Followers

Monday, July 30, 2012

Olympic Weekend and Tammy's Scrapin Corner Challenge

Today begins a new challenge
The theme this week is Challenge #21 - Anything Goes!  I made two cards for this challenge. The first card I used Candy Cane from Floppy Latte:

The photo really doesn't show the coloring that well in the 1st photo.. Oh well. All of the paper is scraps. I used die cuts for the circle and the scalloped circle. The ribbon is from my stash. I colored with Prismacolor Pencils and I duplicated several of the candies and popped them. You can see some of the dimension on the 2nd photo.

Challenges:

The 2nd card I used the image Butterfly Love from Stitchy Bears:

I used scrap papers, the die cuts are sizzix. I added pearls to some of the ends on the swirls and I added rhinestones to a few sections of the swirls. The image is colored using Prismacolor Pencils. I used a couple of glitters from The Art Glittering System - Grape and Wild Rose. I used them around the wing. The darker purple right on the edge of the wing and the Wild rose on the inside of the wing. I used Ice Stickles Crystal on the swirls although the photo isn't really showing it that well. I popped and did several layers with this one. The very top wing is popped the highest and then the wing part right below it is popped just a bit lower. . You can see some of the depth in the 2nd photo.

Challenges:
Weekend Happenings...

Friday morning I woke Bailey up early and we went shopping for school supplies. I did a little bit of grocery shopping as well. Then we came home and I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how to watch the opening ceremony live.. which by my vent before you can see I never figured out. I did watch it that night and I didn't think it was very good. I mean.. It was a lot about the history of England and I think their history is amazing, but I don't know.. there were only a couple of things that really stood out to me. I loved the five flame rings coming together and then raining down fire. I thought James Bond picking up the Queen and then parachuting out of the helicopter was cute.. and Mr. Bean was hilarious. Just my opinion though ;)

Saturday, we went to my sisters to celebrate Bailey's birthday. We watched the Olympics and had cake. That is the weekend, celebrate with the family deal LOL Taylor came and she gave Bailey some scrapbook supplies. My sister and Bailey went out for a bit.. Okay.. it seemed like they were gone forever, because I was ready to go home LOL But it was a good day. Then I came home, talked to Kevin and watched more Olympics.

Sunday, we went to church.. had to go to a quick meeting afterwards, because the kids and I area volunteering for an event next Saturday. And the rest of the day has been spent making cards and watching the Olympics.. And of course talking to Kevin :)  We are almost at five months!! We should hear something really soon from immigration. I really hope we hear from someone soon!

Friday, July 27, 2012

Olympic Lag

I had heard all over that NBC would be airing the Opening Ceremonies on the internet via a live web feed. Well... when the time came I was waiting and searching to only find out that NBC had decided that Americans would have to wait and see the Opening Ceremonies at 7:30 pm EST tonight!! Three hours after the Olympic Opening Ceremonies had happened. So.. am I suppose to just sit here and pretend that the Opening Ceremonies are going on? Oh no.. I find their thinking very wrong. I was really looking forward to sitting here with Kevin and watching the ceremonies. He is watching them and I am listening to them on his TV. How wrong is that!! We should have been able to watch them together. It really upsets me! Ughhhh .. so that is my venting...  I don't like Olympic Lag! And the fact that I can go online and see highlights of what has already happened.. well .. that just ticks me off too!! LOL Can you tell I'm upset?

I have been sitting here working on another card. I finished it.. hated it LOL and then took it apart and changed the papers. I like it better now. I did drop the ink pad on the edge of the image though so I had to come up with my fix it LOL The Stars ;) Hey.. it worked LOL

All of the papers are scraps.. the random buttons. All glittered up are the stars and the Believe. The ribbon is American Crafts Ruban Premium White. The edges were inked with ColorBox Warm Green Fluid Chalk. I colored her with Copic: E000, E00, E11 for the skin, E50, E51 and E55 for the hair, the greens were G20, G24, G28, the red are R24, R27, R29... I highlighted the white areas with E40. Hmmmm.. and I forgot to color her Bell!! So I'm going to have to go back and color that LOL

Challenges:


Lunch with the Kids and HAPPY OPENING CEREMONIES!

I'm about to head out and take the kids to lunch. Bailey wants to eat at Golden Corral and I told her we could go for her birthday. And.. I have to be back at home by 3 pm so I can watch the opening ceremonies.. I'll have to watch online, but that's all good. I'll be waking Kevin up and he is going to watch with me. So off we go.

I worked on a card this morning and I can't remember the image author.. So, if you know who this is, please let me know so I can give proper credit! I've decided I need to go back through all my images and put the author in their names so I don't forget! I'll have to go searching later if no one knows. I love this image!

Papers are all scraps that I have. I stitched on the plaid green sheet and the poinsetta sheet. I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils and stamped the Merry Christmas with Warm Green Colorbox Chalk Inkpad. The Merry Christmas is a Hero Arts Stamp. I distressed the edges of the papers as well. I also used Ice Stickles Crystal for the white chocolate on the strawberry.. i think that is what that is LOL and the white on the santa hat.

Challenges:

Have a happy Day!! And enjoy the Opening Ceremonies today if you can!!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Happy Olympics Eve

Good morning everyone.. or evening for those of you going to bed soon. And Happy Olympics Eve! The opening ceremonies are tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited. I just LOVE the Olympics. The games have already begun; there have been some events that have been going on. Kevin and I were talking about that this morning... and he makes so much sense ;)  I was surprised that they were going on before the opening ceremonies, but when he said that the team sports take more time because they can only play a game a day.. well.. doesn't that make perfect sense LOL  Just things that I don't think about. The U.S. Women's soccer team played and won... that is all I've heard so far. I will have to do some snooping around today to see what is going on. I also need to find out when the opening ceremonies are tomorrow. I love to watch the opening ceremonies and everyone trying to outdo the previous years LOL It is always a lot of fun.. Okay.. except when all the countries walk in.. because it just takes so long and I lose interest really quickly LOL

What else has been going on? I have been training a temp to help out in another department.. and I hate training people! I've been back and forth and feel like I haven't gotten anything accomplished really this week. Today I'm not going over there so I will just focus and try to get a bunch done.

We have been home since Tuesday... Wow!  That isn't very long is it LOL  No wonder I haven't recuperated!  I feel so worn out, but at least I was able to work on a card last night for OSAAT and I'm almost finished with it. I worked on it some more this morning and when I get home I will put the last touches on it. I am also going to print some images here at work... better printer! I brought my paper and that will give me some images to work with this weekend.

Night before last I was watching Netflix in the bedroom.. dozing off, when all of a sudden I heard a 'POP' and a big flash of light which woke me from doze. My DVD player was fried! I have been having some trouble with that thing for a little while now. I stopped by BrandsMart and picked up a new DVD last night... making sure I got one that I could connect to Netflix. Wouldn't you know!! I paid attention to the Netflix part, but failed to pay attention to the WiFi part. Ughhhh.. so I packed it back up and I'll return it today. I hate when I do things like that. I get in such a hurry that I don't pay close enough attention. Or, I don't read something carefully. This is really a bad habit of mine.. I need to slow down and pay closer attention. i got annoyed when I went in there, because there were about five salesmen just standing around talking. So, I grabbed and ran.. My fault! I should have paid closer attention! I knew what I needed. Tonight I will stop back by and exchange it for the correct DVD on my way home.

Here is a card for today:

The stamps are from Stampin' Up. Its just pretty simple. The square is covered in Diamond Glaze and then I cracked it. I love Diamond Glaze!

Challenges:

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Bailey's Birthday

It has been a heck of a night. I left work and headed to my sisters yesterday. Bailey was waiting for me when I pulled up. I got into my swim suit and jumped in he pool with her for a while. After a nice swim we went inside to grab something to eat and I went to talk to Kevin for a bit. I was so tired... we said our good byes and I was going to head up the stairs for a shower and climb in bed to read. Reading wouldn't have lasted very long. I would have fallen asleep pretty quickly.

Then the phones rings and it is my sister's ring tone. I pick up the phone and she says... "Guess where we are?". And I'm thinking... Ummmm... Paris? Because you aren't coming home until Tuesday LOL! Wrong! They were in Washington DC. They were suppose to be home last night! Their plane got diverted because of storms and low fuel and they turned around and landed in DC. I stayed up picking up around the house and waiting on her to call me back. At around 9 pm she called and let me know that they were suppose to take off at midnight. I believe it is about a 2 hour flight to Atlanta from there. I immediately went to bed... have to get a little bit of sleep for work today!

I kept waking up expecting a text from my sister, but nothing until 4:30 am. I had just crawled out of bed and was putting my BiPap (thats another story) away. The text said that they had grabbed a cab and were headed to her place. So I went downstairs and woke Bailey and Michael.. told them to load the van with the rest of our stuff and to get their shoes on. After about 15 minutes or so they showed up and we were all packed.

This morning has been a busy morning.. I feel absolutely worn out LOL We got my mother all loaded up in the van and I took her home. Then the kids and I headed home... I had them unload the van while I got ready for work. After that I headed in and here I am! I have to train someone new today.. so I will be headed to a different building in a little while.

Today my youngest, Bailey, turns 11 years old! I can't believe it!  I have gotten her nothing LOL  It's what I always do though... we do a small celebration on the day and then we have a bigger fun day on the weekend. It helps because I won't be working and my sister and mom can enjoy the day with her as well. I have no idea what to get her.. Kevin and I have tried to talk about it, but really haven't had any time over the last couple of days. Hopefully we will have some time to talk tonight. I'm thinking to give her a $50 gift/VISA card... she is at that age where she is super picky about everything. That way she can spend it on whatever she wants. So that is that! I'm ready to go home and crawl in bed LOL

Here is a layout for today:

Taylor turning 12 .. now she is 18!! Wow!! Club Scrap papers, Doodling with my Zig Millenium and flowers from Prima. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day/evening!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Happy Monday

Good morning everyone! Or evening.. depending on where you are! :)  It is another Monday. The kids and I came back to my sister's house after church yesterday. We enjoyed the day swimming and just hanging out together. My oldest even came over and spent a lot of the day with us. I cooked hamburgers on the grill. We will be here for just a couple more days. My mother and sister come home on Tuesday.. still no idea what time, but at least I know the day!

Today begins a new challenge
The theme this week is BINGO!  I used A Day for Daisies wonderful graphic "Dragon's Gift". I love this image.. I love the little dragonet and I duplicated it on my card. For Bingo I used American Crafts Glitter Ribbon, the Free Space, and Stickles.

So, everything I used... American Crafts Glitter Ribbon, The Art of Glittering System: Crystal Transparent, Stamp "Friendship" from Stampin' Up, Stickles: Orange Peel, Turquoise, and Yellow, Derwent Water Color Pencils to color the image. That little piece of ribbon sticking up.. I've fixed that LOL  I fussy cut the little dragonets.. cut extra wings for two of them, popped them and lifted the edges. I popped some of the little tulips as well and on the fairy I cut extra wings for her, popped them and lifted the edges.. really gives them a great look.. like she has two sets of wings like she should LOL  I stickled all the little dragonet wings and glittered the fairy wings.  Hope you enjoy :)


======================================
Challenges:


Sunday, July 22, 2012

Huge Giveaway

Ingvild Bolme is doing a HUGE giveaway!!  Visit her website to join in! The giveaway is a celebration of the new blog design!


This huge lot of Prima products contains;
*Ingvild Bolme Comfort-Craft Tools Distressing Tool * Ingvild Bolme Comfort-Craft Tools Craft Knife * Ingvild Bolme Comfort-Craft Tools knife blade refills * Ingvild Bolme Comfort Craft Tools Chalk Edgers - 6 colors! * Ingvild Bolme Shabby Chic Resin Treasures "Roman Pillars" * Ingvild Bolme Shabby Chic Resin Treasures "Window Closers" * Ingvild Bolme Shabby Chic Resin Treasures "Mushrooms" * two Prima trim/laces * Prima Pebbles * two Prima flower vines * 4 packs of Prima alphabets * two packs of Prima butterflies * three packs of Prima "Say it in Pearls" centers * two packs of Prima canvas buttons * two packs of Prima "Say it in Pearls" swirls * three packs of Prima "Say it in Crystals" swirls * two Prima felt sticker trims * three Prima clear tapes * Donna Downey trim * Ruby-Violet cuff * Prima decorate border * Prima felt DeVines * Prima Fancy Felt Matties * Prima Vines Jewelry * pack of Prima journaling notecards * lot of Prima notecards * lot of 21 Prima flowers and mulberry flower * huge lot of 21 packs of Prima flowers! * 12x12 Prima Embossed Chipboard * two Prima 12x12 paintables * Prima 12x12 overlay * huge lot of 39 Prima 12x12 two sided pattern papers!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Home At Last...

Well.. at least for a day! We came home around 2 pm from my sister's house. I wanted to be here tonight so we could get up and be right here for church in the morning. So, we packed up and headed home. I stopped off at the store and picked up dinner. It's really good to be home! Even if it is only for a night. Taylor came over for a meal and to just hang out for a bit. It is always good to see her.

Tomorrow we will go to church in the morning, come back by and pick up T-Bone and head back to my sisters. Two more nights there! Since tomorrow is Sunday, we will spend our last day of the weekend swimming hopefully! If the storms will hold off! Mom and Sis come home from France on Tuesday.. they didn't leave me ANY information on flights, time they are going to be here.. Nothing! Nothing at all! I'm not exactly sure what I'm suppose to do with no information LOL!

I took pictures early this morning of my cards, but I didn't have the wire to upload them! That was the first thing I did when I got home... So here is one of my cards:

I used various scraps of patterned paper for the sun rays. I used a circle punch for the middle and covered it with Ice Stickles Crystal. The Stamps are Tiki Time from Market Street Stamps. I also used The Art Glittering System - Persimmon, Cavalado, Miss Muffet, Flax, Nirvana, Egyptian Gold. Copics - E50, B0000, B05, R21, R24, Y17, G09, YR15, RY16, TY68, YG23. And I used Diamond Glaze to cover the empty parts of the glass with no color and the Take It with a grain of Salt Circle.

Challenges:
And we are still waiting on immigration.. still praying and keeping toes and fingers crossed that they call soon. Keep us in your prayers... We are so ready for Kevin to come home!!

Friday, July 20, 2012

Cool Friday In Atlanta

I'm still at my sisters place. I'm feeling really out of sorts without my supplies and such. I've colored my image I need to use for a card, but I think I'll be heading home shortly to complete the card. I really don't enjoy being away from home and everything that is mine LOL  Don't get me wrong... I'm enjoying staying here.. Its a beautiful home, she has the most comfortable bed, and the pool... well.. all I can say is that it's nice to come home on a hot day and be able to jump in the pool!

I woke up this morning and so far it's not much of a pool day. It's rather cool outside actually. Maybe it will warm up as the day wears on. I'm going to get dressed here very soon and head home for a bit. I want to work on some cards. Then I'll head back here after a while. I will also be going home with everyone on Saturday night. I want to stay at home so we can get up and go to church Sunday morning. Then, after church we can head back into the city to hang out. I think I will do a load of laundry as well while I'm home!

The week at work has been long. I am already doing two people's jobs and now they have asked me to take on a third to help out while they look for someone. I'm not sure how I'm going to pull this off. I haven't really figured out how to clone myself LOL  Hey.. I'll do the best I can! In hopes that they find someone soon to fill that position. I have a bunch of work with me today and I'll probably work on it over the weekend. Hey.. I can't complain about the overtime really.. I love the extra money!

We are down to about three weeks until our paper work has been in immigration for five months. We are suppose to hear something at five months. I'm really hoping we hear something soon.. I am getting anxious. Say a little prayer for us that we hear some good news really soon. I know Kevin is ready to come home and I am more than ready to have him back here. This is such a long process. I know five months doesn't seem like very long, but it sure feels like an eternity!

Hoping to have something to post later on today! Have a great day/night everyone!!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Away from Home

Today I packed up the dog and the kids, picked up my mother and headed to Atlanta to my sister's house. It is only about 30 minutes down the road LOL... so it isn't that we have gone really far, BUT! We are out of the apartment! No worrying about the neighbors being loud upstairs and waiting for them to crash through the ceiling at any moment! I'm really waiting for it.. I just hope they aren't over my desk and my supplies when they come crashing through! Oh!! And no worries about the rude people downstairs with their mean stares and their complaining and banging on the ceiling.. and this banging on the ceiling is always when I'm at my desk.. sitting! and the kids are always sitting some where. I think the husband is bi-polar.. I'm sure of it LOL

So.. back to my original point.. We got down here and unloaded all of our stuff. Then I took my sister and mother to airport!! They are gone until next Tuesday to France! How fun for them taking a trip to France. I gave my mother my point and shoot camera and an 8G memory card. She should be able to take a lot of photos. I'm excited to see them.. I hope she remembers to take a lot of them! They are going to be there to see the end of the Tour de France as well. That will be exciting for them.. especially for my sister.

The kids and I are here at my sisters hanging out. We have the pool to jump into every night. It is going to be good to be away. The only problem is that I'm here with very limited supplies. I don't like being away from my supplies! I will probably go home on Friday and spend some time working on a card or two. Other than that we will just spend time in this beautiful house. Ooooo!! yes!! I need to take lots of pictures of this beautiful house and scrap them! What a good idea!

 This is a layout of Bailey.. and how lovely she looks with her huge YooHoo mess LOL The papers are from Club Scrap.. so are the beads and the words. The words were put on chipboard. I added the blue ribbon.. some stamping. This is one of my old layouts. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day!


Monday, July 16, 2012

First post for Tammy's Scrapin Corner and I'm excited :)


This morning I am so excited to announce that I will be a part of the great design team over at Tammy's Scrapin Corner! I couldn't be more excited to be a part of this team. Everyone has been so welcoming and helpful! So head on over for the next challenge! This week is Challenge #19 "Summertime".

Here is my card:


The image is from the wonderful Bugaboo Stamps and it is Flamingo-Surf board. I thought he was all Summertime!

I used all scraps from my stash, buttons including the peace sign.. I used Butterscotch and Cranberry Alcohol Inks on the peace sign so it wasn't all yellow across. The ribbon is from my stash as well. I used Ice Stickles on the water and the sun. I used the following Copics to color him:


Flamingo: Copic R22 and R20, N7, C6, N4, BG18
Water: Copic B00 and B02
Surfboard: Copic R29, R27, YR18, YR15, Y35, 100, N7, N4

Challenges:

This weekend was a busy weekend. I feel like I ran ran ran all around town and didn't get much of anything done. Friday was full of errands and shopping (yuck!). One of the bras I got ripped on the seam right down the middle front. So, I have that in the vehicle so I can stop there on the way home tomorrow. Saturday was the class at Archiver's and then down to Atlanta to hang out with my sister.. which I really wish I hadn't done. Today was a little bit of running around. I decided to not do a lot of grocery shopping since we are going down there. I don't want to be carting a bunch of groceries. Now the weekend is gone again and here we are faced with Monday again.


This is going to be an odd week for me. My sister and mother fly out to France on Tuesday. They are going to spend a week there. Tuesday evening I will have to pack everyone up... dog included and head to my sisters in Atlanta. We will be staying there for the week. My sister has a house and a pool.. will be nice not to be in this apartment. And! I will be able to go home after work each night and hop in the pool! Woot! LOL For the next couple of days I need to pack up what I need.. that includes supplies for some cards that need to be done. I will probably spend some time tomorrow planning out what I'm going to make so I can pack up some things. I have my images printed that absolutely HAVE to be finished! Other than that we will just have to see. It will be nice to be away, but I am such a home body and I like to be here with my things and .. well.. I just don't like to be away from home. So we will see how long this lasts LOL I just have to think of it as a somewhat kinda sorta vacation! But! to be away from desktop and all my supplies *GASP* I don't know! We will just have to wait and see...



Sunday, July 15, 2012

Morning Challenge





I was in a rush to get this one into this challenge:

I barely made it.. there was 0 minutes left LOL I was down to seconds!!!
 
also putting this one in:
My youngest daughter turns 11 on the 24th. This will be the card I give her :) I'll be back today with more challenges and a decent post ;)  First I'm off to church and a bit of grocery shopping. Have I told you how much I hate shopping? Grocery, clothes, shoes... it doesn't really matter.. I hate it all! Except for when it comes to my craft supplies LOL Have a great morning/evening everyone.. where ever you are in the world :)



More scraps... The images are from Tiddly Inks. I REALLY love these images! I added wire and bells to make my own embellishments with the image squares. Inked the edges of the circles.. And thats about it.

Challenges:


Saturday, July 14, 2012

The Miles..

Tonight, the miles have never seemed so many. I miss you baby.

*********************

Here is one more card for tonight. Just something simple and quick. And no.. I didn't sew the card together this time. I pulled the stitching on the other one. Going to restitch it in the morning.


Just a bunch of scraps, honeydew twine and some brown buttons I had.

Challenges:

A Rush of Challenges

I'm in a bit of a rush this morning. Going to get this card up so I can get it into a couple of last minute challenges. Better post later! LOL I'll even up date this one with what I used!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 Back from my busy day today. Bailey and I had class this morning and I was in a rush this morning to get this card finished... Well! In my rush.. LOL... I am a dork! I sewed the card together!! So... I'm going to have to either un-stitch it.. or come up with a creative way to make it a card. Oh.. I love my stupid moments!! LOL And all I can do is laugh at myself.

After my rush to get this card done.. Bailey and I went across the street to Archiver's. We did our make a bunch of cards class, but had to leave a half an hour early so again it was rush rush! We went to each station and did what we could do, then we packed everything up and brought it home to later put the cards together LOL At least now I can do what I want to do with them. I like that better! We came back across and picked up Michael to head down to my sisters. We were going to something at Piedmont Park in Atlanta. All I know is that it was something to do with food trucks  *shaking my head* I just don't know.. don't look at me that way! But! Someone called them and told them the lines were too long, it wasn't what they expected so we ended up leaving before we even went in. We stopped and had a philly chease steak at a local restaurant and headed back to her house. At this point.. I'm pretty happy! I get to go home where I have a lot left to do this weekend. So here I am.. finally home again and able to sit down for a minute and relax. I still have some stuff to do, but I will do that tomorrow after church.

I'm just going to take a deep breath and enjoy the calm and not rush rush tonight!


The card... It features stamps from the Loolah Collection from Unity Stamp Company. I colored the ladybugs with Copic R22, R24, R27, R29, N7 and N4 for the ladybug. I used CopicE000around the flower petals and Y35 I colored before I put the pearl in the middle of the flower. I also put some black glitter glue, Studio G from Michael's on the spots of the ladybugs. The pearls I used are from Want 2 Scrap. All of the paper is from my pile of scraps that doesn't seem to be going down one bit LOL And I splattered red Making Memories paint on the card. I love paint splatter! I distressed all the edges of the papers.. tore the white paper on one side and of course my lovely, totally screw up a card sewing LOL Go ahead.. laugh with me.. you know it was a dumb moment LOL

Challenges:

Friday, July 13, 2012

An Odd Day

It is past my bedtime LOL! But here I am. I spent the morning with Kevin and it was a good morning. I worked from home this morning so there was no worry about having to get ready and run out the door to work. Just have my laptop, log into work and I get to visit with Kevin. I love my Fridays after a long week at work.

I had some errands to run today, but we didn't leave until about 1:30 pm. I did have to work, so I couldn't just run and spend the day out. I had to go to the courthouse in Marietta. It's only about 15 minutes away from home.. if that. I had some paperwork I had to sign at the Child Support Services office. My ex has moved to California and there was something they needed me to sign. First we went to the wrong office only to be sent across the street. When we arrived, I told her that I was there to sign something. The woman made me fill out a form! There is something seriously wrong with me having to complete a full form just to come in and sign something that THEY want me to sign. LOL She also needed my license .. I guess to make sure it was me. I signed the paperwork and then had to go back across the street to the original building where I needed to get a certified copy of some paperwork. We got all the way to the office only to realize that the woman had not given me back my license. Really? LOL So.. back through the building, across the street to get my license. Now.. back across the street, back through the building to get the paperwork. All because they only accept checks.. now there is something really wrong with that too! Finished up with that and finally headed out. I think I was beginning to become buddies with the police officer scanning everyone LOL! I made a quick stop at Michael's to use my coupon. Then I took the kids to eat at an Italian restaurant.. Ippolitos. They have really great food. The kids have been asking me to go for a while so I finally took them. After we had dinner I stopped at one of the stores right there, Catherine's. I really needed a new bra or five. I'm not a typical woman.. I HATE shopping.. and I really HATE shopping for myself. Even more so.. I REALLY HATE shopping for bras! I completely wear them out.. I find one that I like and that's it. And my three that I had are worn out. They zip and the zipper won't stay up LOL I left Michael in the van with the van running and the air conditioning on. I knew he didn't want to come in with me. The ladies were really great. They measured me and we found a bra that fit great and I'm really happy. The problem is.. I was in there for 30 minutes and Michael became frustrated.. irritated.. whatever he becomes. It's really annoying. He is a teenage boy.. I guess I should expect it. But the best part!! I'm standing at the counter when he comes in all irritated wanting to know how much longer I'll be. Ummmm... I'm at the check out counter.. checking out! I ask him if he left the keys in the van... Yes! Ummm... did you leave the van running?  ... Yes!  Okay... Okay... You might want to go turn the van off and get the keys and bring them to me... I locked the van. ... ... ... YOU WHAT?!?!?!?! LOL!! I'm sure I didn't hear you correctly.. I believe you said you left the van running with the keys in the ignition and you locked the doors. And!! I don't remember anyone else coming with us.. which means there is no one in the van to let us in LOL  Is that correct? Why yes.. that was correct. Michael had locked the van keys in the van with the van running. I had to call my mother to come bring me the spare key. Then it started to downpour .. thunder and lightning! It was a fun show while we waited for my mother to arrive. Needless to say.. I will not be leaving the keys in the van any more.. even if Michael doesn't want to come in.  Interesting lesson learned today!

I still have some errands to run. Bailey and I are going to a class at the Archiver's tomorrow at 11 am. It will be to make a bunch of cards. She is excited. I still need to go grocery shopping too. My sister has called and invited us to something in Piedmont Park though. And I have to go down there so my sister can show me what to do with the pool, cats, etc. for next week. Oh yes! I will be staying at my sisters place next week, because her and my mother are going to France! How fun for them. They are going to be able to see the end of the Tour de France. My sister loves that race. So, we will go to Archiver's and then head to my sisters place. I have to buy Michael some new shoes as he proceeded to leave his in another town! Oh man.. what am I going to do with that boy! We will have a busy day tomorrow.

Another bit of news... In Australia there are two types of motorcycle licenses. One is called a LAM, I believe.. which is like a learners permit. You have to use this license for a year and you have to ride a LAM approved bike which has less power and such. After that period of time you go back to update your license which will then allow you to ride all the other bikes. Kevin has a bike that is not LAM approved. Even though it is a low CC bike, it really has a lot of raw power. Well.. after all this time he finally got pulled over and they busted him on it. We have gotten away with it for so long. And now that we are here on the final leg of all of this immigration stuff.. they just had to pull him over. He wasn't even speeding or anything. Oh well...we should have chosen the right path a long time ago. I'm just thankful he had someone that was decent and not a jerk. So Kevin is currently without transportation.. because he doesn't have a car. We will figure it out though.. we always do. I will have to sleep on this one and see in the morning. And you know what... who knows why he was pulled off the road. There could be a whole other reason for all of this happening. Anyway... On to the card!

I worked on this card tonight:


I was doing this for a no graphic/no sentiment card challenge. I used black and white cardstock.. and then a splash of blue for the flowers. I also used Want 2 Scrap bling. The scalloped circles are Spellbinders. The flower dies are from My Favorite Things. Oh how I love their dies!

Challenges:



Thursday, July 12, 2012

Today...

Today, I got a lot done at work. It was a good day. I really got a lot caught up. I still have some work to do to be completely caught up, but I'm getting there. It was a lot to get done in one day, so I'm pleased. My boss is pleased too, which makes it that much better.

Today, I worried about Kevin a lot. Being apart and him being on his own really takes its toll on us; more so him I believe. I have the kids, scrapbooking, card making, and work to keep me occupied. He doesn't have any of that. He does his best, but I know it is hard on him. It's hard on me being so far apart and for so long; it is harder for him. I worry when he doesn't sleep well, when he gets down. I just wish we were together again. Then everything would fall into place and we could have some normalcy. I keep him in my prayers .. to help the time pass, to keep him healthy and happy. I wish there were more I could do.

Today, I can't get my Cricut to cut all the way through my Bazzill and I don't know how to fix it. Maybe I need to make the image larger? I've tried adjusting all the settings. It just won't completely cut through the paper. It has made me very frustrated and annoyed. I will have to work on it some more later, but I need to take a break from it.

Today, I finished a card and I'm starting work on another. I used all scraps, which I have been trying to do to use some of them up. It doesn't even seem like I have made a dent in my scraps at all! I went through them all last night and pulled all the cardstock and made a bunch of cards to decorate.

And you know what?? It STILL doesn't look like a made a dent in my stash of scraps LOL!! Ughhh!! I will keep working on it. The card I made today is Christmas themed.

I used bazzill for the snowflakes and card. The pattered paper.. Oh I can't remember what paper that was way back when. I know I loved it though! The "merry & bright" is a Stampin' Up stamp. And the snowflakes and the moon have Ice Stickles on them. The Snowflakes are cut with the Cricut, which I then had to hand cut around them to complete the cut through the paper Grrrr! The image is a free image from here. I'm going to put this card in the following challenges:

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Happy Oh My Goodness Middle of the Week!

Yay! Wednesday Evening.. I'm so glad! It has been year end at work and the gals in Accounting have been driving me crazy for the last couple of days. I have concentrated on what they have needed for the last three days and everything else.. well.. we will just say it is piling up LOL! REALLY piling up! Emails unanswered, people dropping things off and stacking them up on my desk. I almost snapped at a couple of people today! Everything needs what they need NOW! Well.. I wasn't having any of that.. so I just told them they would have to wait. I tried to do it in a nice.. I'm sorry you just aren't that important right now in this moment of time way LOL But now it is over and I can spend the next couple of days trying to get caught up.. Yay me! *cry* *wimper*

I have been working on a card.. last night, this morning. I finished it this morning and I was going to do a post before I left for work but I had already taken my camera down to the van LOL Yes.. I carry it everywhere! To and from work... out to the store.. running down the street! You never know when you will see something you absolutely have to take a photo of! Like on my way home today.. there was this ITTY bitty most adorable bunny on the side of the road.. had to be a baby he was so tiny munching at the grass. Problem is.. I drove right by him and thought.. I will turn around and be right back.. just have to grab Bailey.. So a couple of minutes later I was headed back towards that baby and he was gone! Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!  Why oh why did I just not pull over and grab photos while I could *shaking my head* That will teach me!

So here is my card:


I used scraps and my little 6x6 Echo Park Paper Hello Summer that I received as a blog hop gift. I really love those patterned papers. I also used Silhouette dies for my scalloped circles. I used my sewing maching ..  I was playing around with some of the settings on it LOL Miscellaneous ribbons in my stash. I inked around the scalloped circles and used Butterscotch and Sailboat Blue Adirondack Color Wash on the silhouette digi stamp in the middle. That stamp is from Bugaboo Stamps.

Challenge entries:

I really need some more Thank You cards! Have a great rest of your night or rest of your day depending on where you are in the world! :)

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

How the World Is...

I was driving into work this morning, I tend to reflect on things in the car and this is where I pray. I try not to focus on the dumb drivers out there and getting angry, which is easy to do. I try to think about other things, just reflect on things in the world and going on in life. Keeps me much more calm when I'm driving.  I also find that if I listen to the local Christian station I tend to be more calm  and slow down. If I listen to the other local station I normally listen to, I tend to really get a lead foot, I speed and I get angry at the people around me! LOL I'm so quirky I know!

I was reflecting back on the Sunday service at church. I was talking to Kevin about it when he woke up on Sunday evening.. his Monday morning. They read a passage in Revelations. Now, if I would have read that passage on my own I would have closed the bible and not known what the heck I just read. I would have thought of horror movies with monsters and dragons and 666. But instead, they really break it down and allow to make so much sense. They really go into the history of the writing and break it down so even I can understand. Then after delving into the history of it, they bring it back to today and it all becomes relevant.

So, what did I learn? I learned that the visions of the beasts coming out of the earth were representative. They represented the different Caesar's; and there were two different Caesar's that they represented. I couldn't tell you the first names of them because.. well... I'm just old and can't remember things like I used to LOL! I also learned that back in those Roman times they used Cryptogram type writings often and that 666 really represented the name Caesar back then. Caesar (whichever one it was) had people stamped with 666 on their foreheads and hands in order for them to be allowed to buy and sell. So, he was pretty much marking them as his property it seems to me. I found it really interesting listening to the history of it all. The service was on "Your Focus" so it talked about how the Caesar's manipulated the people and they lost focus on the Lord. Then they switch it around to today and how we can lose focus on all that goes around us. Anyway.. I thought it was really great and I always learn so much.

After the service I grabbed one of the newsletters they had in the pews. It was about the missions that the church works with. I read the stories and learned things that I just never knew or paid attention to. The church really does some great things. They feed pastors in poor areas of Cuba so that they can reach out to their communities without having to worry about how they are going to fee their families. The one that really stuck out to me was China. Now, If I'm correct, China is a communist country. I know that the government rules over pretty much everything there, but I never knew you couldn't be a Christian. There are a lot of Christians in China, but they are all underground. It is so hard for me to comprehend that you can not choose, because that is all I've ever known. Mount Paran North went to China and taught bible study there to the underground churches. Apparently, there is bible smuggling into that country like smuggling drugs. It really touched me when I read that.

Okay.. enough of my reflecting LOL Too Deep, huh? What's going on? Yesterday I started working on my first card for One Stitch At A Time.. which you won't get to see until August LOL! I also need to work on another design team card that will preview on Monday morning. More to come on that :) And just work work work! Oh! And the kids tend to drink milk like its going out of style! So I have to stop on the way home to pick up more milk and get gas. Exciting days aren't they? LOL

I'm sharing a layout with my youngest.. She will be 11 on the 24th of this month.. this is back when she turned five! I believe the papers are from Club Scrap, but I can't be sure. Have a great day everyone!!


Sunday, July 8, 2012

Where Oh Where Did My Weekend Go!

Can you believe its over? Where do the days go? The week seems to just drag on, but get to the weekend and its gone in a flash. I really think we should be off five days and work two. I think that seems much better! But, we still should be paid like we worked for five LOL! Hey.. its my dream.. It should be how I want it :p

So, today I went through a bunch of challenges.. put them in an excel spreadsheet so I could sort them by date. That way I know which ones are going to be done and I can keep track better. That will work much better.. I will stop working on challenges that are already finished LOL! I might actually get more of them completed this way.

Just said goodnight to Kevin. We had our nightly, his morning, Skype visit. He has to see about a front tire issue on his motorcycle. He hasn't had that tire very long at all... it was after March when he got back! And the tire is dry rotting on the front. There is something seriously wrong with that. I hope the guy doesn't give him any problems and replaces it like he should. He gave him a bad tire. We will see what he says in the morning.

Now I'm just waiting on the kids to get home. They are on their way. I'm ready for a shower and to crawl in bed. That's when I turn the television on and watch a little Netflix before bed. I'm watching "Brothers and Sisters" right now. I never thought I would like that show, but I was wrong. I'm really enjoying it. I love the close knit, dysfunctional family dynamic LOL I love Sally Field too.. I think she's great. Oh... And Rob Lowe.. wow.. he's a good looking man.

I do have some news.. I applied for a couple of Design Teams and I was accepted by One Stitch At A Time! I couldn't be more excited to join them and I look forward to creating and learning along side them all. I hope to see you all join in on the fantastic challenges there! And be sure to check out the shop for tons of GREAT digis!

I did manage to work on a card today.. I rally don't like how it turned out LOL, but that's me.. picky. Too simple or something.. I don't know.

Again.. using all scraps. I used Maraschino and Denim twine from The Twinery! .. gotta love that stuff! Die-namics dies for the flowers... Botanical Beauty, Prima Donna Petals and Mini Royal Roses. Inked with Walnut Stain Distress ink.. The middle circle is from Spellbinders. Oh.. and the USA was from a Sizzlit - Bounce. And I inked the roses on the edges with red. I think that's it.

I'll be putting this into these challenges:
Oh.. and the kids are home. They haven't stopped talking since they came home; especially Michael. My gosh!! I think my sister loaded them up with sugar before they came home! I'm off to shower and head to bed.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Not Square!

So, I was working on this card for a "Not a Square" card. Then I realized when I was finished that the challenge was over LOL But it was still fun to make! Just for Kevin... :) So here it is:

Me and my fussy cutting.. LOL I fussy cut the card, the stars, the stamps LOL I popped a lot of things on the card. The stamps are Lawn Fawn "Critters Down Under".. the koala and the boomerang. I inked around the edge and colored everything with Copic:  Leaves:YG63 and YG67; Tree: E25, E27 and E13; Koala: I colored his nose with 100, C10, and C5; his body with CC5, C3 and C2; Boomerang: E25 and E13, YG63 and YG67, C10 and C5 and then I used Sharpie Stained pens to paint the circles. The G'day Mate! was done using a white opaque Painters Fine Marker.

Since I missed the one challenge LOL here is where I will put this one:
 And tonight .. still no kids! My sister called to see if they could stay another night. An extra night and day all to myself.. Woot!

Special Day! - No Kids!!

I don't get many days like this, so I cherish them when I do! My sister took Michael and Bailey last night and they are spending the day with her today. It was so nice to come home and not have to worry about anything. I finished up a tag last night and then started work on another card. Quiet and peaceful.. it was great. Said goodnight to Kevin and went to bed without having to fight with them about bed LOL Ahhhh.. so nice :)

This morning Kevin woke me up and I talked to him for a bit, but I didn't feel all that great. My throat was a little sore.. so he sent me back off to bed. I slept for a couple of more hours and I felt so much better when I woke up again. I have been finishing up my card so I will post that this morning along with the tag. I'm going to just enjoy the rest of the day. It is too hot outside, which is the perfect excuse to continue crafting! Have a great day everyone!


This is a tag that I made for the following challenge:

I used all scraps.. Boy do I have enough of them LOL I used chalk on the torn papers for the water and sand.. all of that is torn. I also punched a circle and chalked around the edge of it with red.. then in with orange and then yellow. I also wet that punch and rolled it up in a ball so it was wrinkled. I also did that with the leaves of the tree... I hand drew the leaves, fussy cut them and then wet them and rolled them in a ball so they wrinkled as well. I added detailing with Copic for the leaves, the coconuts and the tree trunk. The palm tree was completely hand drawn. It came out okay considering LOL  The "Summer" block was from an old color block I had .. I thought it was perfect. I used several different ribbons, ricrac, etc. for the fibers on it.

And this is my card I've been working on. The image is from Tiddly Inks Digitals and she is Wryn and I just love her! I love all of her graphics! And yes.. Super Fussy Cut LOL! Again I'm going for all scraps.. even had enough of the pink to make the card. The patterned papers are from an old Basic Grey pack. I stitched and inked. For the image I colored with the following Copic: Skin: E01 and E21 for shading; Hair: E31, E35 and E37; Dress and Shoes: YG03, YG13, BV00 and BV02; Crown and Stars: Y35; Frog: YG03, YG13 and the spots with G05. I used some sparkle fiber that I had to her wand. I was going to add glitter, but I thought she was good enough.

I'm going to put this in the following Challenges:
Thanks so much for looking!


Friday, July 6, 2012

Happy Friday

Happy Friday! I got up this morning and worked on a card while I talked with Kevin. I had another red, white and blue image that I had colored. I wanted to get that on a card today. And!! I finally pulled out my sewing machine and got it all worked out and even put some stitching on the card. Boy did I miss that; I love stitching on my cards and pages!

I once again used all scraps. I'm really trying to use a bunch of my scraps up. I have no idea what the patterned paper is.. no name on it anywhere. All of the cardstock is Bazzill; can you tell I love Bazzill?? LOL I love any textured papers! The ribbon is a mesh ribbon from who knows where. The image is from Bugaboo Stamps .. I absolutely love their Digis! I popped her to give some dimension and added the stitching around the white patterned paper. I stamped a couple of different celebrates on it. I colored with Copics C3 for the shadowing on the white, B21, B24, B29 for the blues and R20, R22, R24 and R27 for the reds. I used E000 and one other brown for the skin, but I can't remember which one!

I'm putting this in the following challenges:

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Recover after the 4th

Wow! I was SO tired after staying up late on the 4th. I had a really great time with Jia and her family as always. It was really nice to have my oldest tag along as well. Now that she has moved out I don't see her much or even talk to her much for that matter. So, it is always nice to see her and catch up.


We left out of here early in the morning to head to Grayson, Georgia. I got the kids some breakfast for the trip. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get there. When we first arrived Jia and her brother had gone to the store. I got T-Bones crate inside and got him all situated. We really didn't do a lot, but hang out and talk. We always have a lot to talk about. The kids watched a couple of movies on and off. We had a great lunch of hot dogs, baked beans, mac and cheese and all the fixins' for the hot dogs. They even made sloppy joe sauce for the hot dogs.. Coney Dogs they called it. It wasn't bad.

Jia, her boyfriend Rob and I went to the store at one point. I'm still trying to figure him out. I'm really not that crazy about him. It's just the little things that he does. They have been dating for quite some times.. it has to be four or five years now. He has never been married.. the ultimate bachelor. So, we go to the grocery store to pick up a few things. We need ice, water and playing cards. Rob picks up a magazine and some beer. We get to the line to leave and he puts his beer out and his magazine. Then he adds one of those things that goes in between two peoples shopping items. He puts it between the water, ice and whatever else Jia got. I'm watching this and thinking to myself.. "No he didn't!". So he checks out and then Jia goes.. her total bill is about $13.00. I can't figure out why he wouldn't just pay for those items. He has no kids.. a really good job.. In other words.. its not about money for him. And he will be eating the ice and drinking the water with everyone else in the house. I don't know.. I was just a bit shocked by it. There were no playing cards there so we went down the street to the drug store. Jia asks him to run in to the store and grab some playing cards. He tells her no! So, I tell her that I'll run it.. I run it and grab the cards and back out. Again.. SHOCKED! that he wouldn't do this simple thing for her. I've only met the man once before.. and he didn't make a good impression then either LOL! Maybe I'm just too critical, because I feel like she deserves so much better. She is my best friend!  Oh.. and then he got upset with her about something and wouldn't even be with the family when we went out to see fireworks.



Yes... we are a pair aren't we LOL!!!


So that was it.. after the fireworks.. which we really didn't see, the kids and I grabbed T-Bone and started home. Oh... if I had only known what was coming!


Look at my lovely handsome boy.. Okay.. kind of scary right there LOL Yep.. he's a special one! So, we head home and we are about 15 minutes down the road when all of a sudden Michael spews! Not once... not twice... but FOUR times! Now, how is it that you don't feel that coming? How is it that you don't say.. MOM!!! I need you to pull over.. I don't feel so well! Nope! He is absolutely covered.. Bailey has some on her.. T-Bone has some on him. What a nightmare!! It is 11:30 pm on the 4th of July and we are still a good 45 minutes from home. I stop at the next gas station we find and I buy a gallon of water, a small water for him to rinse out his mouth and drink, some handy wipes and paper towels and Febreeze! Thank goodness I made him bring a change of clothing thinking I would be able to get him to go swimming. I piled everyone in the van again and I went across the street to a vacant parking lot.. still in a lit area and cars not that far away. He washes off with the handy wipes and the gallon of water and paper towels. I'm trying to scrub the van seat and floor as well as I can. Taylor and I coat the seats with febreeze.. which didn't really help very much. Bailey and T-bone were both rinsed off with the gallon of water and Michael was sent to the back of the van to get out of the soaked clothes. We were probably out there for a good 30 to 45 minutes trying to get cleaned up. We climbed back in the van and started home. The febreeze did not work. I ended up having to drive home with the windows down the entire way. I'm just glad it had cooled down some. So that was our night.. Michael really threw a kink in it on the way home LOL Oh well.. Life happens and a mother's job is never done.

We got to bed late and I ended up talking to Kevin for a bit in the morning and then laying back down. Before we knew it we looked at the clock and it was already 3:45 pm. The day really flew by.

I worked on a card yesterday, trying to finish it up. The day before I had spent all my time coloring the image. Well.. I colored four images and it took quite a while LOL I used all scraps for this card.



The girl is from Tiddly Inks Digitals - Wryn the Patriot. I think she is so great! I used Copics B21, B24, B29, C2, C5, C7 and C10, E00 and one other brown .. I can't remember which one. Also R20, R22, R24, and R27. I used a fine Painters white opaque paint marker for the dots... err Stars on the flag. I also used "happy" from a hero arts stamp set - Essential Messages, "of" from a paper smooches stamp set - Word Salad and the "4" was from a Stampin' Up set of numbers that I have. The "TH" and the "JULY" were all hand written and colored. I used some glitter glue for the sparkles in her hair and the actual sparkle.. I used red, blue and white. Still working on my Copic coloring... Black I find is not that easy to work with.. well.. its really the different shades of gray, but still not that easy.

I'm going to enter this in the following challenges:

I have one more red white and blue card to go.. so I'll use that to enter in the rest of the may Red White and Blue challenges this month! :)  Hope you all have a great day!