Life and how we live it....

Wow....been a while again

2011-06-26T17:36:00.000-07:00

I've had strong urges to journal/write/document lately, but really haven't taken the time. Things have been crazy busy for me - in a lot of good ways - cleaning house, getting rid of excess, renewing and redoing. Trying to spend quality time with family and friends, and not sweat the small stuff. Not exactly easy most of the time for me, so I do have to work at it.

One big change for me is the phone call I received earlier this week, saying that my home based scrapbooking business will no longer be do-able as of July 31. Club Scrap has found that it's not financially able to support the home business as well as their every day business, so they are cutting out the FFC portion. Understandable, because after 5-6 years, it's just not picking up like they had hoped. Poor timing all around. But....made a big decision for me a lot easier....I've been struggling with it myself - both time constraints, and just having the people available to come out to workshops all the time. The economy has definitely taken it's toll on this area for sure. The other aspect of the business is the space taken up in my house - I've been in the process of cleaning things out and trying to simplify a little, and the inventory makes it really difficult.

So now on to the bigger and better aspect of that whole scenario - I need to sell out my inventory. So if anyone has any desires for some great scrapbooking products and awesome quality papers, chances are I have what you need!!

I've also been trying to take a little time to do things I like to do - I love to travel around on my days off, see new things, be active. A couple days this week, I actually went straight to the gym after work - that sure makes the whole evening go a lot better, I find. Now to just allow myself the opportunity to do that on a regular basis, and everyone will be better for it!!

Hopefully have some fun plans for the upcoming weeks, will have to see how it all plays out. For closing, I will finish off with a couple photos from my mini-road-trip yesterday....

Comics Junior kit

2011-02-21T20:19:00.000-08:00

So exciting to actually scrapbook a few pages today - haven't had a day off in forever, and all my spare time has been used up on other projects and other fun things and fun people :)....but since PSL is going on, figure I might as well get scrapping!!!

Testing, Testing...

2011-02-08T16:59:00.000-08:00

I just tried to publish a post twice from my Picasa account like I usually do, and for some reason it errored out. So I"m going to just try to insert one of the pics here and see if it works.....

This is one of the many things I got spoiled with on my birthday - a delish Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Cake!! Yummy, and well received by all!!!
Ok - seems like this is working, so I'll carry on with a couple more neat pictures. This next one is a shot of my Vibram 5-finger shoes - my gift to myself from my parents' Christmas money gift they sent to me. I had worn them on a short walk, this was my first real tryout with them. Ended up with a blister on my heel, but loved the shoes for the most part....

Oh guess what?? I have to purchase storage for my pictures to upload more. Hmmmmmm. We shall see about that one....

'til then....

Random things from January

2011-02-02T06:40:00.000-08:00

I got to use a skidsteer for the final phase of the pond/fountain demolition.....it made the job sooo much easier and really did a complete job of leveling it out. Now to get the money for concrete!!!

My two cats. Cameo is SOOO big, it's crazy...and Ziggy is an anti-social fluffball. They love boxes, and the new rug I bought.....

We look photoshopped in here, but we are actually at a Canucks/SanJose hockey came in January....great fun!!!

William came for a visit (think this was actually December) and I got to try on his arm dude hat (with extra pins and stuff because he is actually moving up in rank!!)

Happy 2011...and a month...

2011-01-29T17:32:00.000-08:00

I just realized it has been since forever that I've posted here. Life has been crazy for me - crazy, but excellent at the same time. I am getting very established at my job and feeling good in my supervisor role. I am feeling in control of my finances - somewhat, as much as can be when some things are just out of my control. I have super friends and a great 'family' here, though I miss all the gang back home in BC (and wherever else they are now) as well.

I hope to get back to posting some new scrapbooking stuff here soon - so stay tuned!!!

San Francisco -

2010-09-13T22:04:00.000-07:00

Allie is just about as tall as me now - incredible!!

This could be my store....except I never even did any wine tasting :)

Hanging out by the water...so pretty there

And Allie found her store too - wow!!!

Yosemite

2010-09-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

So I have been enjoying the remainder of the summer by being a tourist in some 'local' areas and just having fun taking photos and hanging out. This is from a trip to Yosemite. Hiked about 4.5 hours in one day, saw El Capitan and Half Dome in Mirror lake...was sooo pretty - postcard worthy!!

It is August...wowsers...

2010-08-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

We have had such a fast summer...and now with Thomas here, I keep thinking of all the things that he should do while he is here, and reminding me of things that I enjoy doing that I haven't taken the time for.

1. visiting Napa
2. Whitewater rafting
3. Yosemite
4. San Francisco - Irish Coffee, Ghirardelli square, the wharf
5. Monterey
6. Tahoe

I also have to get the shed painted before the rain comes back - I have had the paint sitting outside, so I hope it is still ok.

I killed my work computer, but they were super speedy and I was up and running again in about 24 hours. Now I'm struggling with getting everything set back up the way I like it, but so far it sure was running good - nice to have it back, since the little shop laptop was lacking in a few areas!!

Allie is gone camping with her friend Katherine. She went with her last year as well, a big family trip. Apparently if Katherine didn't invite Allie back, her grandmother was going to anyway - so that's how that went down :) Very fun to have my kids liked by adults!! Alex is still with his dad, but will be home this weekend, along with William here for a visit - so that will be nice to have all the kids here for a little while at least.

I'm off to sleep...been VERY tired lately. Must be all the excitement and dreaming!!!

Wow...changes

2010-07-30T22:16:00.000-07:00

This has been a very up and down week.

On Saturday, I went with Cory, Zach and Allie to San Francisco to pick up my half marathon race packet. Yes, on Thursday evening I discovered I would be running in the SF Half Marathon that goes over the base of the Golden Gate bridge. Discovered, because I couldn't buy a ticket in...but had an online friend, who I have never met in person, who had paid for the race, but was unable to participate. So...Carol Newell, AKA Andrea, bib 72015, ran the race. Totally untrained. Well, I guess I can't say totally, since I do work out regularly, and try to stay 'fit'. BUT...yes, pretty much untrained.

For me, a lot of running is mental. Of course you have to have the physical conditioning to haul your body 13.1 miles, but....there's also the mental. The thing that at mile nine, when you are going "WHY AM I HERE" says "You know you can do it, just 4 miles to go". Mental also comes from having supportive people around you. I was VERY motivated by one bystander who was talking about 'how strong you runners look'...and I know he wasn't referring to me, but I took it and literally ran with it.

Then, getting back to my kids. At the last minute, I got them to come along. Saturday. And Sunday. Not only did they come with me, they 'gave up' some of their precious weekend to COME WITH ME. Not a small feat. We had to be at the packet pickup location by 5. We left at 12:30ish. Loretta, my trusty GPS, died once again. This time for good, she is being returned to GPS heaven. Replaced by the soon to be delivered (I hope soon) Droid X. Anyhow - we finally arrived to get my race packet at 4PM....with an hour to spare. We went through the expo, bought a few things, and went on our way again. Denny's for dinner, and then crash on the floor at Rinda's house - we all took a blanket and pillow, laid on the floor, and slept for about 6 hours. ****HUGE Thanks again to Rinda for that - there were no Hotels to be had for MILES!!!****..and then up at at 'em. **3:30 AM!!!** we were on the road by 3:45 to try to catch the bus from Daly station. We were late for the 'hoped for' time of 4:11, so we waited there for a little while (in the dark, with homeless people around) until the bus finally arrived. About 40 minutes on the bus and we were at the Embarcadero. Almost. we had to trek around to find the start of the leg I was in - the second to last one, based on finish time that Andrea had chosen - thankfully, the same pace that I 'usually' finish in.

I had done a lot of preparation with bus schedules etc, so the kids knew how to catch the bus from the start of the race to the end of the race, and that was what they did. Then we get to the REAL reason I went to run this race.

Thomas had flown in from Germany the NIGHT before the race, and he was running in it. He is staying with us, so I thought it would be fun to try to meet him there. So..the kids went to the end of the race, where Thomas finished MUCH faster than me - he had started in an earlier leg, and also ran about 45 minutes faster than me, so they had a little time to find each other and get acquainted before I finally trudged across the finish.

So...the kids, Thomas and I caught the bus back toward the start of the race to get bags from the hotel room and try to catch BART back to the Daly Station. It all went so smoothly it was amazing. We got back to the truck, got on the highway, DROVE across the Golden Gate bridge instead of running :) - and headed for home. In N out Burger was on the menu, so a nice lunch, and home sweet home we drove.

The work week wasn't so good....I had a couple days of stress where all things seemed to be going wrong and against me. And me, being who I am, internalized everything. I was feeling bad and missing Dave, who has been in Orange County now for about 3 weeks. I was dealing with some jobs that had been nagging me for a while. I have personal paperwork I need to get done...and the perfectionist procrastinator in me was putting it all off. Finally by Thursday and Friday, I was happy with how the budget for jobs was looking, and realized I was being far to hard on myself, so I settled down a bit.

We have had a good first week with Thomas here, I think he's settling in ok, at least I hope so. His English is really good, so that makes it nice. He has shared some music with me, so I have a nice variety on my computer now, and will make some new running playlists on my I-pod.

Oh - and I ordered the Droid X tonight. Wow. I will be a total geek, I can see it already. And I can't wait.

Oh yeah again - my race time was 2 hours, 37 minutes and 17 seconds. I thought longer than my half in March, but was ok because it had a lot of hills. Oh yes, MANY STEEP hills.

Guess what?? I actually beat my Sacramento half marathon time by 14 seconds. WOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Oh yeah - getting back to my kids. I decided this week, after I came home from work one night and they had cleaned the kitchen, mopped the floor, and cooked dinner, that (with God's mercy) I must be doing something right with them. They really are good kids. Oh yeah - and they actually ended up having a great time in San Fran, I was so happy with how they worked together to get from one place to another, found and welcomed Thomas, and just made the weekend so much nicer for me.

Another "past" memory...

2010-07-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

I have used my vacation up for the year, finishing it up this past week while in Oregon. I don't have an ounce of regret for my choices on how to spend my precious days off, though, so that's a wonderful feeling. We spent a wonderful week in cool, foggy, windy Oregon, visiting the redwoods, going on a jet boat ride, doing many walks on the beach, and hanging with the family. We ventured home yesterday, allowing today to be a nice day to go to church, and just get re-settled into the house before returning to work again tomorrow.

As a reward for my memories, I have ordered well over 400 prints. I have some wonderful ALSB'ed pages just dying to be used up, and the timing for Club Scrap's Summer Camp is just perfect!! I am looking forward to participating every week and getting my album all done.

Another highlight of this vacation was my 20th highschool reunion. It also went by far too quickly though - I feel like I had maybe just started to connect with people and then time was up. I hope that we plan something a little sooner than 20 years from now, though.

Just had to share this crafting room...

2010-07-10T06:54:00.000-07:00

Another blog that I follow posted this link:

What an Amazing Craft Room!!!

I just wanted to share it with you guys. This would be my dream room, methinks!!! Would love to see inside all the cabinets though!

June - Expressions Senior kit....

2010-07-09T13:58:00.000-07:00

I got this scrapped while on our trip in Oregon!!

Hi from Oregon...

2010-07-09T00:27:00.000-07:00

We went for a drive DOWN the coast today, and found the Battery Trail lighthouse. Pictured below - Cory, dad, Julius, Tyson, Allie...and Elmo. Oh no, that's Zach....

This picture was taken along a 'vista point' that we had to trek down to the ocean on the "Oregon Coast Trail". Was well worth the jaunt!!

Jump!!!!

2010-07-04T21:32:00.000-07:00

July 4, 2010 - I love my family!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate oleander

2010-06-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

When we first moved into this house, the oleander between us and the neighbor was seriously about 15-20 feet tall. I started trimming my side, when I realized that it was all on my property - so then I just continued to hack away, much to the dismay of my neighbor. Oh well, if he wants he can plant it on his side of the property, and I'll kill anything that comes over on mine.

What we have now between our houses is all the oleander grown back, along with the ivy and crap that just is a haven for all the rats and mice to breed and make nests and just be icky horrible. I had it allll gone a couple years ago, but we didn't kill the roots so it grew back.

I have 2 green waste bins, and my goal every week is to make sure they are jammed full with clippings - so far I've been doing a pretty solid job. Getting points for our fitness challenge is a plus of course too!! Anyhow - you can see my progress here. Probably at least 4 more weeks of green waste before it's all gone - but beats the alternative - last time I bagged it in black bags and had them by the road for a couple weeks - one time we had 19 bags piled up out there.

These shoes are made for walking....

2010-06-28T21:40:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to Fleet Feet on Saturday evening to get them to 'fit' me for new running shoes. I've been struggling with achilles tendonitus for about a year now, and am trying to get shoes that do ok for long periods of time.

I have had these shoes for just over a week now. They were not cheap. They say that 'running shoes' are good for about 400 miles.

I have a pedometer on my bodybugg that tells me how many steps a day I walk....From last Sunday to tonight, I have walked 147,982 steps. I calculated the other day that my mile is 1750 steps (yup, long legs :) ) that means that in the past 8 days, I have walked over 84 miles in these shoes. At this rate, I would be buying $100 pair of shoes every month.

UGH!!!!!

Hanging out...

2010-06-17T22:25:00.000-07:00

No more pics to share since my big front yard project, but possibly some news. Dave is preparing to venture down to Orange County to check out a job prospect there. As it sits right now the kids and I will be staying here in Yuba City and we will verify first that all the promises from the new job really are true before we pack up and move 450 miles away.

With this comes a lot of stress, a lot of worry. But, as usual, it seems as though things are truly falling into place and God is definitely showing his power and wisdom. I'm trying to set back and let things fall into place without being the director...not an easy task for me, as anyone who knows me will agree :).

So...prayers gratefully appreciated!!! Will keep you posted. In the meantime, stay tuned for more fun here. I tie-dyed 18 shirts with Allie and Zach tonight for our family reunion July 3-10, so tomorrow will be the great reveal.

Carol

OK - done!!

2010-06-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

Alison was kind enough to share enough plants for my garden to at least look a little like a garden and not a giant litter box!! We got the flowers all planted, and I routed the soaker hose to go on both sides and get the dirt nice and soaked. Now to keep it going!!!

Day 3 - 8PM

2010-06-12T22:03:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Alison and Jesse, I have greenery!! Alison brought over some bulbs today, so I got them planted, along with the couple flower bushes that I got and a few little annuals.

Cameo likes all the fresh dirt.....

View of the yard from the road. I added a layer of bricks to our 'sign' flowerbed, and those are the heather bushes that were along the house, that were half dead from gophers eating the roots.

Little bit closer view of the yard - I put the milk cans back, and have a planter on the concrete between the two flower beds. I hope to get a tall bush planted in that big pot.

Day 2 - 10PM

2010-06-11T22:47:00.000-07:00

I had fully expected to just work a couple hours tonight, and then enjoy my time watching a movie and drinking some wine. Well, at 8PM I decided to go get the rest of the bricks...30 more....and then when I saw that the dirt pile was disappearing to the point where I could get rid of it completely, I just had to keep working. My neighbor came over and visited in the dark, so that made the last half hour go by rather quickly!!!

The 3 yards of dirt I had delivered seems to have done the trick - I got the flowerbeds all full, and even had some left to put around a couple other bushes, and in the front flower bed (pictures tomorrow, I guess!!)

It was really hard working in the dark to see exactly how it all came out - as you can see, it's not exactly even!!

After spending all the money on the dirt and the bricks, I hardly have any money left over for flowers :(. But I did manage to buy a couple things to at least add a little color.

AND....THE DRIVEWAY IS CLEAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 2 - 5PM

2010-06-11T22:41:00.000-07:00

VICTORY is MINE!!! I got the &#*$ palm tree out by hand - no truck, no chain, no ATV. Pure brute strength, I say. And a little luck :). But it's out, and living in the green waste bin!!

This is another nightmare of mine - I ***DETEST*** oleander. It belongs between I-5 on the highway coming into California. But that is it. NOT in my yard. EW. Icky. I had it all cut back a couple years ago, but we didn't kill the roots and it all grew back.

I didn't take after pictures of this area, but the green waste bin that you see, I have two of. They are now both full. And I have a pile started, and have visited with my neighbor and they offered their bin as well - so I will get the third one easily full tomorrow. And it's still THICK. Ugh.

I took this picture when I thought I was done filling up the 'window bed' - but turned out I had enough dirt for another go-round. That is in the night pictures I will be posting shortly.

10PM - day one.

2010-06-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

Ugh!! I'm exhausted. And I really can't see much better than these pictures what I actually accomplished, but just HAD to take them and post them. I have laid out 110 bricks - first load of 50, and then at 9PM I was at Lowe's getting another 60. Got them all laid out - and think I only need about another 15.

Here you can see the concrete pad a little - going to scrub it down and get it all cleared out for some pretty potted plans.

This 'lovely' palm tree will be history....as soon as I can figure out how to get it out! The roots are crazy.

Dirt pile is down just a little, trying to figure out how many more bricks I'll need for that edge. Tractor somehow found it's way to the top of the dirt pile :)

My project for the weekend. Beginning, day one

2010-06-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

The one thing I really hate about my house is the big brick wall in the front. It's sooo bllllahhhhh and boring. I also hate the landscaping. There were a couple bushes in the front as well - heather - that the gophers had eaten half the roots - so half the bush was dead, and the other half alive. I tried to transplant a couple, so far so good.

When we redid the windows, I wanted a bay window installed here, but it was wayyy to pricey. I do like this part of the house though, so I think once I do the planting it will be pretty.

Where the milk can is, there is a concrete pad, so I'm going to be dressing that up a bit with some potted bush or something.

This is the dirt pile I came home to - 3 yards of dirt. Looks kinda small, actually. Think I'll be ordering more. We'll see!!!!

Busy busy!

2010-06-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

I've been busy making more business cards, hanging out listening to great motivational conference calls on the Club Scrap board, and keeping busy working out and biking to work. Tomorrow Dave and Cory are leaving for Disneyland, dropping off the rest of the kids on his way down to spend the weekend with their dad, hopefully going to visit William in the meantime too.

As a result, I am solo this weekend - and have big plans. I will post pictures as I progress :). Won't say now what plans are, but we'll see :)

Business cards...

2010-06-06T22:36:00.000-07:00

I've decided to use up some of my papers and make my own business cards for an upcoming booth that I am renting as a fundraiser. Hope that I make something for everyone that they can enjoy, reuse, and maybe buy goodies from me too!!

More pictures from today's hike - May 22, 2010

2010-05-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

Hiking!! Shingle Falls, Beale Falls, whatever you want to call it..

2010-05-22T19:22:00.000-07:00

Was a GORGEOUS day for a hike - started out with a long sleeved shirt on but soon was very thankful for the tanktop I'd put on underneath. This was set up by a member of the Trail Mix North group on Meetup - I had been a member of the group for a while but was never able to make a hike until today

Alex came along with me so it was a nice time spent together.

Getting a little rest time before heading back down the mountain. All told it was about 2 hours long, about 5-6 miles, burning 1000 calories. (Thanks bodybugg!!)

This was the whole group of us. Another hiker there was nice enough to take our photo. Great welcoming group of people just eager to be outdoors and enjoy each other!!

Tired tonight...a more personal post...

2010-05-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend was crazy....I spent from Friday at noon until this morning about 1AM with 25 highschoolers, 2 other chaperones, and their wonderful orchestra teacher on a trip to San Francisco...action packed to say the least. We first did a tour of Sac State campus, then off for a dinner stop. Next was the SF Giants game, which led us to our hotel room at around midnight.

The next morning was more relaxed - we didn't have to get on the road until about ten AM to go play for their competition at the highschool in the Bay area. We then stopped for lunch at subway, and headed over to Six Flags / Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo. After a very short four hours, we got back on the bus back to the hotel where we put on our formal wear and travelled back to SF for the symphony. Due to dinner issues, and heavy traffic, we got there late, and had to wait until intermission, but we all enjoyed the last half of the show.

After driving the whole way back after the symphony we got home at about 1AM. Today we got to take some time to say goodbye to our youth pastor - Matt Overton, his wife Annie, and their daughter Clara, who are heading up to Vancouver Washington to begin another stage of their pastoral career up there. it was a tough 'celebration' tonight, but it was an enjoyable time. We will definitely miss them!!

MARATHON!!! (Or Half, in my case)

2010-05-09T22:17:00.000-07:00

FINALLY I had a use for the marathon papers I had bought a while back!! I really love how this kit works up, and the sayings that go with it. This was a "mind" run for me as much as a physical one, because it had been so long since I'd done a long race. But....I FINISHED!

A chance to win!!

2010-05-09T17:54:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share with my friends - there is a great giveaway going on to celebrate my friend Joy's Cricut blog success....check it out!!!

Obsessed with Scrapbooking

She also posts coupons regularly, and great tips for using your Cricut and Gypsy.

Good luck to all!!!

Loving it!!

2010-05-08T21:49:00.000-07:00

I did this workshop a couple weekends ago - it's called "Squeeze of Lemon" - not only did we get enough paper to complete the 6 pages, but also a wood mounted stamp that we'll get to use over and over again. What a value for $15! Please contact me if you're interested in holding a workshop - I'd love to share this with you and your friends!!!

May Day....

2010-05-04T22:39:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already May. I'm still plugging away here.....doing some crafting, keeping busy with the kids, and having fun with working out. Struggling with my whole weight loss 'journey' but determined to keep plugging away, and realizing that I'm at least healthy.

Went to a great youth orchestra concert tonight with the 3 youngest, and I'm really thrilled with the production that they put on. I hope that the kids will get the chance next year to audition, and whoever wants to can join. It will be a large commitment on all our parts, but I think it's worth while for them to keep into the music thing - it's just such a nice way to keep them grounded.

Zach has been diving head first into scouts. I think he's doing great, he's growing up a lot, and will be going on yet another campout this weekend - including his first hike, a five-miler!!

On Friday, I will be the mom of 4 teenagers. Officially scarey times!

Off to sleep....

Finished on time!!

2010-04-18T21:25:00.000-07:00

I completed 12 cards for a swap - Coffee/tea themed cards - and they're actually on time - due 4/28. Now to get them in the mail on time....

Had fun making the cards - used some of my POP's (pounds of paper) along with stamps from club Scrap's Mocha Java kit, and a couple other little stamps I had. Ribbon from my stash, and voila - some cute cards and matching envelopes.

Not a huge change...

2010-04-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

But I did get my hair cut this afternoon. Feels SOOO much better!!!

Again, been a while....but havin fun!!

2010-03-25T21:15:00.000-07:00

We got to go down to visit William last week - the first time most of us had seen in him well over 6 months. We drove down, leaving early in the morning and then driving home late at night - was a long day. I think Willy was a little overwhelmed with the kids all there at once, but it was a good time. I hope that I will get to visit him more often and on my own a few times as well.

These are for a swap for the embellishers PSL team that I'm on. The challenge is just about over!!!

Another PSL week! Mixed kits

2010-03-03T21:05:00.000-08:00

For this week's challenge, we have to use items from 3 different kits. I have a ton of things, my only problem is identifying the kits, because I have everything all jumbled up.

The top layout is from our little shopping spree excursion to some scrapbooking stores in Wisconsin. Surprisingly, I didn't buy a TON of things...just a few special memoirs.

This is from my FAVORITE shopping spree - going to Club Scrap headquarters!!! It was fun - they greeted us with champagne and goodies, and had some discounts and demos - was a whole lot of fun, wish I lived closer!!!

FFC Kit - Day Spa

2010-02-20T21:45:00.000-08:00

I'm doing double/triple duty here, by using some of my new kits for samples, and making them fit the theme of the week - Stamps - for the Embellisher team, as well as taking care of catching up my Project 365 pages to date (as far as I can, have to pick out what picture to use for today and I'll have another week ready to go.

As with most scrapbookers, though, I am never at a loss fof pictures - so I continued on using the Day Spa kit for my birthday pictures as well. I cut out the letters with the Cricut, used more stamps and got all the journalling done - voila, 6 more pages for my team!!!

Happy wedding day to Connie & Jon!!

2010-02-14T21:30:00.000-08:00

Connie met me at the hairdresser at 11 and we had our hair done. They did a great job with all our hairs :)

Connie dancing a jig while waiting for 3PM

The men are ready.....

The happy bride and groom. What a wonderful wedding, wonderful couple, great friends. Love you guys!!!!

Club Scrap - Bandanarama retreat Pages

2010-02-13T23:25:00.000-08:00

I just loved this kit when we received it our first night at the 2009 Club Scrap retreat in Wisconsin. I love the different sayings in this kit that go so well with all the friends we made and the classes we took. I just couldn't pick a favorite out of this set!

Retreat Layouts

2010-02-08T20:26:00.000-08:00

I'm having such a good time with the PSL again this year - it's such a motivator to get some of these pages done!! My goal is to get my entire retreat scrapbooked in the next 7 weeks! This week's theme is using Stencils - so you can see on each page that I have done some stencil work of some kind or another. I'm using papers from the FFC kit Utopia, which I love, with the blues and greens. Oh yes, and the Embellishers took first place last week for the challenge - WOOT!!!

A few more completed layouts....

2010-02-06T21:49:00.000-08:00

One of the pleasures of ALSB'ing kits in advance is pairing them up with pictures and having everything come together so smoothly!! I just added the fibres to these layouts to make them PSL compatible, did some journalling and a little stamping, and I was done!!!

Memoirs Kit with Retreat 2009 photos...

2010-02-04T23:01:00.000-08:00

Since I got to register for 2010 retreat today, I figured it was appropriate to start scrapbooking the photos I took there in 2009! I used some already prepared ALSB pages from the Memoirs kit, and added some ribbon and journalling to make them work for the Pro Scrapping League challenge for this week - Go Embellishers!!!

PSL - Week One - Fibers

2010-02-01T20:43:00.000-08:00

The pro scrapbooking league at Club Scrap has begun!!! I'm on the Embellishers team, and have a personal goal in mind, to do at leat 5 2-page spreads each week as a participant in the team. This will also enable me to USE UP some of the prepared layouts that I have waiting for me - now to get more pictures printed!!!!

Look at what My ALLIE did!!!

2010-01-28T20:36:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year, Allie asked to go to cake decorating class. Look at the cake that she decorated tonight for my birthday!!! It's so pretty, and the little grape bunches and leaves are just so cute. She's got some TALENT for a 12 year old!!

Testing to see if this posts....

2010-01-24T07:52:00.000-08:00

Good morning!!

2010-01-19T06:39:00.000-08:00

So I haven't posted in a few days again, so thought I'd just type a quick post here this morning before I head out to work. The rest of the month is going to be pretty busy - Allie is gearing up for the Youth Musicanl next weekend, and will be having practices all next week to prepare. She is also busy with her cake decorating class, and spent ALL day yesterday practicing her techniques on her practice board - she's totally loving it! Other than that, we're all just plugging away getting through the daily routine of work and school again.

I'm doing a great job of keeping up with my Project 365 so far - I'm pretty proud of myself!! I have my 18 pictures in a folder in my Picasa album, and I'll be printing them off soon for my first workshop coming up in February.

Well, off to work I go.....

Carol

Finishing off the Dining room...

2010-01-11T20:58:00.000-08:00

Tonight I switched around the baker's rack in my dining room, and moved the pictures all around. I added the boys' 8th grade graduation pictures to the black frame, and tidied everything up, making room for my wine *yay* and just making it more cozy and clean. YAY!!

Ornamental Card colored with Copic Markers

2010-01-10T21:10:00.000-08:00

I bought the pocket stamp while I was in Wisconsin for the Club Scrap retreat this past October - just had to try my hand at Copic coloring it. Made the card and bookmark using Ornamental paper from the Club Scrap December kit.

My Card-keeper....or someone else's ......

2010-01-10T21:06:00.000-08:00

I made this cardkeeper following my friend Hetty's blog information -

http://craftchaos.blogspot.com - and made a collage of the pictures I took, since I haven't figured out how to upload more than 4 pictures to this blog page!!! I used some "Piggytales" paper that I had gotten in a monthly kit that I was trying out to check the value - needless to say I've cancelled it, since it's not Club Scrap, and the quality and the themes just don't work for me in a scrapbooking way at all. It was a good way to try this out for the first time though - and now I hope to make another using REAL paper :)

Happy birthday to Cory!!!

2010-01-07T21:20:00.000-08:00

Cory turned 16 today - WOOT!!!!

More Ornamental...

2010-01-05T22:35:00.000-08:00

I made this clipboard the other day, doing the herringbone technique using 1/2 inch strips on the bottom portion. I painted the top with espresso paint, and then stamped with white craft ink using the stamp from the Ornamental kit.

Ornamental stamp project...

2010-01-03T20:24:00.000-08:00

These are the cute little containers included in the Club Stamp kit for the month of December. They will be cute for jewelry holders!!

Project 365 - Week 1

2010-01-03T20:06:00.000-08:00

I'm doing my week from Sunday through Saturday - so since the year started on Friday, this will be the Title Page of my album, with January 1 and 2 ... continuing into the next week on the following pages. I used the Ornamental kit to scrap these pictures.

Ornamental Cards

2010-01-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

I made these with the December 2009 Greetings to Go - Ornamental - from Club Scrap - this is the 4 I got done so far. The two on the left are ivory paper inked with various Club scrap ink colors, and then stamped with the Stamp kit wood mounted stamp. The rest of the embellishments are from the kit except the little rhinestones.

Project 365 - Planning Calendar

2010-01-01T23:24:00.000-08:00

Because I'm really organizationally challenged, I figured that a calendar to make little notes in for the year would be the best way to keep track of my picture-of-the-day that I'm going to be using in my Project 365 album. I printed off the calendar onto cardstock, and will hopefully have enough room to jot down a few notes every day.

Happy New Year!!!

2010-01-01T23:06:00.000-08:00

I got this free digi from http://splendidstamping.blogspot.com/, and thought it would be perfect for my Project 365 calendar, and it turned out perfectly! Below you can see the colors that I used to color in the image, and in the finished project, I used some Club Scrap green ink to ink the edges before matting on some of the Ornamental red paper.

The rest of the papers I used were from the Ornamental kit as well, and cut out the letters using my Cricut. Love getting use out of the tools that I bought!

Copic Coloring and CS Papers

2009-12-25T21:50:00.000-08:00

All of the below images are colored with copic markers. I used the stamp set that I received from my WestcoastScrapper secret santa, and had fun coloring in the images and playing with shading - some better results than others.....The bottom one is going in a set that my mom will use for her Secret pal for 2010, and the bottom two will be given away by the end of the week!! This was a challenge that I made at the beginning of the week for a Copic email list I'm in - mainly because I have a hard time parting with my 'artwork', often because I find so many flaws with it. I hope someone will enjoy them though!

Random cards

2009-12-25T21:13:00.000-08:00

Mom requested a set of cards for her Secret Pal for this upcoming year - so I got to use a bunch of my POP's and some stamps that I've got in my stash to make some cards - Valentine's, Birthday, just because, Easter, Halloween, and a couple other "Just because" cards.

It's a crochet kinda day...

2009-12-22T19:45:00.000-08:00

I started on this scarf this morning thinking I was making it for one of Allie's friends...but it turned out to be a little heavier than I'd planned, and I also ran out of the one color, so had to change up, so I think I will be keeping it for myself.

Allie went to town with me when I went for my hair cut - and she ended up getting a hair cut as well!! It's pulled back in the pic - but it's all cleaned up and nicely layered.

now I'm working on another scarf for Tamara - figure these colors are a little more teenager-ish anyway!!!

Finished the santa gift...

2009-12-21T16:07:00.000-08:00

Allie is doing a Secret Santa exchange at the Youth Musical tonight....I got this yarn the other day, and started crocheting yesterday - finished up today!! Nothing like procrastination...I hope she likes it! Merry Christmas Hannah!!

Note pad/Post-it-note holders

2009-12-18T22:38:00.000-08:00

I made these tonight using mostly scraps or papers from my POPS that I have mounting up all over the place. The top two are using the unmounted stamp from the Ornamental (December Club Scrap) kit - love that one because I don't see it as being "Christmas" in particular. Colored in with stickles.

These two I made with scraps, and stamped the front 'cover' with the ornmental stamp as well. I made little pads using the 3x5 pieces from the POPS cut in half, and bookbinding glue making it into the great little notepad. Random ribbons from my stash, and I have some more great hostess gifts or Christmas goodies!

Getting into the Christmas spirit...

2009-12-16T21:12:00.000-08:00

I'm trying, I'm trying. I really am. Here are some pics from the last couple days....tonight - Allie and Cory showing their brotherly/sisterly love.....

Me and my boys in tuxedos! Cory plays the trumpet and mellophone, Alex plays the viola and the violin.

Zach trying to get in the spirit at the Cub scout party - 12/15/09

November ATC swap results

2009-12-16T21:07:00.000-08:00

This is the goodies that I got in the mail today - not including mine, because I have to unearth it from my desk :). Love this swap!!

Mini Calendars

2009-12-13T21:42:00.000-08:00

I made these tonight using some scraps. I printed the calendars off an online site, cut them apart and made them into little pads with bookbinding glue. Really like how they turned out - going to make more throughout the week and use them for gifts!!

Five Years...

2009-12-13T21:31:00.000-08:00

Today, this morning, looking at Zach and Cory getting ready for church, I realized something.....there is about 5 years difference in age between these two. Cory will turn 16 in January, and Zach will turn 11 in March. It's hard to believe, looking at them together, that in five years Zach could look like Cory!! Was just one of those odd thoughts that came to me this morning that I felt I had to document!

Yesterday, I was having a 'good hair day' or so I thought - pics don't do it any justice :). Anyhow - Allie just had to pose all goofy with me.

One of my favorite things is hugs...and Zach figured out how to give me a monstrous bear hug that actually HURT!! He's a tough little cookie!!

Crafty fun again

2009-12-11T21:35:00.000-08:00

This is my first attempt at the herringbone technique - I think I messed it up a little, but still like how it turned out. This will either be the front of a card or part of a scrapbook page. I used the newest "December Ornamental" Club Scrap papers

At work, I use pads of paper that I write workorder requests on. On the back is a thin piece of cardboard that I've been hoarding for a while - this was just the perfect use for the covers on this book! I covered them with a 12x12 sheet - cut down, wrapped around and made all pretty. I Cricut cut the letters, and cuttlebug embossed the stamp in the corner using the same ornamental paper (did I say I love my POP's yet??) Used my Bind it all AGAIN, and voila, I have a great memory album for William, who's out at boot camp. I'm going to print off more pictures, fill it up, and get it in the mail to him this weekend. He will be off for Christmas but will be going up to Washington, so I want to get the package to him, including a disposable camera, so hopefully he will be able to share some of his 'living' there in South Carolina for boot camp.

I think there are at least 20 pages in the album, and I'm putting pictures on both sides of the paper, so he will have a lot to think about while he's out there!!

More Christmas Cards

2009-12-09T21:55:00.000-08:00

I used another new cuttlebug folder tonight, and my AWESOME paper from the POP (Pound of paper) I received with this month's Club Scrap Senior kit - what GORGEOUS paper, it's metallic, shiney, almost like fabric some of it!! Anyhow - embossed the wreath, the colored portions of the red and purple wreaths with stickles. The gold one i just brushed over with the black ink pad. Stamps were from last year's Christmas kit.

Holiday Concert

2009-12-08T22:13:00.000-08:00

Zach (and Allie) made this great Duct Tape tie for Zach to wear for the Band Concert they both played in on December 3. They did a great job at the concert as well, but also LOOKED great too :)

Gift card holder...

2009-12-08T21:39:00.000-08:00

This is taken from the "Birds of a Feather" scrap rap - I believe Deb Weller made the example/design there. I just made this using some "bonsai" paper (not sure on the exact kit) and a solid blue from.....not sure what kit either. Stamped with the Christmas greetings, it's a great little gift card holder "gift"

Oh Christmas Tree...

2009-12-08T21:35:00.000-08:00

I got this Cuttlebug folder yesterday as one of the little splurges I did for the after-Thanksgiving sales. The top one I inked over a little with green and red ink, a very muted coloring. I may add some stickles to all of the other sets as well, but they are even nice as they are.

I did four sets of 4 cards tonight - pretty simple, taking some of my POP's (Pounds of paper) and embossing, and finding some 8.5x11 pages - cut in half for a standard card size. Really love how they turn out, they are classy and simple at the same time.

Project using Cricut and Bind-it-All

2009-11-30T20:48:00.000-08:00

Since I have owned this Bind-It-All for well over a year without using it, I decided that I better start, to justify the purchase!! Also, my cricut has been quite neglected, so I'm making a point of using it more as well - cutting out the letters for the title page.

The inside pages are all club scrap papers cut down to just under 6 inches. I'm going to be putting pictures of things we've done throughout the year as a memory book to have on my desk at work!

Blogger Award - paying it forward...

2009-11-28T21:55:00.000-08:00

Found a great home for my blogger award....

Ron's Blog

InterLock A Box from the Cruise in a Box

2009-11-28T17:47:00.000-08:00

I think the pictures speak for themselves - this project neatly folds up into itself, with 3 sturdy boxes inside to hold little treasures. Loved making it, looking forward to filling it up with goodies.

A blog award!!

2009-11-28T15:04:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Rinda at http://gallorganico.blogspot.com/ I received this award. I guess the rules are to post 7 things about myself, and pass it along - so here goes: 1. I have been an FFC crafter for Club Scrap for almost 2 years, and LOVE it!
2. I ran a marathon in 2004...and hope to complete at least one more in the next couple years.
3. I love wine - favorite winery is V.Sattui in Napa
4. I graduated at age 17 - and married 2 months later.
5. My favorite color is purple, and any range thereof - blues, etc
6. I have 5 kids, the oldest is in the army, and the other 4 are super busy crazy kids too!
7. I love Disneyland, it's one of my favorite things to do with my hubby Dave.

Now...to figure out who to give this award to next.....

Jewelry again

2009-11-27T22:50:00.000-08:00

I made this bracelet, practicing the triple stitch (or something like that). I like the colors, though you can definitely tell I am still learing this one....

The necklace is made with three separate strands, seed beads and then some fancy Club Scrap beads to make the charm and accent the strands as well.

Solstice Junior kit

2009-11-27T22:47:00.000-08:00

This is the Junior kit all completed. I am going to be using these layouts for Zachary's cub scout activities - the Veteran's Day parade he participated in, along with the last pack meeting where the police dog came to visit. Will post them soon, just got the pics developed!

Solstice Greetings to Go....

2009-11-27T22:31:00.000-08:00

I hardly take the time to do the greetings to go (so far) but today found myself completing the entire set of the November cards. I didn't follow the G2G directions, but used them as inspiration along with the Stamp Rap Samples. I am going to start doing more of the sets, and hopefully will even start sending them out and using them!!

My Four Turkeys...

2009-11-26T21:42:00.000-08:00

I don't think the kids read this blog, so I figured I'd post this title and they'll never know :). These were taken just before our dinner tonight, Thanksgiving 2009. We have been through a lot in the past couple months health-wise, so we have a lot to be thankful for at this point, being all healthy and up and around!!

Thanksgiving night..

2009-11-26T21:17:00.000-08:00

My day is ending with me getting some beading done....I am not one to sit still for very long, though you can see in the bottom photo that I'm pretty tired!!! I busted out the Birds of a Feather beads, and made two bracelets and a pair of earrings, adding in the little shoe, cell phone and purse charms.

November 2009 Solstice project

2009-11-26T13:50:00.000-08:00

When I saw this online, I KNEW that it would be "mine"....it's just the type of thing I love, and have a workshop scheduled already for my customers to come and play and make one for themself - or a gift. One of the really neat things about it is the fact that you can change over the page on the left on a monthly basis as well, simply by unclipping it and swapping them over. I used my Cricket to cut out the letters and found some beads and buttons from my stash, along with the fibers. The "D" sticker is from a Disney kit (obviously!)

Avant Garde file Folder

2009-11-25T22:53:00.000-08:00

This was the project from the stamp kit from April's kit (possibly 2008 April, maybe!!??) I finally got mine out over the past week and assembled it - no decorations on it yet, but I do love how it turned out, and plan to make many more, including the ATC sized.

Old World Christmas Cards - from 2008

2009-11-25T22:50:00.000-08:00

This is the set that Club Scrap designed for last year's Christmas season. Someone was asking about what to do to embellish, so I jumped into the challenge and got my set of cards done tonight. As you can tell on the photo, I used my copic markers to color in the letters - the Santa pictures were 'cutaparts' that were embellished just with the white in the beards. I inked the edges of the cutapart, embossed the 'snow' stamp along the top and the house scene along the bottom with white and iridescent embossing powder. I then inked the edge of the green matte with black ink, and mounted on the maroon background. I'm very happy with how they turned out!!

Joyful Layouts

2009-11-25T22:44:00.000-08:00

I ALSB'ed these pages the other night - not the best pictures, but you get the idea of the color theme that Club Scrap has chosen for this year's Christmas theme, as well as the cool embossing that they have offered. Can't wait to fill up these pages with our family photos this year!

This is "during"

2009-11-15T22:05:00.000-08:00

I should have probably taken more pictures - this doesn't really show the FULL huge gigantic mess that I had going here in the midst of all the 'organization' but you can kinda get the idea!!!

I had already cleared off most of the shelves on the entertainment unit at this point already....

This was also somewhat in process, before swapping around the two wall shelf units.

I love my IKEA shelf units...

2009-11-15T22:02:00.000-08:00

This is my little nook. most everything on the shelves is my personal supplies, and then another work area.

This is my main cropping area. There is another table as long as the one on the right that I am going to butt up against this one, to allow for about 8 people to crop - and another 2-3 on the back table! That will leave the kitchen for food serving, and then the kitchen table I will be able to use for either more display, or for extra cropping room!!

Most of the things on this shelf are my "sale" products - I have my crafter classics on my NEW shelving thanks to Carol J., my wood mounted stamps are being stored in my containers. I have my paper on paper shelves in the one cube, and then my FFC exclusives as well. Projects are in a pull out bin, another bin is full of scraps of paper - huge bunches of cards in my future!! The two shelves in the middle on the right are ALSB'ed pages - one has pictures all on it, and the other is fresh and ready to scrap....ready for another Pro Scrapping league challenge!!!

Here is the whole wall of shelving - I swapped the shelf units around early Saturday morning while everyone was sleeping - moving the desk further to the back of the room to open up more cropping area in the center.

Some "after" pictures

2009-11-15T21:52:00.000-08:00

This is the area I have set up with my beading underneat the shelf, and some supplies for sale on the table in behind.

This is the view from by the tv looking at the 'work' area

The pizza boxes will hopefully be trimmed down after the open house this upcoming weekend...they are all labelled and ready to move out the door! I havea few things to organize on that shelf yet - most of the stuff on the shelf is from my stamping stuff.

Most of the goodies on these shelves is 'mine' - complete albums, some yarn, and POP's and Tags all ready to decorate. Oh yeah, and the TV :)

Enjoying the room...

2009-11-15T21:46:00.000-08:00

I had no idea Allie had taken this picture....LOL

How on earth can I get decent pictures of my kids?? LOL

Busy week...

2009-11-15T21:14:00.000-08:00

Last weekend at my workshop, I told my customers that the next time they came over, I was going to have rearranged my room....I kinda had in the back of my mind to do it SOMETIME but started on it this week. Every night I would work on it a little more, and pretty soon it was a HORRIBLE mess piled up every where. Saturday morning I couldn't sleep, so I got up and really started working hard at rearranging and putting things back into place. Tonight, I finished!!! As I started earlier in the week, I put the word out that I was doing an open house on Saturday Nov. 21, so that became my ongoing motivation!! now I'm all set and ready to go - I think I have room for at least 10 people to crop comfortably, and I have a TON of things all organized and ready for sale - full kits, a ton of paper packs, and loose sheets of paper all organized on new paper racks - thanks to my friend Carol!!

Hopefully I will be able to keep it somewhat organized now. Pics to follow :)

November fun times

2009-11-09T20:21:00.000-08:00

Dolores and I went to V Sattui winery, and stopped for the photo op - hadn't seen this sign before, thought it was pretty cool!!!

Tricia Morris (from Club Scrap, Wisconsin) just happened to be in town the same weekend Dolores was - so we got to have dinner together!! what fun!!

In the 'cellar' at V Sattui - our special place!!

My purple hair - took FOREVER but I love the colors!!!

Saying....Hello!

2009-11-04T17:13:00.000-08:00

Well, the days go by as usual....but the stress still stays.

Oh....100 days to Vancouver Olympics - wow, wouldn't that be amazing to be able to go to that (yes, the tv is on, I really don't have ADHD)

Dave went to the doctor today, and he is now on heavy duty blood thinner meds - coumidin by mouth, and Heparin by self-inflicted injections for 5 days (twice a day). More things for me to stress about...

Cory is healing at home, I get to drain his drainage bag twice a day, but he's definitely feeling much better, if food intake is any indication!

The three littles are taking it all in stride, just going about their school, cub scouts, basketball games, etc.

Me?? I'm up and down. Mini meltdowns are kinda par for the course...I'm actually grateful to be working and busy, that's a bit of a reprieve from the life stress. Prayers and help of friends is definitely the only thing that is keeping me together.

What a weekend...

2009-11-01T20:58:00.000-08:00

William's on his way to boot camp in Missouri this week...

I cut his hair in the parking lot at the hospital.....

The "before" look....

Poor Cory...drain tube in place, still unsure of surgery schedule (11/1/09 photo)

My "Lemonade" jewelry....

2009-11-01T20:24:00.000-08:00

You know the expression "When Life Hands you Lemons, make lemonade"? Well, I had a lemon weekend ..... and this is the result of that. Cory is still in the hospital, but I'll be heading to work tomorrow so figured I better get a good night's sleep here at home. He was pretty worn out tonight, so I don't think he'll be awake too long and he's in good hands there with all the nurses and people there looking out for him.

Meints Family offshoot...

2009-10-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

We were unable to attend the first reunion for the Meints side of my family - my mom's family - that took place this summer. I still went ahead and ordered the t-shirts, and tonight we were all together to get a photo done. Cory has been sick for almost a week, and Alex was a little frustrated for one reason or another, but ... all in all, we're a great looking group :)

And even more beading projects!

2009-10-25T20:45:00.000-07:00

I can't seem to get good photos of my jewelry, but here's a try...I made these earrings tonight to go with the bracelet I'd already made - a few different things that all mix and match.

Made this bracelet using mostly beads from on Club Scrap kit, though I'm not sure which one :). Added in some seed beads, and voila!!

More beading...

2009-10-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

This was made using primarily the apothecary kit beads, along with sead beads purchased from Michael's. It's not as full as the first one I made, and I think next time I will add a few larger beads in the fringes, but I do like the colors and how it turned out!!

Jewelry time....

2009-10-18T20:26:00.000-07:00

I made these this weekend using multiple Club Scrap beading kits, with the help and inspiration of some fellow Mariner-ettes coming over on Saturday night

It's Natural!!

2009-10-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

I made the project from the senior kit, and added a few little goodies to it - the swirl and the bread tie are both from the rainbow swap that we did at the retreat. Stay tuned for more pages that will match this kit - I think they're going to be perfect with my Wisconsin pics!!

Enchanted!!!

2009-10-13T22:10:00.000-07:00

This is the kit from retreat that I just LOVE.....not MORE than the others, but I knew it would be just perfect for the formal night pictures (gee, think they planned that??!!) The first pages were done using paper from my stash and the great invitation and menu

Copic Coloring...

2009-09-23T21:56:00.000-07:00

I have started collecting copics over the past 3 months or so - pricey little markers, that's for sure. Over the weekend, at our 'scramp camp' we had a class that finally gave me the courage to give this whole copic coloring thing a shot....and I'm LOVING the results!! Now I just feel like I need to add more to my collection to get all the shading and stuff just so!!

Into the Wild

2009-09-13T15:26:00.000-07:00

This is the kit from the Club Scrap challenge in March, that I've finally gotten around to Assembly Line scrapbooking this weekend. I think this is one of my favorite kits - the colors are excellent, and there is a lot of opportunities with the journalling squares. Will be fun to figure out which photos end up on this one!