Stuff From My Basement

GBC

2008-07-30T14:00:00.006-06:00

It's here!!! Tomorrow is the big LOSTies get together at the Gingerbread Cottage in Colorado!!! A whole weekend of hanging out with the girls and stamping. :)

I'm so excited, there will be 12 of us there in a cute little Colorado mountain cabin. We've been planning the details for over 6 months. I've been talking to these girls for over two years and I've met a few, but many of them I will be meeting for the first time. How cool is that???

We'll also be doing our Secret Sister gift reveal while we are there. I'm looking forward to seeing my Secret Sister's face when she finds out her package is from me. Oh and then there's my wrapping job. *evil laughter*

I have to say, I'm nervous and excited all rolled into one. I have to laugh at myself. I have probably packed more stamping supplies than clothes. How funny is that? I don't know what to take out. I hope I don't throw my back out picking up my luggage. LOL!

I'll take LOTS of pictures and report back next week!

Wake Up Call

2008-07-19T10:52:00.002-06:00

Who needs coffee in the morning? I had another version of a wake up call today. We'll get to that in a minute. I do alot of thinking in my car. It's my best place to think up to-do lists or grocery lists. Too bad I don't keep a notepad in my car. I usually forget all about my list ideas by the time I get home. I've thought about getting a notepad for my car. But really, think about ME driving and trying to write. At the same time?!? Is this really a safe idea?

So today I was flipping through the radio stations looking for something tollerable to listen to. Saturday morning is often crappy radio. I flipped through the presets and found Footloose on the radio. I love this song. I did a little jig in my seat and proceded onto the freeway where I kicked up my speed a little bit, thanks to the peppy tune. This about when I get my morning Wake Up Call. I looked down at the station and saw that I was on the Oldies station. The Oldies station?! This where I listen to 70's tunes and OLD stuff! Footloose is now an Oldies tune??? This was popular when I was in high school. This is NOT RIGHT!!! This must mean I am old. I don't want to be OLD. *stomps feet, tantrum style* I am displeased. I will be writing a letter to the station. Just as soon as I remember to put it on my to-do list.

Twilight Obsessed

2008-07-16T10:21:00.003-06:00

Three books--one week! I could not put them down. I was obsessed. Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series books are Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse.

Coming out on August 2nd, Breaking Dawn. I'm not counting down the days. But I am thinking about it. Alot. Roughly 2 1/2 weeks.

I'm also thinking about what I will do when I'm done with that book. I'm already hooked on the saga of Bella Swan and her vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen. How long can I wait for more? I'm also amazing at how many people I know who have or are reading the books. A half dozen in my office, and probably a dozen LOSTies. I haven't counted all of them yet. These are very popular books.

Ahhhh but then, there's December 12, 2008. Twilight the movie!! OMG!!! I feel like such a doof. I'm all gaga over a book being made into a movie. I just can't wait to go see it. Now after I finish book four, I have something to look forward to. I'm saved! *laughs*

Have you heard of them yet? Have you read them? Are you HOOKed like me? Who's your favorite--Edward or Jacob? TELL! Me...I'm more of a Jacob girl.

Oh Happy Day!

2008-07-14T09:52:00.007-06:00

Ohhh happy day! Finally!!! WooooHOOO!!! Oh to be excited over a washer and dryer. It's what my almost 40 year old life has come to. But frankly... it's this or hanging out in a laudromat.

Wouldn't you be excited? Soo... my little boxy twins (LG TROMM) will be here later today. I can't wait to start 'em up and let 'em go! I have piles of laundry taking over my bedroom.

Interested in details? I've been bashing my head over deciding what to do. Our gas dryer bit the dust again. No heat. We had it fixed a couple months ago. The decision was, dump more money into a 10 year old dryer. Or buy a new one. Do we buy a new dryer only? Or get a new set. Get a new old school inexpensive top loader set? Or go green and get a water and energy efficient front loader set. I've researched online and looked in the stores. Would the new larger front loaders even fit in my laundry room?

I found out that with the new energy restrictions new top loading washing machines don't clean as well as their previous models. More anxiety. Front loaders are double the cost and if I was going to go that route, I didn't want to end up with a cheap lemon. It was well worth signing up with consumer reports to get the latest stats and customer reviews.

Some more great news--REBATES! Our power and gas company will give us a total of $180 in rebates just for buying these babies. Oh yes, we did buy the little booster seats. LOL. That's what I like to call the stands. I don't want to stand on my head to do the laundry. They're pretty sturdy and have nice divided drawers inside. I'm all about storage space!

Thanks Uncle Sam. The economy has been stimulated once again.

Batmobile

2008-07-11T11:19:00.002-06:00

How the gas crisis has affected Batman....

Movie Fans

2008-07-11T07:53:00.005-06:00

We watch ALOT of movies at our house. Blockbusters, thrillers, foreign films--we don't mind subtitles. We also choose alot of indie films, even scarry horror flicks, and your romantic comedy here and there.

We even watch some TV series on DVD, sometimes we find it more fun to watch a whole season of a show on DVD in one week rather than on TV for months. We do this with Weeds, Eureka, and Dexter.

NETFLIX is the way to go. We load up our favorites whenever we see a preview we like and when it's released it comes to our house. Well...not immediately. Our list get REALLY long around Oscar and Golden Globe awards season. We have quite a long list of movies we want to see. I doubt we'll ever run out of choices.

Since we see so many movies at home, we don't get out to the theater too often. Every now and then, there's something REALLY good that we can't wait for, or it looks like it should be seen on the big screen.

Just last weekend I *had* to go see the new PIXAR movie WALL-E. I'm a sucker for a sweet little robot movie like WALL-E. I loved it. I was almost in tears a few times. A couple of times during the movie I felt compelled to hold Shane's hand. I'm such a sap! When you see the movie, you'll understand. ~blushes~

Other movies we've seen lately are:
The Bucket List
Vantage Point
WALL-E
Definitely, Maybe
Stardust
The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Nanny Diaries
What Would Jesus Buy?
The Martian Child

My recent faves besides WALL-E are The Bucket List and Vantage Point.

Happy 4th of July

2008-07-04T06:46:00.004-06:00

Hello friends! I hope you all have a fun and relaxing 4th of July.

Today at our house we are planning a little BBQ. I'm making my mom's faboo German potato salad. Some corn on the cob that we'll throw on the grill on their husks. Along with some gourmet sausages I've been lookin' to try. We have apple and asiago cheese, sun-dried tomato with motzarella and basil, and some plain old brats. For dessert I am going to try a recipe from the LOSTie cookbook it's Raspberry Pretzel Salad. What's a 4th of July without a Jello-O salad? *wink*

Later tonight we'll pull our lawn chairs out to the bottom of our driveway and watch all the fireworks shows around the whole Salt Lake Valley. We have a perfect view from our house of many area shows. I bought some small ordinances to keep Shane busy while we hang out and to give us that extra pyro aroma we crave.

What are you doing for the 4th of July?

The Over 30 Crowd

2008-06-25T15:44:00.005-06:00

I don't know who wrote this...but when I read it, I crack up. It's got to be my age.

A MESSAGE TO THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD

If you are 30 or older you can relate:

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning...uphill BOTH ways yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that...I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it! I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the dumb library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napster! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and mess it all up!

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Play station video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and' asteroids' . Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! ! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever!

And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, too bad for you!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no on screen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!

You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your butt and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning.

Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little brats!
And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove or go build a real fire... imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot.

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!

Regards,
The over 30 Crowd

Dryer my blues away...

2008-06-25T15:24:00.004-06:00

So my dryer "done bit the dust". AGAIN! Arrrggh! I just had the stupid thing fixed in a couple month's ago. It wasn't exactly cheap. This is NOT in my plan people! I have a couch to dream about.

There are a few stamping websites giving away stamps and other blahg candy... does anyone know of one that's giving away a new washer and dryer set? No? Hmmmphf. Lottery that can be fixed in my favor? How about a "fell off the back of the delivery truck" special sale? *wink, wink*

Yesterday we went window washer (and dryer) shopping. Ha. That sounds funny. (Someone has to laugh at my lame jokes). I can't decide...do I fix my old broken dryer? Do I buy just a dryer? Do I buy a whole new set? Do I get a new fangled fancy set or just a run of the mill set? It's lookin' expensive either way. I really don't want some odd mismatched set. That will probably bug me forever. Okay, so that's one decision made.

See.... all these questions. I just don't want to think about it. In the meantime, I have clothes that will begin to pile up. There's my dilema. It's probably hot enough outside to leave my clothes on the patio to dry.

This is the dumb stuff I think about as I drive to and from work. That is while I'm not singing at the top of my lungs for the entertainment of other drivers. But that's another story. *wink*

Say Hello To My Little Friends...

2008-06-15T12:31:00.003-06:00

Look into this monkey's face and try not to smile. Heheheheee! I laugh every time. He's just HAPPY! I love cute and funny stamps. This is sure one of them. And the sentiment "Have a Beach'n Birthday!" Well--that just adds to the fun. I also made one for a friend who just got a pool for the summer. I changed the sentiment to "Happiness". I think of her kids jumpin' in the pool to cool down. Ahhhh!!! Ohhh to have a backyard pool!

Anyway, this cutie is called "Pool Guy" from the Stampendous Changito Monkey stamp line. I added some caramel color fun flock to his body. So in person he's fuzzy. *eeek!*. I also added stickles to his goggles for a little extra pizzazz.

I used another one of the Inkadinkado stamp sets sent to me by my Lostie Secret Sister. (LSS). This one is called "Thanks A Million".

Hahahaa...he's pretty cute for a burglar, isn't he? I tried to make the card front look like a safe door... I added the pearl dot to look like the doorknob or handle. There's also some mini gemstones next to the money to look like coins. Eh? I thought so too. *LOL!*

Thanks again LSS-- you can tell me who you are anytime--I won't mind!!! *wink*

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-15T10:02:00.004-06:00

Have a great day DAD, Torry, Shaner & John :)

Sending special love and hugs to you too Zak!

A Date With Ironman

2008-06-14T12:22:00.009-06:00

My boyfriend, aka Shane, took me on a date the other day. We *finally* saw Ironman. Most movies like this we will buy, so sometimes we just wait for the movie to come out on DVD.

It was sooooooooo good! Robert Downey Jr. was H-O-T! And perfect as the metal man. Even my Geekboy approved. *wink* We walked out of the theater singing Black Sabbath's I AM IRON MAN with grins on as wide as can be!

Next date is with a large green Hulk of a man. And I'm not talking about the Jolly Green Giant. ;)

The Season is Ovah...

2008-06-06T18:15:00.004-06:00

It's already ovah? And I have to wait until WHEN?!?!

OMG... another FABOO season finale of my favorite show. I won't even try to give you highlights. Go here Fishbiscuitland or here The Ack Attack two excellent and funny LOST bloggers.

I feel like a kid on that second Monday after school is out. You know that feeling... so now what? How long until school starts again?! Seriously---I don't know how I will survive if I have to wait until next January or February again. Stupid writer's strike. It's messed up my TV life.

I'm watching crappy TV and wierd movies so far. Ohh and I read 2 books this week. This won't last long. What are you saying?!? Go OUTSIDE? Bite your tongue! LOL.

Inkadinkadoo Thanks!

2008-06-01T07:48:00.003-06:00

My favorite cards are usually the funny ones. Clever and cute catch my eye. Inkadinkadoo has some new little stamps that are just clever. My Lostie secret sister sent me four of them. What a nice surprise!

I used "Bad or Fattening" on this card. I cased the layout from a card made by my talented friend Rachel . :) This paper is from Treehouse Memories. It's an ice cream line called Collette's Creamery. Perfect, considering the ice cream and cupcakes stamped in the background.

I still need to make something with the other stamps. Thanks again secret sis!

THE Closet

2008-05-31T18:26:00.010-06:00

I probably should have blogged about this little closet last fall. I took pictures and everything. Sometimes I take pictures of stuff and then never do anything with them. Am I the only one? I doubt it. I just trashed 182 items from my recycle bin. Junk photos. Some, I have no idea why I took. Others were duplicates or just evidence of my crappy photography skills.

So.... this was about a closets wasn't it? *grins* Oh yes! I'm so easily distracted!

There once was this funny little space in the corner of my basement. A closet at the end of our stairs. The nice thing about custom building your home is that you can sometimes tell the subcontractors to do extra stuff. In this case, we paid to have this wall finished with drywall and added a door to this little odd space. On the outside it looks nice.
We've been doing bits of finish work on the house here and there. Small projects. Shane has gotten pretty handy over the years. Anyway--we finally decided we would finish this little closet and turn it into a nice storage room with pantry style built-in shelving. The idea for this space is that when our family room area is finished, this will be a game, DVD/Video, and blanket, etc. storage for that room.

Back to the HANDY part. *laughs* Shane has done plenty of electrical, framing, and drywall hanging. Since the build of our house and finishing our basement bedrooms. This was his first attempt at drywall taping and mudding. Ummm..... I'll sumarize in a polite way. He never wants to do it again.

Bahahahahaha...I couldn't resist this photo. Looks like the mudding and sanding WON this round.

On the inside it looks like the rest of my unfinished basement. Concrete walls and bare 2x4s. It does have a little pull cord light thanks to my electrical wizard of a husband. Who to his great credit, did all the wiring and electrical finish work on this whole house. *beams with pride*

You wouldn't believe how much JUNK we had crammed into this little room. 3 shelves and boxes and boxes of stuff. We started cleaning things out July 20, 2007.

I found things I forgot about. Can you say...wedding gifts? Eeek! Anybody need a sombrero or two? How about a chili pepper pinata??? What about some crutches? I'm afraid to throw those out. As soon as I do--you know what will happen.

Oooo--look what I found! First--WALLS. And then--STUDS!!! Pun INTENDED. *wink* The next day July 21, 2007 the framing was done.

July 22, 2007. Itchy, Itchy, Itchy. I hate insulation. Then there's putting in some wiring for a new light. No more pull cord for us. We're movin' up to a real light switch. LOL.

Ahhh....the drywall. That started to go around July 24, 2007. That's a holiday in Utah. So he had a long holiday weekend to work on the closet. That probably took a day or two. Then the DREADED mudding and taping. This was the killer. He worked on this off and on during August and September. One coat, dry, sand. Alot of cussing. Another coat, dry, sand. More cussing along the way. He finally gave up the first part of October. The basement was too cold. That project was put aside for the winter.

Then TADA! Suddenly here comes Memorial Day weekend 2008 and ZOOOOOOM here we go again on the closet project! He had planned all along to put one more coat of mud on the walls. Nope. It's only a closet. Besides... did you see that photo up there??? Hahahaha!

Off to Lowe's and Home Depot to get just the right lumber for the project on Friday.

By Saturday May 25, 2008 we are here. The walls are cleaned from all the drywall dust. (Don't
ask about the rest of the basement.)

The bracing is up and dry. Now he's started on the small DVD/Video shelving on the narrow side of the closet.

And here's the right side. Plenty of room for blanket storage or pantry or whatever I want! What? It only took 10 months.

Next up, caulk and paint! I think I'm on paint duty. :)

Memorial Day

2008-05-26T12:44:00.003-06:00

Today is Memorial Day. I'm taking a few moments out of my day to think about what today is really about. I hope you do too.

Shane and I took these photos ourselves. On our trip to Washington DC last August. They are some of the images we saw while visiting Arlington National Cemetary.

Changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Soldiers walking back from a funeral escort. It's an odd thought to be a tourist in a working cemetary.

And the real truth of Arlington. Need I say more?

Thank you. I will never forget what I witnessed.

My New LSS is PUNNY

2008-05-24T08:35:00.000-06:00

I have a new LOSTie secret sister. She's PUNNY. I was jones'n to find out who she is. I hate the waiting. I'm terrible about Christmas and surprises. I scratch, shake, listen, sniff all gift packages....so it's always good to wrap them well. *wink*

Anyway. I was saying a few weeks ago WHOOOOOOOOOOOO ARE YOU to my LSS whoever she is....

Then these cards started to arrive at my house.
A tease, eh?

I got two copies of this first one, the first week. With some darling stamped images of Ollie and Oliver (the line of stamps). Thank YOU!

Then---this one arrived the other day. MORE teasin'!!!

Very PUNNY! Now---tell me who you are! Please? *bats eyelashes & smiles*

Gettin' Painful

2008-05-23T16:04:00.001-06:00

For the first time ever, I put more than $50 in my gas tank. $55 in fact. Eshhh! It's painful. Just to drive around. Or go to work. That's gotta be irony, huh?

Reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally?

2008-05-19T10:35:00.000-06:00

Another funny photo from www.engrish.com :)

Reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllly???

Cowboys & Indians

2008-05-19T09:59:00.000-06:00

Some fun with Cat's Pajamas stamps. I've been on a kick about making birthday cards lately. I always seem to need them. I made these for my montly card swap last month. Plus a couple extra "just in case". The are from the Cowboys and Indians stamp set I bought a while back. LUFF them! I'm happy to be using them again.

I rarely make square cards. I thought my friend Tahne would fall over. Nope, she took it in stride. I found these cowboy lookin' stars at my local scrapbook store. The print paper is from My Mind's Eye.

And with some extra paper, and changed up the stamps and cased my own card. I like how he looks like he's trying to row away. Heheheee.... maybe escape? I'm *finally* using some of my Stampin' Up hodgepodge hardware. It's hard for me to break down and use the cool and expensive stuff. I don't know why I hang on to it for so long. I guess they are like little treasures to me.

I hope you like them... I had fun making them. :)

4 Gifts

2008-05-18T06:54:00.001-06:00

4 happy little birthday gifts all lined up and ready to go. This stamp set is Birthday Whimsy from Stampin' Up. I cased the layout from the Splitcoaststampers card gallery. Whenever I'm stumped for an idea, I surf the gallery for inspiration. I changed the colors and added a little of my own touches.

The background dotted swirls is a stamp from a winter Cat's Pajamas stamp set called Polar Holiday. The ribbon is pumpkin pie striped grosgrain from Stampin' Up. The flat top eyelets are Making Memories. Paper and ink are Stampin' Up. Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie and True Teal.

Lostie Secret Sister

2008-05-14T17:30:00.002-06:00

My last round LOSTie secret sister, or little sister Kris LUFFS the LOST character Charlie. Sooooooooooo I had to make her something special to remember Charlie. Charlie had a special jar of peanut butter on the Island. Dharma issued peanut butter.

Charlie's special PB, plus his LUFF-Letter to Kris. Complete with medical tape. Handwritten in sharpie marker. Only the best from him! I forgot to take a photo of his special sharpie. He has his marked with his name in medical tape, just like F-A-T-E on his fingers.

A close up on the Dharma logo added to the lid. The SWAN Hatch, of course.

Nothing like a spoonful of spreadable legume protein paste, eh? I made this cutie using some modified downloads from the internet.

I'm guessing only true fans & LOSTies will get the depth of this gift. But I believe that's the whole idea. :)

UP/DOWN Treats

2008-05-14T16:31:00.001-06:00

For the last round of LOSTie Secret Sister, my little sister was my FABOO friend Kris. She lives in Indiana. She's quite hilarious and good fun. So I was able to take some extra liberty with some of her gifts.

Heheheheheee..... I think I'm so funny.

My LSS Kris has been on a special diet. It's something called and UP/Down diet. One day you eat normally, the next day you pretty much starve to death. Or so it sounds. Anyway. I sent her some treats to coordinate with her Up and Down days.

DOWN Day Treat #1... An altered frappachino bottle filled with "diet peanuts". Totally fat free, sugar free, carb free. Ohh..and taste free. They'll also double as packing material if you run out.

For that delightful UP day, a very special dark chocolate bar :)

Yeah.... another DOWN day here. I was thinking maybe a Luna bar or something. Then I thought, why buy a Luna bar? They all taste like cardboard anyway....right??? I saved a little time and created a fiber filled treat for that next DOWN day.

Ahhhh.... an UP day again. How about a candy bar pouch that contains a milky way midnight? I'm not ALL mean. (wink).

Okay...so those are some of my wacky handmade gifts as part of her secret sister package.

Hilarious Website

2008-05-14T16:08:00.000-06:00

OMG!

I got an email today. Full of goofy sign mistakes. I went to http://www.engrish.com/ and have been laughing my head off all afternoon. Check it out!!!

There are some really funny translations here. The commentary at the bottom of the photos is worth wading through the somewhat difficult to search blog. In any case it's alot of fun. This one is one of my faves.

Look up and down the aisle twice before proceeding... (his very funny comment)

Mine --- what exactly do you buy here? More paranoia???

Hi Mom!

2008-05-11T09:14:00.000-06:00

Happy
Mother's
Day
Mom!

And to all the mom's out there, have a great day. I hope you are treated like a queen today!

A Happy Holiday

2008-05-05T07:46:00.000-06:00

I wish you a great day and a sampling of delicious food in celebration!

Happy Cindo De Mayo!!!

Toofpaste?

2008-05-01T17:16:00.000-06:00

Seriously?!?!

Who's working the day the signs are printed at the store? You might think there would be a discount if you only had one TOOF and need to buy some toofpaste. But no. It's still $3.99. Oh well. Think of all the money you're saving on floss.

Thank You Rachel!

2008-04-29T17:27:00.000-06:00

A belated thank you to my LOSTie Secret Sister or LSS Rachel. :)

She sent some adorable stuff -- check out the "T" and and the darling round tin. All of my goodies fit into tall lunch tin and round tin--too cute! I got my first Changito (monkey) stamp and lots of adorable embelishments--my fave kind of stuff!!

Here's a close up her super cute card!
The sentiment scanned a little light. It says "the road to a friend's house is never long."

Thanks again!!!

Keeping Busy

2008-04-27T11:32:00.000-06:00

Okay....so there's some catching up on my blog. I still have more to talk about.

I've got cards to upload
A Secret Sister to thank and her wonderful gifts to post about
Some kooky SS gifts made by me to show you
I had a crazy lunch with my mom to tell you about
A very special trip planned
There's probably more...

Anyway...there you are. I'm still alive--I promise!

It's BACK!

2008-04-27T11:29:00.000-06:00

Lost is BACK....and better than ever! It's been a looooooooooong 4 weeks w/o it. It's terrible to be addicted to a TV show. Or is it? I LUFF this show!!!

The CRUSHER!

2008-04-27T10:51:00.000-06:00

Recycling. It's a good thing, yes?

And it gives someone at my house something fun to do. Or an excuse to make stuff and goof around. You pick. If you're talking aluminum cans that is. Around here you can make some money doing it.

Don't get me wrong. I do like to recycle. You MUST do something about newspapers, magazines, cardboard, plastic and all that JUNK that comes into our homes. However, my darling husband. We'll call him DH for short, likes to play with gadgets. He and his friend Paul made a pneumatic can crusher. They both have one.

Wanna see a photo? No? Too late! Unless you closed your eyes...

The crusher thing-a-ma-jig sits on top of a big barrel. It hooks up to DH's air compressor.

When he's ready to GET CRUSHIN'-- he puts a can in place and presses the silver bar you see on the front side. I couldn't tell you the techno-term. But a steel lever comes down and flattens the can. Watch your fingers!!!

Then when the lever goes back up...the "off pressure" air or whatever it is being released SHOOTS the can across the top of the barrel and down the hatch it goes!!!

After about 3 years of collecting and crushing cans from our house and his work, he took 20 bags of cans to the recycling center.

1 full truck of cans

16 crushed bags
4 uncrushed bags

197 pounds of aluminum
.68 a pound, including the 10 bonus for extra pounds

$133 for what would have been someone else's trash!!!

Dexter

2008-04-27T10:29:00.001-06:00

While LOST was on hiatus Shane and I found a new show to watch.(err, get addicted to watching) It's called DEXTER. It's a Showtime series. It started playing on CBS during the writer's strike. Shane and I were thinking it would be chopped up with editing and well...who wants to watch commercials when you don't have to? We ordered the Season 1 disks from Netflix.

OMG! It's SO COOL! I think we watched the whole first season in a week and a half. It took that long only because we had to send the disks back and wait for new ones to arrive.

Who would have thought that you would like a serial killer as a main character? The tag line... Is he a good person doing bad things? Or is he a bad person doing good things? Dexter Morgan, he's pretty much a sociopath. He works as a blood pattern expert for the "Miami Metro Police". The character and series are based on two books by author Jeff Lindsay. It's well written, clever, cool, suspenseful, often funny and just isn't something that fits into the typical boring TV mold. I'm hooked!!

You should check it out if you like a good thriller. If not, go back to your vanilla milk & cookies shows. I don't want you to be scared or anything. ;)

Some catching up....

2008-04-14T11:32:00.000-06:00

It's been so long since I've update my movies list.... we've seen a bunch in the last few months! We really like to watch alot of movies. NETFLIX is the way to go.

Alvin and the Chipmunks <----totally cute!!!
No Country for Old Men
Death at a Funeral
Out of Time
Enchanted
Atonement
Becoming Jane
Mr. Woodcock
Dan In Real Life
Underdog
DEXTER Season 1 <----------AWESOME!!!!
Michael Clayton
No Reservations
EUREKA Season 1
American Pastime
Fido
Last Mimzy
Good Luck Chuck
Driving Lessons <---HP fan alert
Deja Vu

New Girly Toy

2008-04-14T11:03:00.000-06:00

I got a new toy this weekend. A teeny tiny digital camera. And it's GIRLY PINK! I love it! My old camera still works, but I've been suspecting blurry photos for a little while and frankly, it's just old. I think about 2003. It's heavy and clunky. Hmmm...what other good excuses did I have when I whined for months???

Anyway---here she is! And she's cute! Now...where to go and take some cute photos?

Not the Easter Bunny

2008-03-22T21:48:00.000-06:00

see more crazy cat pics

Happy Easter to my Peeps!!!

2008-03-22T20:31:00.000-06:00

Happy Easter tomorrow!

I've been reading this loony website all day... OMG how funny are these pix???

see more crazy cat pics

Herrro!

2008-03-22T20:30:00.001-06:00

Hello.... remember me? Okay so it's been a while. I was trying to decide if I should keep up on things here. I look at all the other pretty blogs and think maybe mine isn't so interesting. Who's it for anyway? My peeps... right?

Okay...so I'll come back and put something up. :)

Oh My Google!

2008-02-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

OMG! Lookey what I found today!!! Just out there floating around on the internet. For anyone to see-- my boyfriend---lookin' so good.

It's Carl Edwards!!! EEEK! ~Drool~

Be still my heart--he's HOT!!!

Superbowl of Racing

2008-02-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

Suit up boys! It's time to go racin'! WOOOHOOOO! We've only been waiting since..uhhhhhhhh November? Right? I'm not excited. No... I don't miss my boyfriend Carl. No. Not one bit. (look around the room, all innocent faced).

It's time for the DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYTONA 500!!!

Who's gonna win? I don't have a clue. Will there be a "big one"? Maybe not now that they added those those big goofy "wings" to the back of the cars. But who knows. I'll sure be looking!

Oooo look! There's Carl! Strappin' on his helmet. He's gettin' ready to RACE! Watch for the #99 car.

Ahhh all studly like. Standing there posing. Just waiting for the papparazzi to snap a pic for Tracy. See? He luffs me. He just doesn't know it yet.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CARL!!!! (Please don't crash!!!!)

Sweet Baby Boy

2008-02-13T15:22:00.000-07:00

My niece Bethany (My brother's daughter) had her second son on December 10. I just got some photos this week. Look at that sweet litte face. Beth says he has red hair now. At 2 months he's now 23 inches and 10.9 pounds. A little guy compaired to his big bro Joey.

Welcome to the world little Scotty!

ps...Mom with two, this means there's really no denying you are a great grandmother. *wink*

My Inner Redneck

2008-02-10T07:40:00.000-07:00

I haven't seen any racing since before Thanksgiving. My inner redneck has been jonesing for some SPEED! And some crashes...but don't tell the drivers. ;)

Last night I watched the Nascar Bud Shootout. WOOOHOOOO! Now, if only I liked to drink beer and wore tank tops and daisy dukes. Hehehehe!!! Dang....Nascar fans take some crap don't they?

Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans had a great night last night. We saw the new and improved Junior last night. He was happy, smiling, wearing something other than red.... (ha!) and driving like the old Dale we knew was in there somewhere. WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO! He won it too!!!

And to top it off---there was this funny commercial for AMP ENERGY. I laughed my ass off. Great lines there at the end, nice to see a Nascar driver with a sense of humor. I wish a few more would get one.

Ohh yeah....and I got to see my cute boyfriend Carl Edwards *sigh*. Don't tell Shane. He'll be jealous. ;)

Crop Night Out

2008-02-09T17:42:00.000-07:00

I went out last night and cropped/stamped with some friends. We met up at a cute little scrapbook store. I sometimes visit this place and end up spending about $75 on paper and embelishments. They have some really cute stuff.

I got a very nice surprise from my sweetie when I arrived. I have to brag--This is better than flowers!!! Shane kept asking questions all day. He's very supportive of my hobby. He asked me if I was going to go, where it was, which store was it, etc, etc. I didn't even notice he was pumping me for info. When I arrived for the crop--the class proctor handed me an envelope. I opened it up to find a $25 gift certificate and a little note from Shane. *AWWWWW!* After he got off work yesterday he drove up to the shop to buy a gift card for me. He left it with the store as a surprise. Nice, eh? I like flowers--but this was a pretty darned good surprise!

I just received a bunch of new stamps from SU! with my order this week. I wanted to use my new Berry Bliss designer paper. I decided on a pink and chocolate theme for my cards last night. These are 3 cards I finished. I have one more that's not quite done.

Stampin Up! Boho Backgrounds stamp with Berry Bliss print paper, Pretty In Pink & Close To Cocoa cardstock.

I *luff* cute and/or funny images. This one really tickled me. They're from Stampendous. I added gemstones to the headlights for a little "bling". Who wouldn't feel better after getting this card?

Stampin Up! True Friend stamp with Berry Bliss print paper, Pretty In Pink & Close To Cocoa cardstock. There's also a small pearl gemstone in the middle of the stamped image. I think this needs a little "more", but it's a quick and simple card.

Thanks for the invite Stacy--- I had alot of fun!!!

Happy Birthday Greg!

2008-02-04T17:12:00.001-07:00

My oldest nephew Greg turned 25 today... Happy birthday!!!

This is his Real Estate Agent photo... I wonder if he'll kick my butt for posting this? He's so handsome! :)

How R U?

2008-02-03T11:24:00.000-07:00

Some cards made with my brand spankin' new Cat's Pajamas "Indians" stamp set. Doesn't Sprinkle look cute with her little papoose???? I use an "R" from a CTMH alphabet set. The U is the horseshoe from the same acrylic set as the "How?" and "Indian Sprinkle" stamp.

Who say's penguins aren't part of the wild wild west??? Darn it if these guys aren't the cutest ever! Although, I keep thinking of Cher when I look at the middle guy. *giggles*

Happy Birthday Brian!

2008-02-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

My grown little nephew Brian turned 21 last week! This is a pic with my sister at his big birthday bash. Happy Birthday Brian!!!

I Thought I Was Late

2008-01-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

It was cold this morning. I thought I was late. I ran out the door from the house to the garage without a coat on. BRRR!!! I hopped into my car then opened the garage door. Started it up and off I went.

Later, I forgot to check the temperature with Mr. Weatherman or I would tell you what it was. It was one of those mornings where if you stood outside with your eyes open too long, you have to worry about whether you'll be able to blink or not. It was actually somewhere in the 20's. My chattering teeth thought it was colder.

My coat was in my car with me. Strangely enough I was hoping I would catch a red light along the way. I wanted to put my coat on. How strange is that? Hope for a red light?!?! I knew this was going to be bad. All the signs were there. I kept hitting green lights. Ironic, huh? I probably should have pulled over. My car wasn't warmed up quite yet. I finally got a red light. My coat was right there and READY to stick my arms inside. WoooHOOO!

My next thoughts: DANG! Silk sleeeves! I forgot. !@#!?&*! COLD! OMG-- A freaking green light already?!?! I'm only half way in! I hope nobody is looking at me.

And there's not much room in my car. Not that I drive a clown car or anything. It's just that I mostly fill up my side of the car. There's no room to move around. Besides, who can change and drive anyway?

Great, so now I'm a danger on the road. I'm kind of glad it was 5:30 in the morning. First if all there aren't many cars. So my danger to others is quite reduced. Second, it was dark, nobody can see me. I looked like a freak with one arm stuck in my coat, half of it hanging around my head and trying to get the rest of it around my back with my left arm reaching all over to find my now missing sleeve. Why do they hide from us???

Good lord. Why didn't I just put my stupid coat on when I walked to my car? Well... remember when I thought I was late? *rolls eyes* I was 10 minutes early. Why was my coat in my car and not in my house? I have another coat, I just didn't want to end up with a closet full of jackets in my car. There's another one in my trunk that's been there for a month.

So that was my morning. Some days are better than others. After I managed to get my coat on,. the heater finally kicked in and warmed the car up. I stopped for an iced tea and arrived to work safe and sound---EARLY.

Coaster Calendars

2008-01-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

Coaster calendars, aren't they cute?

I made these almost two weeks ago. If you've been reading my blog you know my woes about pictures. Anyway.... here they are!!! I made these for my January swap, plus 1 extra for a special someone. These are some of my favorite colors too.

Some simple cardboard coasters, kind of like you put your drink on in restaurants. Cover in cute paper and embelished. I bought the calendars online. They are on decorated binder clip "photo stands". Clevah??? No???

I then made some quicky-cards with my leftover paper. This designer paper is called "Uptown" from Stampin' Up. I'm always happy when an idea in my head comes out close to what I want.

Howdy Pardner!

2008-01-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I just got my new Cat's Pajamas stamps!!! I added a comment to my order form asking Alma to beam my stamps to me. I think she did it!!! They are AWESOME!!! I ordered both the Cowboys & Indians clear sets. I LUFF them!!!

Now.... To ink these babies up! Adding that to my list of stuff to I want to do.

Arrrggh

2008-01-23T18:57:00.000-07:00

I'm telling you.... I have nearly divorced my computer this last week. I totally goofed up my photo program. Don't ask me about it. I've done it ALL to try and fix it. It makes me nuts. My stomach starts to churn and I begin to have homicidal thoughts about my hard drive. ARRRGGHHH!

If you can believe it--I've been driven to read manuals and talk online to techies with HP (who I suspect are strangers in a foreign land...they just don't get my sense of humor). Not to mention I have been forced to edit photos on my old computer and transfer them using my jump drive. OMG.... I'm going to go crazy if I can't get this fixed.

I wonder how much The Geek Squad charges to come over and fix what I've done??? I think Shane may be willing to pay for it just to get his happy wife back. :)

Happy Birthday Zak!!!

2008-01-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

Shane's little bro Zak had a birthday yesterday. Happy b-day Zak!!! I hope you had a fun day!

I know this photo is old...but I really like it. They're both grinning! :)

Love Machine

2008-01-13T07:41:00.000-07:00

One of my most favorite stamp companies The Cat's Pajamas is coming out with some new stamps next week. How long until January 19th? Wait--that's this Saturday!!! I'm dying waiting...aaaaaaaaaaanticipaaaaaaaaayaaayshun!

I was just thinking about one of my favorite stamps and the horror of turning it into a Twisted and Demented card swap. EEEK *blushes*. I really need to go back to the drawing board this Valentine's day and do something sweet with my little friend. I do LUFF him. He's dang cute. I own his spaceship too. (insert awwwwwwwwww).

Every time I see the stamp used in the background on this card "I'm just your love machine..." (that's where my demented trouble started) I sing the rest of the song starting with "HEEEEEYAAAAAAAAAAAYAYAAAAY!" I won't burden you with the rest of the lyrics. I'll let that little gem fester for a while in your head.

Adds to milelong goal list: Make a card w/TCP robot stamp.

Here's the card I made last year. Funny, but bad too. Hehehehe. Don't kick me out of the fan club. I made lots of really nice cards with TCP stamps too! ;)

Happy Birthday Torrie!

2008-01-13T04:23:00.001-07:00

My niece Torrie with my sister Tiffany. :)

Happy Birthday Miss Torrie!!! You are a smart, beautiful, so kind and talented. I'm so proud of you! I hope you had a happy day yesterday!!!

PS.....Sorry I'm late in posting....I had plans Friday and well...you know how things go. Yesterday was one of those days. LOVE YOU!!!

I was ELF'd!

2008-01-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

I was ELF'd! Just after Christmas I recieved a package in the mail. Kind of like a Secret Santa gift. The card said it was from one of my LOSTie sisters. Thank YOU to whoever you are! I luff it and truly appreciate your thoughtfulness!!!

We're Out Of Fives

2008-01-11T14:50:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to the bank to cash a check. It was only 10 bucks so I decided that I would just cash it. I went to the drive up and sent everything in. Out came my money and a message from the Teller "My machine is out of fives, I hope ones are okay." "Uhhh, sure" I said. With a puzzled look on my face. Thinking, Okay, ones spend fine. While a bunch of other thoughts begin to pop into my head.

This is the BANK. It's not like I cashed a check at Wendy's.
Why are they out of fives??? It's a weekday at 2pm.
If they're out fives, why not a ten? It's a 10 dollar check.
Who thinks ONES are the next best idea???
What else are they out of?
Who's running this bank???

I drove away laughing and thought... I gotta tell my friends about this. This is wierd.

That's Alot of Shots

2008-01-06T13:51:00.000-07:00

Speaking of cleaning and organizing. I challenged my fellow LOSTies to clean an organize a project this weekend. It could be their stamp room, cards, paper, or any project that has been bugging them.

Mine? Washing these shot glasses. EEEEGGGADSS! They were dusty! We haven't drank around here in a long time. So these haven't had a bath in a while. Some never. We've picked them up here and there. Brought them home and put them on Shane's shelf to show where he's been. Some have been gifts. A bunch of those from my mom.

How many are there? 52! That includes the Scottish beer stein. We'll call that one a supersized shotglass. It was a trip down memory lane looking at few of them. I said "Hey remember this one?" a bunch of times. And few times I said "Where'd you get this one" with a puzzled look. We'd never been there. So, we had to guess who might have brought it to us. We have one brought to us from Germany. At least 6 from San Diego including a Scottish one. We also have one sent to to me by a LOSTie secret sister when we needed to send something from our home state, another one with a buffalo inside, one that lights up and flashes once there's liquid inside. (I suggest you use that one for your first drink and not when you are smashed.) It's funny to see the different shapes. I pick out the cute, odd shaped glasses and bring them to Shane. He picks out squareish styles or ones with metal medallions on the front.

Now that they're clean, I need to find a new place downstairs. Of course, that's so they'll have more room. *wink, wink*

Organization Month

2008-01-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some cleaning and organizing around here. January always feels like ORGANIZATION Month. The stores are always stocked with plastic storage bins and there's a sale just about everywhere. Have something odd shaped? I'm sure there's a plastic storage bin made specifically for it. And in any designer color. Or in holiday colors.

Want your bins to match your holiday decorations? They all come in colors to match the holidays. Just wait for each one to roll around. You'll have to buy new each holiday. Don't expect the sizes to match though. Everyone seems to make them all different. This bugs me. I want everything to be neatly organized and fit perfectly on my shelves. No ODD sizes. Things must match.

I don't like it when I go back to the store to buy more of my favorite brand of plastic bin and suddenly it's "new and improved". I don't want new and improved, ten percent bigger. I want old and matching!!! Rant over.

I have alot to organize. Or, I need a yardsale. If only I could find my yard. Currently it's covered in snow. Or I could use a decent consignment shop. I'd try the 'bay if I thought someone wanted some of this junk. I'm too lazy for ebay. I am happy to report that just this week I donated 2 cell phones and accessories to a charity. Goldstar for me! *wink*

Then there's my stamp/scrapbook/craft hoarding problem. The only old stuff worth selling is the stuff I can't bring myself to get rid of. I talk to some of my friends about this all the time. I'm not willing to give it away for nothing. I spent too much, but what's a fair price? ESSSH!!! Maybe I should buy less crap??? Hahahahaaa. Whatever.

So far I have been through my bedroom closet and clothes. My office/computer room got the big purge before we moved the computers around. WooHOOO! It looks great in here. STILL!

Next, I have to find my dining room table. Why? Uhhhh.....some things from the computer room landed there. The stuff that still needs to go downstairs and some gifts that need to be put away from the holidays. (hummmms innocently and looks arounds....what???) Then to my craft room. If I'm going to stamp soon, I have to put the Christmas stamps away.

Okay so I have some work to do. Why am I sitting here? Because this is so much more fun. And it's my day off. And those are the procrastinators excuses I have chosen for the day.

Happy Birthday SHANER!!!

2008-01-03T15:34:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday SHANE!!!

I wish you The BEST YEAR EVER!!!

Waiting in Penn Station, a very old and architecturally beautiful Baltimore train station on our way to Washington, DC. From out trip last Summer.

Welcome to 2008

2008-01-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2008! I hope you all have a happy, healthy and productive year!

Here are some new mottos I came up with on New Years day. Feel free to pick one for yourself and make it your own.

2008: It’s gonna be great!
2008: I’m gonna lose weight!
2008: I’m gonna get a date!
2008: Increase your pay rate!
2008: Time to appreciate!
2008: Find a mate!
2008: When’s your due date?
2008: It’s a clean slate!
2008: Pick your running mate!
2008: Make it GREAT!!!
2008: Reduce the crime rate!
2008: Stop being late!
2008: It’s FATE

May all your hopes for 2008 come true!

Vista Schmista....

2007-12-29T16:32:00.000-07:00

I got a new computer for Christmas. WOOOOHOOO!!!! I'm so happy. But lost. It's going to take some getting used to. I find myself looking longing at my old computer on "Shane's side of the room" and thinking how easy it would be to get to my pix and edit them on the old software that I already know and luff.

This new baby is a beauty. The monitor screen is HUMONGO. And crystal clear! I'm not sure I want to see any photos of myself on here any time soon. Might be a great diet plan. Hey....? No. That's too much torture for any one person. ;)

But.... I am a little lost too. My "test" pictures are landing in a new place. And the HP photo editing software is not exactly the same as I used to used on my old PC. I'm sure I will get used to it. Eventually. What? Read the manual? What are you talking about? Manual schmanual. I can't just click here and there and figure it out??? *Gasp!*

I only have a couple thousand pix and card-scans to transfer over to this new baby. Yes, I have scanned and saved just about every card I've made. All of them from the last few years. And a bunch of my faves from a few years before that. Then there's many of the handmade cards that have been sent to me. They're in my SCS gallery. They're all ideas. So, you see that I need to figure out this software soon. I don't want to move this stuff over and over again. It's organized quite neatly on my old PC. (Looks over longingly again.)

At least my headache is gone. Do you think the bashing against the desk was adding to the problem?

OOOOOO wireless keyboard and mouse. What a great idea!!! No more cords to get caught up in, or cats getting excited when I'm driving my mouse all over the desk.

At least I got my printer software loaded correctly. Who knew you had to disconnect the USB cable?

Does anyone have a spare teenager they can loan me???

It's All About The Kris

2007-12-29T16:27:00.000-07:00

It's All About THE KRIS today. Happy birthday girl!!!

Ha! That phrase is never going away. ;)

White Christmas!

2007-12-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

Let it Snow!
Let it Snow!
Let it Snow!

It's Christmas Eve and the snow is coming down sideways. I can't see the sidewalk anymore. Wooohoo it's going to be a white Christmas! The one day I LUFF snow!

What are your holiday plans and traditions? We are having a nice dinner tonight. Ham with those famous 'funeral potatoes' for dinner. We'll snuggle up and maybe watch a movie later. I'd like to go out and look at lights if the roads aren't too bad.

Just before bed we'll put together each other's stockings. In the morning we open it all. There's a GIANT box under the tree with my name on it. Hmmmm... I wonder what it is? *wink*

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas. May all of your wishes come true!

Blog readers-- thanks for your friendship, love, kind comments and of course for sharing a laugh with me. It's started out a bit of a rocky year, but it has turned out very well in the end.

Your wife, sister, daughter, aunt and of course friend,
Tracy

Doggles

2007-12-18T15:43:00.001-07:00

Hahaha.... this is Roxy Shimmers. My sister's new puppy. She's such a doll! My sister took her shopping to buy some goggles to wear when they go to the sand dunes. They're called 'Doggles'.

Look at this face!!! What a cartoon. My sister pegged it just right---like a Fraggle Rock character! And check the bling sweater...she looks like a movie star :)

More Christmas Cards

2007-12-17T16:04:00.000-07:00

Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas! Here are some more of this year's Christmas cards.

I made a bunch of this first one and sent them off to some very special online friends. *wink*. This Stamping Bella girl is perfect!!

The paper for all three of these is a fun Stampin' Up designer paper pack

called "Dashing". This second card was made with a Stampin' Up hostess set. I should make some more of this one and save them for next year. this was pretty simple.

This last card or "purse" is a gift card holder. Clevah...eh? If not, I had fun making it anyway. I pierced the paper to simulate stitching and added rhinestone brads for that extra bling!

I hope your mailbox is full of Christmas cheer!!!

It's UP!

2007-12-16T13:42:00.001-07:00

A tree is finally up in my house! It's only a week before Christmas. What can I say? I've been sick. I wasn't sure if I was going to put one up this year. Sometimes I don't. Shane loves one. So... here it is! I'm glad it's up. Where would I have put my presents if I didn't? I'm still debating on getting out all the ornaments. I like it just the way it is, really. I'm feeling festive all the sudden. I have Christmas music on and I'm finally moving around. I need to find the tree skirt and my stockings. Now if I can just kick this nagging cough... bleck!

Merry Chris(cough)mas!!!

A Profound Silence....

2007-12-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

My Cousin Murley

1950~2007

My cousin Murley was the daughter of my sweet Aunt June, my mom's oldest living sister. What I remember most about Murley was her wonderful sense of humor and distinct deep laugh. She was a joy to be around. Like so many of my cousins she made any family gathering a riot. One thing I have come to realize about many of my Eckman cousins is that we are alot of fun when you get us all in the same room. Murley was one who added so much to all the fun with her great big laugh.

Love and hugs to your mom, sisters and family who are in my heart and on my mind this week!

Here They Come!

2007-12-03T17:00:00.000-07:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!

Turn on some Christmas music.
Light a candle.
Drink some eggnog.
Flip the Christmas lights switch.
Sit back and open up your Christmas cards!

I recieved my Christmas cards today...wooohooo!!!!

Now...back to stamping so mine can go out soon :)

Rudolph's Nose Drops

2007-12-02T12:13:00.000-07:00

OMG-- I so love it when an idea in my head comes out just how I planned it. Or better. I made a bottle of Rudolph's nose drops yesterday. I couldn't wait to share it! This idea has been rolling around in my head ever since I saw a similar idea last summer.

For my non-crafty readers.... what is it??? Well, it's an altered frappachino bottle. I covered the little bottle with reindeer paper. I made a tag. Then filled the little bottle with sour cherry candy. TA-DA!! Rudolph's nose drops!!! *wiggles eyebrows* Clevah? Eh?

LSS gifts for Tammi

2007-12-02T11:42:00.000-07:00

My secret sister this last round was Tammi. Her favorite LOST character is the Oh-S0-Hot Sawyer. Well....I just HAD to make her something with Sawyer all over it. If it's a gift from a friend, then she HAS to put it out all year long---right???

So... I chose Stampin' Up's Spring Showers designer paper to make all my projects this round. If you want to see anything closer, click on each photo.

These are altered binder clips. Slide a photo or something else in them and they are a clevah little stand.

See???

I stamped her name and slipped it into a clear checkbook cover along with a matching pen.

Here's the whole ensemble. Including the jumbo flower clips I posted last week.

Items used:

Stamps: Time Well Spent, Stamping Bella-Clickabella, MM Foam letter T, CMTH Elegant Script alphabet

Paper and Ink: DSP: Spring Showers. Cardstock and Ink: So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust.
Misc: chipboard coasters, jumbo binder clips, jumbo paperclips, Xyron, liquid glue, E600 glue, Cuttlebug & Flowers dies. Clear checkbook cover, rsvp pen, mini calendar. Photo corners punch, slot punch and ticket corner punch.

Embelishments: hinges, ribbon, gemstones, primas, rhinestone brads, flower brads, photo hanger, big brads, stickles.

More Cards...

2007-11-28T18:20:00.001-07:00

More Christmas card ideas are flowing!

I wanted to do something with this paper I bought last Winter. It's called "Snow Days" made by Pebbles Inc. There are 3 designs. They kind of have faded or softer winter colors.

This card was an early attempt at using some of my Cuttlebug folders. I'm not really happy about it. I only made one of these. Too much work and not very satisfying result. I can't figure out how to make this one come alive. The embossed piece on the bottom of the card says "Brrr!"

Christmas Cards

2007-11-28T18:08:00.000-07:00

I've been in the basement working on some ideas for Christmas cards. I make a half dozen if I really like one. Some I make one and move on. These are a couple ideas I made last week while I was off. I have a few more I'll post later or tomorrow. Busy busy!

I really like the rich colors in this paper. It's called "Holiday Thyme" from Stampin' Up. It's now retired. I kind of wished I had bought more now. The wreath stamp above is from The Cat's Pajamas. The stamps below are from Stampin' Up. The rest of the details can be found in my SplitcoastStampers Gallery. Or click on the link at the right. Let me know what you think. I always like feedback. :)

Paperclip Bookmarks

2007-11-23T20:50:00.000-07:00

Or... just some darn cute flower paperclips!

I've been seeing these in the Splitcoast Stampers Gallery lately. And.... I really needed to make a cool project for my LOSTie Secret Sister. I haven't seen any in her SCS gallery yet. Crossing my fingers that they are her first.

I used this TUTORIAL from SCS to start my project. I always need pictures for help. Instructions? Bahhh! Show me a picture and I can usually figure it out.

I did need the cuttlebug flowers dies to do this project. What? Buy something fun and new??? This is my kind of project! Oh yeah and some heavy duty glue and some jumbo paperclips. I'm glad I already had the
chipboard coasters. *eyeroll*

I chose Spring Showers designer paper from Stampin' Up for this project. I thought my LSS would like the colors. It also gave alot of pattern variety that wasn't too big for the size of the flowers. I ran the coasters and patterned paper through my cuttlebug a bunch of times to get the number of flowers and shapes I needed. I used the smallest and 2nd to largest dies from the Cuttlebug set of 4.

Here are my die cut flower pieces with my patterned paper glued on. I had to lay them out in rows so I wouldn't forget which pieces went together. :)

E6000 glue. Darned smelly, but very good at glueing just about anything together. I would compare it to a Superduty Crystal Effects glue.

BTW...how come you can't buy just one box of paperclips anymore? I needed less than a dozen, but I had to buy 4 boxes at Office Max. 100 x 4 = 400! So....does anyone need some big paperclips?

Here are my finished flower paper clip collection with embelishments!

Of course any decent gift needs a nice container. I covered this CD tin and lined the inside with the same Spring Showers designer paper. A new stamp set arived just in time for this project. I received "Time Well Spent" from Stampin' Up as a 'demo appreciation' set the week I was working on my sister gifts. I used to sentiment "Time spent with friends is time well spent" for the front of this tin. Perfect!

I hope she likes it!!! Crossing my fingers,toes and eyes.

Happy Turkey Day!

2007-11-22T07:05:00.000-07:00

May your stuffing be tasty,

May your turkey be plump.

May your potatoes 'n gravy

have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious,

May your pies take the prize.
May your thanksgiving dinner

stay off your thighs!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Cuttlebug Fever

2007-11-21T09:28:00.000-07:00

After my cuttlebug swap I got cuttlebug fever. I felt the need to buy more embossing folders. And every time I sat down to make a card, I felt the need to use my cuttlebug.

These ideas were burning a hole in my brain... I had to get them on paper!

I made this orange and chocolate card for a special friend who has declared "ORANGE is the NEW black!" Or was it pink? No, pink makes her angry. So that can't be it. Anyway--orange is IT!!!

I bought these French Script and Textile background embossing folder and four corners or flowers folders (?) after hosting my Cuttlebug swap last month.

Have you used your Cuttlebug lately?

New Look!

2007-11-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my friend Kris for the new blog banner! You are so cool!!! Thank YOU!!!

One Cute Chick

2007-11-21T06:08:00.000-07:00

I whipped up a batch of girly birthday cards early this month. I like this little chick stamp. My friend Stacy gave it to me quite a while ago... it's about time it got some INK! If you get one of these....act surprised!

Now, if I can only remember to mail cards before they are late, I'll be fine. Most of the time I don't have trouble making or remembering birthdays. I have trouble SENDING the cards on time. It's even worse if I want to send something with it. I can't be the only one....right?

Just know that I THOUGHT OF YOU on your birthday. And that's something. If you don't mind a late card.... well... then we'll get along GREAT! *grinz*

Cuttlebug SWAP

2007-11-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

Okay...so I am seriously behind on my blog. What can I say? This has been a wierd blogging month. I feel like I'm all over the map.

In October I hosted a cuttlebug card swap with my LOSTie sisters & friends. What's a cuttlebug? It's a REALLY cool embossing and die cutting machine that is a MUST HAVE for every card maker. For the swap we all made a card using our cuttlebug and traded them with each other. A fun way to share ideas with friends.

This Polar Bear card is my contribution to the swap. The stamp is from my favorite company. The Cat's Pajamas. The make some of the funnest and coolest SWANKY stamps around.

This polar bear is fishing for Christmas gifts. On the inside of the card he has hooked a big line of gifts for all his North Pole friends. Lots of glittery embossing powder to gives the snow effect to my polar bear. The white background was embossed with the cuttlebug snowflake folder. The Almost Amethyst strip was embossed with the cuttlebug spots and dots folder. And there you go!

I almost forgot this one by Barbara. It missed the big photo op! It was on my stamp table because I like it and I plan to CASE it.

Here are the rest of the totally cool cards that we swapped. Top row: Connie(Granny), Anna. Middle: Alyson, Edie, Stacy. Bottom row: Mine & Maggie's.

Top row: Debbie, Kris, Rachel. Middle: Tammi & Justine. Bottom row: Leslie, my thank you card and Suzanne's.

(Hint hint to those who don't already have one--put one on your Christmas list!) I'm hoping Santa will bring me a Robert's gift card to buy the new embossing folders coming out in January. Did you hear that Santa? *wink* Thanks to everyone who participated! The cards are AWESOME!!!

I can't believe....

2007-11-20T20:13:00.000-07:00

It's been 10 years!

Anyone who's known me that long probably can't either. Shane and I met 10 years ago on the 19th of this month. I dug out a photo of the two of us when we were first dating. I think it's our first picture together. It was just before Christmas, we were exchanging gifts. He brought roses. I knew he was a keeper by then, but if I didn't this was a good hint!

Thanks for all the wonderful times, the love and being there for me through thick and thin. I hope I have done the same for you. I truly believe you are the best man I know. I LOVE YOU!!!

A moment...

2007-11-20T19:41:00.000-07:00

Before I go any further...

I just have to take a small moment to say that I witnessed true love and strength yesterday. Two wonderful people laid to rest their precious child. A tiny angel who stayed with them but a few days. They did it with a devotion and grace that I can only hope to show for a loved one some day.

Zak and Audrey there are no words to express our deep respect, sorrow and love for both of you. If we could carry even a small percent of your burden we would happily do so. Our hearts are with you. XoXo!

Angel Prayers

2007-11-17T04:56:00.000-07:00

Zak and Audrey I'm sending you lots of virtual hugs. Shane and I are praying for your sweet little angel Ever Zak. A friend of mine said to me "God takes care of his little lambs..." Please know that you are constantly in our thoughts! We love you all!!

Happy Birthday John!

2007-11-10T17:11:00.000-07:00

Today is my mom's new hubby John's birthday. This is John and his little buddy Toby.

Happy Birthday John!!! We'll see you for dinner in a little while!!!

Anybody Miss Me?

2007-11-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

Where have I been? Nowhere really. Just working.

I've been on a different schedule at work this week. Going in a little later and lucky me, driving home in rush hour traffic. WOOHOOO! (Can you hear the sarcasm?) Yuck. I like my early morning shifts just for that reason. No traffic. I was again reminded of another reason I love my work schedule. My commute is nearly doubled when I work a traditional business hours schedule.

So, if your still with me... why am I working a wierd shift this week? I know you are dying to hear the answer. Because my Dispatch Center is getting an entire new phone system next week. I've been in training all week to learn how the phone system works, how to program it, and how to train others to use it. All in 40 hours. EEEK! I spent the last day putting together a training outline. Today I worked with another supervisor and istructed our first group. It was a great sucess if I say so myself. *beams*.

I did end up with a bonus of 4 hours overtime. It's been a while since I've had that. I certainly earned it. I'm tired. I sat in warm, darkened classroom in the basement of our building all week. My instructor, bless his heart, had a heavy Spanish accent. It took a day or two to understand him. (Today I was explaining something to one of my dispatchers and caught myself before I spoke with his accent. ACCK!) Plus, I stared at a slightly blurred computer screen projected onto a vanilla colored wall. My eyes were tired every night.

Anyway-- we're on our way to getting this project off the ground. The rest of the training is next week. I have another class to teach on Tuesday. I don't know if I need to help with any other days. I guess I'll find out of someone needs me.

Ask me next Friday how the new system is working. It goes *LIVE* Thursday night!

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T18:23:00.000-06:00

It's almost time for the trick or treaters to start showing up and begging for sweet treats. Wooohooo! They're so cute! I especially luff the little ones. I've turned on all my "beacons" (lights) so hopefully they'll be here soon.

Today I had some fun at work. We were allowed to dress up. About 1/2 of us did. That's about normal. Stinkin' party poopers! LoL! Anyway, those of us who did looked fabulous if I say so myself. Bahahahaaa!

I dressed up as Mrs. Roper from that 70's TV show Three's Company. Or just a creepy lady or 70's version of Mimi from the Drew Carey show. Take your pick. I had fun either way.

My mom stopped by for a quick visit. I don't think she was expecting me to be in costume. I snapped a photo the minute she saw me. HA! Then she said I looked like someone in my extended family. Not nice, Ma!

Mmmmmmm and a pot luck today too-- we sure do know how to cook! Lots of creepy food. Bloody (bbq) meatballs, rotting flesh (pulled pork), eyeball cupcakes, just to name a few. YUMMO!

Here are some pix of a few on my shift who dressed up. Amy just laughs as Spencer practices some of his ninja moves.

Heather being bitten by Angie the vampire. AAAAAHHHH!

Cassie the duck hunter and Troy the Harley biker dude.

And a close up shot of Spencer and I. Every time I looked at his costume, I laughed. Too funny.

I hope you all had as much fun as I did! Happy Halloween!!!

A case for a CASE

2007-10-28T09:43:00.000-06:00

My friend Jessica sent me a really cute card. :)

It's so cute that I had to copy her layout design. For those of you who aren't stampers this is called a CASE. Copy And Share with Everyone. Sometimes you need a little "mojo" help and a CASE is the perfect way to jumpstart your creativity.

First a close CASE with a pumpkin theme. I used the pumpkin stamp from Stampin Up's Batty For You set. I use Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie cardstock and designer series paper. The punches used are photo corners punch, 1" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch and scalloped punch.

Then I changed a bit, adding more color and a different shape for the image stamp on this Thanksgiving card. The stamps are new from The Cat's Pajama's called Turkey Kitty and Gobble. I again used the photo corners punch and this time the ticket corner punch. I decorated Sprinkle (that's the name of this cool kitty) with some stickles glitter glue.

Thanks for the card, Josh Groban CD and inspiration Jess!!!

SNOW!?!

2007-10-21T11:21:00.000-06:00

It's October 21st and we've got our first real snow here at my house. We saw some bizarre flakes back around September 30th. This morning I woke up to a yard covered in snow. No kidding! Check it out!

Good thing there's no reflection. You can't see my pink flannel pj's pants, half buttoned coat or my goofy hair. Too bad my neighbor did. Ooops!

Halloween Cards

2007-10-18T16:29:00.001-06:00

While I was working on an idea for the cuttlebug swap I'm hosting this month, I made a bunch more Halloween cards.

Here are a couple more ideas. I sent a bunch out already. You've probably recieved them by now. I hope you liked them.

Remember.... On October 31st, all candy is GUILT FREE!!!

Hugs

2007-10-18T16:22:00.000-06:00

Hey Tiffo, I just wanted to say I'm thinking of you! Big HUGS!

What's New?

2007-10-18T16:18:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated by blog. I've been busy. Not busy. Doing stuff. Goofing off. Stamping. Working.

I went to a 3 day conference. Had some days off. Took some naps. Watched some movies. Watched some cool new shows on TV. Grocery shopped, cooked dinner. Washed alot of laundry. Should have done alot more house cleaning. You know. Life, right?

McLOSTie

2007-09-21T15:33:00.001-06:00

Wow.... My friend Kris (check out her blog) sent me a package with these AWESOME cards and tin! WoooHOOO! Thank you again.

Lookey--it's says "McLostie" on top. *grinz*

Belated Happy Birthday Tiffo!

2007-09-19T14:53:00.000-06:00

My big sister Tiffany had a birthday on Monday. Wishing you a belated happy birthday! I wanted to post a photo of the new fabulous YOU! So, that required me sending a pic from my work computer. Anyway....that's why I'm a little late. I hope you had a great one :)

It's my party...

2007-09-16T14:19:00.000-06:00

Today is my birthday.... I thought since I've been moaning about feeling old and wearing black I would show you what I looked like on my first birthday. Maybe 39 won't feel so bad?

I'm telling you somehow 39 feels like my "last chance" year or something. Somehow I'm looking at myself differently. 40 doesn't bother me one bit. I had the same problem with 29 vs 30. It's wierd. I need some cake...

Okay---Look at that goofy kid again. Ha! I feel better now!

Thanks :)

2007-09-15T08:28:00.000-06:00

A shout out to my LOSTie Secret Sister, who sent me this cute stamp and fun gift for my birthday. Since I can't send you a thank you card
(yet), THANK YOU!!! I'm having fun teasing my cats with this hopping Frank toy. Hehehee!

Halloween Sneak Peek

2007-09-09T09:54:00.000-06:00

I've been working on some Halloween cards. I have a little stampin' fever! I found some great paper at a local scrapbook store and I've been down in my basement creating. I have a few more ideas sketched out. I just need to put them together.

When I placed my recent Cat's Pajamas stamp order I went through my stuff to find my Halloween stamps.

Sprinkle goes trick or treating. He's hoping for some delicious treats. He has a hankering for fish flavored candy corn! He made up his whiskers with stickles and decorated his pumpkin with crystal effects.

Mummy's the word! Sprinkle is All Wrapped Up and ready for Halloween. I hope he can hop around in this costume. He's got some Spookin' to do! I simply tore up some scrap paper and chalked the edges with grey chalk. Easy peasy!

An early attempt at Ghostly sprinkle. I like the background paper more than anything on this card. I keep trying to use my oval scalloped punch. I guess I'm just not a fan of this style. Oh well. He's got glitter whiskers here too. :)

Happy Birthday Tyler!

2007-09-09T09:09:00.000-06:00

16 already?!?! Happy Birthday!!!! I hope your knee is feeling much better and the happy drugs are doing their job. Get better soon and enjoy your day!

Some Cat Sent You His Pajamas....

2007-09-08T15:05:00.000-06:00

I took a nap the other day. What's new right? When I woke up Shane said "Some cat sent you his pajamas." I rolled over and managed to grunt "Huh?" Shane again says in some foreign language "A cat... he sent you his pajamas." Like it was an every day thing. I laid there for a second until the light came on. DING! I jumped out of bed and ran to the living room like it was Christmas morning!!! My Cat's Pajamas rubber stamp order arrived! And speedy fast too!

I LUFF them!!! I bought their new acrylic sets. OMG! They are awesome!!! And what a deal! I'm pretty much carrying them around everywhere I go again. Today I took them to work to show a friend. One of the guys asked me what I had. And of course I made him look at them. I wouldn't take them back until he "Ooooed and Ahhhed" appropriately. I mean, if he's going to get into asking what we're talking about, he's going to have to properly participate. Right?

Must go stamp....!!!

Too Cute Card

2007-09-08T14:49:00.000-06:00

For a friend who's too cute :)

The stamps are from CTMH - Girly Girl. The striped paper is Rob & Bob - Mini Juicy Stripe. I used micro beads on the oval stamp glued on with terrifically tacky tape. Watch your fingers or you'll have to pry them off. *eyeroll* Balanced out with some stick on gemstones. The cool double stitched ribbon is from Stampin' Up in Purely Pomegranate along with the ink and cardstock.

New Use for JENGA

2007-09-07T17:12:00.000-06:00

I got this new set of stamps from Stampin' Up. "So Many Sayings". There are some really great sentiments here. The only problem is they are all stuck together on 3 huge stamps. 34 phrases. Huh? That's kind of dumb. So, like many others who got this set of stamps, I waited for a way to cut them apart and mount them individually.

I had heard of some ladies mounting them on domino tiles. This weekend I looked in a closet that had some games and other old junk in it. Ta-Da! I spotted an old Jenga game. WooHOOO! I could use those wood blocks to mount my stamps! I had Shane cut off about an inch from each of 34 blocks and I'm in business! Now to cut that rubbah!!!

Olive Juice!

2007-09-05T18:07:00.001-06:00

Nine years ago today I was lucky enough to marry my best friend. Sweetie--I love you more today than words can ever say.

Happy Birthday Bro!

2007-09-05T17:32:00.000-06:00

Today is my big brother's birthday.

Happy Birthday Torry, aka Uncle Dude!

I don't remember what you were saying here, but it was funny!

These pix were taken last time we hung out together in Las Vegas. I hope you had a great day!!!

Silly Kitty

2007-08-29T16:29:00.000-06:00

I got this in an email today it was titled:

How to tell if your feet stink. Bahahahaaa!

Feelin' Crabby?

2007-08-26T16:43:00.000-06:00

Next time you feel crabby, think of me and have a little laugh :)

Brought to you by: vendor show foam hats, Baltimore style and goofy friends, Tracy style.