What's your favorite holiday and some other stuff

It's that time of the month again for a new challenge at http://whatisyourfavething.blogspot.com/ - come check out the 3 winners for the last challenge (totally brilliant!!!!!!) and the DT layouts for this challenge - what is your favorite holiday? Most of the DT picked Christmas but I think Thanksgiving is probably my favorite (I do love Christmas though but I have quite a few not-so-happy childhood memories about Christmas) - anyway, to me Thanksgiving is all about sharing food and love with family and friends - no presents, no expectations, no let down afterwards - all gain and no pain!!!!! LOL!

I created this paper doll for Bad Girls project 52 - she is a self-portrait showing the pain and indecision of the creative process and the joy of the birth of an ideaa. She is made of paper with brad joints, her arms and legs have journaling about indecision (on the one hand and but on the other) and the direction in which to go (where am I going and if the shoe fits), her dress is tissue paper and a crocheted doily, her hair is from a doll, the stand is an old Barbie one, her heart is a silver charm, and the metal cap is from a Prosecco bottle (her head is bubbling with ideas). The flower is her idea blooming and the butterfly is the idea going out into the world.

I did this layout for Martha's color board challenge on SIS and for Angie's Pottery Barn grid challenge on Bad Girls. The papers are LilyBee, Anna Griffin, and 7gypsies (all old). I made the tree from some old Heidi Swapp flowers and the felt flowers are old K&co Amy Butler. Hana, the cat who owns me, gave me the mouse; however, she did come and take it away - so I had to retrieve it.

I did this layout in like 30 minutes (see Julie, I can do fast layouts too). It was for a menu challenge on Scrapgal - I had to use 1 photo, paint or spray ink, fabric, staples, and hand written journaling (that was the hardest part for me). After I took this photo, I realized that you could see my reflection in the ball ornament - so it's a self-portrait!

Today is another busy day finishing up some things but I did go to the post office and mailed some packages off to The Netherlands and to Brazil. I am still finishing presents and I plan to mail out all the rest by the end of this week.

The Sampler will be debuting this week and I will add a link from my blog - just wait till you see the great kit and the incredible creations done by the DT - I have been having so much fun!

thanks for reading and ttfn.

Deck the halls

Just a few images of my living room decorated for Christmas. My only decorations are inside although I do put a wreath on the front door. I will some more photos around the house as the season progresses.

This coming week I am looking forward to doing the 12 days of Christmas tags with Tim Holtz. I did them last year and they really stimulated my creativity. He comes up with these elaborate holiday tags in which he uses lots of his expensive products. I try to come up with a tag similar in design and color with things I have on hand. Lots of fun and inspiration - plus he has giveaways every day (not that I have won any but I always sign up for anything free).

I will be mailing out most of my Christmas presents this week (hopefully) and then get some cards made. I am a little bit behind but hope to get caught up this week before the parties, etc. kick in the next week of December. I was a bad girl yesterday afternoon after I got home from work - I created a funky paper doll for the Bad Girls Project 52 challenge and a layout that is sort of an answer to a challenge by Martha on SIS and by Angie on the Bad Girls forum - I will post them later this week. I also did an unbelieveably fast layout for a challenge on Scrapgal. I keep thinking that I won't do challenges - and then I do - I have to admit I really do like the "challenge" - keeps me thinking and doing things outside my box. Plus, winning is also a plus!!!!LOL!!!!! And maybe the very best thing is getting to know others (on the web) who also enjoy crafting. I love to read their blogs and get inspired!

It is another beautiful day today (it's warmed up nicely) and I have the sheets out on the clothesline - don't you just love the scent of fresh sun-dried sheets? Ummmmmm

thanks for reading and ttfn

My wild side - I'm a Pink Ninja this week

I feel like a baseball player - I was traded! I was Candy Shoppe Designs blog guest designer for November and they did a trade - CSD to Pink Ninjas so check it out http://thepinkninjas.blogspot.com/2009/11/ptompt-26-cds-swap-alter-ego.html

The paper is by Harlee-Quinnz Designs, and the title had to be in pink. Unfortunately this was not a dramatic contrast so it didn't photograph very well.

Hope you are having a good weekend - it is cool here but beautiful. On my way home from the gift shop, I stopped to get a caramel brulee latte at Starbucks - YUM!!!!!!!

See you tomorrow with a little tour of my house decorated for the holidays.

ttfn

Black and Red Friday

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had a lovely day relaxing, talking, and eating. Dan worked most of the day while Brian watched football on tv and I decorated the Christmas tree. Having lived in Denver for quite a while, we are Bronco fans so Dan and Brian were very happy with the football game last night.
I did the above layout earlier in the week for Category Stories - bad behavior. The photo is of Dan's mother, and I have always thought it was very funny. I was thinking that this layout is a great example of how thankful I am right now - I received the background paper (cosmo cricket) in a prize from Scrapgal for their Halloween contest, I received the Elsie epoxy stickers in a prize from a crop at Butterfly crafts blog, and finally I received all of the other embellishments from Christina Padilla as a prize from the Paper cut blog. The only thing I bought is the sheet of 7gypsies stickers that the zany label came from. Thank you all so very very much. Through the summer and fall I have entered lots of challenges but right now I am too busy doing other things - but I am really enjoying all of the great products that I have won. I won't have to purchase anything but adhesives for a while (oh wait, I forgot - I am almost out of glimmer mist but I put some on my list from Brian - there are 2 LSS where he lives and he told me that he felt strong enough with his manhood to be able to go into a LSS and buy stuff for me.LOL!!!!!)
Brian will be leaving after lunch and I plan to scrap the rest of the day doing some DT work - dinner will be leftovers so that's easy.
Hope you have a great weekend and be sure to get us your favorite decade layout at These are a few of my favorite things!!!!!!!!
thanks for reading and ttfn

Time flies whether you are having fun or not

Do you ever feel like you are riding a stationary bike up a hill - you keep pedaling but you just don't make up any ground. I sort of feel like that right - so busy busy busy, and even though I can see that I am producing things, there is still so much to be done - whoa! this almost sounds like "real work" when your in basket is filling up faster that you can empty it!!!!! The only difference is that what I am doing now is fun and that was NOT fun! Being an accountant, especially in tax season, was a b--tch!!!!! Lots of money but no fun!
Anyway, back to today, I used that quote for the title because 2 of the TAAFOMFT designers did other layouts (both great) about time, and it got me to thinking (yeah, I know, dangerous - me thinking!!) what my goals for 2009 were and if I had achieved them - and the answers are mixed. Some things did not get done or finished, but other things blossomed beyond my wildest dreams! Plans and goals are pretty much intentions, and sometimes they have to change with life. I am starting to think about next year's goals - I always like to write them down and have them on a list above my desk so I am reminded of them throughout the year.
The above layout is one I did of Dan when we were hiking in North Carolina - he had slid down a small hill and ripped his pants. The journaling reads "The biggest difference in how the two of us think is that I'm a planner and you hate to plan - you always want to go with whatever happens - a real seat of the pants approach. Sometimes the results are less than optimal but other times they are Outstanding." Have you noticed my layouts are changing - getting simpler - not sure why but they are. the background paper is old Cosmo Cricket (doesn't look like CC today for sure) and I even cut the leaves from it.
And now a key lime cake - we have had the best crop ever of key limes. Dan harvested them and we squeezed quite a few and froze the juice in ice cube trays for later use. this cake is sooooooo good and actually very low in fat - you use low-fat yogurt and vegetable oil for the fat in it. The recipe is one I adapted from a Barefoot Contessa cookbook. I love her cookbooks and have gotten them from the library several times. Her recipe for Beef Bourginon (sp) is outstanding as are her recipes for coeur a la creme and cheese straws - but my favorites are this cake and her crostada recipe, which I usually make with apples. YUM!

This layout I did for Artastic - just found this challenge blog through Julie. The inspiration this month is an Alma-Tadema fin de siecle painting of a Grecian woman in a long flowing gown - there is a frieze of drawings across the wall behind her and some plants in the lower right corner. I took the inspiration of eternal (the frescoes on the wall in the painting) and found this photo I took when we were in San Francisco one time - this is a beach north of the Bridge, probably off of Muir woods. the card is a wallpaper sample from Anthropologie, the other ephemera was from an old Somerset magazine, and the leaves were cut from a piece of old Making memories paper - the background paper is old Basic Grey.

And now, a big thank you to Julie, my boss at TAAFOMFT, who sent me (and all of the designers) a fun fun package of Christmas goodies. She included in my package a special Stamping station because she knew that I was needing all the help I could get. Opening a box that has lots of little goodies in it is so much fun. Thank you so much!!!!!!

I received my first kit from The Sampler (scrapbookingsuppliesrus) and it's awesome!!!! I printed out some photos yesterday to play with, but I think I will need to put up Christmas decorations next weekend (once Thanksgiving is over) so I can take some new photos. I did get out my big bin of reindeer and will have a photo shoot of them this week. Deana, if you read this, I have one you would love - she is dressed in a red dress and high-heeled black boots, her antlers are gold, and she is holding a little glass of wine - her tag reads "let's get together and WINE!" Dan gave her to me a couple of years ago - he always searches for a special reindeer to put in my stocking.

Thanks for reading and have a great Sunday and a fabulous week - and if I don't blog before Thursday, have a super Thanksgiving!!!! I am so blessed and grateful for my life, my husband, my son, everything - and I am especially grateful right now because Dan had his latest cystoscopy on Thursday and the doctor did not find any cancer - Yay!!!! His next cyscoscopy will be in February (he has to have one every 3 months - the type of cancer he has is very bad to come back so you have to go 5 years clean before they define you as cancer-free so we live one test at a time right now and don't worry about the next one). Anyway, he was super happy when he got home from the VA hospital and we celebrated with a special dinner that night - and of course, a little wine!

ttfn

Harlee-Quinnz blog post & ramblings

I did a blog posting on http://www.harleequinnzdesigns.com/blog/ today with a short tutorial on how to make this wallhanging/wreath. I posted this idea a while back but actually redid the piece using glimmer misted Harlee-Quinnz Designs patterned papers for the leaves, and I really like it way better than done with the fabric leaves from Michaels.

It's been a busy week (no surprise!) with work, painting, baking (got the Christmas cake done, bread (in the winter I bake all of our bread), and a key lime cake), getting Christmas presents finished, a couple of layouts (I have very little scrap mojo right now but yesterday I went into photoshop and played with some photos so I am getting it back) scrapped, and watching Project Runway last night ( I thought that Irina would win but so much black!!! Last spring I did layouts inspired by the 3 finalists so I am thinking that would be a fun challenge for myself - I mean, for Irina, how many textures or patterns of black can I find? definitely some birds for the teeshirt designs. For Carol Hannah I could do some blue, and for Althea, probably earth tones.)

I have been reading some really cool books also - I just finished The Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber - it's sort of a mystery about a forged painting but the twist is that the forger is sort of time traveling and becoming the original painter - sounds strange but fascinating.

My son is coming over for Thanksgiving so I will have to clean up my studio as that is where the fold-out couch is that where he will sleep. Dan has to work on Thanksgiving Day; the golf course closes at 5pm so we will eat our meal in the evening. (Dan volunteers at a golf course and then gets to play golf for free - he works 1 day a week in the summer and 2 days a week in the winter when things are busier). I will be doing the total tradional thing - turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetable, cranberries, relish tray, pumpkin pie and whipped cream, and white wine. YUM!!!!!!!

Hope you have a great Friday - I have to work today but hopefully I will have some new projects to show on Sunday or Monday.

Thanks for reading and ttfn

What's your favorite decade?

The new challenge at These are a few of my favorite things is up - what is your favorite decade? The DT has come up with some awesome layouts about the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Check them out along with the 3 winners of the favorite vacation challenge - such fantastic and creative entries - it was so hard to choose!!!!!
I don't have a favorite past decade - my favorite time is always right now when I am living. I have fond memories of pasttimes (obviously) but I also remember that things weren't like tv portrayed them - Cleaver families didn't really exist, especially not at my house, and things were not safer; people just didn't discuss them and we didn't have Foxnews to instantly tell you about what was happening across the country. I love to listen to the old songs - they always remind me of people I knew back when and fun times we had - but I always like to hear new songs too and to learn new things, meet new people, visit new places. I am the sum of all of my experiences and that's what I was trying to show in my layout.
The background paper is Cocktail Dress from the Manhattan collection by Luxe (I just adore the color - did I mention I got new bathroom towels for my birthday last month and they are this gorgeous color). I made a flower from some old ribbon that looked very similar. I found the Audrey Hepburn-like image in a magazine, the 50s line drawing in an old 1955 Scottish magazine that I got from the bookstore, and the rest of the drawings and pix from a 1991 copy of Vogue. It was the 75th anniversary issue and had photos and drawings from Vogue from 1916-1991. I can't believe that I found that 80s shot that so echoes the 50s drawing - so cool! The photo of me was taken by my son last summer when I visited him in Sarasota - it's sort of cool that my pose is so similar to that of the Audrey drawing. I thought having everything in black and white against the aqua would be really dramatic.
Today is another spectacular day weather-wise. I am finishing my laundry - I love to hang the sheets out on the line; they smell so fresh!
Referring to an earlier post, I was able to get the candied cherries, candied pineapple, and golden raisins at Albertson's. Normally I don't shop there as it is a really old and depressing store but I made a list of places to try, and it was on the top as closest to my house - and amazingly they had them. They only had 2 more containers of cherries left. So tomorrow I will make my mother's Christmas cake - I only make it every other year as it is so time consuming. After Christmas I cut it into very thin slices and freeze them - so we can have slice whenever. It usually lasts for several months and having a slice just once in a while is a real treat!
Have a great Sunday and coming week. Not much on my agenda except work and continuing to finish presents for Christmas and do some DT work. And, oh yeah, watching the finale of Project Runway - so who do you think will win? Irina is super talented and stylish but such a bitch, Carol Hannah is a little ditzy and her being so sick is really a problem, and Althea I'm just not sure about. I just haven't gotten into this season nearly as much as prior ones. I know that New Moon starts this week (I think) but I won't go see it for a while - can you believe that the last movie I saw in a theatre was Slumdog Millionaire - last winter? I usually wait till they come out on DVD and get them at the library - free! Someday I will have to do a blog posting on how we live on so little (our choice to do so and have lots of time to do the things we want to do - all of the "work" that I do is volunteer work) and have a fabulous life - maybe I should even write a book - LOL!!! (I am way too private for that.) But I know that I am truly blessed, and am thankful every day.
Have a super week - I will post again in a few days with a new project that I am working on.
ttfn

A Little Fall Sparkle

Today is a spectacular fall day in Florida - crisp (51 last night and high predicted of 72 today), brilliant sun, and light breeze. Yesterday it seemed cold here because the clouds never lifted all day, and you can't imagine how cold the insides of restaurants and stores were as they still had on the air conditioning. I had to attend a luncheon board meeting of the Friends of the Library yesterday and even though I wore a long sleeved top, I was freezing. I had to stop on the way home at Starbucks for a pumpkin spice latte (just to warm up of course). We just got in some beautiful beaded jewelry sets at the gift shop and I decided to splurge and get one (see below). I just love the fall colors and the painted beads - the necklace is structured such that it can be worn at least 3 different ways from short (as you see it here) to a single long strand. The colors and beads reminded me of a bracelet (see above closeup) that I made a couple of years ago (did I ever mention that I do beadwork?) I love the look of the bracelet but I have to admit that with all of those beads, it's fairly heavy.

Here's a shot from farther away of our bedside table, showing the quilt currently hanging on the wall behind it (ever changing display of wallquilts for the seasons). This was a fun and easy quilt that I made a couple of years ago - I love the play of the fabrics, and I suppose you have guessed by now that pears are one of my favorite fruits (LOL! layouts, paintings, quilts - I know - will this madness never end?!)

A closeup of one of the pears - this quilt was appliqued, pieced, and quilted by hand. The only things done on the sewing machine were the long seams putting the blocks together and the borders.

And now a very special thank you -

Last week I did a posting about Dina Wakley and her incredible art journal pages and the fabulous stencils that she uses. Well, I received the most fantastic surprise - Julie T-W, my crazy and incredible boss at TAAFOMFT and wonderful friend sent me a copy of the Stencil 101 book - it is awesome!!!!!! The book was in the mailbox when I got home yesterday and I just sat down and started looking at it - the stencils are so detailed, the designs are so unusual, and the whole thing is so sturdy - I am super psyched about this. I was getting crazed ideas about layout backgrounds and other projects so ..... you can expect to see some different things emerging from the studio very soon. Thank you Julie - you are absolutely the bestest!!!!!

I have lots to do today - I am working on several Christmas presents that I want to finish today and I need to tidy up the studio as it is kind of a mess (how does this happen??????) I also want to bake a key lime cake. Tomorrow I have to work part of the day but then I need to go shopping - I plan to make my mother's Christmas cake recipe this year but when I went to my normal grocery store (Publix) yesterday, they didn't have candied cherries or pineapple so I will have to try some other stores (like Walmart, which I really am not fond of). Anyone got any suggestions?

Have a great Friday and I know that I will be back for sure on Sunday as the new These are a few of my favorite things challenge will be up.

ttfn

New Moon rising - Team Edward vs Team Jacob

So I think we all know what movie will be out next week. LOL!

I am the guest designer for Candy Shoppe Designs this month and the challenge announced today is to create a layout or paper project for either Team Edward or Team Jacob. Now I admit I would pick Edward over Jacob in a heartbeat (pun intended) but most of the other designers picked Edward right away so I took Jacob - and actually it was a really fun creative experience. I had no idea what to do and then I started thinking about the motorcycles and I remembered a great quote from Jacob at the end of Eclipse about speed and just getting away so it really came together quickly. I found both the wolf and bike images on the web, the patterned paper is Lily Bee, the smaller paper is one that I did with that fantastic glimmer mist technique where you spray 2 different colors on 2 different pieces of gloss stock, and then smush them together, the silver and gold leaves were from Michaels (on sale for 10 cents after Christmas last year), and the alphas from Heidi Grace. The journaling reads (a quote from the last page of Eclipse), "Feel nothing but speed, and bone, working together in harmony as the miles disappeared behind me."

I have begun to obsess about Christmas presents and am feverishly creating in every spare moment - knitting, painting, and sewing. I also saw a button wreath that I want to make and a really cool tree done with old book pages. Tomorrow after work I plan to run by Pier 1 as I received a catalog, and they have listed a couple of cool reindeer that I need to check out for the herd (did I mention that I collect reindeer - LOL!!! notice the new banner!!!!) The herd is currently hibernating in its special container but will be waking up just after Thanksgiving and will be available for photos. Those pictured above are the white/cream group, there is also a brown stuffed group (including a couple of moose that were gifts), the red "girly" group, and the natural woodsy group that have their own tree. And, of course, there are the big tree group that just hang around!!!! I have had some of these reindeer, including a little Rudolph, since I was a child. Maybe I should do a mini book! So many ideas and so little time!

Thanks for reading, have a great week, and ttfn

Don't forget to get us your favorite vacation/trip layout at These are a few of my favorite things challenge blog by Saturday, November 14!

A self-portrait and some Harlee-Quinnz

the new Bad Girls Project 52 challenge came out this week - do a self-portrait using paper mache and a found object. The DT examples were interesting (some great, some not so great) and 2 of them used the idea of body forms (sort of like my HERO canvas) so I decided to do a silhouette - like a cameo out of paper mache. It was very very messy (the glue container actually exploded - fortunately it was facing away from me and I had the table covered with waste paper but I must be the messiest artist ever! It took forever to wash all of the paper mache off of my hands) and fairly complicated to get the facial details to work out but I am moderately happy with the result. (See photos below this text - the above photo is explained later down in the text) the found object is the base - a plastic plate that I brought home from work - it had had cookies on it from a grocery store. I layered 3 layers of tissue papers onto the plate and then layered 4 chipboard silhouettes in varying sizes onto that, then I tore old dictionary pages and tissue paper into strips and paper mached them onto the chipboard, sculpting as I went, let it dry, then laid a paper silhouette over it and sprayed with coffee glimmer mist (my fav and almost out) around it, blotting with paper towels. finally I put a thin layer of gesso over the silhouette. I added a lace collar that I had cut off of an old old Laura Ashley dress (can you believe I used to live in Laura Ashley clothes in the 1990s?), sprayed it with stiffen quick, and adhered it to the plate. finally I attached a vintage glass necklace to the back to add interest at the bottom and a holder at the top.
I have always loved silhouettes - the above layout I did a couple of years ago and used a silhouette that my mother had done of me when I was small. (Also notice the Laura Ashley ribbon.) My mother loved cameos, and I inherited 3 absolutely beautiful ones from her. When I worked as an accountant and had to dress "appropriately" for the job, I used to wear all 3 at one time on my jacket lapel - that always got compliments!

The next 2 layouts are ones done with Harlee-Quinnz Designs papers - the purple is from the Butterfly Garden collection and the cool paper with the blue and white pitcher is from the Scents Remember collection. This year has been a bumper crop for Pears, which I love!!!! they are so plentiful, inexpensive, and so delicious. I love to just eat them or make pear/walnut/blue cheese salads with viniagrette. YUM!

For the Purple layout, I used a Prima flower, some flowers from Michaels, a yo yo made from Liberty fabric, an old button card, some funky see through netting, a piece of paper stamped with a Harlee-quinnz mandala stamp, a dictionary page, a jewelry pendant from Michaels, a tea ad, some ribbons, and a little dollsize belt buckle. I took the photo last summer at the Biltmore in North Carolina.

For the Pears layout, I used a wallpaper sample from Anthropologie, vintage lace, Starbucks card, doily, Prima flowers, handmade silk ribbon flower with beads, old MM letters, old Lil Davis letters, and a tag from a jewelry pendant (see Purple layout) from Michaels.

I am off to work - got lots to do today.

ttfn

A little gratitude and some ramblings

This past week has sped by - so busy! but yesterday I just stayed home and haunted my studio creating up a storm. In fact, I was so engrossed that when Dan came home from golf practice at 2pm, I still hadn't eaten - I admit I was getting a little weak. LOL! I made this gratitude journal yesterday - it came together so serendipitously - earlier in the week I was looking through some boxes of older photos, actually looking for holiday photos, when I opened a photo box and discovered that it was half full of old (2007 and earlier) scrapbooking supplies - what a treasure! and then yesterday morning I was catching up on some blogs and saw the Halloween mini book idea on the Year of Color blog. The creator had altered pages from a vintage photo album - well, I had found a repro of a Victorian album at Goodwill for $1.99 a while back. I dug it out, selected some pages, cut it apart, and then the fun began. I sanded down the pages as they were a heavy heavy stock with printing and gloss, then I painted them with tan acrylic paint dabbing it on with a dry brush to make it look like the discoloration of an old book, then I inked the edges very liberally. I sprayed on a little coffee glimmer mist but it would not hold properly so I wiped it off. I taped the pages together with mailing tape and then covered that with masking tape which I glimmered misted. I selected photos or ephemera (copies of some of my vintage postcards that I got from my grandmother) for each page, piled on the embellishments, stamped some images, added flowers, etc., and finally journaled.

I can't seem to get blogger to take more than 5 photos so the back cover is not here. that's where a lot of the journaling is located. This was a super fun project and I plan to place the journal on my entry table with some candles and other Thanksgiving decorative items. the journal is very heavy card so it will actually stand up.

Yesterday I also finished the next 3 layouts for These are a few of my favorite things challenges but no peeking........and I finished 2 layouts for Harlee-Quinnz Designs which I will post both here and on the HQD website tomorrow. As I said, I was totally obsessed.

I have also been finishing some projects for the holidays, one of which is above. This is a quilted wallhanging that I pieced (I think) for the holidays in 2006 but never finished - but ta da! now it is finally done. I also finished a holiday tablerunner and will show that later this week along with my autumn leaves table runner that I made several years ago. I began cutting out fabric for some Christmas presents yesterday as I suddenly realized that I need to get them finished so I can mail them out early.

A few ramblings - I discovered a new favorite tv show thanks to another blog mentioning it (and I apologize because I cannot remember where I read about it) but the show is called Man Shops Globe, and it is on the Sundance channel (which we get for free from Directv). The guy is a buyer for Anthropologie and he goes to different places around the world selecting items, getting inspiration, and even creating things. Yesterday the show was about India, and next week's show is about London. I can hardly wait!!!!!!!!

I have been reading quite a bit lately and thought I would offer a few comments about books that I liked or disliked -

9 Dragons by Michael Connelly - typical Harry Bosch mystery but super fast paced

Twenties Girl - Sophie Kinsella - I really do try to like her books but her heroines are such idiots that I have a difficult time with them - I loved the Undomestic Goddess but normally I don't read her stuff.

Doomsday Book - an older fantasy/sci fi that is brilliant - I love the idea of time travel

Blogging for Bliss - I read about this book in the summer and recommended it to the library - they just got it, and I am learning so much about blogging and business related to blogging. the author, Tara Frey, has spotlights on many fabulous blogs (some of which are my favs) but there are so many new ones (to me) that I plan to spend several evenings just checking them out.

I have seen the magazine Artful Blogging at Booksamillion, but it is so expensive I haven't bought one (don't you think magazines are expensive any more - and did you notice that Somerset Memories is now semiannual not bimonthly? I saw it last weekend at BAM and realized that I was familiar with quite a few of the scrappers - so creative and such beautiful creations!)

Along the same lines, yesterday I read Dina Wakley's blog where she shows the stencils that she has been using for her art journals (I always wondered where the images came from) - I will definitely be adding that book to my holiday list (Brian asked me for a list yesterday when we talked on the phone. He likes to shop early either where he lives or online, and books are a perfect thing to put on the list - they're easy!)

So, I just realized that I have been rambling for quite a while (did I catch this from Julie, my boss at TAAFOMFT????LOL!) - actually it's the way I think and talk. Sometimes I will be chattering away and Dan looks at me like WT...... - because I move so quickly from subject to subject. Oh well.......

ttfn and have a fabulous Sunday!!!!!!!!!

Happy happy news

Good morning! just a note to announce that I have been selected for the Scrapbookingsuppliesrus new kit club Design Team. I am soooooo excited and honored to be a part of this group of such talented designers! Check out their Crop Spot blog
http://www.scrapbookingsuppliesrus.com/blog/article/view/?article_id=10082

for the info and a giveaway.
Also more happy news - my layout Faith is published in the current issue of Scrapbooking News & Review in the article Thankfully Faithbooking. Yay!!!! The layout is one I did about having been through the hurricanes - the journaling reads "some things you never forget but faith in God will see you through"
The above layout is for the latest Candy Shoppe Designs challenge to do a layout about yourself and use lots of little photos or small squares. Not really my thing but I did it sort of like a little quilt with squares.
Gotta go - working extra again this week. and tonight is our monthly art club meeting and I am helping with the food so I have to make 96 zuchini bites this afternoon. Very yummy and easy but still it takes time.
thanks for reading and ttfn

Q and A

So I received this little award from Amy - it's been going around the DT and I love everyone's anwers - what you can say in "one little word"!!!! I have to answer these questions with one word answers and then pass the award on to 5 others - so here goes and I am passing it on to Shelley, Debbie, Beth A, Lynn, and Betty.

1. Where is your cell phone? kitchencounter
2. Your hair? curly
3. Your mother? missed

4. Your father? longago
5. Your favorite food? French
6. Your dream last night? sailing
7. Your favorite drink? Tea
8. Your dream/goal? self-supportingartist
9. What room are you in? studio
10. Your hobby? Scrapping
11. Your fear? losinglovedones
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? healthy
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something you aren't? athletic
15. Muffins? cinnamon
16. Wish list item? Kolinskysablepaintbrushes
17. Where did you grow up? Missouri
18. Last thing you did? emailed
19. What are you wearing? silkshirtandcapris
20. Your TV? off
21. Your pets? cat
22. Friends? Worldwide
23. Your life? blessed
24. Your mood? peaceful
25. Missing someone? sometimes
26. Vehicle? older
27. Something you're not wearing? shoes
28. Favourite store? Target
29. Favourite colour? depends
30. When was the last time you laughed? lastnight
31. Last time you cried? lastnight
32. Your best friend? Dan
33. One place I go to over and over? library
34. Facebook? yes

35. Favourite place to eat? home

So there you have it - me in one word (sort of) answers

Be sure to check back tomorrow as I have an announcement to make.

thanks for reading and ttfn

Alter Ego

Just a quick hello and new layout before I go to work at the bookstore. (I got a little mojo yesterday and finished 3 layouts.) Some good news -my layout "Joy" done with Harlee-Quinnz Designs stamps and paper was published on page 16 of the November/December issue of Scrap n' Art magazine (Yay!!!!), I won a giftcard from Scrapgal for the 10days of Halloween contest (Yay!!!!), and last night we received 2 1/2 inches of rain (Yay!!!!! to explain how thankful we are for that rain, you have to realize that we only received 1/2 inch in October instead of our usual 5 inches).
Over the weekend I watched the DVD Inkheart and fell in love with the incredible house in which Helen Mirren lived - that is my fantasy!!!! I think it is on the Italian Riviera but it's not just the outside which was incredible - the inside, especially the library, was totally perfect. I also loved the clothes in the movie - Meggie, the young heroine, wore a coat that had all kinds of buttons sewn on the collar (such a cool idea) and I could totally see myself wearing the clothes that Helen Mirren wore (but not the earrings - too huge!)
Gotta go - hope to write again later in the week.