One of the great things about this hobby of mine, is the friends that you meet through it.

I met Cynthia for the first time 4-5 years ago. I only see her one time a year - at my November Scrapbooking Retreat. But the friendships that you feel with people you only see one time a year, and keep up with the rest of year via their blogs, are as strong as any.

Cynthia was only 39, and she leaves behind a husband and 6 children. Please keep her family in your thoughts.

To be honest, I haven’t done any new crafting in that time. It’s disgraceful, I know. Part of my problem is my craft space is a PIG STY. I’m slowly working on gaining control in this room, but it’s clearly a huge undertaking.

I have an all-day crop I’m going to on Saturday with a bunch of my scrapping girls; Donna, Nicole, Darla, Amanda, Jill, Deb, Sandy, Sonia, and Mom! It’s going to be so much fun! We’re going to be spending the day at one of my favorite scrapbooking stores - Treasury of Memories! I had pictures printed last weekend for 2 mini-albums I’m going to be doing. I know what papers I’m going to use for one, and I just have to pack everything up and I’ll be good to go!!

This is a scrapbook page that I did at the June Retreat I went to. I had a ton of pictures from the sunset on the beach. I just kept clicking so it was in all stages. I didn’t really know of a good way to scrap this - and came up with this. This was a pre-printed CTMH base page, but I changed it up. The basic design is the same though.

Enjoy!

Supplies: CTMH Chocolate Base Page, Bazzill Cardstock, CTMH Grosgrain white ribbon, CTMH Circle Window Charms

I love that saying. I made this card a couple of weeks ago. These are the colors that I’m really feeling these days. They are pretty fall-ish I suppose, butso pretty together.

I hope you all had a great 4th of July. It was a fairly quiet weekend for me. I did happen to snap this picture the night of the 4th on our way out to see the fireworks! I think it really turned out very cool! (There’s no editing here, I don’t know how to do that … yet … I am the proud owner of this
book though, so hopefully soon I’ll figure it out!)

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!

Supplies:
Bazzill Cardstock
Basic Grey Sugared
Misc CTMH stamps
Misc CTMH accessories and Ink
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing folder

Imagine my surprise to hear that people DO think I have an obligation to post more on my Blog! Several of my friends feel that I’m severely lacking in that obligation lately (and yes, I’m speaking specifically to you and you). With that said, I will make an REAL effort to post at least 2-3 times a week. I hoping that this weekend has given me some inspiration to stay motivated for awhile.

I actually got a lot done this week - by my standards anyway. I got a Thank You card set done (pictures to follow) and I started and completed my scrapbook for the Grand Cayman trip I took last May (13 months ago, not 1 month ago). It’s 18 pages, and I was thrilled to be done with it.

I really, really love these Retreats. It’s so great to get together with these people each year. I’ve really become friends with them, and it’s like no time has passed at all when we get together. We have such great fun! Thanks Deb and Jane for doing these - I know they are a lot of work, but they are so much fun!

And I’d like to introduce a new member to the blogging community - our friend Donna FINALLY started a blog! You can find her over at Close to my Blog! She’s a CTMH Consultant too (my upline), and a great friend!

Here’s part of the Thank you Card set I made this weekend! I’ll post the rest of the cards as the week goes on - there are 6 cards total!

The envelope was made using a 6×6 page protector. I don’t know who created this template, but a CTMH Consultant came up with this several years ago and I came across it on my computer and thought I would finally use it! It’s held closed with a velcro dot. I used Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey Sugared papers, misc CTMH embellishments, misc CTMH stamps, and Barn Red and Olive Green ink.

And just for fun, does anyone wonder how much one person needs to take on a 3 day scrapbooking Retreat? Well, this is how much I brought home! You see, I came home with MORE stuff than I left with because of three, no, make that FOUR, trips to craft/scrapbook stores this weekend. And this doesn’t include my personal stuff, snacks, and my dogs and all their stuff for Boarding. And of course, I didn’t use half of it - but it’s a good thing I brought it, cause Donna used what I didn’t!

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!

Enjoy!

I’ve added a Playlist to my sidebar. However, I have the Auto-Start option set to NO, so you won’t be scared out of your whits when you come to my site.

Also, right now, it only has David Cook stuff on it - hehe! I {heart} him!! I’ll be playing with it more and adding more music later!