live, love, laugh, create

Way out of my comfort zone

Wordplay # 8 is up on Jill's blog and I have to say that this one is putting me totally out of my comfort zone...like you may find me in the next county.

Here's the challenge:

"This week, choose one of your body parts-the more interesting the relationship the better-and tell its story. What have your eyes seen? Why do your ears hang low? Does your belly button enjoy being an outie? Why do your legs feel loved only when they're wearing blue jeans?"

See what I mean? I think the only safe body part for me is my eyes. Absolutely, totally out of my comfort zone. And can I tell you that you may even find  me in the next state rather than the next county?!

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A fish out of water.....

Sunday evening I met Suzanne, her hubby Jim and the girls at Red Robin for dinner. They know it well as it's a favorite place of theirs from their days in Seattle. Suzanne and I have been out shopping and for lunch before along with little miss Perry, but it was my first time meeting Paige and Jim. Paige is quite animated and a chatterbox who had me totally entertained throughout the evening. My first impression of Jim is that he must be really shy or afraid that I'm a serial axe murderer....or actually, maybe he was just so totally overrun with female hormones at the table that he opted to sit back and observe for sanity's sake. It probably would have been better if Bob had come along so they could talk "guy talk" and he didn't have to listen to our "scrapbook talk". Sorry Jim, next time I'll bring Bob for ya!

I shot this picture of Perry from the end of the table. She's so cute I could just eat her up!

 

Paige gave me an entire review of the movie Coraline with only 2 breaths! She recalled it with a lot of detail which really impressed me and also made me kind of jealous and had me longing for my younger years when I too could recall something at the drop of a hat that occurred a week ago and recite it in 2 breaths.

 

We ate and laughed...well, I mostly laughed at Paige and had a really great time. Part of the way through our meal our waiter asked us if we watched the program "Deal or No Deal". I found it was an odd question to ask and thought that maybe we'd be choosing a suitcase that either gave us our meal for free or had us all in the kitchen doing the dishes for choosing the wrong one.

He actually spilled the beans and told us that Howie Mandel was sitting at the bar having dinner. My camera's memory card was full as it was the dinky one that comes with the camera so I had to sacrifice a couple of shots of the kids. It ended up that we were leaving when he was and he was nice enough to stop for a moment and pose for a pic with us.

 

And yes, he did put his arm around me! Ha! We're not sure why Paige made that face but at least I was able to drag her into the photo op! Howie was kinda in a rush and I asked him what he was doing all the way up in Dutchess County-like 40 miles from NY City-and all I got was "mumble,mumble.....I love Red Robin." Alrighty then. Thanks for the interview Mr. Mandel. Let's do lunch sometime!

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Wordplay # 7 is up!

I went to Jill's blog on Sunday and saw that she had Wordplay # 7 up, then I read it and started to laugh out loud! I'm so going to have fun with this one! The challenge goes like this:

"That thing you do, you know what it is.You know why you do it. You know how other people react to it......Do tell!"

Ha! Can't wait to have fun with this!

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Digital photo editing for beginners

I'll bet you thought by the title that this was going to be a tutorial, didn't you?! Hah! I'm not quite ready to tackle such a big task for my (few) readers yet. I do however know that there is a digital imaging with Photoshop Elements class starting on Monday February 16th at Get it Scrapped! There are 2 words that can describe the courses that Debbie offers on her site- informative and affordable.  Stop over and check out her sample class!

Thanks for stopping by!

A small project to share

I had a little free time last week and since I had 2 days off in a row it felt like a mini vacation! I have had a make n' take project from my Crop on The Cape weekend 2008 sitting in my basket of "to do" projects so I finally made some time to complete it.

 

I really like the papers a lot. The products are from Creative Cafe. I love how the papers folded nicely without cracking on the folds. I find that happening with some patterned papers even though I always use a bone folder. Everything for this was pre cut and it was just an assembly project. I inked the edges of the envelopes, the inserts and the photo mats. I also added the "Random Thoughts" title on the front with some acrylic alpha stamps I have from Little Black Dress designs. I'm not sure which random thoughts will be put into this book yet- there's so many that roll around in my head on a daily basis!

 

 There's 6 envelopes with 6 inserts inside of them. Lots and lots of room for pictures and words. This was such a neat and simple project. I'll be using it for inspiration for other projects in the future for sure.

I got a nice surprise from a fellow blogger the other day. Julie Fei-Fan Balzer nominated me for the creative blogger award. Thanks Julie! Be sure to stop by her blog for some Valentine's Day inspiration!

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Wordplay # 6

Wordplay # 6 is up on Jill's blog. It's absolutely a significant challenge for me. I have no problem putting my thoughts on paper (or in type) just don't ask me to make it into any kind of rhyme....so my challenge may end up being random words or maybe a feeble attempt at a haiku. Wish me luck. How are you doing with your challenges?

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My fear of loss or theft

One of my biggest fears  related to scrapbooking is losing my camera. I really have not taken it anywhere other than a family get together or a wedding, but in the back of my mind I'm always thinking about where I will put it down or who I should have hold it for a moment. I also have a fear of my computer crashing and losing all of my photos. My disc drive just croaked so I have to get it repaired. In the meantime I am going to upload to an "off site" storage spot. I'm looking into Snapfish later on today. Someone on 2 peas came across a blog that helps people who have lost their cameras. It's  called "Found Cameras and Orphaned Pictures". If you have lost a camera or if you have found a camera this is the place to go. Check it out and book mark it in your favorites. This site is a keeper for sure!

There was a thread on 2Peas some time ago that asked "what would you do if you had a fire in your home?" Of course it was related to saving your albums and photos. People said they have photos stored on an external hard drive so they can disconnect it fast, grab it and run. Others said they would absolutely save their albums.

Now I have to stop and evaluate my own situation. I'm lucky that we have a raised ranch that is only 1 floor. If I really had to and had the time without risking my life, I could pitch stuff out of my scraproom window. Could you imagine?

So how do I alleviate my fears? Here's my plan:

1. Make a habit of not taking my camera off of my neck when I'm out in public in a large crowd.

2. Insure the camera with my homeowner's-umbrella policy or itemize it? Some research needed here.

3. Get that external hard drive I've always been talking about. It's only $40 or so. What have I been waiting for?

4. Upload the pics in the computer now to an off site storage. I joined Snapfish. I need to use it.

5. Get the disc drive repaired and put the photos in the computer on CDs.

6. If I really wanted to be extreme I could take the memory card out of the camera and store it somewhere other than the camera bag until I had the chance to upload into my computer. It does make sense though. God forbid we had a burglary and my camera bag got stolen. At least I would still have any pics that were on the memory card.  I would probably not get over it very easily if my camera were stolen. I think it would equate to the loss of a limb. I would grieve for a long time!

7. Centralize my photo storage. Right now I'd say that 90% of my pics are in photo boxes in my scraproom closet. I have to check a couple of other boxes in the basement to be sure there are no more there. They used to be all over in envelopes from the developers-kitchen drawers, nightstand drawers, shoe boxes. I did a lot of purging and consolidating.  My dad was notorious for cutting off heads in photos. I had alot of great neck down shots of my kids!

What are your strategies for minimizing your risk of loss? I'd love to hear what you have to say!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Digital and hybrid design

I know, I know. Some of you have just gasped and raised your eyebrows. I am not going digital. I have a shadow of an interest in hybrid scrapbooking. I'd probably have more of an interest if I had a better computer for digi creations- like a Mac (sorry Bob and Art, but it's the truth)but I don't. Dude! I have a Dell! Remember that commercial?

I came across a site today that offers great digi and hybrid designs for a very affordable cost. They have  blog banners and blog backgrounds for people who use Blogspot as well as other neat digi stuff and hybrid printables. Stop over and take a look at what Heidi Swapp, Rhonna Farrer, and Janet Hopkins have created to satisfy your digital hearts at www.houseof3.com . I was impressed. That's easy because my digi capabilites are next to about zilch. Just kidding. I know a little and I think I know enough to say that it's a nice site with so much more good stuff to come!

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Wordplay #5 is up!

Word play # 5 is up and it's a great one. Well, they're all great, but this one is really great. The topic is "Listen to yourself", and you have to come up with 5 "authentically you" words, phrases or statements.  Anyone who knows me knows that my list will be really long and I'll have a hard time choosing the 5 that I need for the challenge. This should be interesting!  I actually haven't started my projects for the challenges yet. I'm following along and jotting down notes and creative ideas for all of my LOs. I'm also considering doing this on a smaller scale and making it into a mini book.

If you haven't been playing along and you want to, here are the other 4 challenges. There is no deadline or special requirements. The purpose of Jill's blog is to share her creativity and help that spark in us ignite into a journaling inferno (like that? Corny, I know!).

Here are the other 4 challenges that she has posted:

1. A Fortunate Sentence- think of someone or something that is good in your life. Concentrate on adjectives to describe it or them.  It can be any aspect of your life and you can make it heartfelt, practical or whitty.

My fortunate sentence came while posting on my blog last week. Up until then I had no clue where to go with the challenge and even tried to cheat with a fortune cookie.

2. Behind the music- This challenge is relatively easy. We all have our favorite songs. (Even my husband has a favorite he sings in my ear when we dance to it) The challenge is to take the lyrics of a song that has an effect on you and scrap and journal about those lyrics. Jill's LO came out awesome and you can see it here. Really cool! Jill used the lyrics from a few songs for her challenge. I'm still on the fence with this one. I really love too many songs. I'll have a hard time narrowing it down.

3. Pep Talk- Tell yourself what you've been needing to hear. Hah! Easier said than done!

4. Self Portrait- describe yourself. Use a poem, a prose, a paragraph, a list. Who are you through your own eyes? This is a huge challenge for me. I skipped over it in fear of giving myself a reality check that I couldn't handle-I"m my own worst critic!

Well, there they are. Pick and choose what challenges you like. Mark Jill's blog in your favorites and play along when you like! It really is a lot of fun, thought provoking and will improve your journaling for sure!

Thanks for stopping by!

Seriously.......

 

....are they kidding?

I came home from work tonight to find this on my kitchen table. No explaination as to what happened to my package,  just my mutilated priority box. Apparently the postal service feels you need to do your own detective work to find out why this box looks the way it does. I'm 100% sure it did't look like this when it left Utah. So let me guess....one employee held it up for another while they practiced round house kicks? Or perhaps it was a substitute for a chunk of wood that someone tried to split with their head? Better yet, someone slammed it over the head of her coworker who has been harrassing her for months? Maybe he finally got the message at my package's expense.

I was really worried that the contents inside were ruined and that some were missing. I happened to be reading the blog of one of my many enabler friends (Nancy Jones) and she made me go visit Treasures to Scrap. I hadn't been there in quite some time but had to check out the "big sale". When I opened the box I was so relieved to find the paper protected and my chalk inks in a bag just like this.

 

Thank you Tracy!!! I am so glad you sandwiched the papers in between some chipboard!

All of the paper is 50% off and I got 38 sheets of paper and 3 chalk inks for about $16. And that happened because I carefully calculated how much gas I have in my car and how many days I need to drive anywhere before payday on Thursday. Pathetic, I know, but it was a sale I couldn't pass up. I needed some BG and Cosmo Cricket paper for 2 specific projects and in surfing around I really saved a ton of money. Go me! I got some BG Granola papers and Cosmo Cricket's Oh Joy papers and a little Bazzil cardstock.

 

Ah, good stuff. I haven't bought anything since before Christmas. It felt good to splurge on myself. I think I earned it after working 20 hours of OT in the last 2 weeks!

Don't forget about Doris Sander's class Product Pizzazz 101 that starts this month at Get it Scrapped. I have already signed up and can't wait to get started!

If you are interested in the sale at Treasures to Scrap check it out soon. I'm not sure how long the sale lasts. You don't want to miss out on the good deals!

Thanks for stopping by!