Light Box

Amanda asked how I made my light box. I have to admit, I found the idea on this blog. I didn’t go find the instructions that she used, I just looked at her picture and made my own up!

I initially made it out of cardstock and that just didn’t work – not firm enough, although it did do what I wanted. I took the Thank You card picture from last week using that! Since it did what I wanted it to do I decided to buy some Foam Board at Wal-Mart and re-make it this weekend. I just used packing tape to tape everything together. That is just a piece of tissue paper over the hole cut in the one side (the hole is cut the size of 11×11 inches). It works perfectly! I just shine my Ott Lite through the tissue paper and it gives it the perfect amount of diffused light to take a great picture. No glare or shadows!

I made this one 12×12 inches, but I’m thinking of doing another one that is big enough to do a full 12×12 scrapbook page.

A Deal with the Devil!

Well – I was forced to make a deal with the Devil today – for those of you who don’t know – that’s Amanda!

We finally talked her into going to the DJ’s Fall Retreat – in exchange, I’ve promised to post at least once a week to the good ole’ blog here!

So, some new things for me. I’m in the process of getting a new tattoo. Most of the outlining is done, but all the coloring and shading is left to go. It’s an addition to the sunflower I have on my right ankle already, and goes down onto my foot. I would highly recommend NEVER getting a foot tattoo, unless you have a really high tolerance for pain. I don’t, and about 5 minutes in was ready to give up – of course, now I don’t have that choice. Anyway, it looks really good so far, and I know it’ll look good when it’s done! We’re going to work on it again in a couple of weeks – maybe finish it. We can only hope anyway!

I turned 34 on June 28th. I started my own little Project 365 that day and will continue to take a picture a day until June 28th, 2010 – my 35th Birthday. I’m calling it my Journey to 35! I’m still playing with the layouts some, so once I have it more concrete I’ll post some of that too.

So for some art I figured I would start with some pages from my Hawai’i scrapbook. I’m surprisingly close to being done with that scrapbook and I’m quite happy with how it’s turning out to boot!

This was Melissa, Terri and I at the Pearl Factory booth at the International Market Place in Waikiki! Needless to say, we all walked out of there much poorer! But with some GORGEOUS jewelry!

Enjoy! (Click image to bigify)!

Insulated Lunch Bag for a Good Cause (+ a little Politics)

I was reading some Blogs today and came across this post on Kami’s blog.

I’ve been looking for a new lunchbag for a few days now. My friend Melissa found some cute ones at Target, but I searched 2 Target’s and couldn’t find them. This was the perfect solution!!! The price was good, plus $5 of the purchase price goes towards the Susan G Koman Cure Cancer Program. You can’t beat that coming up on Breast Cancer Month!

Now, all I’m going to say about this clip is, God Bless David Letterman! (And yes, this is the little bit of Politics for the evening!) The joking aside, he makes some extremely valid points about what’s going on with the McCain/Palin campaign.

Happy Blogoversary To Me!

WOW! I almost missed it! 40 minutes to spare! It’s been a busy Holiday for me and finally just turned my computer on about 10 minutes ago. It’s still quite loud in my neighborhood, and since I’ve been up since 5am, I’m really hoping things will slow down soon!

Anyway, I started my Blog one year ago today!!! WOOHOO!!! And for all you Americans – I hope you had a great 4th of July!!!

So, since I last posted, I also had a Birthday last weekend. I turned 33! To celebrate, I did this:

For those that know me, they know this means I cut a good 10-12 inches off my hair! Talk about crazy. I’m happy with the a-line cut I have now though, it’s just taking a bit of getting used to. I’m still having major shampoo issues – as in I’m trying to use way too much!!! LOL

I also bought myself a new car about 3 weeks ago – a new 2008 Ford Escape! I LOVE IT!

So, there’s all the catch up on me!

Here are the last 3 cards from the Thank You card kit I made at my Retreat a couple of weekends ago!

Stay tuned in the next couple of days – I’ll be throwing out some Blog Candy to celebrate a few things – my new car, my Birthday, my Blogoversary AND I see I’ve gone over 15,000 hits!!! Have a great weekend everyone!

WOW – It’s been awhile!

Well, I’ve been practicing this for awhile now (click on the picture for more info):

My friend Melissa posted about this a few entries ago on her Blog. It really struck a cord. I hate the feeling of HAVING to post. And lately, I just haven’t felt the Mojo.

I had a stamp party last weekend though so had to come up with something! These are the 2 cards I came up with:

The “Thanks” card is a complete and total CASE of Kelly Jo’s card here. I love it so much and just had to copy it.

The “Happy Everything” card is using the new Sarsparilla papers from CTMH, the Bitty Brads, Cocoa ribbon, and the June SOTM. I also used my new Oval Nestabilities! The sketch came from Michelle at Mish Mash.

While I’m in a sharing mood, I’ll show my new ribbon rack in all it’s glory that my Dad built me. I’ve had it for awhile, just never go around to taking a picture of it. It’s pretty much full already. Go figure!

Now, on to something a lot less craft related. It’s going to be a bit Political, so if you aren’t into that, please feel free to stop reading now. I just want to say that I’m completely happy that the Primary Season is finally over. Now hopefully we can get on with this election and elect a new President who can change the direction that our country is heading. I have to say, pulling into the gas station and seeing $4.10 a gallon for gas, $4.20 for a gallon of milk, not to mention the price of rice and other groceries these days is more than a little disheartening.

That all being said, this is who I choose to support:

I would encourage EVERY person who is eligible to vote this year, to be informed on the candidates, and make a choice this Fall. Most importantly, VOTE – it doesn’t matter who you vote for, just VOTE. It’s the only way our voices can be heard. I know there are people out there who don’t think that their votes matter – but that’s simply not true. Living in a state where the last Governor race came down to 133 votes out of 2.8 million+ cast – I guarantee you – every vote counts!

For anyone who wants a free Obama sticker (like the picture I posted above), Move On is giving away free ones here.

Ok, enough on that – that’s about the most Political I’ll get, promise!

I’ll also try to be better about posting a couple of times a week. I’m getting in gear to get some major scrapbooking done. I had a bunch of pictures printed at Costco last night in preparation of a Scrapbook Retreat I’m going to in less than 2 weeks! And the weekend of the 28th I’ll be going to a crop on Friday night till the wee hours of the night/morning. I’m really looking forward to both events and getting some mojo back!

Take care and have a great weekend everyone!

A bit of a break!

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m still alive!

After being sick most of last week, it looks like this week is going to be a busy one for me. I’m going to be working a lot of extra hours to get caught up before the end of the month. Plus I need to get back on track with my fitness program. That’s a tough one. And finally, I’m starting a Cross Stitch Stitch-a-Long that kicked off today. And on top of everything else, I need to start and finish and file my taxes! So, all this to say, I probably won’t be posting a card until this weekend.

I hope you all have a great week though – and check back this weekend!!! And keep your eye out for some Blog Candy – it looks like I hit 10,000 hits! WOW!!! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Lastly, I got a RAK from Nicole at Moments 2 Treasure.

Thanks so much!! Love it!

High Performance Twin?

So last weekend my Mom was very excited that my Dad had built her this!

All I have to say this weekend is … HA! Check this out! This is what my Dad calls the “High Performance Twin” model of the ATG Stand.

When he showed up with it tonight, and the appropriate amount of ooohhing and aahhing had taken place he asked me “Who’s Your Daddy?”

Well, here’s my Daddy!

Another New Blog to check out!

Well, another person has entered blog-land!

My Mom!!!!

Go check her out at:

Stampin’ in Seattle

June 2008 Scrapbook Retreat

Hi everyone!

I just want to let everyone know about a great Scrapbook Retreat coming up in June if anyone is interested in coming. It’s going to be in SE Washington in the Tri-Cities! The dates are June 19-21.

Deb and Jane have been putting this on for 5 years now. I’ve gone to their Fall Retreat every year, and have been to the summer event one time. They are SO much fun. We have a great time, have all made new friends, and (sometimes) get a lot of work done!

To find out more please visit Neighbor Jane Payne’s site! If you have questions, their contact information is on that page, or you can email me with questions and I’d be happy to help you!!!

A great time is really had by all, and any of us that have gone to one will tell you it’s totally worth every penny spent to go! Deb and Jane both work so hard to give us a great retreat each time, and we’re all very glad that they do!

New Look!

As you can tell, I’m going for a new look on the Blog. I’m still doing some tweaking, so bear with me a bit!

Also, it looks like I’ve hit 5000 Hits! WOOHOO!!! Over the next couple of days I’ll throw up a Blog Candy post and see what we can give away!!!! Stay Tuned for that!

It snowed!!!!!!!!

So, I took my Dogs out for the last time tonight, and the snow was UNREAL! It started snowing earlier this afternoon, and just got heavier and heavier as the night went on. It’s stopped for now, but supposed to pick back up tomorrow and Saturday!!!

Here are some pics to show how deep it is (5-6 inches).

Picnic Table (sorry for the poor quality, it was taken through blinds, through glass and with no flash!):

Jack Plowing Snow – Poor Jack, he’s been on steroids for 2+ months now and has gained a lot of weight so his tummy is dragging – he truly is plowing snow!

And finally here is a picture of all the snow clinging to him. He had huge chunks of snow. I had to get as much of by hand as possible, then wrap him in a towel to keep him warm and get him dry! I kept the flash off to see the snow better.

Happy Holidays!

Hello!

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas! For those of you lucky enough to still be on vacation … I’m jealous! For those of us who had to go back to work today, at least tomorrow is Thursday already!

I had a really good long weekend. We had a lot of company, and a lot of good times. We technically celebrated Christmas Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Funnily enough, we did nothing yesterday! But it worked out good.

It seems like I made out like a bandit. I got Sirius radio for my car, which I was thrilled about. I wasn’t really expecting to get it. When Mom kept asking over and over again what I wanted, and I finally came up with this, she didn’t seem so enthused. But, voila, there it was! My Dad and brother got it hooked up and it’s great.

I got a couple of DVD’s (the latest Harry Potter and the last Pirates), and a Cricut Cartridge (50 States), a Fitness Monitor, plus a whole pile of other scrapbooking supplies and other stuff. I have a few gift cards to use up, and some cash as well! I have quite a few very thoughtful people in my life, that’s for sure.

Now I have several Thank You cards to make and send out (for sure need to do this since I was really lazy and didn’t get my Christmas cards out!!! OOPS!).

I thought I would share a couple of the funniest gifts I received this Holiday Season. The first is from my co-worker Char. I believe the pictures speak for themselves!

First, I got this:

Then these came out of the box:

I wonder what she’s trying to say?!?!?! LMAO! The funny thing is, she gave our manager the same thing! We always joke that the 3 of us working together is like a little witches coven, so I suppose it’s appropriate!

This next gift came from my friend Jill and my mother. I’m not exactly sure what the point of it is, or the message they are trying to send (Yeah Right!!!!).

Anyway, overall … great Christmas! Got to spend time with a lot of my family and we had a lot of fun (and ate a lot of food, mostly sugar of course). And as much as I look forward to this time of year, I’m always glad it’s over, and I’m looking forward to 2008.

I was reading over at Marci’s Blog today and her post from today really made me think. She has for the last few years picked a word that defines the upcoming year for her basically. I love this idea. I’ve decided to pick a word for myself this year, and that word is persevere.

per·se·vere (Pronunciation Key: pur-suh-veer)

1. to persist in anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement; continue steadfastly.
2. to persist in speech, interrogation, argument, etc.; insist.
3. to bolster, sustain, or uphold: unflagging faith that had persevered him.

When I look at this definition, the first one is the one I’m going for more than anything. I want to persevere in many areas of my life.

I have many goals for 2008, some craft related.

2008 Crafting Goals

1 – Post on my Blog a minimum of 3 new cards/layouts/projects a week.
2 – Create a minimum of 6 scrapbook layouts (completed!!!) a month
3 – Keep my crafting space clean and organized! (This is a big one!!!!)
4 – Reign in my spending. Use what I have. Stay within a defined budget for my crafting.

I’m sure there are more, but those are the basics.

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of 2007! I’ll post again in a day or two (the next 2 days are going to be super busy at work and I’ll be glad when it’s over!!!!!).

It finally feels like Christmas!

Well, it took me the better part of 12 hours, yes, 12 hours, but I finally got the Christmas tree put up today!

How in the world could it take me so long you ask? Well … let me tell you!

I got a new fake tree this year. A 7.5 Donner Fir. Not pre-lit. The fake tree I got rid of a couple of years ago was 2 pieces, plus the stand. All the branches were attached, they just folded up onto itself for storage. I assumed this was the same way. Imagine my surprise when I opened the box and found this:

Those branches are in piles by the way – by their color coded branches. You can’t tell from that picture – but there are 8 layers to this tree, not including the top – which is one piece. As I’m looking around I’m wondering what I’ve gotton myself into.

Well I start in … it’s not that hard really. It’s hard on my hands and arms – my forearms have a ton of tiny scratches on them right now. So, I finally get all the branches in, and shaped close to how I want them. So I start stringing the lights. Since this tree is HUGE (I clearly didn’t have a good understanding of how big 7.5 feet tall would be), I decided that I’m going to wrap the branches with the light strands so that there is good coverage. Well … I get the 6th strand put on, and go looking for another one. Yep, you got it … I have no more lights. I can’t believe it. I have a good 3.5 foot of tree left, and no more lights.

It’s about 4pm at this point (I started this little project at Noon). So I contemplate. The nearest store is 35 miles. I go. I can’t leave it, and I can’t decorate until the lights are all on (well, I probably could, but it’s just not right).

So, I finally get back, finishing stringing lights. Take a break, and then hang ornaments for awhile.

This is the final product. I’m pretty happy with it. There are 800 lights on it, and thankfully I didn’t miss a blinker lightbulb (I was pulling them out cause the blinking drives me CRAZY). It’s a little blurry, but it’s the best pic I could get of it. My camera really wants to focus on the lights and I don’t have the patience to figure out what setting I need to change it to tonight!

Figgy Pudding anyone?

I’m so excited!! I finally got some Basicgrey Figgy Pudding. The store I was at was all out of the Paper Pack, so I just went ahead and bought 2 of each pattern. That was cheap (hahaha)! Now I need to figure out what I’m going to use it on … most likely I’ll just save to look at for awhile. I’m a true-blue paper horder it seems!

It’s snowing!

It started on my way home from work, and has just kept right on falling! It’s a little wet and heavy right now, but we’re supposed to get 3-5 inches tonight. It’s the first snow of the year!

The picture is a little fuzzy, but it’s really hard to get a good night time pic of snow!!