Whoops! Forgot to Post this Yesterday!!! (Thursday)

So I was out of it yesterday. SORRY! Forgot to post another swap item...

Here is a set of 2 tags (with Peppermint Ribbon - which I love!) for the Fall/Winter Activities - Playing in Snow group. (Yes, this is my washing machine! lol!) The tags are made from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More with the Cricut. (Yes, I still only have the smaller Cricut [Baby Bug] and Yes, I am able to utilize this cartridge so much that it bothers me when people keep saying, "It is not worth it if you only have the Baby Bug.") The cool, distressed paper double-sided and from... (can't remember who and too lazy to go look!)

The snowman stamp is from "Perfectly Clear Stamps" and aptly named "Snow Guy." The snowflake is from a Studio G winter set. Then, of course, I had to use Stickles... (Orange Peel, Christmas Red, and Crystal here). The tags are inked (on the edges) with Cat's Eye Liquid Chalk.
The "... he'll be back again someday..." stamp is a partial of a border stamp from Inky Antics. Stickled with Black Diamond, Christmas Red, & Cinnamon. The leaves were done with a Marvy pen, as the "Holly" Stickles were clogged and completely bothering me...

Blog of the day is... A Little Bit of Heaven. Cathy (a newer SB Bingo member) has some really cute angel cards here. (I would love to know where she got the angels from or how she did them!) They are quite cute.


I have one other swap item to post... Don't know if I'll do it later today or sometime this weekend, as I am officiating all weekend and have lots to do before I leave at 7am. However, it is supposed to be bright and sunny (still around 80'ish!), so it should be for a pleasant weekend. Toodles for now! lisa

It's the Middle of the Week...

Ok, I give... Time either totally drags or goes WAY too fast! This week, it seems to be doing a little of both!

Thanksgiving (like you don't already know...) is next week. I am SO not ready. I used to have it at my house with everyone here, but times have changed. Last year, we had it at my mom's (sans bro, as he is now the designated turkey maker for his in-law fams). This year... I have no clue what I am going to do. I haven't even talked to both sides of the families on this issue... kinda scared!

But for now... here is another "swap" installment...

For the Thanksgiving Swap, this is my contributing for a paper-piecing.

The cornucopia and fruits are from Paper Doll Dress Up. Honestly... all these people that say, "I don't make dolls." and seriously have a problem with this Cricut cart obviously have not explored the possibilities.

Of course, I had to use my chalks and Stickles. Don't you just love them! I also put some of the fruit pieces through the Cuttlebug to add some dimension.

For another "Fall Activity" swap, I did the paper piecing for "Pumpkin Patch". Here is my take on it.

The Pumpkin trio is from Pooh and Friends. I walnut-stained (distressed) the bottom leaf layer, then put the other pieces on top, and added a sepia chalk. I didn't want to go glitz on this one to give it a "timeless" and shabby feel.

Featured blog of the day is... Mousekemom's Mouseworks! April does a lot with all things Disney. She is a little like me though, she goes through spurts of creation and publication. But her stuff is truly great to browse and get ideas...

I'm so looking forward to this weekend. Not only does Twilight come out on Friday (check your local listings), but I actually get to have my "adult" time on both Saturday and Sunday. I will be helping to official a swim meet in Palm Springs. Since the weather here is so odd for this time of year, we are expecting the weekend to hold around 80 degree weather... Next week, the kids are out of school! YES! You saw it right... they get the whole week of Thanksgiving off. Maybe we'll get some scrap time in then...

Another little added item... Stacy (15yo) finally used the Cricut last night for a school project. She is now in love with it. She was amazed at how easy it was and now wants to do it tonight, too. (Hold up, little girl... school work comes first!)

Whelp... that's all for now. Gotta eat something to try to get rid of this migraine... Toodles for now! lisa

Totally Tuesday! (and no-newsday!)

Ha! I'm at a stagnant stage... no creativity coming forth. Too much going on elsewhere to "let it flow" freely... So I thought I'd do a little posting and see where my thoughts go... (lol!). Here's stuff I did for a swap (can't wait to get the critters back!)... some of the swap items were already posted, so I'm only going to post what wasn't posted before (too much?)...
For now... I'll post the shakers that were made for the "Christmas Red/Green" swap.
I found transparency paper at Office Max! Woohoo! Only $.65 each. Originally, I could only find it there in a box of 50, which I didn't want... Not only did I not want to spend that much $$, but I didn't want to have to store a whole lot, either. But I asked, and they split the pack!

The sacks are made with Debbie Mumm's Holiday Cardstack (which I totally love!), using the Cricut and Paper Doll Dress Up. On the top layer... I cut a deckled circle with the Coluzzle cutting system (also from PC). I didn't do extra embossing on the top or bottom layers, as they both had a built in embossing. I used 3M foam tape between the layers, sequin stars and PC beads (Art Accentz) inside. The ribbon cinch on the bag was created with Zig glue and Fun Flock (by Stampendous!).

Special Note: I originally purchased white Fun Flock from a wonderful Close to My Heart consultant (Thanks, Julia!!!). I so fell in love with the ease and effect, that I went out and "had to have" instant gratification of purchasing green Fun Flock... just for the purpose of this bag. DO NOT let any kids, people or others (including your teenagers) to touch the flocking until it has dried!!!

I sure hope the rest of the group likes them. My kids loved them, and they were fun to make... although I did freak out when one touched the "drying" flock... lol! Priceless moment... you had to be there.

Featured blog of the day from my online friends is... Live. Teach. Love. Scrap. Laugh. Life. This blog is done by a Canadian friend who is much newer to the scrapbooking world. You could never tell by looking at her stuff! She is awesome and does so much, she seems to have been doing it for years.

One day (hopefully soon...), I'll have a list of scrappy bloggers. I would really like to work on the layout/design of this blog and do some major modifications... any volunteers? I'll post more later... Toodles for now! lisa

My "Good Deed" for the Day!

While on my way to the Post Office... a little Pekingese dog limped from the sidewalk into the street. I slowed down, and as it kept limping across the street, I stopped. While I honked the horn, the dog stopped in front of my van. It was panting heavily and sat on its rear, lolling its tongue out in thirst. I honked the horn more... the dog (by this time I see he's male...) took a couple more hobbles and stopped in another car's path. The car swerved around (missed me!) and kept going. Another truck (coming the opposite way of myself) stopped and got out to help. Mr. Pooch ran and parked himself underneath my car! And of course, handy with my camera (and a scrapbooker!)... I had to take a picture!


The other guy (pool dude) and I tried to get the dog out to no avail. I called Animal Control, as Mr. Pooch snapped at the pool cleaner and moved farther under my car. He simply wanted shade (it was around 90 here...). We gave the dog water, then another great guy (who had passed and asked about the dog earlier) stopped back by and offered a hamburger for Mr. Pooch. (How sweet was that!) Between myself, the pool dude and another neighbor, we went to about 10 houses, asking if Mr. Pooch belonged to anyone. No one claimed him.


End of the story... Animal Control showed up, got Mr. Pooch out (without a problem... I might add!), and we all went on our merry little ways.


Basically, I was amazed that so many people stopped to ask to help and did help. I was NOT amazed at how many people whizzed by, not caring at all. It was not a waste of time, although it did take about 45 minutes. But I feel Mr. Pooch will be much better off than getting hit by someone (which I'm sure is what happened in the first place). I would love to thank the pool dude (sorry I never got your name) and the neighbor dude. They were great and a wonderful help. I'm sure Mr. Pooch appreciates us all, too. Toodles for now! lisa

Getting back on the wagon...

I've been busy, as I'm sure you have. I won't dwell on the drama... but it is EVERYWHERE! On the pool deck (with the team - or the board rather, NOT the officials), at home - with kids and with hubby, other personal - family members, etc. It seems that lots of people cause drama all around. They seem to forget what each event is about. Oh well... C'est la vie!

One of the wonderful places I have not found any drama is on one of the Yahoo groups I belong to. I've talked about them from time to time. I wanted to share some of the wonderful things they've been doing.

Christina's blog has some new stuff on it, and it is gorgeous! Such an inspiration to do Christmas cards...

Then there's Jenn... she has her own blog as well, plus she designs for the Cuttlebug Design Challenge blog.

There are others, and I will share them with you a little later. I'm just doing snippets here.

If you noticed (above), some things are underlined. If you are not familiar with this, you should know you can "click" the underlined blue items, as it is a direct link to something else. I, at this time, would like to personally thank April W. from Scrapbook Bingo for sending the instructions on how to do that little trick. Thanks, April!

We did Jolene's birthday Saturday (2 weeks late), and it was quite eventful. In the end, it took us 3 1/2 hours to get 68 miles (the California fires shut the freeways down), some people were missing (hence the "drama"), and we ended up having a great time. Beef Dips, baked potatoes and strawberry cupcakes (sorry I cut you out of the pic, Jolene... I just wanted the pretty candle glow... lol!). We ended the evening (REALLY late) playing a great and hilarious game of Scattergories. Even Juan laughed and joined in the fun by rolling the die and keeping time.

I'll chat more later... But for now... off to sort out the drama... Toodles for now! lisa

A Little Bit of Halloween...

So, I've been doing my "swap" and card club stuff lately... got some things done... need to finish others. But, here's some views (SPOILER ALERT! - If you belong to either of these groups... do not move beyond this point if you want to be surprised!!!):

This is the cute little Halloween Card!

I just love the "Spiderweb" Cuttlebug embossing folder with sanding over the web to "distress" it and bring out the core white color. The spider is done w/Doodlecharms and Stickles. The pumpkins are Doodlecharms, Stickles and stitching.

The Frankenstein shaker is another Halloween favorite. The shaker box is made with Tags, Bags, Boxes and more on the Cricut and is painted with FolkArt paints (two greens mixed). The "hair" is Paper Dolls Dress Up with Stickles (Black Diamond).

Of course, I added spider and pumpkin punches, some beads and a little penwork.

Funny thing... on another message board, someone asked if the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge (Cricut) is worth it if only the original (the smaller) Cricut is owned. So many people said it wasn't, that things did not turn out "big" enough. I use this cartridge all the time, including in this post! The shaker box is done at the 3" setting. I can't imagine I would want it any bigger. I also use this for tags and bookplates, not to mention many other things it has. Great cartridge!

And here's my to/from Christmas tags! The tag is from (once again!) Tags, Bags, Boxes and More with the small Cricut. I love this Angel w/trumpet stamp! The embossing is done with the heat gun and Joanne's metallic embossing powders in silver and gold. On the back is stamped and embossed "To" and "From" in metallic silver with "Happy Holidays" done in metallic gold.

And I gotta love the organza ribbon in a Christmas green...

I'm still working on a couple of other things (gotta finish those up!), plus got Halloween coming. I still gotta make some treats for tomorrow's swim party and for dinner on Friday (Halloween).

Plus... there's always drama on the pool deck, and school (for one of the kids) is definitely a drama thing... but we won't go there, because I've had enough of the drama during the day, and I'm using my "zone" time to "zone!" Gotta get back to work... Toodles for now! lisa

Scrapbook EXPO - Ontario, CA

I know I'm really behind in all of this (hey! what's new?), but I thought I'd give you all a little piece of stuff that's been going on...

Went to the Scrapbook Expo in Ontario on Friday... It was pretty good. It was smaller (with less vendors) than Costa Mesa, but it was still good. My goal was to spend only $20 (good luck w/that one!) and only stay for 4 hours (10am - 2pm).

The first goal... we all know was pretty much shot from the beginning. I don't know of anyone who could seriously want to go and only spend $20. Uh... parking alone was $8, then admission was $8 (but I had a $2 coupon!). Then... the first booth I stopped at had Stickles (by Ranger) for $1.75!!!! OMGosh! (You have to understand... online they cost $1.85 plus shipping, and in stores - the few you can find them in - they are $2.49 and up.) This was a fantastic deal! So I bought some...

Oh! But before I forget, I took my 3-year-old. She usually does really great at these things, and this was no exception (in behavior). However... she threw up right before I was going through the doors. Thankfully, she knows when her tummy doesn't feel good, so we made it to the bathroom. We all know how much of a cheapskate I am, so it took everything I had to ask her if she wanted to go home (I'd already blown 14 bucks, not to mention gas, just to get there - how bad of a mother am I?). Another "thankfully"... she said, "No, Mommy. You said you were going to buy me some stickers!" Woohoo! And so we stayed... If anyone else was there and saw a madwoman running down the aisles, pushing a stroller, yelling "Sick baby, EXCUSE ME!!!"... sorry about that! It was me! (We did this 2 times before 2pm.)

And for my steals: I got some (2) great Heidi Swapp stamp sets for less than a total of $10! Yeah me! I also got a bunch of embellishments at the dollar store (Dollar Scrapbooking). And at Pinecone Press... the had a bunch of their books (the thinner magazine-style ones) for $1!!! Woohoo! So I picked up a bunch of those. Hmmm... what else? Oh... Felt! I got a bunch of felt borders and things... really cheap...

I really don't want to think about how much I actually spent. I'm sure it's much less than others, but I know it's more than I planned on. So much for sticking to a budget... But I really did learn some new techniques... I think I can rub my finger into the glitter, instead of sprinkling it... Will try that one later!

I did get to meet up with a couple of online group sisters (HI, Jenn and Julia!!!) and met some other really interesting people, including this lady who talked non-stop at me and Jenn while we were in the line to get in, get through, and check out (same line... could ya tell?) at the Dollar Scrapbooking store. She was quite a hoot!

Now I'm finishing up working on my swaps that are due November 1st. OK... so we all know I procrastinate (again! what's new?). I will have them done and mailed out by Wednesday (at least that is my goal).

I did get my Halloween cards (for the Scrapbook Bingo Card Club) done and mailed out (will post pics later), and a couple of projects for the swaps. Yes! I have been taking pics as I go... Gotta get Marissa to sleep... It's late! Toodles for now! lisa