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A Book Recommendation

2012-01-19T09:31:00.002-05:00

You know(or maybe you don't) that I am so excited about the movie, John Carter, coming out in March.

If you are a true sci-fi geek, Star Wars lover, Ring enthusiast...or just curious...you really need to read A Princess of Mars. If you have a Nook (and probably Kindle, too), be sure to do a do a search. I was able to download it for $.99. If you want a book, look around. You're sure to be able to find used copies of it. AND it is on audio book, if that is your preference. I recommend the one narrated by John Bolen. John Carter is a confederate soldier. Mr. Bolen reads in a mild Southern accent, adding a bit of authenticity to the narration.

Written in 1912 by Edgar Rice Burroughs (better known for Tarzan), it is really the beginning and inspiration of modern science fiction! It is so hard to believe that it is 100 years old! It is part of the Barsoom Series (Barsoom is what we call Mars), 11 books chronicling life on Mars. Only 3 of the series are John Carter books: A Princess of Mars, Gods of Mars, & The Warlord of Mars.

It's been a long time since I've written a book report, so I'm lifting a paragraph from the Wikipedia entry. There are spoilers, so if you don't want the plot spoiled, skip down to the video.

"John Carter, a Confederate veteran of the American Civil War, goes prospecting in Arizona immediately after the war's end. Having struck a rich vein of gold, he runs afoul of the Apaches. While attempting to evade pursuit by hiding in a sacred cave, he is mysteriously transported to Mars, called "Barsoom" by its inhabitants. Carter finds that he has great strength and superhuman agility in this new environment as a result of its lesser gravity. He soon falls in with the Tharks, a nomadic tribe of Green Martians, as the planet's warlike, six-limbed, green-skinned inhabitants are known. Thanks to his strength and combat abilities, Carter rises to a high position in the tribe and earns the respect and eventually the friendship of Tars Tarkas, one of the Thark chiefs.

The Tharks subsequently capture Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, a member of the humanoid red Martian race. The red Martians inhabit a loose network of city-states and control the desert planet's canals, along which its agriculture is concentrated. Carter rescues Dejah Thoris from the green men in a bid to return her to her people.

Subsequently Carter becomes embroiled in the political affairs of both the red and green men in his efforts to safeguard Dejah Thoris, eventually leading a horde of Tharks against the city-state of Zodanga, the historic enemy of Helium. Winning Dejah Thoris' hand, he becomes Prince of Helium, and the two live happily together for nine years. However, the sudden breakdown of the Atmosphere Factory that sustains the planet's waning air supply endangers all life on Barsoom. In a desperate attempt to save the planet's inhabitants, Carter uses a secret telepathic code to enter the factory, bringing an engineer who can restore functionality. Carter then succumbs to asphyxiation, only to awaken on Earth, left to wonder what has become of Barsoom.".

I have high hopes for the movie. Disney considered stopping production when they were having some budget issues, but it was too far along, so they kept it. I'm hoping it will be worth it! If you clicked on the link about, you saw the trailer. This is the test footage for the movie.

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Pasta, Chocolate, a new shawl and an adorable little man...

2012-01-15T16:03:00.009-05:00

Winter has finally arrived, but not really settled in yet. There are still patches of green & brown poking up through the snow, even though there is ice on the steps. Rather ambivalent for Ohio.

I whipped up a few more good dishes this week, the best of which was Mediterranean Pasta with Artichokes, Tomatoes & Olives. Healthy, tasty and pretty! (excuse me while I install PSE on my new computer)...

I've also become interested (obsessed?) with Mexican chocolate of late. I've heard a lot of buzz about how good it is, and then I saw a recipe in my Zoku book for pops made with it. So I went online to MexGrocer to order some. I've never ordered food ingredients on line, so wasn't prepared for the fun I would have just browsing through all the merchandise. I ended up with 2 brands of Mexican chocolate (Abuelita & Ibarra), a disc of chile chocolate, and one of salted almond. Also a vanilla blend & some Agave syrup. I tried the first cup of chocolate and it was definitely good. Well, if I'm going to make something special (especially if it's a traditional ethnic dish), I need the right tools. I read about canella, cinnamon sticks made from the bark of a West Indian tree. Also I was assured in my research that I couldn't make really authentic Mexican hot chocolate without a special whisk, a Molinillo. A search for both of these brought me to the Gourmet Sleuth. Well, the rest is history...

I haven't tried it with the new tool yet, but I'll report when I do!

You may recall that I want to be more creative (just make stuff!). I dug out a crochet pattern for a shawl designed by one of my Facebook/Ravelry friends, Deneen StAmour. It's called Hippie Chick and I've loved it since the first time I saw it! The best part is that it was a stash buster! I didn't have to buy one thing for it! I had the perfect yarn & of course the hooks...which is all it took. It's perfect because it's long & warm & makes me feel like I'm back in the late 60's!

And of course there have been the best days, playing with Lucas. Needed a better storage solution for his tiny room (which he has to share with Grandma's clothes, dresser & yarn stash), so got one of these. Karen & Josh found it at Target for their place, so I got one, also. It is so nice to be able to just lift out a bin with all the pieces together in one place.

I'll end with a few shots of the little guy at work...a joyful sight, even when he's on his head!

See ya later!

Beans, beans, the musical fruit...

2012-01-04T19:06:00.003-05:00

This time of year, I always get on a cooking kick. It goes with the whole healthier eating thing, I guess. And lately, for me, I've realized it's just another form of creativity. Over the past few years, I've stocked my kitchen with handy appliances, wonderful pots, and wicked knives. And my Microsoft One Note is full of recipes culled from the web. There are lots of good blogs out there. Maybe later I'll write a blog about all the gadgets that have made cooking soooo much easier and more fun and maybe one featuring some of my favorite culinary web sites.

So New Year's Day, we did our traditional sauerkraut & kielbasi. I, of course, eat only the kraut & smashed 'taters. That was followed the next day by Hoppin' John . I figure we have all our "prosperity" bases covered for 2012. I did forget to burn my bayberry candle on New Year's Eve. But I did burn one on Christmas Eve, so we should be good to go.

Yesterday I made Korma. I was introduced to this by my lovely neice Nicole who writes the blog Killer Blog From Outer Space. I've played around with it several times, so this recipe cited here is just sort of a guideline. Like Nicole, I used coconut milk and the creaminess is unbelievable. No beans in this one, but lots of brown rice...so the effect's the same. I'm not much of a fan of most brown rice, but this was really good. It's called Texmati. It's an American grown (Texas, to be exact) long grained brown basmati. It takes about 30-45 minutes to make, but it is well worth the wait.

Tonight is was Rachel Ray's Veg-Head Chili from her Veggie Meals book. Now, Rachel's a little too "cute" for me (I would rather hear Lucas scratch the black board than hear her talk about "makin' sammies"). But this is a really good Chili. And there's enough left over for Frito Pie for lunch tomorrow.

So I've been very satisfied with my efforts thus far, and Gary cleans his plate (sometimes twice), so that's always a good sign. Now tomorrow is his turn. Then I want to try Vegetable Pad Thai. I went crazy at Whole Foods and bought all these sauces & spices for stir fry and such. Actually, I had delusions of making lettuce wraps! So anyway, I have the ingredients for the sauce, so it won't be that much of an investment.

So...what have you made good lately?

...and miles to go before I sleep...

2012-01-01T11:44:00.003-05:00

I've made some fairly easy resolutions to bring in 2012. Oh, I'll be trying the usual: eating better, losing some weight, exercising more, being more financially responsible...but those are things I should be doing anyway, and that I try every year. They no longer merit resolution status!

You see, the last 2 years have been rather difficult. I mean, I hate to complain about my life, as it's a damn good one in general! But we've been through a difficult pregnancy with my daughter (which resulted in the 2nd best thing that ever happened to me), my husbands diagnosis, treatment (stem cell transplant) & remission of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, my total knee replacement, and now I have something growing in my breast that shouldn't be there. So I've tried to keep things on an even keel here, but one thing I know suffered!

Being creative! I used to always be making something, whether it be on the needles or hook, or being slathered with glue and glitter. Now I don't do that all that often. This Christmas, I made a few cards and realized how much I miss it!

So that's going to be my resolution this year: being creative in some way every day. That includes taking pictures, sewing something, finishing an afghan, knitting a new shawl, take some classes somewhere, catch up on some scrapping...whatever.

And that in turn means spending less time on my computer...unless it's for some type of creative pursuit. Perhaps I should say "staying off FB", the greatest time suck ever introduced to woman-kind!

I'll also be making a goal over on Goodreads. Last year I had the same goal (to read 50 books) and made it to 43. So I'm trying for 50 again this year. That's book a week, with some wiggle room for the really long ones, like Under the Dome (1072 pages, and I have the hardback copy!) or The Wise Man's Fear (that comes in at a whopping 994 pages!).

Last but not least (and perhaps the most difficult to do) will be to blog again. You can see by looking back at my "archives" (my piddling posts hardly deserve such a lofty word!), that I've tried that one before. But, I'll find a new design, get some cutesy widgets, and start linking it to Facebook so maybe a person or 2 will read it.

Win some Shimmerz Pearls!

2010-01-13T12:28:00.002-05:00

Wow! This is pretty cool!

So much happened...

2010-01-04T12:01:00.005-05:00

...in the brief 3 1/2 months that has passed.

Many of my regular readers may follow me on Facebook, so you know that Gary was diagnosed with cancer (lymphoma) and is enduring chemotherapy, and I had a total knee replacement and am enduring PT (Pain & Torture). The baby is wonderful. Christmas was nice...low key but a wonderful time of family & friends. And it's cold!

I always say I'm going to try to keep up with the blog a little more. That's all I can say...I'll try... I'm feeling a little more creative lately, so maybe that will inspire me to share my time a little more with my readers. (There aren't that many!)

Following are some pictures for your viewing pleasure...

Evidence of my latent geekery - The Tardis. It's a USB port that Gary got me for Christmas. I love it, as it makes Tardis-like noises when you plug in a cord! Oh, and for those of you who don't know about Dr. Who...well...I'm sorry! And for those of you who do...can you wait for the new Doctor?! David Tennant will be hard to replace, but I'm open-minded! Russell Davis hasn't failed us yet!

Himself...getting so big...

Me...opening a total Christmas surprise...a nifty little Netbook! It will be so great for crops...and I can surf in bed! LOL! And off to the side you can see a portion of my newest "best" friend...the walker...odd that I haven't named it yet!

Lucas loves his Grandpa! (note the lack of beard...and if you see close enough...eyebrows)...

Karen & Josh cuddling their other baby...

Bits and Pieces...

2009-09-14T10:22:00.004-05:00

Just checkin' in to say hello and catch up a little.

We had a little scare with Lucas, as he lost weight from the time he left the hospital to his first check-up. So Karen started (sadly) supplementing with formula. The lazy little guy! He just loves to cuddle and sleep! They have to wake him up in the middle of the night to get all his feedings in! But he gained weight and all is well! He's such a sweet little guy! Here are some recent photos.

Nakey is good!

I love this one!

Karen's caption for this one: "Concerned baby is concerned because he is only a week old and already wearing old man pants!"

Big eyes!

He loves his bouncy chair!

Found this on Etsy and had to buy one for Lucas! Can't wait to see him in it!
Make it so!

Gary had his first chemo session last week. 3 days worth! It went well. No side effects yet. Three more weeks till the next session.

Do you buy an Entertainment Book every year? Would you like to win a free one? Click on the 5 Minutes for Giveaways button in my sidebar and sign up! Good luck!

A few yarny creations -
This is a baby size afghan made from 9" squares received in a swap on Ravelry. I love it and I think Lucas will too. I did another one that is a big bigger - 12" squares...big enough for a floor blanket for him to play on. But Karen accidentally took it home before I could photograph it. It's all different bright colors and textures.

A pumpkin hat. I hope it fits! If not, though, it was easy enough to make, so I can donate this one and whip up another one for him.

And while you're here...go here...and vote for Alphie. You'll be voting to win money for A Place to Bark, which you know is one of my favorite places to donate. If Bernie wins, she'll be able to hire someone to help her with all the awesome work she does! It just takes a minute. And he is a cutie!

Well....till next time...

It's a boy!

2009-08-19T08:53:00.004-05:00

He's finally here, and beautiful he is! Since many of my readers have already seen him, I'll make this short and sweet for now.

Lucas James came to our world at 8:08 pm on 8/18. He weighs 6 pounds 13 ounces and is 20 inches long. And he is absolutely perfect.

We are, of course, all totally smitten!

And now that I'm done worrying about him & Karen, and Gary is on the mend, maybe Scrapbook Mojo will return! I miss him!

2009-08-08T14:27:00.002-05:00

Wow! I don't think I've gone this long without a some kind of post! Those of you who know me, know that things have not been the best around here. Bad things happening: Gary had major surgery & has been diagnosed with lymphoma. How do a healthy, sports-loving, active man go from being vital and alive to one have Parkinson's Disease & lymphoma? And he's lost 35 pounds so is so...thin.... It breaks my heart! But we're dealing with it. I've become the housewife/cook I once was as well and a nurse maid. I must say though, that for a week and 2 days post-surgery (consisting of having alien things removed, and part of his bowel sliced & re-sectioned), he is doing amazingly well.
The good thing is that we are on baby watch. The last few month it appears that both Karen and the baby are much more healthy. She finally gained some weight...a whopping 9 pounds! I think I gained that my first month! And the baby, although small, is still in the safe range. Measurements say he is verging on 7 pounds, but they say these can go 2 pounds either way. Once she hit 36 weeks, they took her off all restrictions, which has done wonders. As it stands, if he doesn't make an appearance on his own by the 17th, they'll induce. Her due date is the 20th and they don't want to go past that. So in approximately 10 days, our status will be elevated to Grandparents!

All my creative abilities have been channeled to knitting and crocheting little sweaters, hats, and burp cloths. And I'm in 6 different blanket square swap groups! These are perfect though, because they're all small, uncomplicated, and can take my mind away for a while. I haven't scrapped or stamped. I try. But it just won't come. I'm sure when I have new baby pictures, it will all click again!

A little hat made from bamboo yarn

This is called Baby Yoda. How could I not knit this?!

Another sweater. I have little sailboat buttons to put on it.

Something I made for myself. I haven't used it yet because it really should be lined. But here it is!

And an "upstairs" blanket for the babe.

So that's it for now. Sorry it's not more exciting...but there it is. I'm off to make some orange roughy for dinner!

Shout-out to Tombow!

2009-06-26T13:42:00.003-05:00

Not to long ago, I participated in a blind study for some adhesives. I don't even remember how I got involved. But they sent me several different shipments of adhesives. I used them for several days, sent back what I didn't use, and then filled out some on-line surveys. They said they would send me something in return for my assistance. I didn't expect much, and when a month passed by, I figured I really wasn't going to get anything. It didn't' really matter, though, as I hadn't invested anything but a little bit of time.

Then yesterday a box came from Tombow. It had all this in it:

There was also an envelope, revealing that the products I had used were from a new line by Tombow. AND...in the envelope was also a Visa gift card for....are you ready?!...$75.00! I was totally shocked and very, very impressed! Never did I expect to get such a generous gift!

So thank you to Tombow! I am truly impressed.

Here it is...

2009-06-20T14:12:00.004-05:00

Another rough week (for me...everything's fine with Karen!) But finally here are some shots from the shower. Some of the photos are a tad blurry because I didn't have the flas on, so my apologies for that! And the place was sort of dark for photography. None the less, some fun memories were preserved.

The happy parents-to-be. Josh attended the shower and was such a big help to Karen. She said she never would have been able to get through all the packages without him. He even managed to intercept a card that he knew would make her cry!

Ginny & Nicole came early from Pittsburgh to help me set up. That was much appreciated, as I wasn't feeling 100%!

The decorations looked good. A fun, different theme for a baby shower!

There were lots of guest, but the best were friends and family!

And thanks, Kelly, for taking the pictures during the "opening"!

Lots of great gifts! And enough money and gift cards to finish up the nursery!
Karen asked Josh to pick out their diaper bag, as she figured he'd be carrying it most of the time! So it's a nice Eddie Bauer! No man purse for him!

And of course, the obligatory belly shot!

It was a great time, but I think we're all glad it's over. Now it's just waiting for the baby to arrive! The doc thinks it could be by the 2nd week in July, but Karen doesn't think so. We're hoping he holds on a few more weeks! She's almost through week 31. Just a few more, Baby!

Friday's Favorite Five...

2009-06-12T15:20:00.004-05:00

It's been a rough week for me: migraine w/ER trip Saturday; back spasms Tuesday; servere bruise on my leg; Gary's not been himself on the new meds...all the more reason to think back on 5 good things that happened this week!

1. Going to the La Bella Vita with Karen.

But for the first time since her wedding, we had a girls day at the salon: manicures (I did the hot wax dip); facial waxing (I no longer have Andy Rooney's eyebrows!); hair cuts; new polish. Unfortunately, neither of us had our cameras, but G. says we look good! And he is totally unbiased!

2. Making the centerpieces & favors for the shower.
Click on the picture of the treasure chest so you can see the treasure map under it. I love the way they all turned out! What do you think?

3. A garden on my porch.
I physically can't garden anymore, but this year I've put a little patch on the little porch! There are 3 tomatoes (Italian Plum, Bush, & Hillbilly), 2 peppers (Best Belle sweet green, and chocolate pepper), and lots of herbs (cilantro, chives, rosemary, basil, oregano, parsley, dill...and more I can't recall right off).

4. A creative mess.
Although I hate the cleaning up part, the mess is a sign I've been creating a little this week, and I love that!

5. Blue sky, sun in the clouds, warmth.

"God's in His Heaven and all's right with the world."

What the f*&# happened?!

2009-06-10T08:27:00.004-05:00

So I'm sitting here yesterday, minding my own business, feeling fine. I was planning to head out to Bath & Body Works for prizes for the shower Sunday. I stood up and my back was a wee bit stiff. No big deal. I have a glitchy back...we all know that. So I started getting ready, performed a "necessary" task (use your imagination...I was about to leave the house), stood up...and my back really hurt. It was on the opposite side from where it usually was, so thought maybe I should do the pain-relieving yoga exercises. Well, long story short....I can barely walk! I've been hobbling around since yesterday afternoon with my cane, all bent over like Baba Yaga! What the h-e-double hockey-sticks?! One of the few weeks out of 52 I have things to do, and I'm a cripple?! I have a doctor's appointment today. I was hoping for a cortisone shot (I'm a big fan!), but I did my Google research and see that because the SI joint (where, I am pretty sure, lies the problem) is so deep that they have to be done with an x-ray. We'll see...it may still be possible. I have 2 days to spare, but I must be at least able to get around by Friday! I've been dosing myself with a combination of Darvocet and Advil, but that doesn't seem to do the trick. It takes the edge off, but I still can barely walk.

HOWEVER...the shower is Sunday and I'm pretty excited. Karen and I were laughing last night. We're going to be quite a family table. She's on Level 2 restrictions (which means she probably shouldn't even go to the shower, but just try to keep her away!), Josh was riding his bike and bruised the bone in his leg, his mom fell at work and bruised her shoulder, and I can't walk!

I've been working away on centerpieces, favors, and some decorations. I'm pretty happy with the way all of them came out. I'll take pictures when they're all finished. I still have to go to B&BW for the prizes, Hallmark for wrapping paper, and Dollar Tree for bags. Oh and to Pat Catan's to pick up the last of the centerpieces that they had UPS'd from Wooster for me! I have to paint them, but that's no biggy. Just time consuming.

Karen's still having some difficulty with her pregnancy. The latest is possible gestation diabetes. Also the baby's head and femur measurements are at 31 weeks (2 weeks ahead), but the abdominal measurement is at 27 weeks (2 weeks behind). However that happened in a week; the last sonogram he was right on target, so he'll probably catch up this week. However, school's done and they're moved into their new place, so she has lots of time to rest and let Josh & Mommy & Daddy take care of her.

Gary's continuing to have more medication adding to his PD regimen. He seems a little out of it, but that could just be my imagination. Or he could just be ignoring me...

Now for some works of creativity: (usual disclaimers about everything looking better IRL apply)

I already scrapped this picture, but felt compelled to do it again, when the Product Pizazz assignment was to scrap a picture showing action.

The obligatory cat layout -

A summery baby blanket; it's much more sagey than it looks in the photo -

Wristlets & a Queen Anne's Lace Scarf I'm sending to a swap partner -

My very first sweater. It's called Baby Yoda and really is cute in person! (Really!)

And finally, a creation in that I planted the bush ages ago. I'm so glad that some things still bloom in spite of the fact that I no longer can garden.

Thanks for looking, and have a great day. I hope to be back soon with a Baby Shower report!

Horror at it's best!

2009-05-22T11:18:00.002-05:00

Those of you that know me, know that I love a good vampire novel. And none of this blue-eyed vegetarian vampire adolescent love story stuff! I want a horrible, frightening, disturbing vampire story! One that, although your rational self tells you it's fiction, there is a part of you that is afraid to go out in the dark for a while after you read it!

Well, my dears, I found one!! I got hold of a pre-publication copy of The Strain, by Chuck Hogan & Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth). It was stunning! I was repulsed, frightened, amazed....and I couldn't out it down! This book is definitely NOT for the feint of heart!

It starts out with a plane landing at JFK. Suddenly it goes quiet and dark; all the shades are pulled; there is no sound or sign of life. An alert goes out to the CDC and they send Dr. Ephraim Goodweather to investigate. He becomes the reluctant protagonist of this mystery/horror. He & his assistant discover everyone but 3 passengers are dead. They take the bodies to various morgues and soon they all disappear.

On the Amazon site, is a little video of delToro talking about his book, and there is also a pretty good synopsis.

So, if you really enjoy being scared, get this book when it comes out!

Oh...and did I mention this is the first novel of a trilogy! So more frights to come!!

Quickie Friday Fave 5's...

2009-05-15T17:18:00.002-05:00

Sorry...no pictures!

1. Learned today that Karen probably won't have to have a c-section! YAY!! She's still high risk, but should be able to deliver naturally. She's thrilled, as this is what she has wanted so badly! I'm pretty happy too! I'm pretty "granola" when it comes to childbirth: I believe in no drugs, or only enough for safety. The way it was meant to be, kwim?

2. We're hiring a company to move the furniture to Karen's apt. I was dreading the thought of Gary helping to carry all that heavy, awkward furniture up to a 2nd floor apt! So today, I found a company that is giving us a decent rate and actually had the date open! I'll have to use next month's scrap & yarn money, but it's so worth it!

3. Saw the Star Trek movie last night. Gary & I went with Karen & Josh and we all LOVED it! So pleased, because there were some really BAD Star Trek movies in the past!

4. My lilacs are blooming! We planted the bush the spring after Karen was born. It has grown old and gnarly, so we severely chopped it back last year. I was pleasantly surprised that, although not full & lush, it produced enough lilacs for some nice, fragrant bouquets!

5. I redeemed one of my Mother's Day presents and got a massage Tuesday. Oh my! It's been a long time! I can only get back massages, but that's okay. It was perfect! I think that as my budget allows, I'll be adding it to my other self-centered indulgences (manicures, good hair cuts & professional color!)

So...what good came of your week?

Have a great week-end!

2009-05-11T17:27:00.008-05:00

Wow! So much has happened since I've updated here. Of course, a few of you know most of it, so I'll keep the gory details to a minimum.

Let's see...

We've set up the baby shower. It will be at the same restaurant where we had the bridal shower. The people who want it there far out-weigh the people(person) who don't! Hopefully it will be small, intimate, with guests who love Karen and are happy for her good fortune!
A friend on Ravelry referred me to a site where I found the most adorable, perfect invitations. The baby's room will be a little pirate theme, so these are just right!

Karen & I attended my niece's wedding shower at the Spaghetti Warehouse in Pittsburgh. She's not getting married until October, but her maid-of-honor lives in Dublin, so they had the shower while she was back home for a while. Nicole is just so lovely and the nicest young lady! And Justin's pretty cool too! They are a perfect couple!

Pretty Nicole

Karen & me with all the Pittsburgh SIL's

My husband has been officially diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. Sort of a shock, but consider his father & grandfather both had it, not as surprising as it otherwise might have been. We have an excellent doctor at Cleveland Clinic, though, so I know he will get the best and newest treatment. There is so much more going on with it now than when his Dad was alive.

I drove to Michigan for MegaMeet last week. It was a great get-away! I met up with my friends Gina & Carolyn and we had a great time. The meet was nice, and I got lots of nice stuff (Glimmer Mist & Anna Griffin booths got lots of my money, as well as the Archiver's in Novi); but even more fun was the Lifetime Moments Warehouse Sale. So much fun to find great bargains that you didn't know you really needed! I bought home quite a packet of goodies for $16! But best of all was getting to see Gina & Carolyn again! We see each other once a year, so I really looked forward to this! We went to Gus O'Connor's for Irish food, beer, and conversation. Good Times!

And finally, Mother's Day was very quiet, but very nice. The kids came over in the evening after spending some time with Josh's mom and moving some boxes into their new apartment. We ordered and Italian feast from Rotelli's and it was really, really good. Although I love going out for those nice buffets, it was nice to eat at home where we could talk and spill stuff and laugh and play with the cats! I have a gift certificate to Lush for some Karma scents! Yum! Patchouli/Orange! And I'm getting something else that had to be special ordered and should be here by August! All I know is that it's not the baby! LOL!

Look at that baby bump!

Gary's been doing some "rehab" on the house. It's been years (decades?) since we've done anything to improve it, and it looks it! Old and shabby...and not the good shabby! So he decided to replace the dropped ceiling tiles in the livingroom. This is a huge task: 60 huge tiles have to be removed and new ones put in their place. One at a time. Dust! Yuck!! And he's been doing it all by himself. He's been doing it in pieces, though as it's a very tiring job. Then, while I was away, he decided to put a new floor in the bathroom and install a new toilet! Things are looking a little better!

I had to take this picture so you could see the immense difference the new ceiling tiles are making!

And I have been scrapping a little. Here are some recent layouts.

Mother & Father to Be

Lots of cutting with the Slice and some Distress Stickles by Tim Holtz!

Any wonder she bites me!

Well, I think that's enough! Till later...

Stamp Winners

2009-04-27T10:09:00.002-05:00

I picked these Saturday night (aka: Sunday morning) and could have sworn I posted them. But...I guess I didn't...

So the winners of the stamps are:

Alex said...

The best thing all week for me has been the negative result on the biopsy at the dermatologist. I haven't gotten a 'negative' in YEARS. Actually, ever since they started doing them. I get to go an entire four months with no one cutting out parts of my skin!!!!

10:07 PM

Kaytee said...

Those are great stamps!

So far the best thing that happened this week is just this little random thing my niece said the other day. She is two but her vocab is amazing. We were playing with the bigger lego blocks and she wanted me to build a robot. I am not good with legos at all but I built this robot that actually looked more like a tower with legs. But she looks at it and takes a deep breath and says "Aunt Kaytee it's perfect! I love it!" I was just stunned. She honestly makes everyday I see her so much better!

11:46 AM

and

Jill said...

I can't wait for NSD!

LOVE those Prima stamps...

The best thing that happened to me this was finally being diagnosed with bronchitis. I know, sounds like a crazy "best" thing, but I've been coughing and wheezing for weeks and trying all sorts of meds. Finally, my doctor started treating me for bronchitis, and I'm getting better.

3:51 PM

Congratulations, ladies. Be sure to e-mail me with your choice of stamps and your address. Give me all three choice for your stamps in the order of preference, and I'll do my best to get you want you want. Alex gets first choice, etc.

Thanks everyone for leaving me your thoughts on the best thing that happened to you during your week. It was great to read them and to see how different our lives can all be!

Happy Day

2009-04-11T12:03:00.006-05:00

A lot going on to make my days a little brighter lately! I've been missing my FFF's (Friday Fave Fives), but maybe this will help make up for it a little.

Off we go...

1. Harry's back! Harry Dresden, that is! The 11the book of the Dresden Files, Turn Coat, was released early this month, and I was first on the library reserve list! I'm always happy to have Harry back to spend some quality time with!

(insert pic of very tall yellow house here)

2. Karen's moving "home"! Since a baby is arriving in August, their apartment in Boardman is woefully lacking! Not only is it way too small, it's just...bad! They finally found a place that they both love, and would you believe it? It's here in Hubbard! Not that they lived that far away before, but it will just be so nice not to have to plan an hour out of the day for getting to her place and back! It's the really tall (3 stories) yellow building on the main street. They will have the top 2 floors! The owners totally refurbished it, so everything is in new, good working order, and they won't be moving into someone else's mess! We got to see it Sunday and it's great! Pretty colors; wood floors; distressed wallpaper! The steps will be a challenge for me, but they are sturdy, new and have a double banister, so I'll be able to make it.

3. My Slice is back in working order. Sent if off to Making Memories to see if they could fix it and apparently they couldn't because they sent me a new one! I have to say that MM has some of the best customer service around!

4. We still love to shop! Karen and I went to the outlets to shop Friday. So much fun! It was different watching while she modeled maternity clothes, though! But I managed to pick up a nice pair of brown pants and some real shoes...not Crocs!...for Nicole's shower this Sunday.

5. NSD. It's that time of year again! National Scrapbook Day is May 4th. Be sure to visit us at Bad Girls for a fun party!

So, do you want some more purged stuff? How about some stamps? I have 3 sets to give away.

1. Karen Foster Snap-Stamps. These are the big ones in the Casual font. Very cool! They are interlocking, so you can spell out a word and stamp it in a nice, straight line.

2. Prima Crenee Alphabet. These are really awesome...as is everything Prima! It's an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet and every letter is beautiful and unique.
3. Making Memories FaLaLa calendar stamps. 25 holiday stamps on a storage folder.

If you'd like one of the sets, leave me a comment and tell me what the best thing was that happened to you in the last week.

One comment per poster. Ends midnight Saturday EST. I'll post the winner Sunday when I get back from the shower!

TTFN!

The winner...

2009-04-11T11:12:00.003-05:00

Just a quick note to announce the grunge board winner! There were 28 comments, and it appears that Mr. Holtz has quite a fan club! Of course, that's not a surprise! Running the numbers through random.org, the winner is

(You really can't see that, can you?) Number 3 - Sherry B.

*SHeRRy B* said...
Happy Anniversary to you and Gary <3!! I would love to play with some Tim Holtz grunge board! My wish is to someday own every single thing he makes! Did you see his studio in Cloth Paper Scissors Studio?
http://quiltingarts.com/cpsmag/cps_studios.html

Congratulations, Sherry! Send me your address and I'll get your grunge board goodies out to you!

Thanks to everyone for playing, and especially for your kind comments and anniversary wishes!

Be back soon with some alphabet/monogram stamps to give away!

Have a blessed holiday! Or just a blessed day!

I have returned...

2009-04-03T22:45:00.006-05:00

Finally! And I'm not even sure where I've been! Well, I've been here, mostly, but why I haven't posted, other than pure laziness, I don't know!

Gary & I celebrated our 31st anniversary last month. We had dinner at The Melting Pot in Cleveland. Poor guy! He's spent half his life with me! Wait! I've spent more than half of mine with him! Hmm...that's just not natural...

I've spent a lot of time with either a hook or pointy sticks in hand. making lots of afghan squares for several swaps and charity projects. And I knitted a little pair of leg warmies. Can't you just see chubby little baby legs in these? I know "he" (poor baby still has no first name!) won't be wearing them for a while, but as soon as I got this yarn, I had to make them!

Karen and I went to a scrap getaway in Columbiana last week-end. We had so much fun! And because it's so close, the boyz dropped us off (after carrying all our stuff into the crop) and picked up us (after loading all our stuff in the car!). And in between they came for Amish lunch at the restaurant! Look how cute Karen and Josh look!

I did 3 layouts at the crop. I've come to a couple conclusions. Although I'm a pretty simple scrapper, I'm a slow scrapper. And I'll never be a Bad Girl. In spirit yes, but in artistic ability...no. But that's okay. I'm happy! Here's what I did there.

Oh...and I won the centerpiece raffle, too! I got one of these! The best part is that it's something I don't have (imagine that) and that I can really use!

I'm still purging. Unfortuantely, I'm still buying stuff! I was able to get rid of a lot of items at the Queen's Treasure Sale at the crop. I have a box left (I took 5) with some paper (I learned that they'll buy batches of 25, but not 1oo), stamps, and ribbon. The paper will probably go to Jenn for her summer art program at the library.

I have a serious addiction to chipboard, which includes grunge board! While going through it all, I found I had 4 of the nature set. One was Karen's, one was open, and I'm keeping one unopened one. So the other one is up for grabs. The set looks like this:

Leave me a comment and tell me what you love about Tim Holtz! I'll randomly pick a name next Saturday, so post by midnight the 10th.

Since it's Friday (well it's actually 21 minutes into Saturday, but I started on Friday), I'll leave you with Five Faves...

1. Life on Mars.

I know it's over, which is sad. But for once, they wrapped up all the loose ends of a cancelled show. The final episode rocked! What an imaginative story!

2. Graphic 45.

Currently my favorite line of scrapbook paper! Always subject to change, but I think this one is going to be top on my list for a while!

3. Spring.

Yes, it's coming! I even have a few daffodils in my back yard in bloom. And my lilies are all popping up. There is some major clean up that needs to be done!

4. Sephanie Plum.

These books are so not me! And I love them! I just finished Plum Spooky and it was the usual; quirky, smart, funny. I read one of these books once to be polite (someone leant it to me) and I have loved them ever since. They are chick lit without being all about shopping and love and girl stuff. And a nice change from my usual sci fi/fantasy/horror fair!

5. Preparing to be a grandma. Didn't see that comin', did ya?

Here...

2009-03-31T19:10:00.001-05:00

This should hold you till I have my scrap crap unpacked and photographed for your viewing enjoyment.

And the ribbon goes to...

2009-03-08T01:27:00.004-05:00

#6 - Robin - I love ribbon!!! Thanks for the opportunity to take some off your hands. lol
Robin

#11 - Kris - Your blog is in my "Daily Read" folder! But from the very beginning I'd say I got here thru WT! Ribbon is my weakness! I can never have too much!
thanks Linda!

#13 - Charity - Love your blog..I link from BadGirls!! I have just started using ribbons and mostly have just fibers but would love to add your beauties to my stash!! Great blog!!
Thanks for sharing your purging!!

#1 - Alicia - wow I'm the first post!
I just saw your notice on the memorymakingcrafts yahoo group so I came to check it out! Fun!

congratulations! I'll e-mail each of you to get your choice of prizes!

The purging continues...

2009-03-04T22:42:00.005-05:00

Today it's ribbon. Unbelievable how much ribbon, lace & ric rac you can accumulate without really realizing it! Yikes!

I am giving away 3 jars & one box of ribbon. I will pick 4 entrants and random, and you will be able to choose which lot you want, according to the order you are picked. The 3 jars are the tallest Yankee Candle House warmer jar candle size. And the box is a CD holder. That gives you a reference of the size & amount of ribbon. If you like, you can also have the container. In fact, I wish you would. LOL!

So sign up below. And this time you can sign up as many times as you want. Tell me how you got to my blog and what your favorite use for ribbon is.

Here they are:

#1 - a jar of spools

#2. A jar of miscellany -

#3. A box of miscellany, on cards -

4. A Jar of Ric Rac

You have till Saturday midnight to respond. Pass the word!

Thanks for helping in my efforts to purge my stash!

Lazy Friday Favorites...

2009-02-27T21:23:00.003-05:00

Lazy because I don't feel like uploading pics. That's okay...we can exercise our imaginations.

So...let's see...this week...oh! I know!

1. A spankin' new 42" flat screen HD TV! Yes, I know we're late to the party, but we were waiting for our old TV to give up the ghost. Which it never did. Income tax money came...and...well...the next thing I knew Gary and his buddy, Craig, were off picking up the TV of choice and installing it. It is pretty awesome. And it makes Gary very happy...(he even subbed to a new cable tier with a new UFC station!)

2. Scrapping with Karen. We always have so much fun at our crops. We accomplished some pages, didn't spend a lot of money, and talked, talked, talked.

3. Karen's baby bump. Yup! It's there! She's into her 2nd trimester and although it just looks like she needs to hold her tummy in those who don't know her, I know it's baby bump! YAY!

4. And, speaking of baby's, the placenta has moved away a bit, so odds are the placenta previa is going away! Let's hear it for natural childbirth!

5. And last but not least, the latest Bad Girls kit! Yum! And I got the add-on with lots of paints, and the 7 Gypsies Binderie. Fun times!

Sorry this is so boring...but that's how I'm feeling tonight. Yawn!

On the cover of Rolling Stone...

2009-02-25T19:17:00.003-05:00

I saw this on Lisa's blog and thought it was so much fun!

Who hasn't wanted to be a rock star? Well, here's my band & it's first album:

I am amazed that this worked so well! The picture really fits the title! And I didn't cheat!!

Follow these instructions:

1 - BAND NAME Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random article”or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:RandomThe first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - ALBUM TITLE Go to "Random quotations"or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - COVER ART Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7daysThird picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Give it a go! It's really fun! Link me if you do. I'm interested to see if any come up sounding like something other than an Indie Emo band!

Layouts from the crop....

2009-02-23T20:28:00.003-05:00

We had a lot of fun at the crop this week-end. Made these 4 layouts which I am quite happy with!

Why do cats sit around with their tongues sticking out?

Karen when she was about 2, sitting on Grandma's couch playing with her dollie. Soon she'll have a real one!

Gary. Not sure how old he was. Wan't he a cutie?
Nap time. I took this pictures all at the same time one afternoon. I often wonder when my nap time is.

And the winner is...

2009-02-22T20:34:00.003-05:00

Deneen

Blogger Deneen said...

Free cardstock-oh I could make tags for my creations!

Buttons-that should be what else you should purge, embellishments are nice too-glitter, etc. ;)

9:54 AM

Contact me and we'll arrange delivery of your cardstock!

Thanks everyone, for playing and for your excellent suggestions. Come back soon, as I think my next give-away will be ribbon and lace!

Friday's Favorite Five...

2009-02-20T13:32:00.005-05:00

...time for a quick 5 before I leave to Crop with Karen.

1. Paul McCartney...all day...everyday! What could be better than an XM-Sirius station that plays all McCartney? I'm in hippie heaven!

2. A fresh manicure and haircut. Nothing better to chase some of those winter doldrums away!

3. My friend Gina being a Bad Girl Designer! YAY! This is going to be so much fun having her inspire me every month to use up those beautiful Bad Girl kits!

4. On-line classes to get your mojo workin'. And I'm taking three: Got Sketch 103 with Jana Wilson & Valerie Salmon, Product Pizzazz 101 with Doris Sander, & Creativity Kickstart with Caludine Helmuth. All 3 of them are great and I've put together some fun ideas to scrap this week-end! Thanks, ladies!

5. The almost-end of February. Because that means it's almost March. Which means it's almost April. Which means it will be Spring. It's the only way I can look at all the snow and not go totally crazy!

Have a great week-end! And there's still time to post a comment to win some candy on this post.

She did it again...

2009-02-17T18:07:00.004-05:00

...Ali Edwards, that is. Every once in a while, she hits me with something so real it's almost scary! And she'd done it again!

My friend Gina has been sort of subtly bugging me about the fact that I haven't been scrapping. I told her that part of my problem is that I have way too much stuff!

Fast forward to today. I was doing my treatments and reading the latest issue of Creating Keepsakes. Ali's article this month is titles "5 common trouble spots." Blah, blah, blah...so I started to read through the bullet points. BAM! (and I quote) "TROUBLE SPOT #2: Having too much stuff!" What...wait a minute...did she read my mind? So I continued, "Too much stuff may seem like a great thing, but the reality is that too much stuff can actually hold you back in the process of creating. You might end up taking all the time you set aside just choosing what items you want to use on a layout. You might even use up all y0ur time organizing rather than actually creating." What!? Does she live under my scrap table!? She continues with ways to deal with this. Now, granted, it's nothing new - donate, purge, yada yada. But it definitely gave me the incentive to get started with taking this task on full force. I already have 3 large boxes packed in the basement for the Queen's Treasure Sale next month at the getaway. I've put a few things on Craig's list. I've even offered up a few things on freecycle (but I live in an area where 20 people jump on your offer, but nobody every shows up to get it!).

So...my next step is to offer some to my blog readers. Now there's not going to be anything new and exciting (that's the stuff I'm hanging on to, after all!), but it'll be good stuff. The paper may be older, but it will be pretty (I don't buy anything else) and usable; as will the ribbon and whatever else I come up with. (Anyone still want a 7 Gypsies ATC spinner?).

So...first let's start with the basics: card stock. If you know me and my scrapping tastes, you'll know I'm a card stock snob. It's all Bazzill. I have so many pretty colors, but I don't need them all! My go-to colors are black, white, and kraft, so I can signifcantly cut back on the stash. (Listen to me, convincing myself!) I'm offering 25 sheets in various colors. All 12 x 12. (Need 8 1/2 x 11? I can substitute that if you like!) All pristine. All Bazzill. All beautiful colors. The picture is just a sampling of 10 sheets. AND if enough people enter, I'll give away more than one batch. The more who enter, the more I'm willing to give away. Please, only one entry per person though. (Donna Downy had a give-away on her blog recently, and the same person entered at leat 50 times! I think that's selfish and annoying!)

So leave me a comment - tell me what else I should give away - by midnight Saturday, and I will randomly draw a winner Sunday, February 22.

Tell your friends! Everybody needs card stock! (Except me!)

Time for Friday's Fave Fives...

2009-02-13T21:28:00.002-05:00

This lady and her work wraps up all my 5 for this week. This is Bernie Berlin, whom I sure a lot of you know for her lovely artistry. And some of you may also know that she is the head angel at A Place To Bark. Things are tough right now for her and her rescue efforts. Because of the economy, her grants have been pulled and her food source for her dogs is drying up! She is in desperate need of donations. There is a badge on my sidebar where you can a donation. If there is $10,000 raised in 2009, The Zoline Foundation will match that. So maybe you can donate something: give up your Starbucks for a week; skip you're manicure...I'm sure we can all think of a way to give something! And if you're not convinced yet, watch this!

Fave Five Friday...

2009-02-06T20:01:00.005-05:00

1. Did you watch Jeopardy tonight? The girl that won, Julie Dominic is my daughter's best friend! They've been friends since high school. Julie always was one of the smart ones (Of course, so was Karen!). Here's a picture of them in 2001.

2. Need I say more?

3. I did laundry for the first time today since before Christmas. No, I haven't been wearing dirty clothes. Gary's been doing it for me, because I couldn't negotiate the steps. Finally, my knees to the place where I can go up and down steps! Now my clothes will quit shrinking!

4. I finally made something. Just this small card, for a swap on Ravelry. But it's the first thing I've made with paper since before Christmas! Unfortunately you can't see the glitter.

5. Karen went to the high risk doctor and he reassured her that everything is ok. She does have the placenta previa, but he thinks that might fix itself. And he did one of the super-duper ultra sounds and said he thinks it's a boy! I looked at it and there's something there between the babies legs! But we're not going all crazy yet and buying boy things till we're absolutely sure!

That's it. Not a very eventful week!

Friday's Favorite Five...

2009-01-30T16:38:00.004-05:00

Here are my 5 favorite things from this week -

1. Finally having Karen go to her OB appointment; finding out everything's fine so far (well, except for the PP); being able to brag about it! And just the thought that I'm going to be a grandmother is almost overwhelming!

2. Losing 2 1/2 more pounds (that's 13 total, ladies & gents!).

3. Receiving yarn yumminess in the mail. This is so soft (wool, angora & alpaca blend) and the color is much more beautiful than in the photo. It's called Tandori Spice.

4. Finding stacks of books tucked away in a chest I forgot I had! I was cleaning and opened up a little wooden chest in the livingroom. It was FULL of books! So a lot of them went in the ever-growing TBR pile; some (like the Winnie the Pooh books) are being put away for future story-times); and the rest went to my offer list in either Paperback Swap or BookMooch.

So...did you see anything from CHA that you can't live without? I honestly didn't look through too many of the paper lines. I figure I'm in 3 awesome kits clubs, and I always get a great mix of papers from them. However, I am pretty excited about all the new Slice cartridges coming out. And I have one of these in my shopping cart at Memory Making Crafts.

Although it's not new, I ordered a Scor-Pal finally! They were a really decent price, and the shipping was free so...what the heck!

Hey! Have a great week-end, and

Some things I've forgotten to share, and one thing I wasn't allowed to share!

2009-01-27T13:34:00.006-05:00

One of my favorite scrapbook kit subscriptions is to Kenner Road. Each month brings something unique and exciting and definitely my funky style! Well, this month not only did I get their yummy kit, but I also won this on their blog! It's the new Making Memories Love Notes line! Isn't it adorable?!

Before the holidaze, A Place to Bark had a charity auction on eBay. I bid on and won this wonderful purse,hand-painted by Jill Marie Schulse . I just love carrying around a work of art!

And finally...I have been holding this in since Chirstmas Eve. Here's the backstory: Karen (our daughter) and her husband Josh came over for Christmas Eve dinner, as they always do. After dinner, we opened all our presents. Next we always proceed to stockings, but there was a gift left. Karen asked Josh if we should open it now, and he said no, we should wait till after the stockings. So we did. She finally handed us this little box, and said, "It's something you'll have to save till later." Gary & I opened it together to find --
Yup! I'm gonna be a grandma!! I am so excited!!!. She didn't want me to say anything publicly (although, I have to admit, I did tell a few people) until she had her first appointment. She had it today and for the most part things look good. She's farther along than she thought - 11 weeks, and the due date is August 20. She does appear to have placenta previa, so she'll have to see a high risk doctor. But from what I understood, since they found it so early on, as long as she takes care of herself and doesn't lift anything, it will be fine.

So...soon I will have to figure out how to turn this
into something like this --

Everybody's Doing It...

2009-01-23T17:58:00.003-05:00

...Or at least my favorite ladies over at Bad Girls are. So not to be one to be left behind, I'm going to start doing my Fave Five Friday. As Dena said, "Just something fun to do that helps keep the focus on the good things that happen in our week."

So...
1. My favorite thing this week had to be the Inauguration! I am so filled with a new sense of hope for the country...and most of all for my daughter and her family. No politicking here...just had to put it out there.

2. Losing weight! I've lost another pound which puts me over the 10# mark! Yay!! I think the best thing is how relatively easy it's been.

3. Spending time with this girl! She and her husband and their dog were over Sunday, with a special request for tacos for dinner. They did some laundry and it was getting late and it wasn't finished, so Karen decided she'd just come back over on Monday to pick it up. So Daddy took us all out to lunch at one of our favorite local deli's, Kravitz's. (I know...that's a St. Patrick's Day ad. But they don't have a web site!)

4. All the beautiful CHA products we're getting tempting peeks of! Need I say more?!

and this last one is a bit weird, but...

5. Cortisone shots! You all know I have fairly severe osteoarthritis and am in constant pain. Nothing I can't deal with, but it's there. Then over Christmas my left knee started to really HURT! I couldn't go up and down the steps (which meant that dear, sweet Gary had to add laundry to his already large list of domestic duties) and it was really difficult getting in and out of the car. So I found a new Orthopedic doctor and went to see him Wednesday. Appears I've developed yet another spot of arthritis in my knee. That makes 3, and apparently that's about as many as you can get! He gave me a cortisone shot in the knee (I'd never had one before and made a total fool of myself, thinking it was going to really, really hurt...which it didn't) and I can't believe how much better I feel! Take that, sucky pain!

More success!

2009-01-16T17:50:00.002-05:00

I'm in danger of becoming totally obnoxious about this whole weight loss thing! Today was "weigh-in" day and I lost another 3.5 pounds! That puts me up to 9.5 pounds, people! Almost 10! Woo Hoo!! I know that the first few weeks you loose the most and that at my weight, it comes off a bit faster, but still... And I think the most rewarding part for me is that it's all clicking! I don't need those big portions I used to stuff myself with. Weekly pizza and Chinese carry-out, although missed, are not essential. I might actually, after all these years, be ready for this journey!

Enough about that. You know how cold it's been here. Nothing like Chicago, but much cooler than Clearwater! Today when Gary got up it was -12. Right now it's 2. We had to take the younger cat to the vet to get her claws trimmed, so I was forced to go out. So I donned my long underwear, LL Bean flannel lined jeans, my LL Bean Bay State parka and off we went. Since we were out, after we dropped off a rather indignant, twitchy cat, we went grocery shopping. (Another new phenomena of the weight loss journey. Gary always did all the grocery shopping so never looked at the food for price, let alone fat content, etc.). All I can say is thank goodness for LL Bean & my remote starter! It wasn't all that bad. In fact, I'm colder sitting here in the corner with 2 outside walls!

I have found a good way to be a little warmer is work on an afghan. I always have one in process, and I dug it out last night. It's at length where it drapes nicely over my lap, so I can stay warm and make some progress.

So...what have you been doing to stay warm?

Brrr....

2009-01-15T16:38:00.007-05:00

A few of you have asked how we're doing with this weather. Well, here are a few shots taken the first day of the snow. Since then we've accumulated another 2 or 3 inches.

I'm endlessly fascinated watching birds in this snow. The stand buried up to what would be their little naked birdy ankles in the snow and never get cold!

Seems they're just able to puff up a bit and stay warm!

Weigh in day, etc.

2009-01-09T11:55:00.005-05:00

It's the dreaded WW weigh in day. Even though I don't go to the meetings (not a support-group type), I still felt a bit of trepidation. I worked pretty hard this week; and I felt an obligation to tell Gary of my progress (or lack thereof). He's been so supportive. You know he's my chef, and usually I just leave it to him. And he cooks like a man who goes to spinning class 3 days a week. Lot's of potatoes (which I love), mayo (which I love) and pasta (which I love). But this week he's been adapting everything for me. He's even refrained from throwing out the packaging form all the frozen veggies and such so I can figure my points! So, back to task: I weighed myself this AM, entered it on the site, and I lost 4.5 pounds. That puts me up to a total of 6! Yay ME!!! I got one of their little stars with a 5 in it. I don't know why that gave me so much satisfaction, but it did! So off to start another week!

Now to ramble (of be quite! The blog is Ramblings of an Old Lady, so what do you expect?!) -

I mentioned Gina's blog. Thanks to her I'm back to reading labels. It's scary stuff! But then, I always did enjoy horror and science fiction!

I just read on another blog that Paris Hilton is introducing a craft line. Hmmmm. I'll give it a chance. I'm always up for something new. But I just can't picture her sitting at a scrap table surrounds by old photos and bits of paper with a glue stick in one hand and a crop-a-dile in the other!

We're under a winter storm warning until 1 AM. Of yippee! We all know how I love snow! (For those of you who don't know how I love snow, that last statement was dripping with sarcasm.) It must be serious because the next town over has already invoked a snow emergency starting at 3 PM, which means no cars parked on the street. And it hasn't even started to snow yet! Prediction of up to 9" inches of snow, followed by a week of temps in the teens! Oh well! At least Gary is home this time. I vividly remember 2 winters when I was snowed in when he was gone. Once, Karen was still young and he was in Atlanta!! And the most recent one, I was alone and he was in Florida!

I saw this today and fell in love! I picked up a decorative dress form at a flea market this summer, and it's been sitting on a table waiting for inspiration. I think I will shamelessly steal this idea and create my own angel! I'll post it if I do!

Cookie is doing well. She isn't eating much. But I keep shoving medicine in her mouth one way or another (2 capsules get sprinkled on her food, 2 pills get shoved in her mouth, and 2 liquids get squirted down her throat!), so it's no wonder. She's drinking water and using the litter box. And she's back to jumping up on the bed to sleep. So I'm not too worried.

Till next time...

Nine Lives and a Serving of Spaghetti...

2009-01-05T20:37:00.005-05:00

I mentioned that our old cat was pretty sick. We took her to the emergency vet Saturday, but chose to bring her home rather than leave her there. I just had this nagging feeling she wasn't going to make it, and I selfishly wanted her with me if she didn't. Sunday was rough. She laid around all day, tried to use the litter box (couldn't), tried to drink some water (I finally squirted water in her mouth with her medication syringe), tried to eat (all she could do was lick the broth from the cat food). We both thought her kidneys were failing, which is pretty common with older cats. This morning we took her to our regular vet. Now this guy is the best! He's kinda weird, but in an endearing sort of way. He's a "large animal" doctor, so has a little different outlook on caring for animals. (No thousand dollar overnight clinic stays "for observation" at his clinic!) We left her at 10:30 AM and both of us came home and sat just waiting for the inevitable call. 3:30, the perky receptionist called, and after telling us the test results, which weren't all that bad, and that she had eaten said we could come get her!! I was shocked and elated!! They brought her to us along with a dish of food. She was pretty much her cranky complainer self, meowing between gobbles of smelly cat food! Now, she does have some issues. She has an infection. But that's treatable Her sugar's elevated, but not so high she needs insulin. Her thyroid is off and her liver and kidney levels are high. As the Dr. explained each symptom to us, he brought out a medication for it, most of which is a natural supplement! (He's big into natural medicine for animals as well as humans!) He said we need to take her (and fat Frankie) completely off the dry food and feed them more canned food! How much more? Well, they currently each get a half can a day. He wants them each to get 2 whole cans a day! Yikes! He said they will gain some weight, but once the effects of the dry food are out of their system, they'll get back down to a normal weight. And if they don't need 2 cans, they won't eat it. They'll be eating closer to their natural state, and animals in nature don't eat more than they need. So we brought her home. Now, she hadn't peed since sometime Friday. She rode home wrapped in a blanket sitting on my lap. Suddenly she yowled and my lap got really warm! LOL! I was mortified and happy at the same time! Her kidneys were working...big time! So now she's curled up in the bean bag, recuperating. I wonder what number life she's on now?

On another note, I'm doing Weight Watchers on-line. Started yesterday. I've done it before. I'm sort of half-a**ed about it and lose a little bit and then finally lose interest. I've made a commitment to really do it this time. So I'm been making menus and following points. Tonight, I asked Chef Gary to make spaghetti. We always have whole wheat, so that's good. Usually he makes a big pot of pasta and we eat that. Nothing else, except maybe bread. He uses this measuring thing that you fit the uncooked spaghetti in to measure 2 servings. Tonight I asked for a salad (no beans or cheese) to go with it. And I bought dressing that is fat free and not creamy. I went to the table armed with a measuring cup and spoons. (I told you I was serious!)After eating the salad with 2 tablespoons of this really good Ken's Steak House Fat Free Raspberry Pecan Dressing, I measured out a serving of spaghetti. One serving - one cup! I was appalled! I'm thinking I used to eat probably 4 cups at a meal! Yikes! No wonder I'm so fat!! I ate the one cup, and was surprised that I was satisfied! It's 2 hours later, and I'm still feeling full. Not overly stuffed, but I don't need a snack! If I keep this up, I'm likely to become one of those people who rants about the American way of eating (which may be tantamount to killing ourselves!) (Gina, are you listening?)

back in blogland...

2009-01-03T20:44:00.007-05:00

I just read my friend Gina's blog entry, and decided I should get back to the blog, too! So many times throughout my day I think, "I should blog this!", but, alas, I never do. I'm never sure how many people actually read this, but I guess that should really matter.

Now, you all know I tend to ramble, so ramble I will....

Is this just the BEST idea? Hand Warming Gloves! It so simple! Now, if you're in Florida, you probably don't see the charm. But my Michigan ladies will think this is truly a nifty idea! Yet another thing to add to the PTD (projects to do) list!

Speaking of projects, here are some things I knitted for holidays gifts. I think they were appreciated.

A purse for Karen.

A scarf for Nicole.

and a shawl for Ginny.

And I made some cards this year too.

Here are some random shots of Christmas.

A last worrisome note: Cookie, my old lady cat, is very sick. We took her to the emergency vet and he said it's hard to know as her symptoms don't point to any one thing. It seemed that everything he said pointed to the fact that she is 19 years old. We brought her home and will take her to our regular vet Monday morning. I'm hoping to wake up tomorrow morning to her incessant "feed me" howling!

Lost...

2008-12-10T13:23:00.002-05:00

No, not on a strange spooky desert island. Just on YouTube. Someone posts something like this on their blog, and I get lost for hours! But I'm glad Natalie reminded me of these guys! And since she posted 12 Days (go there to watch it. It's great!), I'll post one of my favorite Christmas tunes.

2008-12-03T16:55:00.005-05:00

Hello!

Well, Thanksgiving and all the birthdays are gone and the race for the holidaze is fully underway. The livingroom is scattered with ornaments, tinsel, and goodies yet to find a home to deck the halls. (I would be very, very happy if I could find the lovely tree topper I splurged on at Pottery Barn last year!)The UPS man is becoming a good friend, and the mail comes to the door daily! I have a few cards made. Baking ingredients are starting to stack up in the kitchen. I have 3 gifts on needles. And there are so many crafty ideas running around in my head. Yes, the pre-holidaze are upon me!

Have you noticed a theme in the previous paragraph? Nothing is done. Lots of things started. Many wonderful ideas. Nothing complete. Oh well...

Do you have Firefox? Did you ever wonder how many tabs you could open in your browser before it just spewed in protest? I see so many things in my reader that I want to copy, save, or do! I open up tabs to look at and they sit throughout the day. Right now, I have 16 open! LOL!

One of the best creative menus every year is from Tim Holtz. Once again he's doing his 12 Tags of Christmas. I don't usually do them now, but I save them for technique counseling later!

The lovelies at Bad Girls are always so generous in sharing their inspiration. If you missed their holiday workshop, shame on you! But today Tracie gave a tutorial for a wonderful little Post-It note holder that I may have to make for Karen.

If, unlike me, you don't have the time or inclination to cruise all over the interweb to find projects, you can always get a lot right here at Craft Scene!

Well, it's time for bed. I have a crop this week-end, so hopefully I'll have some cards or other creations to show you. Until then, ...

It's been more than a month...

2008-11-10T23:10:00.003-05:00

...since I've blogged. I've been busy, but doing what, I probably couldn't tell you! LOL! I am gearing up for Christmas crafting. Hoping to make gifts for several folks. And I'll be making cards and gift tags.

I did get a Slice and I absolutely love it! It is so simple, and the discs have so many cool designs! I bought 3 discs in addition to the one that came with it, so I have lots of options.

Birthdays are upon us, also. Gary's is Friday; mine is Sunday; Karen's is a week from Friday. We're keeping it a little more low key this year. Save the frenzy for the rest of the holidaze!

Speaking of holiday crafting, check out the Second Annual Bad Girls Christmas Workshop. You won't find free projects like this anywhere else on the web! Yes, they're free, and they're awesome! So join us!

)

Back from camping...

2008-10-07T10:22:00.003-05:00

...and a great time was had by all. As usual, Mohican is so beautiful. You just feel renewed and blessed being there. It was chilly...one night it was downright cold...but that's okay. I can manage to stay warm and comfortable if I really want to!

Loudonville has the dinky little street fair so we went for an afternoon. Of course I visited my favorite store, Creative Outlet, and put a ring in layaway. It's called boulder turquoise and is very earthy and beautiful. Then we walked down the midway (notice that's singular) and ate fair food, looked at cow's butts, and walked around the commercial tent, where I bought a cheese knife.

Saturday we spent 5 hours at Prairie Peddler. Again...lots of food, and I brought home candles, soap, and dip mixes from my favorite vendors, as well as some fall decorations. It was fun, but I spent more money than I had!

The rest of the time we just spent relaxing. We don't get TV reception there, so we spent the evenings listening to XM radio (we did listen to the VP debates) and playing cards and Yahtze. I did lots of crocheting and catching up on my magazines. And playing the Game Boy. LOL!

Here are some random shots, first of the Prairie Peddler.

and here are some to show you just how beautiful the park is.

Who knew....

2008-10-01T11:16:00.004-05:00

It appears it's my blogaversery! I never would have known had I not been wished a happy one when Teena from Toronto responded to my banned books post! I've been doing this for 3 years!

Things are pretty busy the last few weeks, it seems. Karen and I went to a crop in Pittsburgh last week-end. It was really fun! The hotel was great; we sat at a table full of really fun and sociable ladies; and I didn't come home with aches in every joint in my body! AND, we found Rosie's Pirogi, so had a week-end filled with good home-made comfort food! I completed a project book for Kelli. It's a Bo Bunny Disney album kit. Of course, I gave it to her before I took any pictures. But it's really cute! Finished only 2 other layouts and part of another one. For a rather casual, non-obsessive person, I sure can stare at a layout for a long time!

Leaving for Mohican tomorrow for our usual fall camping trip. While there, I'll be dragging Gary to Prairie Peddlerr. It's his one craft event a year. He seems to sort of enjoy. He gets to follow the map and guide me around...a real guy thing,as whenever yo go to one of these, that seems to be what most of the men are doing! And there's always good blue grass or Western swing music, which he likes. I'm hoping to stock up on candles and soap.

The best news I've gotten for a while is that Nicole and Justin are getting married! That made me so happy. She's such a love and he seems to be the perfect guy. And they both are really cool, cultured people. And they put up with crazy old Aunt Linda, which is always a plus!

Have YOU read a banned book?

2008-09-29T17:06:00.002-05:00

This is Banned Book Week, through October 4. It's purpose is to celebrate the freedom to read what we want, without someone else determining what is appropriate for us.

Following is a list of the most banned books. I think you'll be surprised when you see the list. It's a long one, with some very unexpected titles! For fun, go through the list and --

if you've read the whole thing - bold it
if you've read part of it - italicize it.
if you own it, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet *** it.

Here's mine

1. The Bible
2. Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
3. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
4. The Koran
5. Arabian Nights
6. Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
7. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
8. Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
9. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
10. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
11. The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
12. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
13. Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
14. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert***
15. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
16. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
17. Dracula by Bram Stoker
18. Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin
19. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
20. Essays by Michel de Montaigne
21. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
22. History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
23. Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
24. Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
25. Ulysses by James Joyce
26. Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
27. Animal Farm by George Orwell
28. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
29. Candide by Voltaire
30. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
31. Analects by Confucius
32. Dubliners by James Joyce
33. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
34. Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
35. Red and the Black by Stendhal
36. Das Capital by Karl Marx
37. Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire
38. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
39. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence
40. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
41. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
42. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
43. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
44. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
45. Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
46. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
47. Diary by Samuel Pepys
48. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
49. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
50. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
51. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
52. Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
53. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
54. Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus
55. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
56. Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
57. The Color Purple by Alice Walker***
58. Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
59. Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke
60. Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
61. Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
62. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
63. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
64. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
65. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
66. Confessions by Jean Jacques Rousseau
67. Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais
68. Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
69. The Talmud
70. Social Contract by Jean Jacques Rousseau
71. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
72. Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
73. American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
74. Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
75. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
76. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
77. Red Pony by John Steinbeck
78. Popol Vuh
79. Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith
80. Satyricon by Petronius
81. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl***
82. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
83. Black Boy by Richard Wright
84. Spirit of the Laws by Charles de Secondat Baron de Montesquieu
85. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
86. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
87. Metaphysics by Aristotle
88. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
89. Institutes of the Christian Religion by Jean Calvin
90. Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
91. Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
92. Sanctuary by William Faulkner
93. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
94. Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
95. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
96. Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
97. General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
98. A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
99. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Alexander Brown
100. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
101. Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines
102. Émile Jean by Jacques Rousseau
103. Nana by Émile Zola
104. Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
105. Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
106. Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
107. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
108. Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
109. Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
110. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
111. Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
112. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling***
113. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
114. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
115. The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Keatly Snyder

because I'm a dweeb! (be sure to turn off my music player)

2008-09-20T14:17:00.003-05:00

SU2C

2008-09-07T17:00:00.003-05:00

Did you watch Stand Up to Cancer the other night. I did, and as predicted, I pretty much cried through the whole thing. You'd think after surviving for 18 years, I wouldn't cry any more. But I do! Sometimes I think it's because I'm so grateful to still be able to cry; sometimes I think it's because I feel almost ashamed...so many went through so much worse than I ever did; and sometimes I think it's because I didn't cry much then. Karen was in 1st grade and we didn't even talk to her about it. So I put on the brave face at home. (BTW, that was one of the worst decisions of my life. Later she told she knew and was always afraid I was going to die! Poor kid!) I only cried in the car, going to and from work, or to and from the doctors..or wherever. I carried all my eye make-up with me so I could fix up and no one would know. How many people told me how brave I was! If they only knew.

Here is a film they showed that night that was featured on Nana's Box today.

Rachel talked on her blog today about counting blessings. I count my survival everyday. My ob/gyn at the time told me it will be like an addiction: you'll think of it everyday; even after you've beat it, it'll be in your mind; and it could come back one day when you least expect it. So I do everything I can to keep it away! I hope you do the same!

I'm rambling again, aren't I...

Are you a foody? (Apparently I'm not!)

2008-09-04T10:31:00.004-05:00

Snagged from Deneen:

a. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
b. Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
c. Cross out or italicize any items that you would never consider eating.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. ~~Steak tartare~~ I have eaten Kibbee though
5. ~~Crocodile~~
6. ~~Black Pudding~~
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanous
11. Calamari makes me gag!!!
12. ~~Pho~~
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. ~~Hot dog from a street cart~~
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (just had some today -- Strawberry Wine!)
19. ~~Steamed pork buns~~
20. Pistachio ice cream
21.Heirloom tomatoes
22.Fresh wild berries
23.~~Foie gras~~
24. Rice and beans
25. ~~Brawn, or head cheese~~
26. ~~Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper~~
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac ~~with a fat cigar~~
37. ~~Clotted cream tea~~
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. ~~Oxtail~~
41. ~~Curried goat~~
42. ~~Whole insects~~ no partial ones either...at least no on purpose
43. ~~Phaal~~
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/€80/$120 or more
46. ~~Fugu~~
47. ~~Chicken tikka masala~~
48. ~~Eel~~
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. ~~Sea urchin~~
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. ~~Abalone~~
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal I'm so ashamed!
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer umm...the staff of life!?
59. ~~Poutine~~
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. ~~Sweetbreads~~ more organ meats!
63. ~~Kaolin~~ no thank you to processed dirt, even if I do have an upset stomach!
64. ~~Currywurst~~
65. ~~Durian~~ Didn't know you could eat this stuff!
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears, and funnel cake County fairs!
68. ~~Haggis~~ Crazy Scotsmen!
69. Fried plantain
70. ~~Chitterlings, or andouillette~~ pig guts by any other name...
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. ~~Roadkill~~ - you're kidding...right?
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum - didn't I go to college with him?
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. ~~Kobe beef~~
86. Hare As in rabbit?
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. ~~Horse~~
90. Criollo chocolate
91. ~~Spam~~-I am proud to be able to cross this one out!
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. ~~Snake~~

So if you wanna play along, just follow the rules as stated above.

Today's little project.

2008-09-03T21:14:00.001-05:00

I have 3 knitting and 1 crocheting project going and I have 3 project bags. So I decided to pull out some fabric and the sewing machine. I had these charm squares that I bought to make a mini-scrapbook. It did and have squares left, so I decided to sew a bunch together and make a patchwork bag. And since it's all straight stitching, I didn't even have to haul out the big machine! My little scrapbook machine worked just fine.
Front--->>

and Back --->>
Or vice versa!

This was fun! I really need to sew more!

2008-09-02T22:39:00.004-05:00

This has been a rough season for working in my beloved flower garden. To be quite truthful, the weeds took over much of it and I just couldn't do anything to prevent it. Gary did the best he could, but it was just too hard to tell him what to do when I couldn't physically help.

Several years ago I brought home a small pot of native cone flowers from the Elizabethan Gardens in NC. Little did I know how they would grow....and grow...and grow! However, while in bloom they attract bees and when they go to seed the finches love them. So they have been providing entertainment. My first thought when I was able to get outside one day was "Back Yards Gone Wild". And I knew it would have to be a layout!

Willow Traders is having a challenge - LEO under the Willow Tree. LEO = a Layout Every Other day! The first challenge was to scrap lift from a gallery. Of course, I went right to the BG gallery. I'm always so drawn to Tracie Hudson's work. She did this layout that I really love, and I still had most of the kit, so I pretty much lifted the whole thing! I don't usually do that, but I just couldn't improve on this one or make it more to my liking. So -->>

Hello, my name is Linda, and I'm an on-line shopping addict!

2008-09-01T10:02:00.005-05:00

I mean, really! How could I not be?! I love to shop for cool things, but around here...well...the options are few and far between. You buy something really darling, and everyone at the mall has one too!

This blog really rocks when it comes to exploring new things: Simple Finds. And look at today's giveaway: this too-cute little bag from an etsy shop called {ao3}Designs.

And the rest of the bags on the site are so adorable, I want them all! (I am a bag whore, you know!) But I think I may settle for this one, if I decide to splurge a wee bit:

So, what do you think?

Wow! Look at these awesome giveaways!

2008-08-26T20:15:00.004-05:00

Look at the list of giveaways they're doing at Vanilla Joy this week! And then go here and sign up. And it's a really cool site, too! I'll be hanging around, even when they aren't giving great stuff away!

Oh my....

2008-08-26T16:34:00.002-05:00

...one of my dreams has come true! A portable photo scanner!

You know I have to have one. Dear Santa...

She's here!

2008-08-25T01:38:00.004-05:00

Emma Victoria Gamble, all 8 pounds 4 ounces & 21 and a quarter inches of her, arrived at some unearthly hour prior to 8 AM Friday. For those of you who don't know, she is the long-awaited baby of my friends Kelli & Mark, who are the operators of Scrapbook Queen Getaways and My Scrapbook Treasures. No pictures of the little princess yet, but all are doing very well.

Just in time, I finished her little blanket. I just spent almost 2 hours trying to thread the ribbon in it and I just can't get it to look right. So it's not going to have one! Besides, Kelli would just have to take it out anyway when she has to wash it!

So here it is:

As promised...

2008-08-23T15:54:00.003-05:00

Here's the scarf. The pattern is a simple one and if I were the type to knit in long sittings, I could have finished it in an evening or 2! The pattern is here. It was perfect for the self-striping Noro Matsuri! I'm very pleased.

A good time was had b y all...

2008-08-22T15:10:00.005-05:00

Well, we just returned from our first camping trip of the summer. I am tired, but it is a good tired, just from having a good time and spending so much time outdoors. By now, we've usually gone 2 or 3 times, but gas prices have kept us home. Finally, I couldn't stand and we decided to go anyway. And we planned well, apparently, as gas prices have been down a bit lately.

Camped at Geneva State Park. Never been there, so it was a new venture. Lovely, park right on Lake Erie. We traveled the Wine & Covered Bridge Trail where we tasted and bought nice wine and tasted some good wheaty micro-brew (they didn't have any carry out for sale, though). Also went into Geneva-on-the-Lake which evoked memories of my sneaking up there for under-age drinking and general carousing. My version of Spring Break! Some of the places are still there! And it's as tacky (but we all know how fun tacky can be!) as ever!

While in Geneva I trekked to Chardon to explore a yarn store recommended on Ravelry. It's called Knitting on the Square and I immediately fell in love. First, it's only about 40 miles from here, which is close, considering we have no LYS's here! When I arrived, the first thing I saw in the window was this wonderful HUGE felted bag! We all know how I love bags...huge bags...felted bags! I found out it was designed by the owner, Kate Jackson, a lovely young Irish girl who was so friendly and helpful. She made me feel so at home in her wonderful shop. I came away with her pattern (The Eileen Tote), another Noni patter n, and yarn to make my Carpet Bag. I will definitely be returning!
(Yarn for the Carpet Bag: Noro & Cascade. Since it's knitted with a double strand, I'll use on strand of the Noro along with a strand of the Cascade, so as not to have the self-stripes compete. [I didn't think of that! It was Kate's suggestion!])

And speaking of knitting, camping and watching the Olympics in your camper make for great knitting timek! I finished my Yarn Harlot scarf! As soon as it's all blocked and pretty, I'll show you. I'm very pleased with it. It will look great with my favorite denim jacket!

As you can see by my list of books in the left side-bar, I tend towards sci-fi/fantasy/horror. Some people even think I have a vampire obsession (which is disproven by the fact that I can't read those Twilight books! Soft horror porn for young adults! NOT!!). Well, I've beenr eading it so long, it takes a bit to frighten me. In fact, I can't think of a book since The Stand that has sent me into shivers. B ut this book I'm reading now, Greywalker! Oh....my....! It is truly frightening! I think it's because it's about a realm that none of us really truly knows whether it's real or not! I haven't finished it yet, but unless the ending is really terrible, I definitely recommend it for a good creep-out!

Have you been watching the Olympics!? I have been so entertained by so much that I didn't think would engage me that much! Diving, swimming, beach volleyball! So fun. I'll be sorry to see it be over!

And one last comment. Nothing lifts your spirits like talking to your adult daughter after having been away for almost a week! I'm constantly amazed at what a wonderful your adult she has become, what a good friend, and what a good daughter!

Crop & Getaway Season Begins....

2008-08-15T19:46:00.004-05:00

Last week-end, Karen and I went to Sugar Creek for the first week-end getaway of the season. Kelli didn't come, because the baby is due the 22nd and she's to be resting. So it was Mark, Becki, Jacki, and me. And I must say, we pulled it off without a hitch. And I think everyone had a good time. I was fairly busy, so I got only 4 1/2 layouts done. That's my excuse, anyway. That, and I was just in pain the whole time. When will I learn not to be hauling around my scrap gear when it weighs a ton in those cases? I just hate having someone else do all the hard work when I just stand there and give orders!

At the Sugar Creek Crop we always crown a Queen of the Crop. Layouts done at the event are judged by all the attendees. We give out 3 honorable mentions, 2 runners-up, and a queen. Well, I am proud to say that Karen was the 2nd runner-up! Not bad for someone who's been scrapping a only a year! She was pretty pleased!
So here's what I accomplished.

A layout of Frankie. She's so photogenic, I can't resist!

Karen's first real shoes. The sort-of-hidden journaling says "Karen's first shoes - a pair of Buster Brown blue denim sandals. She never had traditional white baby shoes. She spent her summers in sandals or as a barefoot babe!"

Who needs journaling on such a page as this?

My big brother when he wasn't so big. The hidden journaling (don't you just love hidden journaling?!) says, " Jim on his pony, Happy. Taken on the Red Gate Farm in Canfield, OH. Date unknown. Perhaps around 1952."

I have one other of Karen's great grandmother, but it's not finished.

I've been knitting, too. And crocheting. Kelli's (well, Emma's) blanket is done except for the washing, blocking and ribbon. I've been making washcloths as they are so much softer and better for my skin (when you have lymphodema, your skin becomes very fragile. Just a crack from dry skin can get horribly infected. I just am now recovering from a bad round of cellulitis!). And I knitting 3 -- yes three -- scarves. One will be a "dress scarf" for me; one will be a skinny pink one to go with my winter coat; one is an alpaca one for Karen. And I'm still working on that damned purse!

Tomorrow, Karen and I will meet Ginny & Nicole at Shaker Woods. We'll all buy lovely things we probably don't need and then we'll go to the Dutch Haus for lunch. Then we'll shop in the bulk foods store. Fun day.

Sunday Gary and his friends ride the Tour de la Mec. It's bicycle tour, 2 courses of 25 miles each, in Mercer County, PA.

And Monday we FINALLY get to go camping. We're going to Geneva. We've never camped there. But there are wineries, so I know we'll have a good time!

Even dogs get cake!

2008-08-07T10:31:00.004-05:00

Sunday we celebrated June's adoption day. The kids brought her over and we all wore hats

and had cake. And Gary cooked a wonderful meal.

I made the human treats

and Karen made June's cake.

That's a meatloaf of sorts: ground beef, ground carrots, & cream of wheat, with mashed potato icing! It was a big hit!

Then she got to spend 3 days here, while Karen & Josh went to Cedar Point. Good times were had by all!

I scrapped!

2008-08-02T15:14:00.003-05:00

MojoJojo has been on hiatus since the last time I went to a crop, which I think was in May! I did get some inspiration to do Gina's CJ. Then I fizzled for a day or two again. I got my August WIP kit and happened on a sketch by Janelle Richmond I really liked, so decided to scrap some cat pictures.

Everything except the white Bazzil is from the kit.

TFL!

Bad Girls Secret Sister

2008-07-26T19:42:00.001-05:00

Here's a taste of what my secret sister at Bad Girls will be receiving. See anything you like?

Finally! Some creativity!

2008-07-19T14:30:00.005-05:00

First, you may have noticed I've added a soundtrack. I took it off a long time ago because someone (ahem...JLB) said it scared her. But everyone else has put them on their blogs and I thoroughly enjoy it! AND I know how to push the mute button if I need to! So...LMK what you think of my fairly eclectic collection. I have it set for shuffle, so it'll always be a surprise what you hear!

It appears MojoJojo snuck back into the scrap nook last night. I have an ATC swap on Ravelry. It's one of my favorite themes: nature. Of course, as it goes with scanning, I think they are much prettier IRL. They're not as dark. And there's glimmer mist and a gold border. But you get the idea. Oh, and JLB, the one on the bottom right is my new Tim Holtz stamp!

I had read a rave review some time ago about the Koh-I-Noor Woodless Colour Pencils. So I picked up a set of 12 at the stamp show last week-end and finally tried them out last night. (Might you know where that logical place is that I put my blending stumps?). They do blend a lot easier than the Prisma's. I was surprised. And they have a great texture. I have to be careful because I tend to be a little heavy handed with them.

So that's it for now. The kids are coming over later for dinner. That's always a fun time!

I've been tagged...it's been a while!

2008-07-14T22:24:00.004-05:00

Jose tagged me. This one is a little different and fun.

What was I doing Ten Years Ago?...
Working. And raising a teen-ager!

Five Things On Today's "To Do" List ...
well, since it's 11:30 PM, it'll be tomorrow's "todo" list -
1. change the sheets
2. do some laundry
3. work on my Secret Sister gift for Bad Girls
4. cook dinner (yes, I'm cooking - not Gary!)
5. work on little Emma's "bankie"

I'm addicted to...
pretty paper
pretty yarn
my computer
probably carbs!

Things I Would Do If I Were a Millionaire...
Buy a nice place for us to live...and get all new stuff. Just leave all the "crap" here.
Buy the kids a house nearby
travel
donate to charities that truly help animals, Susan J Koman fund...

Places I have Lived...
Jamestown, PA
Canfield, OH
Kent, OH
Salem, OH
Lisbon, OH
Youngstown, OH
Los Angeles, CA...not in that order!

Okay...I'm tagging...

1.Kris
2. Meredith
3. Gina
4. Lyn
5. Ruth

Give Peace a Chance

2008-07-05T17:55:00.004-05:00

You know, just because you believe in peace & love doesn't mean you're a radical. It doesn't mean you don't support our troops. It doesn't mean you're a democrat. It doesn't even mean you're a hippie! It just means that peace is better than war. Love is better than hate. How can you argue with that?

Monday, July 7 is Ringo Starr's birthday, and here's what he wants: (this is quoted directly from his website):

Ringo's Birthday Wish List – "Peace & Love"

Ringo was recently asked by Access Hollywood what he hoped to receive for his upcoming birthday (July 7th). Ringo's answer was unconventional, he said, "just more Peace & Love."

Then he expanded his wish further, "it would be really cool if everyone, everywhere, wherever they are, at noon on July 7 make the peace sign and say "Peace & Love."

Wherever you are in the world, join him in making the peace sign and saying, singing, shouting, whispering, signing, writing or quietly thinking one simply beautiful and universal message: "Peace & Love."

While some will do this on their own other folks may be gathering at Abbey Road in London; Capitol Records in LA; Strawberry Fields in NYC.

Summer Funk

2008-06-28T15:43:00.002-05:00

Yes, I'm in a summer funk! I'm actually surprised, because I usually get like this in the winter! I think it's because I'm just not able to do all the outdoorsy things like work in the garden and such. And then with the gas prices, we're not traveling like we used to. Add to that the fact that lymphodema turns to a hellish thing in hot (even warm), humid weather. When others are wearing shorts and cute little sandals, I am covered to my toes.

So I don't have anything new creativity-wise to share. I've started a mini-album; I have an idea for a knitting journal; I'm been working on Karen's purse, the same shawl, and a market bag. I don't even have any new photos!

Geesh...I'm sorry! I really didn't intend to be such a downer!

Tomorrow Karen & I are going to Kelli's baby shower...a tea party of course. That should boost my spirits!

Okay, now go read a fund blog....this one: The Farmer's Wife. And then stop over at Bad Girls to take a look at the sneaks and read about the one year anniversary celebration!

Peace!

What's eating YOUR parsley...and some layouts

2008-06-18T17:38:00.005-05:00

Yup, that's what's eating mine. I have on my porch a "sauce garden": a tomato plant, some basil, and some parsley". Needless to see, seeing these little eating machines on my parsley sort of freaked me out at first. But then I googled the little bugger, and found out what he is and what he wants. He's the Larvae of a Swallowtail butterfly. These beauties love to flit about the lilac and through the garden, so seeing their offspring is a good thing. AND, he seems to only want the parsley. Everything I've read have listed what they eat, and not one of them mentions my tomato, so that's okay. Unless they get overwhelming, I'll just leave them there.

Here are some layouts that have been piling up. Hope you like one or two. I really like this one. That's a picture of Karen and her Grandma Flickinger. This was inspired by one of my favorite scrappers, Christine Middlecamp.

This layout is from the Latest & Greatest class at Mega Meet. Couldn't think of a title...so it doesn't have one!

Another layout from the same class.
Started this one at Zane Trace.

And this one is from the 2nd sketch in Got Sketch 101. It's my creepy ol' Monkey Tale cactus that I just love!

TFL! Till later!

another mini-book, and a new look

2008-06-17T22:11:00.005-05:00

Trish Turay from WIP did these adorable mini albums made form the Noteworthy journaling pads. I had to try one, so here what I came up with! Thanks, Trish, for such a cool idea!

And here are the new glasses. First time in ages I haven't had metal frames. Waddaya think? Gary said he was "surprised". What do you suppose that means?

I love this man!

2008-06-15T11:29:00.002-05:00

Happy Father's Day, my Dear Husband!

Cats

2008-06-14T12:40:00.006-05:00

Since Karen's moved out, the most photogenic creatures in the house are the cats. And they are darned cute (except for when they're bringing chipmunks inside or yowling to be fed at unGodly o'clock AM). I have all the photos, so I thought I do a mini-book as a project to take to the crop at Archivers. I remembered that I had these instructions for a fabric book that I had never made. I got it from the first class I took with Janna. And I had even bought a lovely little charm pack of fabric! So here's how it turned out. I rather like it.

And here are the strawberries from yesterday and the resultant shortcake. Ahhh...summer has arrived!

Got Sketch 101

2008-06-13T15:05:00.004-05:00

I'm taking the Got Sketch 101 class that you see in my right sidebar. I've done only one layout, but I am so pleased with it! I really like the way this turned out! (pat-pat-pat). These are from Kelli's (Scrapbook Queen Getaways) birthday party in 2006. We had it at Piccadilly Tea Parlour in Canfield. They have all these hats and boas and even some Victorian frocks to try on, so of course, we had to play!

You can still sign up for the class as there aren't any deadlines or actual requirements. If you love sketches and other fun make & take type projects, check it out!

Gary & I went out to White House Farms today to pick up some freshly picked strawberries. So tonight will be pulled pork for him and a veggie burger for me, corn on the cob (Florida...Ohio's isn't ready yet), fries, and for dessert fresh strawberries on my famous Bisquick shortcake! Yum!

2008-06-09T09:09:00.008-05:00

It's too darned hot! And that's all I'll say about the weather! I try not to complain too much in the summer, as I really do hate winter!

I don't even know where to start with this. I just feel obligated to blog something. I have lots of little projects to share. Some I'm happy with; some I'm not. Some are waiting to be photographed or scanned. We'll see what I can do here.

Karen and I went to a 12-hour crop at Archivers Saturday. It was a really good one. We had a double table to ourselves, which was very nice. All the people were friendly and of course scrapping with access to a store like Archivers is wonderful! The only negative is that all the food had meat in it. But there were a lot of food alternatives in walking distance. I just don't think I should have to pay for my meals when they are included in the cost of the crop. Next time I'll mention it when I register and see what happens.

I've been knitting. Finished this little bag for my cell phone so I can find it in the bottom of my purse. Still working on the afghan (it's actually sort of on hold), the shawl, & the cable hobo bag.

How do you like my new blog-look? Check out the beautiful templates here, where I got this one.

I'm also getting a new me-look, sort of. Picking up my new glasses later today that Karen helped me picked up. I hope I don't have one of those what-was-I-thinking moments, as they are totally different from what I have been wearing.

Got Sketch 101 starts today. I have been a big fan of Valerie Salmon's sketches for a long time (and we all know I don't scrap without a sketch!). And since I took Janna's class earlier in the year, I've loved to follow her projects, too. So, what could be better than a class by the 2 of them together? If you click on the logo on the right, you'll go to the registration page. It'll be well worth the money if you're a sketch and tip junkie!

***update on the new glasses. We've been to the optical place and back home again. I couldn't see out of the darned things! For the bifocals, I could read 2 of the 5 lines (all five with the old lens), and the whole right side of whatever I looked at was blurry! AND the frames were HUGE! The sample I tried on fit perfectly! These would have fit a grisly bear! So they have to "look into it" and call me back.

This layout was done with a sketch from the Got Sketch 101 class -

I did this at the crop at Zane Trace -

A Bad Girls challenge to scrap a page without any patterned paper. I made my own with ribbon and stickers. Not my best work, but there it is -

A monochromatic layout for Scrapvivor at WT. -

and another -

Projects from the Bad Girls Summer Project Workshop - an altered cigar box (which I love!) -

And a little felt mini book made with coasters -

Bein' Bad...

2008-05-31T17:05:00.004-05:00

A Bad Girl, that is. The Summer Workshop started last night and let me tell you, these projects are awesome! I love doing stuff like this...gluing, painting, sewing...

The first project posted last night I had to do right away because it was made from...are you ready...toilet paper rolls! Look at this!

Isn't that the cutest!?

I'm also in the midst of working on Pandora's Box & a coaster quote album.

These are the most talented ladies I ahve ever run into all in one place. And they are all so nice & funny! We have a blast! If you want to join a great, creative group, join the message board. And I can guarantee it won't be long before you start buying Wendy's wonderful kits!

Well, back to creating!

2008-05-27T14:44:00.010-05:00

I'm puttering around, and putting some of my layouts into albums. I've run across some that I haven't shared, so I thought I'd post them here.

Here's Cookie resting on her favorite blanket on our bed.
This one is much nicer than it scanned. If I had a large format scanner, you'd see that it is full piece of scalloped bazzil resting on a beautiful piece of KI (I think it's KI). Anyway, this is the statue that guards Holly's ashes. It's under the lilac brush in the front yard, where we can see her every day.
This is a layout from Mega Meet. The pictures were taken at my brother's house in 1991.

Some old pictures of Karen playing in the backyard. She's baking with her sand. She still loves to back, but with much better ingredients now! And she's very good at it!

When we went to Disney, we discovered that Karen shares a rather annoying trait with me: we have the type of blood sugar that suddenly plummets, making us weak and cranky. Here she is, being rescued by sugar and carbs.

A series of photos of Frankie, trying to avoid the camera. She's sitting on the back of Gary's chair, one of her favorite perches.

Christmas 1985. Karen got a hand-made rocking horse for Christmas that year and loved it!
Karen & I at one of our crops. This is the one where we were totally snowed in all week-end!
Karen and her best friend, Julie. This was taken when Karen was a junior & Julie was a senior. They've been friends since Karen was a Freshman. Hard to believe they're both married & Julie has a baby!
Wow! I was more productive/creative than I thought! And I still have more from this past week-end! But they'll have to wait. I'm really tired of scanning!

Zane Trace Inn

2008-05-26T17:13:00.006-05:00

Karen & I were invited to a crop at Zane Trace Inn in Somerset, OH this week-end. Most everyone else there (there were only 11 of us) works at Cord. But several couldn't make it, so Becki asked Karen & me to fill some spaces. It was a totally different experience as it was so small, held at a restored historical inn, and wasn't part of a store or anything. It was a really nice, relaxing time, though. The little town is beautiful, and the best part was walking around it with Karen. The weather was beautiful! And it's one of those places where people actually talk to you...unlike where I live where people just look down their noses at you!
As I said, I didn't get a lot of scrapping done,and I haven't even unpacked them to scan. Karen did the best Rusty Pickle album about her dog!
But here are some photos of the town & the event.

Civil War General Phillip Henry Sheridan was raised in Somerset. This is the only equestrian Civil War statue in Ohio. The Somerset courthouse, the first one built in Perry county, in 1829.
The town is one of brick sidewalks, old buildings, horse tie-ups, and park benches. We really loved it!
The Inn is a restored historical home. The owners restored it to accommodate scrappers, although it is also a bed & breakfast.
The Inn is owned & operated by the Eyerman's, who ensure that your every need is taken care of. It is really beautiful and comfortable. The food was awesome, especially the hand made pizza! Even my picky vegetarian palate was well-satisfied!Here are Becki & Jen from the local Cord.

And here are all the scrappers -
This was a truly unique experience. If you are in Ohio or West Virginia and have 11 other scrapping friends, this is a wonderful place to spend the week-end!

Purse!

2008-05-18T07:01:00.003-05:00

I could have sworn I posted this here! I mean, heck! I keep telling everyone about it and I'm so fracking in love with it!

This is my first (a)big knitting project (b) felted project! I can't believe it actually turned out this cute! (Pat on the back for moi!)

This is NOT an old lady's car!

2008-05-16T17:26:00.003-05:00

Here she is! My shiny new Pacific Blue Metallic Toyota RAV4! No old lady's sedan for me! I can get in an out of it easily and it will haul all my (and Karen's) scrap stuff to our getaways! AND I've yet to pull out of our driveway without throwing gravel! It's a zippy little thing for only 4 cylinders. Now, if it passes the gas mileage test (which it should), it'll be the total package!

These Bad Girls are so Good!

2008-05-15T09:45:00.003-05:00

I really don't think there's any other kit club quite like Bad Girls! Wendy Rago, the owner/designer is a totally awesome talented California Girl with a background in interior design. Her kits are packed with goodies you would never expect: pages from old comics, unusual trims and fabrics, etc! And her design team! They are extraordinarily talented! When I visit the gallery at Bad girls, I am blown away every time! So much talent gathered in one place is so wonderful. It's like strolling the halls of a wonderful modern art gallery. And you know how you look at a wonderful layout and think, "wow! I could never do that!" and move on? Well, there is something about the Bad Girls that makes you think "Wow! I'm going see if I can do that!" They are all so encouraging and not an "arty snob" amongst them! Can you tell I love this place! LOL!

Well, now that I'm done gushing, let me direct you to a totally different and wonderful project filled week-end coming up. It's the Bad Girls Summer Workshop and will be held Friday, May 30th through Sunday, June 1. Going to be busy that week-end? Don't worry! The projects will be up on the message board for 10 days! There will be 10 classes, each hosted by one of the Bad Girls. As of today, they are starting to post the supply lists. How cool is that! You have 15 whole days to gather your supplies! Each project will center around the May Bad Girls kit, but if you don't have it or don't want to get it (why wouldn't you, though? It's beautiful!!) you can easily substitute from your own stash!

If you're not already a member, click on the logo for the Workshop on my sidebar. Join the message board. Peruse the gallery. Have a little Bad Girls fun! Hope to see you at the workshop!

2008-05-13T16:26:00.007-05:00

Holy crap! I haven't blogged since April 18! I've done a lot since then, so excuse me if I ramble! More than usual that is!

Last Wednesday - Saturday, I was at Mega Meet in Novi, Michigan. I helped Kelli with her classes, and helped set up and tear down their space. Other than that I was on my own to take classes and shop shop shop. I actually started a list of everything I bought but it got to out of control! And I had to put everything away without taking pictures so I'd have some space. Suffice it to say I got lots of cool stuff. There were lots of bargains at the Advantus booth. Like Heidi Swapp bling for $1.49 and lots of other HS stuff for $.99. Also AMM totes: Thursday I got one for Karen for $7.99. Great bargain, as they retailed for $15.99 (I think. And I think they're discontinued, hence the bargain price.) When I packed it up Friday night, i decided it was pretty cool and that I wanted one, so I got another one. This time it was $5.99! Also went to the Lifetime Moments warehouse sale and got 2 12x12 zip locks full of stuff for a little over $18! That was fun. Found the Scrapbook Zone selling new Prima stuff, so stocked up there. Also found the Crafty Secrets stuff I've been lusting after every time I read Vicki Chrisman's blog. So bought a stash of that. The rest was random stuff: glitter, glue dots in a dispenser; lace; paper; etc etc etc.

I took 5 classes. Went to 3 of them and finished one project so far! LOL! This one was done by the Heidi from Twelve Fridays. I didn't go to the class. it was at 9 AM Saturday morning. I had an opportunity to sleep in, so I didn't go to the class. And I didn't sleep in either. But it was nice to just laze around my hotel room without having to rush about. Here is that project. Isn't it cute?

I have a layout and a canvas triptych to finish. There were from Quick Quotes. I loved those 2 classes and will definitely be taking more next time. There are several layouts from a Bazzil/Basic Grey class that I have to do. I didn't go to that class, either. Something in the free hotel breakfast did not agree with me (or Mark or Becki, for that matter), so I sat outside the class with my feet up. And there was the acrylic Mickey Mouse album class. I did that one when I thought I was feeling better and total messed up the cover page. I punched a hole in the wrong place and smeared my stamping! So I'm in search of a single 6" acrylic circle to re-do it. It's an adorable album when it's done correctly!

Gina met me at the Meet on Friday and we shopped a bit, went to the warehouse sale together, then ended up at Gus O'Connor Irish pub eating boxty, fish & chips, and drinking beer. It was such a nice evening. She's so easy to talk to and so fun! We missed our other Mega Meet friend, Carolyn, though! She and her son have been so sick!

Since I last blogged, I've also been to a getaway at Sugar Creek, a 12 hour crop at Cord, bought a new car, and participated in The Great Race at Scrapbook Heaven.

Here are some layouts from the 3 scrapping events. I didn't scan them all but it's a sampler. I haven't taken a picture of the car yet, so that will be in another post. This is getting boring to me, so I can imagine how you must feel.

TTYAL!!

Flower Frenzy...sort of...

2008-04-18T22:14:00.014-05:00

Remember when I posted these --->>>? And remember I said I was taking an on-line class called A Crafty Adventure? The one where I made the cupcake? Well, in typical fashion, I've downloaded all the adorable projects, but haven't made any more. Until this evening. The last (frowny face) were all kinds of flowers. So I made some of the paper ones. Here they are. Pretty cute, eh? The brownish one is sprayed with Walnut Gold Glimmer mist & the one in the top middle is sprayed with Solar Gold Radiant Rain. (Click on the picture to enlarge it and you can see the effect.) I also ordered some fabric "charms" from this Etsy shop to make some fabric ones.

Today Gary and I went to a giant garage sale, held by Angels for Animals. (a place where fortunately they treat the animals much better than their volunteers...but that's another story. ) It has been ages since I've been to something like this, and I'd forgotten how much fun it could be! It's a good thing he was with me or I would have gone hog wild! Of course, my SIL is coming up tomorrow and we're going, so all bets are off.

Here's what I got today --->>> Seems I was into birds! The little colored ones are salt & pepper shakers. That's a Cardinal and a Chickadee, pretty good likenesses! The white ones are metal (there are 2). I may paint them, but then, I sort of like the white shabby look of them now too. What do you think? I figure the drawer thingy will come in handy some how. And the books are pretty cool. I love the cover on this one. Wish it had pictures inside. This one has fun colored pictures.
An old math book.

And Riley Songs of Summer. That's James Whitcomb Riley. All the poems are accompanied by wonderful pictures like these. I always buy these books with the notion of taking them apart. And then my enduring respect for books kicks in and I let them sit around intact for a while.

So maybe tomorrow I'll have more goodies to show you. I had my eye on some table cloths that were somewhat stained, but the material and trim were still usable!

A crown, a crooked layout, and some other things.

2008-04-16T14:59:00.005-05:00

Karen and I went to a crop last week-end. I wasn't all that creative for some reason. But I got a few things done.

I tried my first clear acrylic album. I've had this sitting in my drawer since November and have been afraid to try it. I tackled it at the crop and am happy with the way it turned out. As it's a crown, I thought it was fitting to make the subject "Scrapbook Queens", the name of our crops & getaways.

I'm in a circle journal with some friends, so I completed my pages for one. The topic is what inspires your or gets you through bad times.

And I did these pages. Not thrilled with them...but here they are.

That's all for today. I've taken a Clairiton D and a Darvocet. I do believe my head is mush now.

So until next time...

A Garden House

2008-04-08T22:57:00.006-05:00

I have loved these little houses ever since I first saw them on Vicki Chrisman's blog. They are from Crafty Secrets. I finally found one and snatched it up. It took me a while to decided on the theme: birds? heritage? faeries? wedding? I finally settled on flowers and a few of my favorite pictures from my garden. Here it is.

TFL!

Spring is in the air...

2008-04-06T10:42:00.006-05:00

... and in my sinuses! That's okay, though! I 'd rather have a sneezy runny nose and be able to see the sunshine, than to shivering with the snow!

This week-end we've been scrapping and chatting up a store over at Bad Girls. I've done only 2 layouts, and quite, frankly, I'm not that thrilled with them. But here they are anyway.
The challenge here was to do a page for our BOM and list random facts equal to your age. So there...on that white sheet of paper...tucked into that little library pocket...are 60 random things about yours truly!
This one does look better IRL. (But don't they all?) Gary got that puzzle ring for Christmas and fiddled with it till he could put it together! The challenge was to use old paper, new paper, 3 flowers, and 5 buttons. So I did! Old Daisy D's & brand spankin' new Archaic from Basic Grey!

I won this pattern recently and got the yarn yesterday to make the Market bag. Isn't it beautiful? The colors are so yummy. I can't wait to get it started (and finished) but I'm also a little afraid, as I've never felted anything before.

And THEN, I ordered some Amy Butler fabric, too. I have one of her patterns...for a bag...go figure... I got 2 pieces from her newer Midwestern Modern line: Fresh Poppies Fuschia & Garden Maze Sand. On the "wall" they appear to match (the pattern is for a reversible bag). I also got a pattern for a long skirt, Bohemian style. I'm hoping I can make it long enough so that it covers the lymphodema.

Cosmo Cricket has a new website, Miss Paper Jane. I picked up the Dutch Girl special and had it shipped to Karen. I thought it was a pretty good deal and CC is one of those companies whose paper never goes out of style or gets boring (like Basic Grey!). I wonder if they'll have deals like that all the time?

Today is registration for the August getaway at Sugar Creek. This could be an interesting one, as Kelli's baby is due around Labor Day. And you know how babies have their own way of showing up in their own time. BTW, this is a popular event, and sells out really quickly, so if you want to attend, be here at 6 PM on the dot to sign up.

Karen and Josh have fallen victim to the wonderful Republican economy. Not being "rich" people, Josh will be out of a job as of June 14. The B.Dalton where he works will be closing. I'm sure he'll get a job by then, but I'm also sure it will probably be for minimum wage (7 big bucks here in Ohio). So now Karen is looking for a 2nd full time job. She's already teaching and tutoring on the side. But if they don't want to lose their apartment, she has little choice. I know they'll be okay, but still, it just makes me so angry! Airlines are closing, mills and factories are moving to foreign countries, retail stores are closing, people are losing their houses, and King George still insists that the country is in fine shape! Am I bitter? No, I'm not bitter. I'm pissed! Well, I know I've lost my liberal friends already...what can I say? It sucks to not be of the privileged class in this country!

Well, Karen's on her way over and we're going to watch Sweeny Todd. Nothing like a little Johnny to brighten the day!

Some projects that have made me happy...

2008-04-04T10:31:00.004-05:00

I signed up for Adventures in Crafting, which is a great little project class done by Jana Wilson. I wanted to break out of the 12x12 rut and I think this is just the ticket! I made the little cupcake hanging a couple nights ago. Isn't that just cute?! I didn't really have a "purpose" for it, so it's hanging on my scrap area wall (which is blah-dull-boring-ugly paneling...someday I'm gonna paint it!).

Then, after cruising many-a blog, deciding to buy a clip-it-up, deciding I didn't have room for one, deciding I did have room for one, and then not being able to make room for one, I took up an idea I had seen several times. I can't find any references right off, but if I do, I'll be sure to credit them. Here is my "hang-it-up"!
I am so flippin' happy with this! It's made from a towel rack (and a pretty one at that - 8 bucks on clearance at Target), notebook rings, and badge clips! And I think the next time I "clean" , I'll have an empty drawer to fill up again with goodies.

The other thing I finally did was start my ribbon organization. Now, there's no way I'll ever get all my ribbon into one form of organization. This one is for my "lengths"...you know, the ones that come in kits or the ends of the roll? I will eventually have one for each color group. They're just stick-on hooks (some of which are on there forever, as I had to brown glue them on there) and then these ribbon rings.

So that's what I've been up to. I'm surrounded by projects that I want to do. We're having a little crop over at Bad Girls this week-end, so maybe I'll get some of them done. However, it may actually be nice weather, so I should probably spend some time outside, even if it's just breathing! ("Blowing the stink off" as my lovably crude mother would have said.)

Have a happy Friday!

Just some pretties....

2008-03-27T10:19:00.003-05:00

...that I made up for a swap at Bad Girls. They were fun and inspired me to go searching for more little projects.

An anniversary dinner to remember...and some sharing...

2008-03-24T13:21:00.003-05:00

Since I posted last, Gary and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. We decided to just go out to dinner, and save our money for a trip this summer. So we went to a new restaurant downtown Youngstown called The Rosetta Stone. It's a block and a half from the theatre, Powers Auditorium (this little factoid will be important later in the story.). Now if you're familiar at all with Youngstown, you'll know it's one of the victims of the demise of the steel industry and right in the rust belt. The younger folks are trying so hard to revitalize downtown, so we try to patronize these new businesses when we can. We got to the restaurant at 6, which is when we had reservations. The place was surprisingly packed! And the dinner manager's bald head was glistening, which I should have taken as a sign of what was to come. So we were seated (after having to bully our way in front of a fur coat who thought she could go before us, apparently just because!). Our waitress came over and took our drink orders and left us menus. 20 minutes later she brings us 2 beers. Apparently they had to go to the brewery for them because I could see the bar quite plainly from where I was sitting. She back later again and took our orders. I ordered an appetizer, which, after about a quarter of an hour, she came back and told us they were out of. She offered the artichoke dip as a suggestion. I said okay. Now, who would have thought to ask if there's MEAT in artichoke dip!? Well, there is, sausage! YUCK! After sitting around and overhearing the crowd getting a little more upset, it dawned on me that the only performance of Rent was that evening in the theatre down the street! So that's why the crowd. A little before 8 (remember, we got there at 6), most every one left and we were the only ones in the restaurant, still waiting for our dinner. The waitress was so apologetic. Apparently the management didn't know there was a theatre production that night. He had to call in extra staff at 5 PM to cover the crowd. Now...why would you own and run a restaurant a block and a half away from the theatre/symphony center and NOT KNOW WHAT'S PLAYING WHEN!?!?. We finally got our dinners around 8. My fish was crunchy around the edges and not all that good. If we would have been in a drinking mode we could have had free drinks the rest of the night, but we just wanted to go HOME! They took50% off our bill. That made me feel better, but Gary's never going back! This week-end we got a phone call from the dinner manager, reassuring us that that would never happen again and asking us for our address so he could mail us an newsletter. It'd better have a coupon in it!

Some of you know my Coldstone Creamery story...about the girl who, while waiting for our order, sneezed and then didn't wash her hands. (We left with no ice cream). I wrote an e-mail about it and the manager delivered ice cream to our house! Now that's customer service!

So that's my excitement for the week. Easter was very nice. the kids got a cat. Life goes on. Here are a few things I created since I was here last:
I fixed the "Srapper" title since I scanned this one.

Thanks for looking! Drop me a line and let me know you were here. Till next time...

Interesting tag

2008-03-16T15:21:00.006-05:00

These usually don't interest me much any more, but this one is new to me. I was tagged by Jeannette, a fellow bad girl. You have to post a fact that starts with each letter of your middle name. Then you tag a person for each letter. If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name. So here's mine:

J - Jello creeps me out. That fact that it's a form of aspic which is processed from hooves, just makes me want to gag! It's true! Read a Julia Child cookbook. So the only way I'll eat Jello is if it has pretzels and lots of whipped cream so that it doesn't resemble jello. (Or if I'm blind-folded with my hands tied behind my back)

A - Gary and I went to Atlanta, Georgia for our honeymoon. To let you know how long ago that was, we went to a very fancy Russian restaurant called Nikolai's. You know, the kind where you don't get a menu. They just tell you what they have. When we got the bill, Gary was appalled. The total for the 2 of us was $50.00! LOL! That was SO much money for a meal 30 years ago

N - I love NHL hockey! Something about sweaty men on skates...

E - I start each day checking my e-mail. That and all my message boards. Oh, and I check my bank balance, too. What did I do without a computer!?

Okay...I'm tagging Rachel (who has all the time in the world right now!), Julie S. (so that you update your blog!), the other Rachel (who is such a Bad Girl!), and Shirley.

Thanks, girls!

YAWN

2008-03-16T14:18:00.006-05:00

I'm usually not tired (I mean really tired. You know, when your eyes feel like you need to squint because they really want to be closed?). I stay up till I'm done with my day. Then I sleep till I'm done with my sleeping. Well, I did that earlier this week and ended up sleeping past noon because I was up past 4 AM! That's just not acceptable! I can sleep till 11. And at a crop, if I pull an all-nighter, I'll sleep till whenever. But not at home. (don't ask me why. I don't know.) So last night I stayed up till 4 again. I was scanning and stitching, scrapping and reading and such. So I set my alarm to get up at the unearthly hour of 10 AM. 6 hours just isn't enough.

So I don't know why I went off on that rant. Blame it on sleep deprivation.

I've been hanging out for the last day or too with some wonderful Canadian ladies at Lil' Scrappers. They're having a crop and they have posted the most awesome games and challenges! I immediately was inspired and made 3 cards (2 new styles for me) and 2 layouts. Here they are :

This is a water-fall card. I'd never done one of those before.

This is for the things that make you happy challenge. Gary and I will be married 30 years this coming Tuesday! Growing old(er) together is a good thing!

You can't see the quote on this one. It's the "to everything there is a season" one. This is a picture of the sunken terrace outside the crop room last week-end.

And here are my layouts from the crop.
What?? You thought I was done with wedding layouts?! Silly person!!

I've started digging through old photos again and scanning them for layouts. Sometimes the quality of the photo is less than perfect, but they are full of such good memories! This is Karen with her Grandpa Flickinger, who suffered from Parkinson's all the years she knew him.

This is from our 1991 trip to Disney.

That's it for now. TTYL!

People have been visiting my blog...

2008-03-14T18:06:00.006-05:00

...and not finding anything new. I'm really sorry. I've just been...well...blog lazy, I guess. I've been pretty busy, tired and not feeling the best.

Last week-end, Karen and I went to a getaway. Now if you know I'm from Ohio, you know what that meant! Snow...lots of it...and we were on the easy end of the storm! I started fretting Thursday night, because I hate hate hate to drive on the bad roads. So Gary (sweet man) said he'd drive me and then pick me up. Karen said Josh would drive her so we didn't have to wait. The ride was slippery, but we got there in a little over an hour. Unloaded, ate a good Amish lunch, and then Gary headed home. The worrying began. I knew I'd be a mess until he got home, Josh and Karen got to the event, and Josh got back home. Gary called and I was surprised he was home so quickly. Well, he wasn't home. He had come up a line of traffic stopped behind several semis would could not make it up a hill. So he had to turn around, come all the way back to Columbiana, and go home the long way. Two hours later, he called - home safe & sound. Karen and Josh arrived shortly thereafter. Kids are fearless, so she was all bubbly and happy. Josh got home safe and we were hunkered in to scrap our way through the storm! We sate with the nicest people and had a blast. Next AM, we had breakfast and I took an anti-biotic (the UTI monster had struck again!). These hadn't made me sick before, so I was surprised that I had to spend an hour in bed. Felt better. Josh came for lunch so joined them. Ate. Felt sick again. Stayed in bed till 5 PM! But the rest of the time we had a blast! Kelly announced that she is pregnant (thank goodness! I've known since January and couldn't tell anyone but Karen! How hard was that!?), so that made the atmosphere that much more fun. Gary came to pick us up Sunday PM. By then there was about 18" of snow, but the roads were clear. It took me till today to finally start feeling good. I haven't even taken out the layouts I did! I'll do that later and get them scanned to share. I wish I could share the great stuff Karen did! She made the cutest 6x6 accordion album for her friend Julie who had a little boy in Jan. She also did some awesome layouts!

Willow Traders is having a month long 3-year anniversary party. Every day a different kit club is sponsoring games and challenges. It is a blast and there are some great things being given away! Stop over for some fun. I've been reading but yesterday was the first I decided to actually do anything. So I played bingo (tied to win...YAY!) and made some cards.

Tuesday I had a dr's appt so decided to shop afterwards. Ended up with lots of goodies, one of which is one of these. I know, I know, I have a big rolling tote. But as I was unpacking all the little tote bags I drag along, I thought that probably a 2nd tote would be a reasonable investment. When the clerk at M's offered me her 40% off coupon (we don't get them in our paper out here in the boonies), I decided it was an omen and bought it. Also got another one of these. The first one I bought was all wonky and didn't shine a straight beam. So I thought I'd give it a 2nd chance. 2nd one works fine!

I ordered one of these. It's okay. I just don't think it's sturdy enough to warrant the price. But it did get paint brushes, ribbon, and pictures "to be scrapped" off the desk. Which made room for my new Tonic guillotine. It's the one that breaks down, only because that's the one they carry at Pat Catan's. I now have 3 different Tonic trimmers. They are the best trimmer out there, IMHO!

For those of you who have slogged through all this...thanks for listening! I'll post again as soon as I get those layouts scanned!

PS. The picture at the top? Gary got a new cell phone that takes pictures. It's our first one. He's become a monster with it. I now run when I see it in his hand. However, I thought that picture may explain why I haven't been blogging. I've been busy...

Month Long Celebration at Sheetload

2008-03-03T11:24:00.002-05:00

If you read my blog often, you've heard me rave about Sheetload. It is the absolute best way to make a batch of beautiful cards in no time! And their designs just keep getting better. So they've grown so much so quickly that this month they are celebrating reaching 15,000 hits! They are giving away great prizes from so many awesome sponsors. Be sure to check it out everyday this month! I know I am!

Come check out the sale!

2008-02-29T14:31:00.003-05:00

It's leap day, so Scrap Treasures is having a sale! Use coupon "Leapday" to get 15% off your entire purchase (Feb. kit not included). Sale starts today and ends on Sunday night.
While you're there, check out the forum for the sneak peak of our upcoming March kit! It promises to be awesome!