A Card I Made!

Here is a card I made a while back. I used PTI's Everyday Button Bits and Polka Dot Basics II stamps, the sentiment is SU, some cute felt buttons from my stash, CTMH cardstock, Cosmo Cricket Early Bird patterned paper, Marvy Giga Scalloped punch, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch, clear embossing powder and Ranger Distress Ink in Antique Linen. Hope you like it!

I Won!!

I forgot to say this in my last post. I was following Two Peas In A Bucket's coverage during CHA on Mellypea's blog. I love her warehouse walks. Anyway, she put up a bunch of videos previewing some of the newest collections. If you left a comment on the post you were entered to win some of the products. I commented on almost all of the videos and was lucky enough to win Jillibean Soup products. I am so excited and can't wait to see what I get in the mail! Surprises rock!

I do this all the time trying to win stuff. I've actually won stuff in the past. The last time I won was on the Diva Craft Lounge website. I won a Christmas paper pack from Paper Element (which is gorgeous and still waiting to be used by the way).

Right now I have my fingers crossed that my luck will continue and I will win the Fairy Friends stamps giveaway on the Pink Cat Studio blog. Wish me luck!!!

I'm So Excited

Hi! It's been a loooonnnnggggg time since I posted. Oh well, I'll try harder now that my blog looks pretty. I have a laptop now and hopefully will be getting photoshop elements soon, so that should help with posting pics of my cards and layouts. I also need to learn how to work this blog, so there will probably be a lot of trial and error along the way. I decided to keep a seperate log of fun and funny family things for journaling. I will use my blog for my scrapping, stamping and cardmaking now.

I am excited because I've been following all the new releases from CHA and other companies I have discovered recently. I just added a "blinkie" on my sidebar for Pink Cat Studio. They have a new release on August 6th and is very intriguing. It's the Fairy Friends stamp set. My little Sadie loves Tinkerbell and everything fairies, and I love Pink Cat Studio. I'm guessing this one will be a must-have set. Fun, fun, fun!!!

Living Up to My Title

Yes, I am frustrated. The last post I tried to put up got lost in cyberspace. I spent a lot of time on it and it chaps my hide. Oh well. I've mustered up the gumption to try again.

I tried to post about our bouts with pneumonia but I've worn that subject out in my mind. Suffice to say, we had pneumonia.

Sadie is funny. The other day she was rubbing the doggies belly (which is cute enough in itself) and spent a while studying the dogs private parts. After a while she said, "you're nakey" - which in Sadie language means the dog is naked. It was just so funny to think that her mind was trying to make sense of what she was seeing and the conclusion she came to which ended with a simple statement to the dog herself.

Went to my first stamp club last night. It was fun. I am going to a crop tonight so I am finally getting my creative fix which I have been needing badly. Yay!

Zoe got voted "best eyes" in her class at school. I guess they pick two girls and two guys. She will have her picture taken with the others and be featured in the yearbook. Who would have thunk that a kid of mine would be best anything as far as looks are concerned. Her eyes are beautiful, so at least I know these kids aren't stupid.

Okay, this JUST HAPPENED. Sadie walks in to the room and she smells bad. So I ask her if she is poopy. Initially she says no. I say I don't believe her. Then she says boldly ,"I POOPED MY PANTS!". She's never used that terminology before so I thought it was pretty funny. She does however, on a regular basis say "I pooped my butt" which I still think is funny every time. Hopefully she doesn't try to amuse everyone at church and MOPS with her sophomoric humor.

Went through Zoe, Isabel and Sadie's rooms and got rid of a mountain of trash. Now I have a ton of baby stuff I need to post on Craig's List. Stuff to donate to charity. Toys to bring to Immanuel. How is it that their rooms generate all this work for me? Ugh.

Our computer in the basement which is my arch enemy got infected with a nasty virus-like adware bug. At first we thought we would have to re-format and start over. Then I found a post on Cnet explaining how to get rid of this particular bug and the solution worked. I was kind of proud of myself for fixing it.

Got communication going with my MOPPETS. Got some feedback and we are going to discuss it as a team and make some decisions. Finally I feel like I am "doing my job" as MOPPET Coordinator. It feels good to have a handle on it and be in control of that stuff. It took a while, with being sick and missing meetings but now I feel confident in the role.

Well, I must go now and get my stuff ready for the crop. I wish I could bring everything. If I did it would take up a couple tables. I'd have to pay extra for that I am sure.

Oh yeah, I have a diaper to change too.

Sad Days Ahead for the USA

So the Dems are revelling in the glory of their victory in the Presidential election. Now they can finally shut up, right? I don't think so. I have come to realize that much of what dictates your political direction is your spirituality. In some cases, people do not have a spiritual life, and then seek something to fill the void. I think this is the case for a lot of liberals. Politics becomes their religion. They defend it as hard and fervently as I would my own faith in God. As a result, they will most likely continue to assault anyone who believes differently from them no matter what.

The results of this election scare me. Our country is drifting further and further away from what it was created to be. A place of freedom where governments function is to protect those rights and liberties. We are becoming a socialist society and I do fear for my children's futures.

Suffice to say, I will be praying that God will protect us and that He will guide our new President in all he does.

Poor Doggie, etc.

Took the dog to the vet yesterday for long overdue shots, nail trim, etc. Found out she has a bum knee and is extremely overweight. Dare I say, obese? Anyway, she is now on a diet. Special food, no cleaning up after Sadie :o( I will miss this greatly. If she doesn't lose weight she may need to have surgery. After hearing the price tag on it, I am confident this dog will lose weight. :o)

Sadie made it through an entire episode of illness without experiencing a bout of her dreaded reactive airway disease. Yeah!! It gives me hope that this thing really is something she will outgrow. It was also so nice not to have to deal with that pain-in-the-butt nebulizer. This is a huge praise God event in our lives!!!

Sadie said "chihuahua" last night in her sleep three times. It was funny. She is obsessed with the Chihuahua song by DJ Bobo, and the dogs in general. This passion is of course, being fueled by the recent Disney release of Beverly Hills Chihuahua. I think I will take her to see it during the day when no one else is in the theater so she can scream and run up and down the aisles, etc.

What else is going on? Zoe is at camp this weekend. I went scrapbooking last night. Finished my trip to the zoo mini acrylic album - just need to add some ribbons to the ring. It turned out cute! I also finished one page in Sadie's book. It's a "happy baby" page featuring a 5x7 portrait taken at 3 months. This one turned out cute too. Very simple. Adding more blog feeds to my iGoogle page. I like being able to see the new posts without having to surf to each blog. "Yes, I love technology...but not as much as you, you see!!"

My Blaaagh!

Oh dear, start a blog, then never update it. That is SO like me! Well, I found out on Thursday that our dentist wants all our money. Zoe needs phase 2 orthodontia to the tune of 5k, Isabel needs braces (luckily they can wait), and Sadie has two cavities that need to be filled under anesthesia in the hospital. I can tell you that none of the above is going to happen. I'll be looking for a new dentist now, thank you very much.

Some noteable things that happened recently include:

• Sadie said "churkey" (instead of turkey)
  
• Sadie said "to the rescue!"
• Sadie went on the "big girl swing" for the first time and we had a hard time getting her off of it.

I got the book "The Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker" by Wendy Smedley and Aby Garvey. Lain Ehmann reviewed it on her podcast and ever since I heard the review I kept thinking that I need that book. I got it at Archiver's with my 30% off coupon. It was well worth it. I am now in the process of analyzing my everyday life and what "inspires" me to scrapbook. I can see that my style and inspiration is never cut and dried so it will be interesting to see how I can organize my space to work with so many scenarios. I don't even have walls in my space so how I am going to actually accomplish anything I am not sure.

I have realized that my inspiration for scrapbooking (the reason I put a page together is based on many different sources). I remember a few years ago driving down the main road that you take to get to our house and I saw a dark brown wood garage with these beautiful coral/fuschia colored flowers planted along the edge and thinking what a gorgeous color combination that was. It made me want to create a page using those colors.

Other inspirational sources include: gorgeous photographs, patterns (circles are especially attractive to me), seasonal changes (spring and fall are my favorites) and photographs of family. With regard to family photographs, they inspire me to create layouts or mini-books to document those special times. I usually need time to come up with the "plan" for how I want to preserve them. I will usually see something in a magazine or products in a store that will give me the idea and I will run with it from there.

It's interesting that I have never taken the time before now to analyze the "why" of my scrapbooking. I know that I have a creative need to express. I also feel the motivation to document family events. So through the creative process so I feel like I am killing two birds with one stone. (Why do I use that expression? Yuk.)

I guess that's enough blathering for now.