossing fingers here. Not that it has been giving me problems, but ya know, with my luck and all.... But I digress...here are a couple layouts I did recently with 2 awesome kits.

The first is using the December Treasure Chest at TTS. This is an awesome kit, and you will be using it way past Christmas! And it is 25% off until December 14th.

Next one I used the Winter Wonderland kit from World Scrapping Tour. It is another awesome kit that is huge! Check it out here and find out how you can get this kit.

I hope you have fun checking out the blogs and have a great day! Except for TTS, I have no affiliation with any of the blogs I posted. Just random ones I have visited and wanted to share.

Crop, Contest, and more...

2007-11-30T02:43:00.000-06:00

papers and elements from Winter Wonderland collab kit at World Scrapping Tour

I am so excited, because we are having a mini crop at Treasure to Scrap this weekend! There will be games, prizes, challenges, and RAKS! It is going to be so much fun! And to make it even more meaningful to me, I am in charge of it. This is the first time I have ever done anything like this, and I am so looking forward to it. We have so much planned in a short time, but I think it will be fun. So, mark your calendars, it starts 3 PM EST. in the Treasures to Scrap chat room. You can find all the info here, plus you can get set to play bingo. And we can't forget the Treasure Quest still going on. We are on week four of challenges, you can check it out here.
All the entries are awesome! It has been hard to pick my top 3 favorites each week. You can still enter each week and win some great prizes, so be sure to check it out. Four weeks left!

I had a great Thanksgiving, even though Niki and Rocky weren't there. Here is my latest layout...

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Before I forget, I wanted to mention, Hummie has been working hard on redoing her site. It has a forum, chat, and gallery now! It is just awesome! Please check it out and leave her some love for all the hard work she has put into it! She is having her first chat Friday at 9 pm EST. Hope to see you the there.

In The Mood...I think...

2007-11-16T08:58:00.000-06:00

I finally have the Christmas music playing! Not sure if I am totally ready, but since we are going to The Fireside to see their Christmas production, I figured I might as well, lol. This is something we have done for many years. My Mom gets a group together and we all head to see the play while all the men who do so, go hunting. I love getting dressed up and going to the dinner theatre. The Fireside has what you call theatre in the round. At least, that is what I think it is called. There is seating all around the stage. I truly love going to this production and when we can, we also go to the other plays they have put on. Niki started going when she was around 8 or so, to see Annie. I have seen Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Oklahoma, and Phantom of the Opera, which I loved and a few others. We generally do the matinée with lunch and manage to get a little shopping in at their shops. All in all it is a fun time. This year we have a smaller group, only 21 people compared to the usual 30 or so, but I am sure it will be just as fun. I will post photos next week probably, from that.

The winner of the set of note cards has graciously permitted me to post the card I made for her. I think it came out great, and it helped to have such a wonderful photo to work with. Isn't she adorable?? I am making another design with another photo she sent me, and will post that one when I get it done. Everything except for the frame came from this wonderful kit, Country Christmas by MadScrapper Designs at Treasures to Scrap. I just have to say how much I LOVE the enamel elements in this kit...they look marvelous! The frame is by Tara Dunstan at PickleberryPop.

2nd challenge is up...and a couple LO's

2007-11-12T12:41:00.000-06:00

So much fun and lots of przies to be given away over the next 7 weeks! It is open to both paper and digi scrappers. Go and check it out and have fun! Treasure Quest.

Niki is now officially engaged, as she says, lol. So, here is the first of my pages documenting the events leading up to the wedding. I did these as examples for the 2nd challenge for the Treasure Quest. I think they turned out beautiful! If I do say so myself!

Her fiance is a great sport and re-created the event for me so I could snap some photos...
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And as much as she complained about me taking photos, I think she will be happy when I give her the completed album. I love this next one I did of her trying on the different dresses and then the final choice.
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Sigh...I was getting all teary eyed as she tried them on. She looked so beautiful in each and every one.

Fall Y'all Bloggy Give Away Winners

2007-11-05T09:16:00.000-06:00

This was so much fun, and I can't wait for the next one! I want to say thanks to everyone that stopped by and entered! It just amazed me how many actually come to my little spot on the web! I hope you come back sometime just to say hi!

So, here are the winners:
#1- Treasures to Scrap Gift Card- Rohalcall
#2- Note cards- Lily Pad Mom
#3- Personalized mini album- Pitter Patter Boutique

I have emailed the winners! Thanks again to everyone who stopped by. You made this so much fun!

3rd Fall Y'all Bloggy Give Away

2007-11-02T22:32:00.000-05:00

OK, so here is my third and last give away. It has taken a me longer than I thought to get it up...mainly because I am hesitant about whether or not anyone will even want it...so here goes....
Leave a comment on this post, and you could win a personalized mini album. Good luck! I will contact the winner and go through the particulars...like do ya want it blank so you can just put the photos in yourself, or have me do do it all up and print it out with the photos already there.
Remember to make sure I have a way to contact to you. Winner will be drawn Sunday night.

I am on a roll...

2007-11-02T12:38:00.001-05:00

In the past couple of days, I have completed 5 layouts! Plus I did another self portrait...which I made into a layout, so I will share that one first. I don't know which came first, the idea for the layout or for the photo. But since my mind seems to be having a hard time deciding what mood it wants to be, this came about. I can always tell when I am heading towards manic because the rings come out. Which is an outward sign that I am feeling good about myself. But really don't want to go into all that, lol. Although the up side is that I get a lot of layouts done! I did a better job with the self portrait photos..maybe because I used my laughing Elmo to focus on before I ran in front of the camera! Poor Elmo got shoved out of the way.

Here is one I did using the November template from Di Hickman at TTS. Since the first time I visited my sister across the state, I have wanted to take a ride down the Mississippi on a steam boat. While researching the logistics of this, I
may have to amend it and maybe just do one leg of the trip on a steam boat, and rent a house boat for the rest. The cost for all 3 legs of the journey is ummm, just a little bit much!

This next one I did using 3 of my favorite photos of Niki from when we went to Sea World. From the time she was 4 or so, she has loved the Manatees, dolphins, sting rays, and all manner of sea life. And these photos just seem to capture that love. I am thinking of making this one on a canvas and hanging it up. The pictures always make me smile. I can never decide how I want to put the credits for my layouts on here..so for today, since there are 3 of them, just click here.

And before I leave, I have to continue my grumble from yesterday. I am not happy, because I can't seem to find a station that is appealing to me. I like popular music I guess, but I abhor rap, and finding a station that plays artists like Rob Thomas, Michael Bubble, and the like and doesn't put me to sleep or make me irked with rap has not been easy....and I continue with the quest.

I have to add this link to Azrood's Blog. Oh heavens what a day she had! HUGS to you!

Pet Peeves...or grumbles...

2007-11-01T13:02:00.001-05:00

I actually have many pet peeves...little bitty things that just absolutely drive me nuts! So today I am grumbling about the latest. Got up this morning, turned on the radio..and just went UGH! So now I have to find another one to listen to for now...and I LIKE my station! Why did I have to change it, you ask? Well, because they are playing Christmas music ALREADY! I am just not ready for that yet.

And so my grumble is about how everyone starts so early now with the Christmas stuff! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas, but man, it is just November 1st! We haven't even had Thanksgiving yet! Let me get my thanks in before we get to the gimme...

OK, onward...Last night I finished a layout I did for We Digi-Dare Ya #59. When I read the dare, I knew exactly what photo I wanted to use, and then I started my layout with the Ad Inspiration at TTS. Not that my LO looks much like the ad, but it is what got me started.

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Gotta love the 80's, lol. And now I am off to try a different radio station, because the one I landed on isn't doing a thing for me! Have a great day everyone!

Happy Hump Day!

2007-10-31T10:25:00.001-05:00

I think this will be a short entry today...or like the other day, it will end up being more than one. Last night I finally got a layout done using Scrappin Hillbilly Sweetpea Design's 'Fraidy Cat kit. When I first saw this kit, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and write about. But finding the pictures was no easy task. I didn't realize how many boxes of photos I really had! And I thought they were organized...NOT! So here is the layout...

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Something else I realized as I was looking for the photos...I really didn't have very many of her through out the years dressed up. I wonder why not? Of course, there were a couple years we went through where every time I went to take a photo of her I got the hand in the face or a goofy face...so I stopped taking so many pictures of her.

That stopped when one time as she was looking at pictures, she wanted to know why there were hardly any of her. When I told her the reason, she stopped doing it, and I was then able to get better photos of her. And of course by now, she is used to having the camera in her face at all times, lol. I still occasionally get THE look in a picture, but for the most part, she is a great sport.

And while I am on the subject of my daughter...have I mentioned that she is engaged?! So, this next year will be busy with all the plans for that, and I am sure this blog will be full of the haps and tons of photos, lol. Oh, I can see her face now as I am snapping away at every conceivable moment through out the process!

Be sure to stop back later for my 3rd Fall Y'all Bloggy Give Away!

It's a Contest..and other thoughts

2007-10-30T14:52:00.001-05:00

OK...so over at Treasures to Scrap, we have a contest starting in November...A full 8 weeks worth of fun and prizes!

As soon as all the details are posted, I will link it up. But it looks like it is going to be so much fun!

Last Thursday, my sis and her 2 kids and I were driving to meet my other sis and her hubby for dinner, rushing along the MN side of the Mississippi on the Great River Road, and I was seriously trying to get us in an accident with all my watching everywhere except the road in front of me, lol...and here is the reason why....a photo my sis took quickly (out the window of the car, lol) of the awesome sight...

And this was looking out ahead of us pretty much..if you looked back slightly, you could see the full moon out BIG in the sky..turning the water and sky a bluish purple...just awesome! If we weren't in such a hurry, I would have pulled over and taken some more photos...

So, I was showing this photo to my friend Fantacy..and she says, "that would make an awesome brush." So I told her to go for it...and she made this paper for me with it...in just minutes! The paper is from her newest kit Feral Fearies at OAKS, which btw, is AWESOME...but check out this paper she did, just for me! Is it awesome or what?! And she used one of my photos! Well, ok, it is my sister's photo, but if I hadn't been there to tell her to take it, lol. Thanks so much Fantacy! I can't wait to use it.

And while you are here, check out the fall give aways I have! Have a great day everyone!

Fall Y'all Bloggy Give Away #2

2007-10-30T11:00:00.001-05:00

The second give away is a set of note cards. Digitally created and printed out. I can use photos I have, ones you send me, or no photos at all. That will be up to you! Winner will be drawn from anyone who comments on this post, on Sunday, November 3.

Here is a sample of a card...

Make me Merry

2007-10-29T15:28:00.000-05:00

OK, so in my travels to other sites, I found this one and decided to play along!

I know this is probably so over done, but what makes me merry is my daughter. But since this is my first time participating, I will allow myself, lol. She is what I live for. I love the things she has accomplished in her life so far, and love to blog about them and about her. I love talking with her and doing things with her, or doing nothing with her, lol. And now she has chosen a man to be with and he is just awesome! I am pretty sure a lot of what I have taught her over the years has sunk in, but I myself learn so much from her too. She is not just my daughter, but my friend too.

Fall Ya'll Bloggy GiveAway! #1

2007-10-29T14:30:00.001-05:00

Oh, I am excited to be participating in this! So, for my first give away, leave a comment on this post and I will randomly draw a winner on Saturday. Make sure you leave your email so I can contact you if you win! What is it you ask?? It is a $10 gift card to the Treasures to Scrap Digi Store! So leave a comment for your chance to win!

We have a winner! rohal call was the winner of this give away. Congrats! I will be emailing you in the next couple of days with how to claim your prize! thanks to everyone who entered!

Home again, home again...

2007-10-29T12:52:00.001-05:00

Sigh....I am finally home in my own house, and nothing planned for a while now. Since August 31, I have felt like I have been on a whirly gig. But things should slow down now, unless of course I decide to move in the next couple of months. I have realized that I don't like being so far away from Niki. Part of me wants to move NOW, and part of me says, "give it a little time, and see how things are in a couple months." But that is the sensible part of me, which I don't always listen to! But I think what I will end up doing, since I lost my job, is to let a new job be the deciding factor in the move. I will apply both here in town and also where I want to move, and see where I get a job and go from there. How is that for sensible?

Anyway, this past month, being mostly up north, in the bluffs has been beautiful. The colors are awesome. Here is a card I made using one of the photos I took. Click on the photo to see credits. First time I made a digital card, and sometime this week I am going to print it out and send it to a couple people.

This past weekend I took a ton a photos. Mostly of the views I have been enjoying. The first is one on a cloudy, foggy, misty morning, but I loved the look of the clouds on the bluffs. Of course, once I started taking pics, my nieces wanted to do the same, so I handed the camera to them and let them take a few too. And they got some nice ones too...

Saturday we got to go out on the pontoon boat for one last ride. It was very chilly on the ride out... Which you can see by the way everyone is bundled up. But the ride back in was much nicer as the wind was at our backs, and everyone was able to take off hoods.

And I was able to get a few shots of the awesome scenery, or things that caught my eye...

And this final one I liked of the sun shining on the water... I played around a little with this one and punched up the blue a little and lightened it. And now I really should go and put some of these photos into layouts! Specially the ones I got of the dog refusing to get off the boat and having to be carried off...story will be on the layout as to why *G*.

And I almost forgot....I have not been doing well with the self portrait a day. The main reason being I have been having a hard time getting decent photos of myself. I need to go and get new batteries for my remote and see if that helps. I think with that, I don't have to focus before I go and sit in front of the camera. But we shall see. My niece did get a couple of me from this weekend, so here is one of those...sitting in the car, waiting at the gas station as everyone ran in for a bathroom break. I was ready to head home after the day spent running errands.

A Self Portrait a Day

2007-10-16T14:07:00.000-05:00

A week or so ago, I was browsing through some blogs, clicking on links and I came upon Life of Scraps. I love her blog! She has started doing a self portrait a day, and I think I am going to try this myself. Will I do it? I have no idea, but however many days of photos I get taken, will be that many more of myself, who is generally sadly lacking in most photos. I also like her site for the many tuts and ideas on taking and making better photos. Just a fun place to visit and get lost in.

So here is my very first self portrait for this. Now, it is not the best photo, for as you can see, I focused on the wrong thing, lol. But, I decided not to get too caught up in trying to get the perfect shot, and just get them. I could have tried and taken more shots, and taken half my day trying to get the perfect one, but today I decided to just go with it. I was doing my stuff at TTS and posting in the forums and such. I am at my daughter's house, cat sitting, and I forgot my brush, so since I haven't been to the store yet today to get one (she lives 4 hours away from my house), my hair is a mess, and I figured out of focus worked just fine, lol. And now, I am off to the store!

A Couple Pages

2007-09-13T19:00:00.001-05:00

I should have written this earlier this morning when I was thinking about it, because now I can't remember everything I wanted to write about. Oh well, for now I wanted to post a couple layouts I have done in the past couple days.

This first one is from the day I saw my daughter. I posted the pic before, but here is what I did with it.

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The second is one I made with a candid I took of my daughter and her fiance. They started out posing, but since I am not fond of posed photos, I just waited and kept clicking and got this wonderful photo.

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And last, but not least is this one from when we all went out that same night.

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I have another one I am working on, but I am waiting for some opinions on it.

Think Pink!

2007-09-03T07:54:00.000-05:00

Well, here it is!
This month at TTS, we are focusing on breast cancer awareness. Lots of challenges and fun to be had as we support this worthy cause. There is a kit, the September Treasures Bag and all proceeds from the sale of this kit will be donated to the Susan G. Komen for the cure. SO head on over to TTS and check it out. The picture above is linked, and will take you there! The kit is fabulous and full of great items to make layouts for any occasion! And I will be posting layouts made with it during the month. And while you are there, check out the rest of the site and have some fun with us! Create a layout with the kit and link us up in treasured friends so we can see it and comment on it. Come and help us celebrate the women in our lives.

Oh, and here is my entry for the blog challenge at TTS. It's time for a roundup!

Round up
What books and/or magazines did I read this month? Hmmm, I know I read a couple scrap mags, but don't remember which ones!

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month? Fracture, Premonition, there is more, but that is all I can remember, lol

What special days did I celebrate and how? Celebrated a couple birthdays this month, my sister's and BIL's. We usually get together on the sunday of the birthday week and have a dinner with cake and ice cream, and the most IMPORTANT thing we celebrated this month was the return of unit 1157 from IRAQ! They had a short ceremony and then the general dismissed the unit!

What gifts did I give and/or receive? Hmmmm, I haven't gotten anything for my BIL yet, and I can't remember what I got my sister, lol. I will be back once I remember. And a gift I recieved was having my sister at the welcome home ceremony for my daughter.

What illnesses or health concerns did I have? Thankfully, there were none for me this month. My Mom has been suffering with some kind of cold/flu for a few weeks now.

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family? Went to LaCrosse to visit with my sister and BIL. Always love to do that, and we went on a pontoon ride on the Mississippi!

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month? I finally tried the Noodles place...awesome food!

What special or unusual purchases did I make? I made one of the first purchases of my friend's very first kit in her very first store!

What were this month's disappointments? I was disappointed in myself that I haven't quit smoking yet. UGH!

What were my accomplishments this month? I made it onto the CT at Treasures to Scrap and started my "duties" there! Not so much duties as FUN!

Anything else noteworthy to record? I think I covered it all already!

Give this a try yourself! I think this is a wonderful challenge as it allows me to record things and look back and see what I have or not done in the past month! Thanks Di!

She's Home!!

2007-09-02T07:31:00.000-05:00

My daughter is home! I am so happy, and yet I was so sad yesterday. Once everything settled down, and we went to pick up her car, I just started crying and couldn't stop. I have no idea why this particular thought hit me yesterday, but it did. All of a sudden, I wanted my little girl back. She is all grown up now, and I was a soggy mess. I thought I had dealt with this when she left for Iraq, but it hit me again. It is so hard to let to go and let them live their lives, but is of course something that has to be done. But anyway, here is a picture of us hugging. It's not the greatest picture, very blurry, but the best one I have. I always hate having to leave the picture taking to someone else, but the one I took of my Mom and her didn't turn out much better. Matter of fact, I missed the hug totally! But it was a little dark in there, and complete chaos, lol. But it was so great to hold her in my arms again. Just an emotional day from the beginning.

There was a total of 3 cars driving up to Oshkosh to meet her. Oh but wait, I almost forgot. I have to back track to the night before. I was over at my Mom's when my sister called and said she wouldn't be able to make it in time, but that she would be there later in the evening, since we were all staying there over night. My aunt was coming over to stay at my Mom's that night and about ten minutes later, I was standing at the top of her stairs, finishing up our conversation, getting ready to head home when the door opens. I look down, waiting to see my aunt's head pop through the door, and I was about to ask her if she needed any help getting her bags upstairs, when I did a double take! It wasn't my aunt...it was my sister! She managed to get the whole day off, and decided to drive in by us the night before to travel with us to Oshkosh. Talk about a GREAT surprise!

So, 3 cars. we were leading the way, got a little of a late start, on the phone to Niki, and she is telling us where she was, and we are realizing that we will only be about half an hour ahead of her. So, we are driving along, and for some reason, we missed a turn off. Niki's friends that were following us, called and asked if we were going the right way, and I was like yes! well, a few minutes later we couldn't find them, and found out they had decided to turn around and go back, because they thought we were going the wrong way. So, maybe 10 minutes later, my other sister in the another car calls and says, are you sure we are going the right way? I was like yes we are! This wasn't the first time we had driven up there. And she says my BIL thinks we are going the wrong way. So maybe a minute later, we decide that ummm, yes we ARE going the wrong way and pull out the map to find a way to get there without having to go all the way back, which we did. But talk about nerve wracking! We had lost time, Niki was close to being there, and it seemed to be taking us forever to get there. And then she called to ask if we were going to make it, and I had to reassure her that yes we would.

We finally get there, park the car, and are walking to the hangar where it is being held, and here come the buses! So, we watched them pass us, holding up our signs, which she saw, and then RAN to the hangar so we could meet her! I had no time to set up my tripod for the video recorder, or do much of any kind of scoping out for pictures and trying them out before we wanted to take the important ones! So, I have no video, like I wanted of her home coming. And a few not so great pictures of the hugging, but, hey, we made it, and she is home, and that is all that matters! But man, our nerves were shot, lol. And that is the story of her homecoming, lol. I will be back later tonight or early tomorrow to talk about thinking pink!

2007-08-29T00:59:00.000-05:00

I'm in a pink mood today! And probably will be for the month of September. I will post more about that in the next few days. As you can see from the side bar here, I finally figured out how to put blinkies up! As I was trying to sleep last night, it just hit me, and I was like, DUH!

And because I always wait till the last minute to do things, I have a list a mile long of things I need to get done before we head to Oshkosh to bring Niki home! But, I actually get stuff done faster this way, so maybe it is better that way, hehehe. NOT really! And I think I am even going to treat myself to a manicure too. We shall see if I have time for it or not. My nieces have made signs, and we are basically all set to go! I just hope that the Lord sees fit to allow my sister to be there too. What with the Army not telling us anything until the last minute, she may not be able to get someone to cover her at work so she can leave early. But I am praying it will happen. I know she really wants to be there.

I finished a couple layouts today. I am only posting one right now. They should both be in the Treasures to Scrap Newsletter for September. This layout is actually the first of many more I need to get done of a road trip my friend and I took the summer of 2005. We drove out to CA from Wisconsin. We made a few stops along the way and had a great time. Our objective was to go and see her nieces. And one of them is not only an author, but a breast cancer survivor too! We stayed a couple days with her and her husband and the next few days with her sister in law. I loved meeting them, and we had a great time. Laura kept us entertained the whole time, and we had a fun day in San Francisco too. She is such a neat person! And so is her husband, and they had a lot of stories to tell about the things they have done. I would tell you more, but ya know, you should just read one of her books and find out for yourself, lol. She writes both humorous non-fiction books and novels, and both will have you laughing out loud! But anyway, this layout is a kind of tribute to her. And you will notice that I have added her link in my fav places to visit on the side there.

Layout Credits:
Cardboard border from Boxtop Borders1 by Laura Burger at Eclectic Digital Designs
All other elements and paper from Cherry Blossoms kit by Laura Burger at TTS.

What was I thinking?

2007-08-28T03:12:00.000-05:00

Obviously I wasn't, lol. I laid down about 12:30 to try and sleep, still hoping my daughter was going to call when she got in the States. I tossed and turned, and tossed and turned some more. The call finally came at 1:54 AM, and they were still on the plane but on the ground in Indianapolis! We talked for just a few minutes and she will call me again sometime today. Ahhh, the freedom now! She can call anytime she wants now, using her own phone, and I can call her! Haven't been able to do that in a year! And we can even text each other. Which reminds me, I need to call and get a small plan for when she does that. She uses texting more than I do, but it still costs me when she texts me, so I need just a little plan.

So anyway, once she hung up, I laid there like a goof with this huge smile on my face. Thought I would be able to sleep then, but NOT. I can't even focus enough to make a layout. I don't know why I even thought I would sleep tonight, lol.

But for other news in my life; I was selected to be a guest CT for Sherri Piegdon of Pixel Gypsy Designs for the months of October and November! I can hardly wait. And I am a CT for Scrappin Hillbilly Sweetpea Designs too! She is just starting out, but I am doing my best to get the word out, and she is designing away to get some more kits in at OAKS. She put her cover-ups in the store, and I tell you, I am looking for something to use these things on, they are so darn cute! Check them out...the picture is clickable and will take you right to her store at OAKS.

OK, and maybe now I am tired enough to sleep. We shall see.

Woo Hoo! I designed something! LOL

2007-08-27T08:13:00.000-05:00

I went to a chat last week and everyone makes something each week to add to a kit. I am not sure how well I will do in the long run, and I have a few weeks to catch up on, but I figured I would learn some things anyway. So, without further ado, here is what I came up with for a journaling tag.

I can see I need to do a tiny bit of fixing up on this before I share it, lol. It is nothing really out of the ordinary, but I did it all on my own! And that in itself is something to crow about, lol. Lets see, I need to do some paper, ribbon, word art, and something else I think, so I guess I better get going.

I also did a layout yesterday that I am not sure I am happy with. I may end up changing the colors on it, but then again, I am really not one to change something once it is done. At least not for a while. The girls are making posters for everyone for when Niki and her unit get home. AND, if you can believe it, SHE WILL BE HOME THE END OF THIS WEEK!! We are all so excited and can hardly wait! It has been just about a year since I have seen her and hugged her! It kind of seems unreal. They are out of Iraq now, and at the last stop before leaving for the states. And let me tell you, as soon as we know they are on the plane, we will be doing happy dances all around here. She is going to call me as soon as they land in the states and oh my gosh am I waiting for that! It will be just my luck that she calls when I am at work. But ya know what? I don't care and I plan on answering my phone even if I have a long line of customers! OK, I could go on and on about this subject, I am so excited, so I will end now and get another layout or two done.

Credits for Welcome Home

News, News, News!

2007-08-23T00:11:00.000-05:00

Read here to join the party.
We now have a National Digital Scrapbooking Day! And that day is November 3 this year. WoooHoooo! And to kick off this event, Hummie is having a tailgate party! Click on the logo above to get to her blog and enter the contest! And read all about everything that is going on. Then, click here to get to the DSD blog to keep up with what is happening! Let's get the word out there and make this a rockin' time!

And now here is my heirloom layout.

Credits:
Papers and elements from Bloom Where You Are Planted kit
by Scrappin Hillbilly Sweetpea at OAKS
Also the following:
Paper from Another kind of Fanatcy freebie
from her blog
Brushes from Found brushes by Nancie Rowe Janitz
at ScrapArtist
Chipboard alpha black and white from Dani B
at SBB

An AAM page

2007-08-22T12:54:00.000-05:00

Not much happening here the past few days except for working at the JOB. HELLO has been driving me nuts the past couple of days. Keeps logging off and then back on...numerous times as I sit here, so I finally just turned it off for now.

I THINK I am finally getting myself a little more organized with the things I need to get done on a timely basis. The next item on my to do list is to start putting things in my calendar on google, and then of course, checking it daily, lol.That is the difficult part for me.

Once I am settled, and know I am on top of things, I am thinking of trying my hand at designing a few things. At least learning more about PSE5. Today I am working on a heritage layout and adding a posting here with some very cool news! Hopefully that will be done by tonight. And that is about it in my little part of the world.

Last but not least is the LO I made to put up at TTS for my CT page. I am not thoroughly pleased with it, and may make changes as time allows, but for now, it will do. Oh, I almost forgot...on this LO I used my own handwriting! I wrote out the things I wanted to say, scanned them, them made them into brushes and then just stamped them on my page! Very cool if you ask me. What I really want to do is a get a font made from my handwriting so I can use that. I like having that on LO's.

Credits:
Paper and elements from Little Bits kit by Peta at PickleberryPop. The same kit I was raving about a few days ago, lol.

Where is my head?!

2007-08-19T18:47:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I forgot the most important reason I blogged today! SO, the news I have been waiting to share with you all.....My freind is now a designer and has found a home to showcase her stuff! You can find Hillbilly Scrappin' Sweatpea Designs at OAKS. Her first kit is just awesome! Check it out...
AND she has an add-on to this kit posted on her blog! I can't wait to use this kit! To purchase her kit, click on the OAKS above and it will take you right to it! And her blog is listed on the left. CONGRATS Fantacy!

Some days are just title-less...

2007-08-19T18:15:00.000-05:00

Is it my mood, the fact that we got 'yelled' at, at work today, or the rain we have had for the past 2 days? Whatever it is, I am in a blah mood, and I just couldn't come up with a good title today. Ah well, I am sure everyone will understand and forgive that. Want to know what Wisconsin weather is like? Last week, it was in the high 80's low 90's and humid. Yesterday and today it has been gray, wet and only a high of 65 degrees. By Wednesday it is supposed to be in the 90's again. As the saying goes, if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes, lol.

Excitement abounds in our family as my daughter has now made the second stop of a few, that means she is on her way home! One more before she is on her way back to the states, and 2 more before we can say, she is HOME! When will that be? We have no idea! We wait for phone calls and then we will have an 800 number to call to check on where they are at when and then the final call so we know they are headed back to home base where we can then go and pick her up. As much as I hate the summer to be over, I can't wait this year!

I am taking off a few weeks from work so I can do some things with her and a little traveling here and there, mostly in state. And then to help her move. That makes me a little sad, because she is moving 4 hours away! BUT, since not even being able to call her this past year, I can live with that! And maybe next year I will move out that way myself. One of my sisters lives out there too, and I know she would love that. She is beside herself knowing Niki is moving so close, lol. Talk about happy!

And to end things, here is the layout I made for the DNTS contest. Why I entered, I don't know. It's not like I will win or anything like that, but it has been fun so far. Two more weeks to go on that.

Credits:
Everything from Peppermint Creative
Cinnamon Tea Kit, Mintage Frames, and Postal Frames kit

What a way to wake up...

2007-08-18T10:28:00.000-05:00

I was dreaming this morning, about police cars and cars honking. Then I woke up and realized it wasn't just a dream, lol. This is what I woke up to this morning...
I guess there is a HOG rally here in town this weekend, and they had a parade this morning. Took them 15 minutes to pass by my home. Which is a good thing, since I was on the phone to my Mom, pulling on clothes, grabbing my camera and running out the door so I could get a couple pics, lol. As I am walking back in the house, I saw I had my t-shirt on inside out! They had a police escort, so they didn't have to stop at all. So, guess what I am doing after work today? Yep, going down by the lake to take some more pictures. And that is all I have for now. Have a great day!

A More Serious Layout

2007-08-16T15:30:00.000-05:00

OK, first things first. There are actually 2 things I want post here, but I have to wait on one. If you haven't seen this new awesome kit, RUN, don't walk, to Peta's blog and check it out! It is a great deal, but only for a limited time. I got mine while it was hot, lol.

And there is a friend of mine that has some awesome news, but I am waiting for her to post it on her blog first.

Now for the serious layout. A few weeks ago, I finally was able to see some pictures from my daughter. She has been very horrible about sending them to me, lol. But, there were a couple of them that got me to thinking. And thinking. And last night I just couldn't sleep, for thoughts of a layout kept coming to me. So, here is the layout, with all my feelings. I think it is important to do layouts of this type to keep life real. To show our descendants that not everything was all happy and fun. Life is not like that, and neither should our scrap albums be like that.

And on that note, I leave you for now, hopefully to be back soon to post my other news. Click on layout for credits.

My Muse is Missing

2007-08-15T13:48:00.000-05:00

I have so much I need to get done, but I have nothing! I sit here, staring at a blank page. Nothing is inspiring me today. I have started an album about my daughter and her time in Iraq, but suddenly I want to change the color scheme. I started with blues, greens and that sort of color scheme, but then I was thinking maybe she will be tired of that color, lol. So I have to think about what will go with those colors before I do any more pages. Here is a link to the pages I have done so far. Anyone feel free to check them out and comment with some suggestions. Unit 1157/ Activated

Here are a couple of my latest layouts.Credits

Credits

That is it for now I guess. I must go and stare at the blank page again, and hopefully something will spark.

My Daughter is coming home!

2007-08-13T11:27:00.000-05:00

It was a busy weekend for me, and the next few weeks are going to be interminable. Worked Saturday and was it busy! But that is always a good thing as the it makes the hours go by faster. After work, I shopped, lol. It was employee shop day, so we got an extra 15% off our purchases, and that was in addition to our regular discount. So, I bought a little over $200.00 worth of clothes for about $160.00. I have lost some weight, so I needed to start getting a few things for the fall. And since it is always so warm at Kohl's, I needed to find short sleeve things to wear. Then went with the family for dinner at Chili's to celebrate my BIL birthday. Didn't get home till after 9.

Sunday my Mom and I went the meeting at the Armory for everyone to pass on information about what to expect when our soldier returns. And that is a 2 hour drive each way. We got lots of info, but not the info we REALLY wanted, which was an actual date of them leaving. But this is the time line of how things should work. Notice I say SHOULD, lol. Ya just never know with the army. But I do believe with this, they try their hardest to get it right.

When Niki left, I volunteered to be part of the phone tree. So, if anything happened over there, I got a call with info, and I had a list of people I was to pass that info to. Thankfully, there was only 2 times I had to pass on injuries. So, anyway, as soon as the AG ( I think that is the correct acronym) knows the date they will be leaving, they will activate the phone tree and I will pass on that happy news! Then they have an 800 number for us to call to keep updated after that. To let us know when they have reached the site of DEMOB, and then when they are leaving there to go to the Armory. Once we hear that message....we are leaving to go there to meet them and finally hold them in our arms again! There will be a short ceremony, and then they will be released to us and able to come HOME! So, excitement abounds in our family as we wait for the call. Rumor is it should be about 2 or 3 weeks from now. WooHoo! It has been almost a year since I have seen and held her in a hug. I can't wait!

So, this is the last layout I did. I really need to get busy with some more. So I will be working feverishly in the next three days, since I am not working till Thursday. This is Niki and her fiancee. She met him in the her unit, and they have become very close during their time away from home. I did this page for the We Digi Dare Ya challenge #47. You can find the credits here.

Ok, and now let me update with all that has happened in my life as far as digi-scrapping is concerned. I said I was a Ct member for treasures to scrap, but I have also added a couple more teams to my list. I am a team member for Laura Burger, Tracey Monette, Melissa Rose, and Gina Arzaga. I am so happy to be a part of these wonderful teams. I will be adding links to each one as I get the blinkies and figure out how to add them here, lol. And that is about all the news I can handle for one day! Hope you all had a great weekend.

Finally, Time to Blog!

2007-08-09T13:36:00.000-05:00

First things first. I wanted to tell you all about this FAB new designer. She is working on finding a place to call her own to sell her stuff, and I for one can't wait to see her selling SOON. Here is a preview of her latest freebie which you can find on her blog. The pic should be click-able. Make sure you leave her some lovin' if you pick this up!

And here is a layout I did using her wings and crown. Everything else is from Beauty in Bloom kit from Manuela Zimmermann at TTS. Love the papers from this kit.
I made this layout for a challenge at SBB,
and I think it came out pretty darn
good. I am working on so many things right now, I am off to gather my thoughts before I post any more today, lol. That happens a lot to me lately it seems.

Catch ya later!