Christmas Pictures

Here are a few of the Christmas pictures I wanted to share.

Our Cute "6 foot" tree

The Boy with his X-Box

DD with her Camcorder so she can practice her Movie Making Skills.

My DH with the final installment of his Seinfeld Videos.

Can you believe how TALL my kids are? They are both almost as tall as me.

MY gift from the DD that made me cry. Isn't it beautiful?

What did you do today?

I had a nice "day One of Four" that I have off from work. I read BOTH newspapers while sitting on the back porch this morning. (I hardly ever get to read the papers the day they are delivered and NEVER get a chance to sit and enjoy the back porch)

Later I played Halo 2 with my DS and proved why I don't play video games. We switched to a car racing game and it's a good thing they weren't real cars!!

Now it's time to go watch the PATS make History!! Come on New England.

Til later...............

Am I the last to know??

Now things make a little more sense. Taken from the Junkitz Website:

We are sad to announce that as of Friday, December 21, 2007 Junkitz has closed its doors.

Wonder if Stacey will have her tatoo removed? I can't believe I didn't figure it out when they were at the Scrapbooking in Paradise Crop. Guess I really DON'T keep up on the latest "Scrapbooking" gossip. I've never been a freak about using certain products or only using "Name Brand" stuff. I shop on sale. 40-50% off...I'm your gal. Sounds like some people got burned by this. Not sure and since it doesn't effect me..don't care.

Hmmm....does this mean that their stuff will be in the clearance bins now? Wahoo.

Til later............

Waiting to go home

It is so hard to work after 4 days off. I've called DH 2x's and keep bugging him when he is trying to do laundry. I'm BORED and miss him. I've had phone duty today and if you've read my blog at all you KNOW how much I love phone duty.

Christmas was wonderful and I will give you a full report soon plus pictures. The kids were happy, the family came to dinner and then DD stayed over for the night. That was great except she will probably never do it again. Seems she got an unwanted present while driving back to her apartment from the friendly "Troopers" sitting by the side of the road at their usual "speed trap spot". UGH!!! I didn't even think to tell her to be careful. How rude to give out tickets the day after Christmas. Think their end of the year bonus is tied to their ticket total?

Speaking of dinner, I've been waiting for my sister to blog and tell you about the new "Family Christmas Story" they will be repeating for years to come. Let me just say that people that tell you their plastic ware can go into the oven should also mention that you should take off the lids first.

Plastic is plastic.

Who knew?

That's all I'm saying.

Hope you had a fabulous day. What was your favorite memory of the day? I have several that do not include smoke pouring from the oven and will share them with you in my next post.

Til later from someone that is apparently "Blonder than I pay for"..................

Merry Christmas everyone!

It's 12:20pm and I'm sitting on the couch in my jammies. The ham and potatoes are in the oven and the kids are due here in about 45 minutes. I just wanted to stop by and wish everyone a wonderful, happy, healthy day. I hope you get/got everything you wanted. I already have everything I could wish for so am very happy. Looking forward to having my sister, nephew & mom over in a few hours.

I have to work tomorrow so not sure when I'll update but hope to have Christmas pictures soon to share.

Til later.......................

Christmas Gift Pics

Since my MIL already opened her gifts, I can give you a peek at what I made her. I decided after the "LATE" birthday card tragedy that I would make her a box and send her cards to have on hand. I can still make her special ones but these would be handy to mail as the spirit moves her. The tin came from JustLetMeScrapbook in Georgia. (LONG story about that order and I still don't feel comfortable ordering from her again so won't give you the website. You can locate it on your own if you wish) I covered the tin with some pretty paper (I think it is from the Anna Griffin pad I have) wrapped ribbon around the tin lid/edge and along the bottom of the paper. The word cards was cut using my Sizzlet alphabet and the flowers were stacked-held together wit a MM jewel brad, and then glue dotted to the front. I used Stickles to make the dots on the yellow flower. It sparkles in person. I tied various ribbons to the handle and then filled the tin with cards.

These cards were from a kit I got from Stampin Up. They made 10 cards, 5 each of the two different styles.

I wanted her to have more cards for different occasions so I included a plastic box with another 10 cards. I decorated the box but apparently forgot to take a picture of it in my haste to get the box mailed. Here are the other cards.

I made her a Christmas Ornament but apparently I forgot to take a picture of that either. DARN. It was really pretty if I do say so myself.

How is your Pre-Christmas weekend going? I got out of bed at 8am yesterday, ran by a neighborhood yard sale and then decided to head to KMart to pick up my RX . I picked up a couple things to finish my Christmas stocking stuffings and then was home by 10am. After the DS left at 11, I headed back to bed and stayed there until about 6pm watching things I had on the DVR. I didn't make much of a dent in the saved stuff but that was as long as I could stand to be "Lazy".

Today, after our routine of watching "Sunday Morning" I went into the DS's bedroom and started going through the ton of totes that we stacked in there. I pulled out some decorations and scattered them around the house. It still isn't the level of years past but I feel alittle better seeing each room with a little bit of Christmas cheer. I also discovered the TONS of stuff I bought last year on "After Christmas Clearance" that was supposed to be gifts to co-workers etc. Oh well, guess that means I really don't need to go shopping this year.

Speaking of little gifts, I left a package for the trash men yesterday and a card with gift certificate in the mail box for our postal carrier. I hope they appreciated the thought.

For the rest of the day I need to print off some instructions for the DS's gift and then start wrapping. I may do some other crafts tonight or tomorrow. Depends on my mood. I'm enjoying the "quiet Time" with my DH so will play it by ear.

Hope you have a very happy holiday. We are looking forward to having the kids back and then my Sister, Nephew & mom will be joining us for Christmas "Lupper"....

Til later..................

Blink of an eye

I can't believe Christmas is TUESDAY. Wow!! I can't believe that the house isn't decked out yet. I'm not stressing. Our lights never got up on the outside of the house. I didn't put any decorations out except for the tree and the DS actually did that. That is NOT like me. I have thousands of decorations and they are still in the totes.

DS is so excited to be getting out of school today for two weeks. He has a party at Karate tonight but the library is also having a party and he wants to go there. WHY? Video games of course. I told him we can go for 45 minutes but then we are going to the party at Karate. I didn't tell him but if the Karate one turns out to be lame, we'll leave and go back to the library. He will be going to his dads house tomorrow morning and then I have 3 days to get last minute things done before he comes back on Christmas Day.

I have my shopping done. I keep thinking about stuff I could buy but then I realize I'm just thinking that because I want there to be alot of gifts under the tree. Luckily, I've explained to myself that we are not in a competition and they will just have to be happy with what they are getting. Goodness knows they already have plenty.

I have a few things/projects I want to work on. Since I had to move the stuff out of the dining room I'll have to work in my scrap room or I may move stuff to the kitchen to be closer to DH.

My In Laws and my niece received their packages and my In Laws already opened all their gifts! Bad girl!! LOL. That means I can share the photos of the things I sent and will do that this weekend. She really liked everything so that made me happy. Now if my niece likes what we sent them, I'll be really happy.

I thought I was going to have an easy day but the only nurse here has a HUGE project I have to work on. Wahh!! We are having a surprise luncheon for one of our co-workers today so that will be nice. Goodness knows I could use something to eat.

Hope you have a super weekend. Enjoy yourself and don't stress to much. We are a blessed nation and really shouldn't be so concerned about the "Stuff". I'm going to try and do a better job of remembering that in 2008.

Til later..............

I do believe in Santa

Not sure where this originally came from and hope I'm not breaking any laws by passing it on. I can't help it. It's to cute!! I got it from my friend, Denise, who knows how I LOVE Santa.



Enjoy.



Til later..................

Elvis rocks!

Good grief. I write about being an organ donor and I get 2 comments. I ask when Elvis dies and 6 of you respond. Guess we know what is more important. LOL.

Yes, August 16, 1977 is correct. I would say Denise gets extra credit for knowing his Birthday. I knew that too but didn't want you all to think I was a bigger geek than you already do.

If you haven't already gone to the website for Scrapbooking in Paradise........go now! You MUST see the You-Tube of the Elvis performance from the crop. Even my DS & DH laughed their butts off when I made them watch it last night.

Speaking of last night..the DS decorated the Christmas tree after he got home from school last night and did a GREAT job. Our poor little "6 ft. want to be" artificial tree looks pretty cute. I took pictures but didn't get them loaded. I'll try to do that soon.

Go....see Elvis...then come back and read my post about being an organ donor. It's still important.

Til later..................

Man, what a weekend

My mother said she is tired of reading the same old posts and insisted I blog something new. I personally think my Friday post is VERY important so if you missed it...scroll down when you are done here. So for MOM.......


Friday I left work early and headed over to Scrapbooking In Paradise for a FREE Crop. The Owners, John & Laura had planned a fun evening as a thank you for their customers. The crop was free, dinner was free, goodie bags were great and they did give aways all night. They even had tons of prizes for BINGO but since I wasn't doing Layouts or cards, I couldn't win (no worries, John gave me a consulation prize cause he felt sorry for me)


One big surprise was the special guests. Stacey Panassidi from Junkitz, Stephanie Barnard from Inque Boutique and also Susan Stringfellow from Inque Boutique. The Inque Boutique gang gave us free stamp set..well John gave us stamps sets so not sure who they actually came from but they were IB stamps. They stayed and ate dinner with us and walked around an checked out what we were doing. They all ooooooooo & awwwwwwwwwwwed over what I was working on but I can't show you cause they are gifts. OH, I did get SP to sign my Junk Bag under my Tim Holtz signature. She actually signed her & her adorable DH's names. He was there too and was so sweet. We talked about her Tatoo and he showed me the one he got since she got hers. It was his College Mascot...looked like a turtle with an M on it but I think he said it was a "Badger"???


In addition to the other give aways they had a contest to find a big green bow hidden somewhere in the store. Who ever found it got to keep what it was attached to...check it out.....





Yep, I found it. WAHOOO. $100 value from EK full of Cutterbee products.



A little while later they had us all gather in the middle of the store and the REALLY special guest arrived.















It was hysterical. Check out their website/blog for a video of Elvis.

Next Elvis gave away more prizes. The second prize went to the person that could tell him "What Day & year did I die?"---Elvis-not me....anyway, I shouted out the correct answer and won another prize. They were holding up the same exact item I'd already won and even though I said I'd take another one....would have made a great gift....they said they would give me something different. I got a 262 stamp set from IB....$43 value.


I've paid up to $65 for a day crop and not had as much fun or won as much as I did Friday night. Guess it was just my turn.


Saturday I had to be up early to pick up the boy from his Library "Lock IN". He had a blast and came home and promptly fell asleep for 8 hours. LOL. I used the time to do some last minute shopping and started clearing the dining room so we could put up the tree.


Sunday I finished clearing the dining room (it took ALL DAY) and even got it put into the scrap room...ORGANIZED..and you can walk into the room and even work at one of the desks. I needed to get Christmas cards and packages in the mail today so we had DS put together the "6 ft" artificial tree. It was a chore but he stuck with it and got it done without any tears. By then it was to late to decorate so DH will be putting the lights on today while I'm at work and tonight we will try & get it decorated. Good thing we keep our decorations up until Epiphany.


OK....so there you have it..my weekend. Now I have a question for you:


When did Elvis die? Post here with exact Date..Month, day, year and lets see if you would have won the stamp set. I'm not saying I'll give you the stamp set if you're right. I'm just wondering if I'm a big geek or if anyone else knows. NO FAIR CHEATING. Don't look it up. I want to know if you remember...from personal memories.

Til later..........................

Gift of Life

I took this straight from "Mel from Art Warehouse"'s blog. She already challenges each of us to do Random Acts of Kindness on Thursdays and now has reminded us of an important thing we can do that costs nothing but can mean the world to another person. Be an Organ donor. Like Mel, I've always had the box checked on my drivers license. I've tried to be sure everyone knows my wishes so they can say YES when/if ever asked. What about you??

I challenge each you today...flip over your drivers license...are you a donor? Do you have all the little boxes check and have you signed the sticker on the back of your drivers license to be a donor?

If you would like to find out more on how to become a donor, here is some links that will help you.
http://www.organdonor.gov/donor/index.htm
Get Started
Register with your state donor registry.More information on how to register to be a donor in your state. Most states, but not all, have donor registries.

Designate your decision on your driver’s license. Do this when you obtain or renew your license.
Sign a donor card now. Carry the donor card with you until you can designate your donation decision on your driver’s license or join a donor registry.

Download a page of eight donor cards to print and sign.

Order a free donor card that will be mailed to you.

Talk to your family now about your donation decision. Help your family understand your wish to be an organ and tissue donor before a crisis occurs. Then they will be prepared to serve as your advocate for donation.


Thanks Mel for the reminder.

Til later..............

Sheetload of Cards

Thanks to the wonderful people at ScrapScene, I've "discovered" another great site for Card making inspiration. It is a new site called Sheetload of Cards and it is a MUST ADD to your list of go-to blogs. The site owner/blogger, Alicia, is super fast at answering emails and has sent me a cute BLINKIE to add to my blog. Unfortunately, I had to put it at the bottom so it runs correctly but I've also added her link to my Favorite BLOG sites on the left.

Check her out and let her know that I sent you. I can't wait to try some of her sketch ideas.

Til later...........

Recipe for Chex stuff

As requested by my buddy, KIP...the following recipe is the BEST holiday stuff on the planet. I must confess that it comes from one of my bosses at work. She makes it every year for the holidays and people FIGHT over the last crumb.

Enjoy, you have been warned.

Holiday WHITE STUFF

2 cups Rice Chex
2 cups Golden Grahams
2 cups Cheerios
2 cups pretzel sticks, broken up
1 can (12 oz) salted peanuts (NOT dry roasted)
1 package white candy coating mix (usually found in the baking section—it is I think about a 20 oz package and it comes in cubes


Put all of the dry ingredients in a very big bowl and mix well. Put a few cubes of the coating stuff in a saucepan on low ( I set the burner on 3). Stay with it or it will burn. Stir regularly. As it starts to melt, add more cubes and continue to stir until they are all melted. ( The package says you can melt in the microwave—I strongly advise against it). Pour white stuff over dry ingredients and mix to coat with a large spoon. Turn it out onto a silverstone baking sheet and spread out evenly. Let dry completely, about 3 hours or so. Break it into pieces and enjoy.


Til later...................

Thomas Kincade#4

This is the final card I've made (so far) using the

Thomas Kincade stamp "Skater's Pond" from CornishHeritageFarms.

Sorry for the multicolored background. Bad lighting in my craft room.

I'll fill in all the details later. Thought I'd post so you know I'm still around. The weekend was full of projects but they are all Christmas gifts so can't post any yet.

Til later......................

Meet Kris

What do you think of this couple? My DD and her new boyfriend.

Til later.......................

Thomas Kincade #3

Thought I'd favor you with another card made using a stamp purchased from Cornish Heritage Farms . This one is made by stamping the Thomas Kincade Stamp "The light of Peace". My mother loves Lighthouses and so do I.

(The beige shading on the right side of the picture is my light source reflecting off the background. Sorry for the distraction)


I stamped the image on a white piece of cardstock from PaperTrey Ink with Stazon Black then embossed. I left a little bit of white showing around the image to sort of "frame" it. I used my "Oval Tag" large punch (purchased from Joanns) -Inked the edge and used a rub-on for the "Peace on Earth". The bow is black grosgrain that is tied to the card using a technique I learned from SSC. The image was then adhered to the black cardstock. In the lower left corner I glued three small "rhinestones" that were purchased on clearance from Michaels. They are meant to be "heat set" to fabric but are perfect for a card using a little glue.

I hope you are enjoying these TK cards. I have another one set to show you along with some special items I've been making with these stamps.

CHF sells Gift Certificates so if you are stumped for a gift for your favorite stamper.........!!!!!

Til later..............

MFC Christmas Party

I'm exhausted but wanted to share some pictures before I call it a night. When you are finished here...scroll down a bit and check out the second Thomas Kincade card I've featured. It came up as a "November post" because I had saved it in draft form and can't figure out how to change the date.

Yesterday the DS and I went to the Medical Foster Care party for the kids we case manage. I can't show you any pictures of them due to Hippa laws but wanted to share a couple of the boy, me & Santa.



Goofy boy will never smile for a picture.

Here I am with my favorite man, after my DH of course!!!
We pulled all the stuff out of the garage today so we could get to the Christmas decorations. We spent the better part of the day pulling out, going through boxes and then setting up the display for the front yard. I purchased all these at clearance sales last year after the holidays.

I didn't realize I'd captured the rainbow effect until I loaded the picture. Cool huh??

This is what it looked like after the sun went down. The top of one of the large trees is not lit & half of the small reindeer too. I tried to figure out the problem but the sketers were carrying me away so it will have to do for now. We will do the outside lights on the house later in the week.

We dragged the "inside stuff" into the house and it is piled up in the DS's room until I can get my scrap stuff cleared out of the dining area. I don't have the energy tonight. We also decided to use the Artificial tree I bought for $5 last year on clearance instead of a real one. We figured we'd save the money this year plus it will be awhile before we could go tree shopping and by then it will only have a couple weeks left to live. DH said we could spray PINE on the artificial one but my sinuses say NO.

How was your weekend??

Til later..............

Thomas Kincade #2

Day #2 of my Thomas Kincade cards.

This is a stamp purchased through Cornish Heritage Farms.

This card was made for a friends Father. She had seen the card I featured on day#1 and wanted her's made just like it. I used the basic supplies but changed it up a-little.

I again used the TK stamp 'It Doesn't Get Much Better' . I used Stazon Brown ink, embossed the image, a scallop edge was cut using my Nestability Dies - Rectangle Scallop and then the image was mounted on a piece of handmade blue paper (Joann Fabrics) then onto brown cardstock. The edges of the designer paper(unknown) was inked with brown Stazon then glued to a piece of white cardstock from Papertreyink. I tied a silver ringed tag to a piece of white twill ribbon which I fringed alittle for effect. I hand wrote "Birthday Wishes". You can see the handmade matching envelope in the background that has a sentiment stamped onto the corner.

My friend said her dad liked the card very much.

Check out Cornish Heritage Farms to see more TK stamps and check back here for my other cards.

BTW, If you haven't checked out CHF yet, they have their new Stamp of the Month and MANY new background stamps. Their customer service & products are first rate!

Til later....................

Christmas Tag

I wasn't going to post today as I've had a long & tiring day, I planned to share pictures of the party tomorrow but I got tagged by Kip and what ever miss Kip wants ,she gets.

1. White or colored lights on your house. White Icicle lights or white lites. White lights on the tree.

2. Hot Chocolate or Egg Nog? Hot Chocolate w/marshmellows.

3. Favorite Holiday food? Cranberry sauce.

4. Does Santa wrap the presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa doesn't wrap the big stuff. Sometimes he leaves all his gifts unwrapped or he wraps them all in the same paper so you know they are from him.

5. Do you hang mistletoe? Yes

6. When do you put up your decorations? Try to do it the weekend after Thanksgiving but with the kids gone we waited. We are hoping to do it tomorrow. They stay up til Epiphany.

7. What's your favorite holiday tradition? We used to always drive around to see lights. Maybe we can do it again this year.

8. What's on the top of your tree? A really tacky star that rotates different colors.

9. Do you have a nativity displayed through the holidays? Yes

10.Candy Canes, traditional or flavored? Or Chocolate Covered Cherries? love traditional CC and Dark Chocolate covered cherries w/liquid center.

11.What's your favorite holiday goodie to make and share? Chex mix w/white powdered sugar.

12.What's your favorite Christmas song? Rudolph the red nose reindeer or Silent night.

13.When did you learn the truth about the "magic" of Christmas? don't remember??? I still believe in Santa.

14.Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes

15.Is there a special ornament or Christmas decoration that you wouldn't feel like Christmas without? Stockings I made many years ago.

16. Do you take neighbor gifts/treats to anyone, everyone, a select few? I may start this year.

17.Is your big meal on Christmas Eve, Christmas morning or Christmas afternoon? Christmas afternoon.

18.How do you decorate your tree? eclectically/mixture of kids stuff and nice ornaments.

19.Snow? Love it? Dread it? Tolerate it? No thanks. That's why I live in Florida

20.Do you have a favorite gift? my Raggedy Cheryl & raggedy Larry w/promise ring when was a teenager from my HSS.

21.Do you have a family get-together during the holidays with extended family?Sister, nephew & mom

22.What's the most important thing that you must do each Christmas season? Help others somehow.

23. Do you bake Christmas cookies? not usually

24.Do you leave cookies and milk for Santa? of course plus carrots.

25.What's your favorite Christmas memory? Hard to pick

OK, now your favoite part......I tag : Jenna, Jessie G, Cari (yes again), Lisa D, Mary

I'll try to post another TK card tomorrow plus a post about todays party.

Til Later...............................

Thomas Kinkade card #1

Over the next few days I'm going to share cards I've made recently using the fabulous stamps from Cornish Heritage Farms.

They all feature designs from Thomas Kincade.

While I'm not the talented card maker like some of the sites I've seen, they do make great visuals.

This card was made for a freinds grandson that was turning 12. She said one of his hobbies was fishing.

I used the TK stamp 'It Doesn't Get Much Better' . I used Stazon Brown, mounted the design on a piece of brown corrigated/crimped paper that was layered on a piece of designer paper (sorry can't remember the company). The edges of the designer paper was inked with brown Stazon then glued to a piece of brown cardstock. The little bottle caps are from Lil Davis. I stamped the "Make a wish" (one of the Studio G-Michaels stamps) onto a vellum tag & tied with twine.

Check out Cornish Heritage Farms to see more TK stamps and check back her over the next few days for my other cards.

BTW, I highly recommend buying from CHF. Their customer service & products are first rate!

Til later....................

Luxe me baby

Luxe is having a give away and I'd LOVE to win. Check out their site but don't enter......more chances for me!!!

http://blog.luxedesigns.com/livingtheluxelife/2007/11/an-announcement.html?cid=91332262#comment-91332262

Back on schedule

Man it was rough when the alarm went off this morning. It's been off for a week and now that DS (YEAH!!!!!) is back, we have to get up for school. I woke up 40 minutes early and was afraid we'd forgotten to reset the alarm. I didn't realize until I was telling the story later that I checked the clock and went back to bed. NEVER checked the alarm. LOL. Fortunately my DH is on the ball and it rang as required. ARG!!

It was great to see the DS after the long Thanksgiving break. He still had hair!!!! That's a running "fight" we have with his dad, he always cuts his hair to "shorter than military" when he goes over there. The boy has finally decided he is old enough to decide the length of his hair and has been refusing to get it cut. WTG!!!! It really looks cute and since it was soooooooooooooo short before, it hasn't gotten to long yet. Maybe I can actually take him to our hairdresser and get a regular hair cut soon.

Speaking of the DS, I swear his feet looked longer. Poor boy has really flat looking feet and maybe that's why they look so long. He isn't complaining about his shoes not fitting so I guess we are good for now.

I haven't had a chance to post any of the cards I made over the weekend. I plan to do that soon. The week is already getting away from me and the weekend is full of plans. I'm dragging the DS to help out at my work Christmas party for our Medical Foster Kids. I want him to see how lucky he is by meeting kids with real "issues" Hope it works better than the whole "Anne Frank" thing. Maybe the seed is planted and will sprout one day. I always tease his sister that she has no Empathy. She says she does, she just has no time for people that complain! LOL.

Speaking of the DD, she finally emailed me her Christmas list. Anyone want to take # 7 for me...."Pay off my credit card". Good grief! She amuses me.

Hope everyone is doing well. My sister is on her way back to the land of the living. We have several people at work that are out sick today. We are still thinking of doing a "Cleansing" on our row. Anyone know a good "witch doctor"? Semi-serious.

Til later....................................

Moody Monday

I'm moody cause after spending 4 days with my DH I had to leave him this morning and head back to the "real world". Bah!!! As promised I did not leave my house or my PJ's except for a couple hours Saturday when I went to K-Mart to fill a RX. I also stayed off the computer for the most part so that I didn't get sucked into the vortex of blogs/emails etc. I did go on line Thursday and ordered something but the rest of the time I stay planted at my craft table. What did I make???

I made a 8 x 8 album, a decorated tin, and .....................44 cards. Yep...44 cards. 10 were from a kit but the other 34 were from my own little hands.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. DS isn't due back until tomorrow after school. Really miss the little guy.

Hope my sister is feeling better. How yucky to be sick all weekend.

Til later...................

Pre-Holiday posting

Not sure how much I'll post over the next few days. Considering the amount of postings by my other "blogging friends" I guess no one will miss me. I thought I'd pop by and say hello and wish you all a Happy, Safe Holiday.

I may post a card tomorrow but can't count on it.

My kids are supposed to be leaving in a few minutes to drive to SC. I have a bet with my DS as to whether they will leave on time or not. LOL!

My sister made it back from Georgia. She & my mom are heading to Lakeland today to visit with Aunt M. Hope they have a nice time.

my DH & I are planning a quiet day tomorrow. No fuss...no cooking except maybe a steak that I've had in the freezer. The rest of the day will be spent watching TV and playing at my craft table. I have to take it down soon as it's where the Tree will go. WAH! Guess I'll be stuck in my craft room for a month.

My MIL finally received the cards yesterday. ARG!!!! I can't believe it took a full week to get to her. Her friend will be getting a very be-lated card.

I have another thing to say about the "postage" issue from a few days ago...I got a (beautiful) card from my mom yesterday and it was LUMPY and she only put a regular stamp on it. Guess I will start making them all uniform and put postage on & mail from home..no more PO. I read the following on another blog and thought I'd share her wisdom...

A few of you asked if these would be OK to send through the mail. I don’t think it would be a problem. When I mail cards with brads, etc. I cut a panel of SU! white to standard size, and lay that on top of the card before I slide it in the envelope. It makes it less bumpy in the envelope. Hope that helps!

http://trudee.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

Guess it's all a crap shoot.

Gotta run to the bank & my doctors office so will say Bye for now.

til later........................

I made SCRAP SCENE

Holy Poop Batman!!!!! I'm so excited! I submitted my holiday cards to ScrapScene because of a call they had last week. They mentioned me on the 18th post and linked to my cards. I didn't even know until today when I read my buddy KIPS blog (THANKS KIP!!!!!!). She gave me a shout out and even sent me a email about it. I didn't get on line at all yesterday. DS was typing his science project and I was on my living room floor for over 6 hours clipping coupons ,that had been piling up for MONTHS, while watching the BUCS game.

Check it out here. Scroll down to the post on the 18th . WOW!!!!!


Til later........................

PS...Shout out to Deb O..Thinking Inking..for answering my email about postage issues. She said she has trouble at one PO but not at another. She mentioned a 1/4" slot thing they can put the envelope through to test if it will pass the sorting machine. Now that I know about that I'll ask them to check before agreeing to pay extra for bulky envelopes. THANKS Deb for your help and daily inspirations!

Mentos experiment and Card update

I'm still smarting from the card issue. I can't believe the lady turned down my offer to refund her the difference in the postage so she could still buy the cards. Instead, she went to the store & bought cards. I know she understood my offer and still shaking my head as to why my offer made her uncomfortable. I was OK with it and not sure why she acted the way she did.

NO matter. I ended up taking the brads off all the cards and using them myself to mail to family & friends. I went back to the same PO and the clerk that day was originally going to just run them through at the regular price but I made a comment about "What a difference a day made" and he realized they were "oversized". He charged me .58 per envelope but NONE were charged at the $1.13. He never felt them up like the other clerk did. I still learned my lesson and will be more caredful about the size of my cards from now on. I emailed one of my favorite "on line" card makers and asked what she does about "bulk-y cards". I'll let you know when she replies.

Speaking of cards, here is one I made my MIL to send to her best friend for her birthday. Unfortunately I failed to mail them in time so it will not arrive before the womans birthday. I'm bummed but the card is still nice..what do you think?

It is my first attempt at an Acrylic card. I used White ink to stamp the front of the card, glued the roses that I'd watercolored and put some glitter to highlight the petals to the outside. Inside I glued card stock to the front & back plus another piece on the outside of the back.

My MIL & her friend are 60+ year friends and my MIL has a wicked sense of humor so I made the saying on the inside funny..

Here is a close up of the front.

Here is another card I made for a Co-worker. She needed a card for a new family member. I love these "Onesies" cards. I made sure not to use brads in case she has t0 mail it.

Lastly, I'll leave you with a picture of the DS taken during the great Science Project of 2007..the Mento's in the Soda bottle experiment....

Til later...................................

Cards for Sale***EDITED

I'm so excited!! Yesterday a co-worker asked if I had Thanksgiving cards for sale. (I have a sign up around the office saying that I have cards for all occasions for sale) I told her I did but I'd taken the box home to make the envelopes but could bring them back today.

I made a couple more last night and brought them in this morning. She bought 8 of them!!!!!

Another co-worker heard us talking yesterday and said she needed one for her sister but was leaving for a conference today. No problem. She paid me for the card, sight unseen, called me last night with her sisters address, I signed the card for her and I'm mailing it today.

WaHOOOOOOOOOOOOO. As of this moment I only have 4 cards left. I haven't even mailed my own cards! Hopefully I be busy making more tonight if I sell the rest of these.

Someone else just asked me to make a "Congratulations" for a new baby card & a "Thinking about you" for our co-worker that is recovering from her biopsy..

Maybe word will start getting around and I can retire.

Til later......................

******UPDATE...I went to the PO to mail stuff for work and got postal charges for the cards the lady bought. I thought they might be a little higher than normal due to the size and offered to find out for her. Well, long sad story short...the postman said because of the size and the fact several of them would have to be hand canceled due to the "embellishments" he could feel..about half of them would be $1.13 each to mail. The rest were .58. When I got back to the office and told the lady she said that was more than she wanted to spend to mail them and didn't want the cards anymore. She said she felt bad because they were really nice but the postage was an issue. I offered to give her the difference in what postage would have cost and what it will cost so she's not out anymore than she planned and she said no. She said she didn't feel comfortable doing that.

?????????

I'm offering to "eat" the postage difference so that she can still have the cards and not have to go out and buy others and she says she doesn't feel comfortable?? I'd much rather loose $5 then the total amount of the cards. Plus now I have cards to sell again at this late date. POOP!!

To make matters worse, I spent the money while I was gone at lunch so now I have to get it and give it back to her tomorrow.

Lesson learned. I will be very careful about my embellishments and try to make them flatter & the "average" size. Either that or I will be sure people know that they may require extra postage. Double POOP!! I'm so disappointed.

Guess I won't need to make more cards for myself now that I have 8 more than I thought.

OH...and did I mention that after rushing to create, print , stuff envelopes and go to the PO for work, I found out when I got back that I had the WRONG CHURCH listed on the invitation to our Christmas party for our clients. This was right after finding out about the cards.

TRIPLE POOP!!!

Boring but posting

Not an exciting post but wanted to stop by and say hi!!

HI!

How's your mom & them?

Sorry, it's a Southern saying my DH taught me.

Maybe I shouldn't post when I have nothing to say.

Got my OIL changed in my car this morning. As usual they had a list of "recommendations" for things that need attention. Thanks. Not today.

Hey, we haven't talked about TV shows lately. Let's do that shall we?? We aren't going to discuss the Writers Strike. We are just going to dish about the shows that are still being aired.

Prison Break....GOOD GRIEF..still a great show and one they should show to everyone that is considering a life of crime. The threat of being sent to SOMA would keep me on the straight and narrow. What is going to happen to Micheal? Will they get LJ back?

Hero's..so now we understand what happened the last four months..or do we? How did the guy that was the "hero" in ancient Japan get to be the guy ADAM that befriends Peter?? Totally confused.

Bones....ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Gross. Between the 80's references and the soupy gunk in the time capsule...made it hard to eat my dinner. (I got home late).

House......one of the funniest episodes in awhile. Unless you don't get or appreciate Gregories dry quips. I laughed out loud many, many times. Even Wilson got in some zingers. LOVE IT!!

Anyone watching JOURNEYMAN?? Great twist in the last show. Hmmmmmm???!!!

BTW, if you missed DAMAGES (and don't say I didn't tell you to watch) you may get to catch up before they have the new season. I'm glad to see they agreed to two more seasons, at least. Hopefully the writing can hold up.

My sis is headed to Georgia today to spend a week with the cutest little boys on the planet. So glad their mom & dad are getting a chance to go away for a well deserved trip. Looks like the weather should be nice. I'm sure they wouldn't even care if it rained, just as long as they have some peace & quiet & "couple" time. JENN..don't worry about the boys. They are in good hands and they won't be to spoiled by the time you get back. LOL!!!

Guess I've wasted enough of your time in the name if a post so will leave you now. Happy Wed!!

Til later...................

I'm so proud of myself

I organized Sunday and my scrap area is so efficent I found everything I looked for yesterday. I put together a "Idea" book of stuff I've printed off various craft/card making sites. I finished and mailed the cards I made for my MIL. I took the little goodie bags for my neices boys to my mom's so my sister can take them to Georgia tomorrow. I made it to work this morning despite an overwhelming urge to stay home with my DH and the "parking lot traffic jams". I haven't had any chocolate today....yet.

No wonder I didn't post till now. I'm to busy patting myself on my back.

How was your long weekend?

Til later...............

Happy B-lated to Georgia & beyound

I didn't make it on line yesterday so you will have to forgive the lateness of my Birthday wishes.

Yesterday was my "Nephew-in-laws" birthday and the anniversary of my Dad's birthday. I hope Josh had a super day. I know he is looking forward to their trip soon. I hope he got to spend some quality time with his wife & sons...HI JENN & BOYS!!!!!

As I predicted, I spent Saturday morning at the local community sale and then wandered around..stopping here and there..soaking up the local flavor until it was time to head to the Crop. Picked up a few things and missed out on a couple things that will piss me off for awhile. Even though I am no longer in the Antique/Junk selling business it still ticks me off when someone beats me to a great deal. When something is in your blood for over 15 years, it's hard to shake. I did beat her to a couple items but I'm sure she got the better end of the "selling deal"..if I was still selling.

Picked up some Martha Stewart at Micheal's last night for 70% off. Her Halloween stuff is clearanced and it gives me a small amount of pleasure buying her , used to couldn't use a coupon, stuff on clearance. Yes, I know she is laughing all the way to the bank. I still didn't pay retail!

Had fun at the Y crop even though there was no peeing in the pants. (Inside joke for the people that crop with me.) Anyway....several items of interest were reveled but they aren't my secrets so they are safe on this blog. HI DOUBLE D's!!!!!

Getting ready to sit at my craft table & create magic..or at least get messy and frustrated cause what's in my head isn't going on to the paper correctly.

I hear the football games coming on the TV and that means NASCAR can't be far behind. Bucs are off this week so won't have to worry about them. Was glad to see the BULLS rebound. Hope they can finish strong and prove they aren't a flash in the pan. They maybe sitting home on New Years Day watching the "I should've been there" Bowl but at least they'll know they didn't give up.

Hope you are having a great weekend. Don't forget to thank a Vet for their service to our country. THANKS Steve!

Til later......................

Totally relate

I found this on one of my favorite Scrapbooking/card making blogs. I decided we need a little humor and it will be a super easy out for my Friday Blog entry.

Some of my younger readers won't "get" the post but if you survived the 70's you will LOVE this!

WARNING...put down your coffee cup. I can't be held responsible for you ruining your keyboard with spewed liquids.

Enjoy.


Til later.............................

Starting to feel "cursed"

At my job, we sit in rows of cubicles. Yes, prairie dogging goes on and all that you think about working in a cubbie would be like. Our row is made up of my "group/team" , a couple Administrative Secs & a two person team that staffs the kids we take care of. We are a little "family" in the middle of the rest of the staff (actually my former team was like that too..they still include me in their lunches cause we all got so close).

Anyway...........

If we believed in that sort of thing, we'd swear our row was cursed. Just about everyone has been touched in one way or another with illness and death in the last 6 months. We've had several cancer scares and several deaths. We've had family members that have had tests and ruled out cancer and others that have been diagnosed and are battling the monster.

Our latest is my wonderful team member I mentioned yesterday. The tests revealed Lymph involvement and they took out more tissue from her breast than they originally thought they would. She ended up spending the night in the hospital. Six of us walked over to see her this morning. She looks good, all things considered. She is supposed to go home later today after speaking with the Physical Therapist about her arm movement. They are supposed to have the test results from yesterday sometime soon.

CRAP!!!! It's so unfair. I think our row has contributed enough to the cancer stats for this year.

Can we stop now?

Ironically, they had a bake sale scheduled for today to benefit the Breast Cancer center where our friend is being treated. I'm convinced there are NO calories in any of the food consumed from that event. I did my part for the cause.

I wish I could do more.

Keep clicking the Mammogram fund button on the left side of my blog. It's a little something we can do. That & continue to pray.

Thanks.

JC...we love you!!!!


Til later............................

On a brighter note....8 months today!!! Love you DH.

Also...I have a light & airy post set for tomorrow. That is if I've figured out the "pre-writing" posting option. Right now it shows as a draft but I put a time to post so we'll see if it works. If not I'll just change it to "Post" and we'll all be happy.

October is over but the fight continues

You may have noticed I still have my THINK PINK stuff on my blog. No, I didn't forget to remove it and NO, I'm not to lazy to redo my screen. I've left it up in honor of the women who are still living with and fighting this disease.

One of my co-workers is at the hospital right now getting tested and having surgery. We are all with her in spirit and anxiously waiting to hear the outcome. She could use all the support we can offer so I'm doing my small part. I wore a red bra & a red shirt..I know the color should be PINK but I don't really have anything I could have worn so RED it is.

If you could send up a prayer for her and her family I'm sure it will be heard. Thanks.


On a slightly different note, my niece is interviewing for a new job and could also use some good thoughts. She's worried about her interviewing skills. I told her that it has already been decided and she shouldn't be nervous. I sure hope the answer is YES as they could use some good news. HUGS to you Jenna!!!!!! They would be lucky to have you.

Looking forward to a 3 day weekend. My plan is to stay home & work on examples of things I want to sell for Christmas $$. Hopefully the ideas in my head will translate to the actual items. I will probably head out to a local community yard sale on Saturday morning but then I'm sitting my butt in my craft chair and only getting up to visit "the facility".

What do you have planned?? Going to hit the sales??

BTW, I had lunch with my mom yesterday. It was a nice surprise and a pleasant hour. THANKS for calling mom. Glad we could get together.

Til later......................

My sister has a better memory than I do

How she remembers the family stuff she does is amazing. Maybe it's because I seem to have a block on certain things or maybe it's just because I have so much other CRAP in my head that I forget the important things..like bragging rights.

Remember how I rooted for the SOX and told you it was because I'm from Mass? Well apparently I forgot the fact that we actually had a RED SOX member in our family tree. Click on my sisters Blog on the left & scroll down a couple posts. She has all the details listed.

Man, gotta start paying better attention to my family heritage. My mother traced our tree back to about 1600 or earlier (I forgot..surprised??) and I know we had some famous people crop up. We have family that came over with the original settlers but there is one missing link to confirm it. I think she discovered we are related to George Bush and that's probably when I stopped paying attention.

No comments.

You can't choose your family.

Til later.......................

Where has the time (change) gone?

Did you enjoy waking up when your body said it was time but the clock said you still had another hour to sleep? Not sure how that will work out tomorrow but it was nice this morning. I stayed in bed and watched 4 ScrapbookMemories and then the Season premier of NIP TUCK. Looks like another good/weird season.

Had our yard sale yesterday. DS was disappointed as he didn't sell his stuff but he did get some $$ for things that I had on my table that used to belong to him. He decided that should be his money so I agreed..mainly to shut him up....what a whinnier!!!! LOL. I got rid of crap that was hanging out in the garage and had been dragged around for the last few years. I sold a few scrapbook items and have my TLC kits at Close OUT prices. If you are interested, comment or email me & I'll send you the list.

Spent today testing some stamps/ink colors/coloring on porcelain and straightening up my "dining room" craft area. Now I'm ready to have some dinner and watch the Sunday night shows. I think I have DH talked into watching the Amazing Race. I used to watch it but it hasn't been part of our routine. We are both burned out on the Extreme Makeover show so he's got the AR set to tape and we'll see if it makes the cut.

What did you do this weekend??

Til later.......................

Halloween Pictures & stuff

Hope everyone enjoyed/survived their Halloween. My DS was with his dad last night so I'm not sure what he ended up doing. All I know is that he left the house w/o a costume so unless he went as a "12 year old boy"....he didn't dress up.

Just for the record...according to the kids that came by our house last night he WAS NOT to old to go Trick or Treating.

Speaking of the kids....I needed to finish loading pictures onto a project I was trying to order from Vista Print and the offer expired at midnight so I was multi tasking ...for 3 hours!!! I was in the computer/scrapbook room trying to select pictures for this project and every three minutes or so the door bell would ring and I'd get up..go to the front door..hand out candy...go back and repeat.....from 6:00 ish until 9pm ish.

Somewhere in the middle of that I decided that perhaps I could find better pictures from a disc so I inserted an unmarked disc..and the computer decided it needed to update something. An HOUR later it was still updating & removing and adding stuff and I finally had to take the darn disc out and I'm not sure what I've done but all I do know is that I wasted a hour and finally just loaded the rest of the pictures and then.....

I decided to scrap the project because it was 10pm and it was time to join my patient dh and I didn't want to spend any more time on the "bottomless project". I suspected they would repeat the offer and I was correct. This morning I had an email saying that they'd had tech. difficulties with their site and loading pictures so they were offering the same stuff again and now I have another MONTH to get it worked out and ordered. I did order the stuff I'd already put in my cart so it wasn't a total loss.

I loaded all my Halloween pictures but since they are on my home computer and I'm at work (big surprise) I'll have to add them later. They just sent a link to pictures they took at work yesterday but when I checked, my pic was HUGE so you'll have to wait. BTW, when I say HUGE..I mean the picture...not me....well, I do look preggiers so I guess in truth I do look HUGE...I'm not preggers BTW so don't ask..nope ..just that DH's shirt made me look fat...yeah.. that's it...not my fault.

I was really suprised by the number of kids last night. Last year we had 3 and they were the neighbors coming to meet the new people. This year it was non stop for about three hours until I finally turned out the light cause I was frankly tired of getting up and answering the door. Didn't have any distruction to the house/car or yard so I guess no one was disappointed when the light went out.

Highlight of the night was when a little girl came to the door dressed as a cheerleader with blood all over her face. My first thought was "Clare from Hero's". She had no idea what I was talking about. She had a little witch/princess..can't remember.. with her and she was the first to ask what I was dressed as. I told them and the next three times someone rang the bell..it was the cheerleader bringing people to see the woman in the "????" costume..LOL.

In the middle of all the Halloween/picture loading stuff I realized that the Baby shower card I'd been commissioned to make yesterday would need to be done TONIGHT (Halloween night) because the lady doesn't work on Fridays and the shower is this Saturday. ARG!! I ended up cutting out the base while answering the door and loading pictures and then finished it and the envelope about 9:15 while trying to listen/watch Criminal Minds. It (the card..not Criminal minds..I'll review that another time) turned out OK but not as good as I'd have liked if I'd had more time. My friend was pleased enough and turned down my offer of a "rebate" on her purchase price.

Now that you are probably bored or confused by my time jumping/need a calculator post I'll say.............

Til later..........................

BTW...Cyber Hugs to Ms J's-E and to Kip with her back trouble. We KNOW about back trouble so we hope she finds relief soon.

EDITED to add Pictures:

This is a picture of the "treats" I took to work. They are "Sour Cream" containers that I Made out of Halloween paper. I put half of a toilet paper tube inside to keep the shape but next time I don't think I will. I wrapped Black/orange & white jelly beans in saran wrap & stuffed them in the tube. Formed the roll of paper over it, glued the ends in opposite directions, crimped the ends and glued the "Pumpkin Poop" label on top. (you can google & find several versions).

My Costume. The knife is a pizza cutter. I left it at my desk all day, stuck in the box and only got it when people couldn't figure out what I was. Sadly, because of the "climate" of our world these days..if I ever use it again... I think I'll make a paper knife" so not to freak anyone out.

Happy Halloween

I dressed up for work but you'll have to wait to see pictures. I'll leave you with this image I borrowed from an email I got.

Til later...............................

Karate update and B-day gift pics

Guess that title says it all.

I wanted to share a couple pictures of my friend Jackie with the birthday gift I made her. I have her permission so you won't have to look at a blurry picture of her face. I used a paper mache flower pot-painted green, florist foam in the base, wooden dowels covered in floral tape for the

stems, stamped leaves, Flower heads from the vintage cards I got a few months ago, chipboard to attach the flowers to the stems & a stamped greeting. I used paper/crimped filler and stamped a flower pattern around the lip of the pot.

DS got the results of his test and he PASSED!!! He was so nervous he didn't want to go to class tonight. Now he is a Orange belt with a stripe (white stripe??). Anyway...thanks for all your support.

After staying up for Game 4, I'm tired. I made 10 Halloween treats for people at work and I'm done for the night.

Til later...................

World Champs Baby

After a horrible sports weekend..it was great to see the RED SOX win the World Series. WAHOOO!!!!!!! I stayed up till the bitter end so I'm sleepy today. Doesn't make up for the BULLS & the BUCS (loosing by 1 point-arg!!) but it was a bright spot.

Worked on a gift for my friend at work..forgot to take a picture..and she seems to really like it. Maybe I can bring my camera and take a picture of her and the gift. Worked on the card I was stressing about. It was my first acylic card and turned out OK. I will take a picture but can't post it for awhile as it's for a B-day in late November. I didn't want to wait until the last minute in case I had to go to plan "B". Tonight I want to work on some Halloween treat boxes for people at work. Yes, last minute.

Speaking of Halloween...my DS has decided he is to OLD to dress up and go door to door. WAHHH. What am I suppose to do for Chocolate?? I know I can buy tons at the after Halloween sales but it is sad to think my little boy is getting to old for holidays. Maybe next year we can start having Halloween parties instead.

Phone duty today so better run before the girl has a hissy!!

NIP TUCK starts tomorrow!!!!!!!

Til later......................

Karate Saturday

Hope you are having a great Saturday. I got up early and hit a few yard sales before running home to get ready for my DS's Karate test. I thought I'd share a couple pictures while I'm waiting for a project to dry. If it turns out, I'll show it to you later.

This first picture is my DS doing one of his Kata moves. I blurred out the other children since I didn't think their parents would appreciate them being broadcast to my millions of readers.

Actually I was playing with some features of my Picasa and discovered I could do this.

Not sure about the eyes closed but I love the pictures where he's kicking. It's amazing to me how high he gets.

We won't find out until Monday whether he passed or not. It's hard to tell. He is really good with his Katas but he isn't as aggressive as I'd like on the sparing. I noticed when going through the pictures how closely Sempi was watching him so it's all up in the air. Depends on what the teacher was looking for.

Before I run I want to share something I picked up this morning in my Sale-ing...The colors didn't translate well as it is really very green....

Yep........it's a Vera Bradley..found it at my local Thrift Store.

$2.50

Not sure if I'll keep it or try & sell it on Ebay since I'm not a Vera fan...well at least not enough to pay the usual prices. Maybe for $2.50 I can change my mind.

Gonna run....the Red Sox are winning. It almost helps the sting of the BULLS loosing again today.

Til later..................................