January 30, 2008

Well, another day down the drain scrappy wise........well except for one domino necklace. These are so fun to make!! I really thank my friend Lori - the first time I saw one was when she started making them. Who would've thunk a domino made into a necklace??? Well, regardless they are fun to make and Cait loves wearing them - I haven't gotten any finished to sell until tonite because every one I make she snags!! I've even got Dylan wanting one made for a boy - that is the trick, I'm all about bling and flowers and boy oh boy I'm gonna have to get creative on this one!!!

So, wanna see the one I made tonite that I am actually selling??? My mail lady saw it and wanted to know if I could make her daughter one so I said sure!!!

So, here is the one I made for her daughter, it is just darling!!! I had to tell Cait NO on this one!!!


This is the front:




This is the back:




If you like leave me a comment to let me know you were here!!!

Ah, I did forget that I managed to get the chipboard alphas done and applied to the altered tin I made the other day!!!

Tomorrow is another day - busy one at that as I hired a new assistant and he, yes you read that right HE starts tomorrow!!! I'm really excited about this young man - he is very outgoing, energetic and seems sincere in wanting to work, just what I need!!!

Nite, gonna try to get some sleep tonite since I'll be busy all day tomorrow training him!!!

January 29, 2008

HHHMM, two posts from me in the same day - crazy stuff!!! LOL

I was invited today to be a contributor at a new site. I was thrilled when Jules invited me over and told me she loved my work - straight to my heart with that!!! LOL

So,I've posted my very first card how to on her site!!! I don't have a ton of time to contribute but check it out, I'll post some stuff from time to time!!!

Card Ideas for the Not So Crafty

January 29, 2008

Well, I sure feel the love!!! I've had a few ladies from a couple sites that I used to visit daily message me to find out where the heck I've been!!!

Well, I am living the circus life so to speak!!! There are three rings in our big top and something going on in everyone one of them from the moment I wake up til I nearing my descent into bed!!!

My daily schedule since 1/22/08 has looked like this:

7:00 AM Wake up and get kids up for school.
8:00 AM Shower & get ready to drop kids off at school.
8:30 AM Head out of the house for the first of many ventures during the day.
9:00 AM Make sure I am back to the office to open up at 9.
9 - 12 PM Open the office, make property rounds, file morning paperwork, check the message machine and return all calls, make collection calls and if there is a break in the morning then I go to the site that I am site coordinator on to moderate the forums by chatting with and making sure nothing out of turn has been posted. In addition, I check the site that I am on the design team for in case there is anything we need to be aware of.
12 - 2 PM Lunch, post office and bank runs - sometimes the last two run me over til 2:30'sh depending on the lines
2 - 4 PM Working in the office on anything the owner sends down, meeting with contractors and engineers (actually anytime throughout each day I'm dealing with this) about reconstruction of a concrete retaining wall that collapsed that supports the main gas line through this part of Austin PLUS an electrical pole the size of an airplane - not a good combo to have to worry about!!!
4:00 PM Leave the office to go pick up Cait from school
4:30 PM Usually back to the office by now and dealing with customers, paperwork, phones, you name it
5:15 PM Take Rob to a training class for his part time job he is going to be doing at nights through June.
5:20 PM Back to the office to return any missed calls while dropping him off and to begin my end of day paperwork
6:00 PM Close the office, prepare the bank deposit, run end of day reports & file them
6:15 PM Head out to the baseball field to pick up Dylan from baseball practice that is supposed to be over at 6:30 but usually runs late (never past 7 YET)
6:30 - 7 PM Back home to do dinner for us three and make something to take with me to Rob
8:30 PM Head out to the place where Rob is currently training to pick him up when they let him out for lunch (anywhere between 8:30 and 9:15)
8:45 - 9:30 PM Get back to the house from Rob dropping me off so I don't have to get out at 1 AM to pick him up.

In between all that I try to do a little scrapping, housecleaning, chatting with friends, update my website, take custom orders and update my blog!!!!

So, I am alive and kicking. If I am not around it is not because I don't want to be - I just simply haven't found the extra 6 hours a day I need to keep up with everything!!! Between updating and maintaining my website and the custom orders that we are getting I haven't had much time to do anything for me!!!

January 28, 2008

Have you ever gotten yourself into the most hilarious predicament and then wondered how you got there and how the heck you were going to get out??? Well, tonite I found myself in one of those predicaments!!!

This evening I decided I was going to slide to the side of the dryer and pick up all the loose clothing that has fallen back there - you know, your missing socks, that shirt that you know is just somewhere but can't find, the towels that you need to dry off with, you know the stuff right??? Well, as I was sliding to get back out from there my round tush, yes, I have a pleasantly plump little tush, decided to catch on the sliding door and it proceeded to close on me. Now normally this wouldn't be a big deal you'd think right??? Did I forget to mention the part where I was still pretty much to the side of the dryer with the door closed and not able to get out??? Yeah, my daughter laughed so hard she couldn't breathe and my son calmly helped his dear sweet Mom out of the laundry nook - all the while shaking his head!!!!

After that I decided to call it a day - I'm here writing to all of you in blog land and then going to hit the sack - for some reason I am extremely worn out today. I thought I slept well last night but I guess not - hopefully I'll make up for it tonite!!!

Until tomorrow - happy scrappin'!!!

January 27, 2008

Well, it's Sunday night and I don't think I got much of anything accomplished this weekend!!!!

The only thing I managed to do was make a list of what I needed to get done - mind you not one thing got crossed off!!!

I did however make a darling little frame and altered tin.

Here is the frame, the pic is of me and Rob on our 5th anniversary this past October:



And here is the altered lunch tin. I am going to put three dividers inside and create cards that will list birthdays/anniversaries behind one, addresses/phone numbers behind another and then put hand made greeting cards behind the third and give it to my Mom - she'll love it!!!



Front View



Top View



I am a little bummed this weekend. Found out a dear friend is having a baby - while I'm thrilled for her as it was something she was wanting I'm also bummed out. I so wanted more kiddos but it just wasn't in the cards for me. Well, someday I'll have grandbabies to love and snuggle on so I'll just wait til then!!!

Getting really excited about Scrapbook Expo in Orlando at the end of March - Cait and I will finally get to meet Heather and Frankie in person as well as maybe a few other girls who are going to try to be there.............Cherrie, Suzanne, Christa and Denise..............these are all girls from Making Memories For You. Frankie is actually the site owner!!!

Not much else going on - about to call it a night and try to get some sleep. Hopefully tomorrow I'll wake refreshed and ready to go!!!

January 25, 2008

Things have been so busy here lately that I keep losing days and then realize hey, I haven't posted on my blog!!!

Today is another cool and rainy day!!! This is the kind of weather that I just want to curl up on the couch with a good book, hot cup of tea and nap the afternoon away!!! Next to scrapping, sleep is my favorite past time!!! LOL

So here is a layout I made the other day as a challenge over at Making Memories For You......What do you think??



The challenge was to use the word "memories" in your title - so, simple pictures of everyday memories for me was an easy one (yeah right, took me three weeks to come up with that title, who am I kidding)!!!! The journaling is done on a transparency bought at a local office supply store - although having a laser printer would have been so much better my inkjet printer did the job OK, just had to let it dry forever!!!

Looks like this weekend is going to be rainy so I'll have plenty of down time to get my scrappy groove on!!!

OH, here is my latest creation!!! I got the idea from a friend and am kinda running with it - this is the first one I made but I plan on making more very soon - I've changed the new ones up quite a bit to make it easier on me!!!



You like???

Have a great weekend and I'll check back in soon with more scrappy goodies!!!

January 22, 2008

Well, so much has gone on in the past few days that I haven't taken the time to sit down and chat!!!

I've been very busy working on some scrappy creations - some I hope to sell, others just for fun. I've also done a little more scrappy shopping to get stuff to work on and sell in my office - I have the perfect little nook to set up in and display my stuff and I'm sure some things will sell!!!

Here is something I threw together:



It is one of the paper mache' bags you get at Hobby Lobby - just slapped some Daisy D's patterned papers on it, modge podged and put on a flower!!! Voila!!!

The most exciting news though??? I finally did it - I finally sat down and built my website. After a couple people asked for a link to view my stuff because they were interested in having me do some scrappy work for them I decided I needed to just stop procrastinating and "Get 'Er Done" as Larry would say!!!

I am proud to show you my site................... Memories Unleashed - the site has been there for a while and I've played here and there changing things around but never really made it past the home page until recently!!! Please, check it out and tell me what you think - good, bad or ugly, tell me so I can improve it!!!

Other than that work as usual. Things have slow but it is that time of year. Give it another month and a half and then I won't know which way I'm going for about 4 months due to how busy that time of year is. I really love that time of year though - it is great for business but I also love to stay busy!!

Well, I'm off to do some work now. I'll be updating my website frequently until I get all the bugs worked out so check back often to see what I'm up to!!!

Have a great day!!!

January 16, 2008

Well, another uneventful day!!! The engineer didn't show up AGAIN with the plans so we can get a contractor in here to rebuild the retaining wall that collapsed last January - yeah, you read that right, last January!!! I don't understand, I mean are these guys so good and so loaded that they don't NEED our business??? I will be glad when this is done.

Cooked breakfast for dinner, watched a little of American Idol until Comanche Moon came on. Watched the last show in that series - quite disappointing in how it ended but what do you do??? I'll be glad when this darn writers strike is over - my two favorite shows have been off the air so long I doubt they'll come back. I'm not one for reality TV so I guess I won't be watching much TV again for a while.

Off to finish a recipe card for a submission then heading to bed.........for some reason I'm exhausted tonite!!!

Happy Scrappin' and toodles!!!!

January 15, 2008

Today held little to no excitement!!! I wanted to whack DH as he kept cutting me off when I tried to talk to him about the office computer. Naturally he THOUGHT he knew what I was going to say and ended up getting pissy with me - I went to go pick up RX's and groceries and didn't rush back - I love him but sometimes I wanna whack him on the head and tell him to hush!!! LOL

Watched the 2nd show of the Comanche Moon mini series tonite - didn't get anything scrappy accomplished that I wanted done. I'm going to try to get a recipe card done tonite before we head to bed - which will be shortly.......I'm so tired!!!!

Happy Scrappin' Everyone!!!!

January 14, 2008

Well, not too bad of a day. I put on my cleaning hat this morning and gave the kitchen a good once over - it was in desperate need of a good cleaning. Also tackled the office bathroom - after a week of auction people it was so grungy!!! I can't stand a dirty bathroom - makes my skin crawl just thinking about it............ick!!!!

Ran over to the local scrapbook store then Hobby Lobby looking for some more stuff for Cait to use on her DT tryout - I'm so hoping things go well for her. She is a young and budding scrapper!!!

Rob told me that I can go to Orlando in March for the Scrapbook Expo!!! Scrappers heaven lemme tell ya!!!! I am going to either fly down or drive down with Cait and meet up with Frankie and Heather for sure and possibly Cherrie if she gets to come up!!! I'm really super excited about that!!!

Off to try and do something scrappy tonite - I have two Party bookboards to finish for Cait and Bryan's birthday party on 2/9 - I have plenty of time but I know me, I'll procrastinate until the last minute then rush to finish them on top of so much else I'll need to do!!!!

OK, laterz gaterz

January 13, 2008

Today was a quiet lazy day!!! I like those days sometimes!!!

Managed to snuggle with Rob this morning and enjoy the peace and quiet before the kids finally got up!!! Cooked us some breakfast of pancakes and sausages and then scrapped a little, cleaned a little, scrapped a little more and then watched Comanche moon.

Tomorrow will most likely be a quiet day at work if I'm lucky - I have some stuff in the house I'd like to get done. Usually when I want it to be quiet so I can work on things it is busy so I'm sure I won't get a thing done tomorrow that I'd like.

Going to start a sketch for a LO to work on tonite until I get ready for bed.

Nite all!!!

January 12, 2008

Today Cait and I went scrappy shopping for some specialty products for her to try out for a DT!!! She is so excited as it is focused on teen scrappers!!! Got plenty of product for her to play with and wow, she's done some amazing stuff already!!!

Me, I finished up a super yummy layout using my Tinkering Ink's Beloved I got in the mail on Thursday or Friday. What a great kit it is!!! I'm in love with this layout!!!



Back to the grind - lots more challenges to get completed!!!

January 11, 2008

Friday!!! Yay!!! So happy the weekend is here!!! This week was definitely a stressful week at work. From the little girl getting caught in the gate because of her mother not watching her to the man who decided to walk behind the "sidewalk closed" sign while we were setting up fence and ending up getting hit by a fence panel to the auction my week has been so totally crazy!!!

I got two scrabooking kits in this week and wow, were they yummy!!! One is my regular monthly kit club but the other is from a new site called Keep In Touch, take a moment and give Kelly a visit - I'm sure you will love her stuff!!!. I ordered Tinkering Ink's Beloved kit as well as two sets of Autumn Leaves stamps and when they got here I was amazed!!!! If you are looking for a fresh new site to get kits from make sure you check out Kelly at Keep In Touch - her link is to the right under Memories Members Blogs links if you lose it!!! You won't regret ordering from her - not only are her kits yummy, her customer service and speedy delivery is out of this world!!!

So, tonite I am working on a challenge from my very first internet scrap site and I had to dive into the Tinkering Ink kit - I can't wait to show you all what I've done!!!!

As for my blog - it is still kind of plain. I'm trying to perk it up and figure out how to add the slideshows for some of my work and put pics in - I think I need a three column blog but gotta figure out how to do all that.

OK, out for the night - need to work on this LO and get it done - I've been dilly dallying around for about two hours talking to Frankie on the phone and helping Caitlin with her first ever altered clipboard so now I need to get down to business!!!!

Have a great evening and weekend!!!

January 10, 2008

Today was totally uneventful..........thank goodness!!!

Very quiet in the office which is a good thing for me but bad for business!!! Went to the bank and then Hobby Lobby to replace the heat embossing gun - they tried to give me a little problem about it since I didn't have the receipt or packaging. I explained to them that I have enough crap since I scrapbook that the last thing I'm going to keep is packaging after opening it and discovering that it works the first time. Finally a supervisor came and asked what was going on and told them if it is defective then they should exchange it - THANK YOU!!!

Thinking I am going to clean out my scrappy stuff this weekend - if I get time!!! LOL I have lots of stuff I need to purge - that I don't touch and will most likely NEVER touch. I know a couple sweethearts who could probably use some of it so I will get a care package together and out soon!!!

Need to figure out how to put pictures on this thing...........I'm so blog illiterate!!! Maybe tomorrow I'll get some of my work posted.........we'll see!!

Niterz!!!

January 9, 2008

Didn't want to crawl out of bed this morning - it was so snuggly, cozy warm!!!

Kids went back to school yesterday from Holiday break and boy did feel good to have silence in the house/office again!!! After homeschooling for so long we were so used to them being with us all the time but we got used to us time really fast when they started school................I'm already dreading summer!!!

Well, my DT position that I was so excited about has pretty much fizzled out. The site only has about 6 active members most of which are on the DT but we don't get product or assignments so no one does anything. Kinda sad - I was really ready to give 110% to the DT. Worst part is I passed up the opportunity to try out for two different DT's where I would have loved to made it - guess there is always tomorrow. Eh, no worries - I should focus on scrapping for me and my family and keep the joy of scrapping as my goal instead of getting on DT's. I'm sure I'll try out again some day.

Today's auction went OK - had 45 units to sell and sold 44, gave the last one away so we didn't have to deal with it. Definitely didn't pull in the cash like we thought we should have - buyers were being cheap today.

I did manage to get a card done today - made me mad though because I was working on one that I was going to emboss. I got my embossing powder all set, picked up my heat gun, flipped the switch and nothing!!! So I thought the extension cord was unplugged or gone bad. Tried another cord and wondered if DH had kicked the switch off. Nope. Went to another outlet in another part of the house and still nothing!!! Did not set well with me - I will be taking it back tomorrow. I haven't had it that long and only used it a few times. Too bad I don't have a backup anymore :(.

It's almost 10 pm here so I think I'm going to call it a night. Today was a long busy day and I need some sleep!!!

Hugs!!!

January 8, 2008

Wow!!! I can not believe that it is 2008 already!!!!

Since we don't typically set resolutions - knowing we won't keep them - I've decided to set goals instead!!!

First goal - figured out this blogging world!!! This is my first ever blog and I'm not really sure what I'm looking for so it will be trial and error for a while, alot of changes made and definitely some blogging about me, my life and my family!!!

Second goal - continue my weight loss. I've lost 30 lbs. since May 2007. I would like to lose another 30 lbs. by May 2008 - keep your fingers crossed for me as I need all the support I can get, I have NO willpower!!!

Third goal - improve the quality time we have as a family. Try to get away from so much TV when we set down as the four of us and maybe incorporate board games or go out for a drive to look at historical landmarks or something - know what I mean??

Fourth goal - rid our lives of some clutter!!! I, hate to admit it, am a clutter queen!!! I am afraid to throw things away as I know some day I am going to need them!!! I guess growing up with limited resources instilled in the horrible trait of saving EVERYTHING!!! So I would like to clear out some things that we rarely use - alot of it being clothes and things that just get tossed onto the counters or into drawers instead of being dealt with then thrown away when we are finished with it.

Fifth goal - organize myself scrapbooking wise. I am pretty organized as far as my supplies go but I have no organization with any of my pictures or how I scrap - I really need to get the pictures in better order so I can scrap more efficiently!!!

Sixth goal - STOP buying scrapbooking stuff until I use up some of what I have!!! I have serious shopping issues when it comes to scrapbooking stuff. If I see a 50% off sale at Hobby Lobby I go regardless of whether I need stuff or not. Same thing goes when I get my Archiver's coupons in the mail - I can no way on this earth let them EXPIRE!!! I need to purge through some of my papers, actually alot of my papers, as well as stickers and what knot and RAK them to someone who could use them!!!

I'm sure I will not achieve all of these goals at once, heck maybe not even at all on some of them, but at least by listing them out it gives me some focus!!!

Thanks for visiting and I look forward letting you in on more of my life!!!!