1.23.2010

Freestylin'

Today the first freestyle challenge is posted on Scrapperie! Here is the layout I did for the first challenge. I think that no further explanation is needed, other than to say this is a layout for my Book of Me. I really felt the need to vent the day I created this and I must say, I was amused with it. :-D Love the man dearly, BUT... when you live with an 85 year old man, you lead an 85 year old life.




As a result, I've been a little grumpy myself. So I made myself a visual reminder based on a song by Jimmy Buffett, "Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On." I will be putting this in a shadowbox and hanging it in my room.



I hope y'all are having a very scrappy weekend! :-)

1.22.2010

A little vent about phones

Even though I'm not one to make New Years resolutions, last year I decided that I was going to see the positive side in all things. You know, the "everthing happens for a reason" thing? Well, that was last year and this is a new year.

As most of you know, my father in law lives with us and has for 10 years. He's 85 years old. I've come to the conclusion that the older they get, the more they revert back to childhood. I take the man to the grocery store twice a week. Sometimes, he only buys two little containers of yogurt, sometimes, he walks out with more food than me. During the holidays, he decided to purchase some retardedly expensive fruit from one of those catalog places. You know, because they don't sell grapefruit and oranges and pears at the grocery store. :rolling eyes: And because he's 85 years old, he does it the old fashioned way... he fills out the order form and mails it in with a check.

These people decided that they should call him EVERY DAY on the phone to see if he needs to place another order. EVERY.FREAKIN.DAY.

Yesterday, I was awoken from a sorely needed nap by a call that showed up on the caller id from Louisiana. They didn't leave a message, so I googled the number. Apparently it is a company selling funeral services. Umm, I'll let ya know when I need those kind of services and chances are, I won't be calling Louisiana.

Dinner time is a favorite time for solicitors to call asking for donations. That's fun. NOT.

Point is, the telphone has become a source of irritation and stress for me. So you know what I did? I turned it OFF. Yep, I sure did. Talked to my phone company and said STOP THE MADNESS! So they did! What a beautiful thing! Knowing that I won't be sitting on the toilet and having the phone ringing and me trying to hurry up to answer is a beautiful, beautiful thing. :-D

There are so many positives in this decision, not the least of which is I save $50. a month not to be annoyed! Just think! That's $50. I can spend on scrappy supplies!!! LOL

So, in the words of Jimmy Buffett, if the phone doesn't ring, it's me. LOL

1.21.2010

Birthday celebration giveaway!

Well, not MY birthday (well, yea, I guess it'll be that too) but my blogs birthday is in March! Three years old, can you believe it? They grow up so fast... :-D Anyhooo, I'm pulling stuff together already to go into a huge box o goodies to get sent to one lucky winner in March! Stay tuned!

I've got a couple of layouts to share. This is for the challenge on Creative Cookbooking. The challenge is to create a layout about kids in the kitchen. It can be a kids recipe, photos of kids helping cook, about your first memory of cooking, whatever! Anything goes! I got the idea of chalking the BACK SIDE of a Basic Grey doily paper from my extremely talented and creative friend Rita. Unfortunately I just could not get a good photo of it, it's much more colorful in real life. But if you look closely, you can see some of the purple flowers.



Here's one using Basic Grey Nook and Pantry line. I took one look at that cupcake paper and thought "LORDY! What do you DO with that!" LOL I challenged myself to actually use it and this is what I came up with. I had so much fun decorating the cupcakes! LOL



Thanks for visiting and have a scrappy day! :-)

1.17.2010

Ohmygosh, I forgot!

Kristie, I am SOOOO sorry! I totally didn't give you credit for that layout I lifted from you! You probably recognized it right away and thought it looked familiar! LOL Anyway, y'all can see the layout I lifted on Kristies blog and you won't be sorry for visiting her blog! It's chock full of inspiration and I have my eye on another one I'm going to lift! :-D Please accept my apology Kristie!

Can you believe it?

Debbie from Creative Cookbooking has given me free reign with the blog this week! Do you think she's in big trouble? :-D I've posted a new challenge with some of my latest creations. Please, check me out and leave me some LUV! OH! And there's a little RAK opportunity in it for ya! Oh, and double OH! Don't forget, there's still a DT call. I can tell you first hand that being on this team has been such a pleasure! You can find the call info two posts below this one. :-)

I hope y'all are having a very scrappy weekend. I made a couple of layouts yesterday for an online crop at Everything Scrapp'n that goes on through tomorrow. There's lots of fun and lots of PRIZES! These are the first layouts I've done in awhile that haven't been DT related, so I'm excited that I can actually share right away! LOL



These are the same pics that I used for the shadowbox from the previous post, only this one is for my album. :-)



I hope the rest of your weekend is wonderful! Thanks for stopping by! :-)

1.15.2010

Welcome blog hoppers!!

Welcome to the first ever Cookin' up Creations Winter Wonderland of Embellishments Blog Hop! Cookin' up Creations has LOTS of generous embellishment sponsors this month so what a great idea to help get the juices flowing with embellishment related challenges, questions and tutorials! You know the routine...Hop along to the 12 different blogs. If a blog requires you to complete a challenge, then please upload your completed challenge into the Embellishment Blog Hop Album before the end of the Blog Hop on January 22nd, 2010. All participating "blog hoppers" must be registered members in the gallery. The Cookin' up Creations blog was your 1st stop and I am the second stop. Let's get busy! :-)

This "layout" will be going into a shadow box as a gift for a friend. The photos are of his daughter who is 8 years old and has Downs Syndrome. She's very high functioning and loves to beat me at bowling and golf on the Wii. I've secretly been practicing so that maybe one of these days, I can beat her. I know, how sick is that, right? I'm so competitive. LOL





Anyway, I am very happy with the paper rose I made. You can find the excellent tutorial HERE. (no need to reinvent the wheel since Theresa did an outstanding job! Thanks Theresa!) I challenge you to make a paper rose and link back here to your creation so we can see! And don't forget to upload it to the gallery to be eligible for a chance to win the grand prize!

After you have visited all the blogs and made a comment on each one, be sure to go back to the Cookin' up Creations Blog and post when you are finished. Thanks for hopping by! Now it's time to hop on over to visit Amy!

1.12.2010

Wanna be a chef?

Creative Cookbooking is looking for energetic, outgoing, talented, creative individuals to join our Design Team. As a Chef you'll be required to assist in monthly contests, create challenges and participate daily on the forum and gallery.
International applications are welcome.

Chef Requirements:
• 6 month term.
• Chefs are responsible for 2 layouts /projects per month.
• Must maintain a consistent and daily presence in our discussion forums
and in our gallery. (Consistent is defined as at least 5 days a
week, unless extenuating circumstances occur.) This includes initiating
discussions, responding in discussions and leaving gallery praise and posting on our blog.
• Chefs will rotate assignments which will include but not be limited to
technique articles, seasonal and holiday ideas, altered
project ideas, etc. as well as collaborate with other Chefs on monthly
contests, online-crops and weekly challenges during the term.
When considering whether you would like to apply for the DT position,
please think about the amount of time that will be required to
fulfill your DT requirements.

To apply for the position:
Submit 3 layouts using a cook booking related theme as well as 1 altered item.

In total you will upload 3 projects for the call. Remember, as a Chef you will be show casing your work so, show us your best stuff!!

Please send the following information to Debbie at debbiesherman2157@yahoo.com
• Your name and username on our message board.
• List of other design teams you are currently on and have been on in the
past. Include the dates you have been involved with other design teams.
• Links to your blog, online galleries, or other places where your work can be seen. Please include any usernames necessary.
• A short bio telling us a little bit about who you are and why you would
like to be a design team member for Creative Cookbooking.
• Share any other information you feel is important for us to know about you.

Entries and applications can be turned in now –Feb 15, 2010.
Design Team will be announced on or before February 19th, 2010. This term will begin on March 1, 2010 and last thru July 2010.

Blog: http://creativecookbooking.blogspot.com/
Message board: http://creativelyspeaking.s2.bizhat.com/creativelyspeaking.html

1.05.2010

Ooh laaa LAAA!



Exciting news this morning! I just found out that I am a 2010 Tres Chic Girl on the Scrapperie design team, along with lots of other very talented ladies! How fun is that!!! Congrats to all my new team members!

As you may have heard, Scrapperie no longer sells kits, but we ARE getting back to basics... sharing our passion for scrapbooking and a fun forum with Wednesday bingo games, monthly crops and weekly challenges.

Thanks to Sandi and the entire team, I look forward to working with all of you!

1.01.2010

Layouts and more



So, you just KNOW that my holidays couldn't go off without a hitch, right? Remember in a previous post I told you about how I waited until the last minute to realize I didn't have enough candles for all 8 nights, and how a Publix employee went over and beyond to help me find some? Well, not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but this is what happens when you buy Chanukah candles made in China. LOL



And speaking of Publix, I got a call today from the store manager where I shop. She thanked me for thanking them. This is where it got awkward... I thanked her for thanking me for thanking them. LOL Apparently, Publix gives a "celebration" for employees who get positive feedback from the website. I was really happy to hear that! If I were ever in the market for a job outside of the home, I wanna work there, cuz I LOVE celebrations! :-D

This layout is based on an ad challenge from Cookin' Up Creations. I flipped it a bit to make it work for me. :-)



And for the lazy scrapper... I had so many pretty fall photos and didn't want several pages, so I just slapped them on a piece of white cardstock and used a rub on title from the Scrap for a Cure November kit. There! Done! LOL



I've done three more pages as well, and I can't wait to show you! If I do say so myself, it's some of my best work! Don't you love it when layouts come out JUST the way you envision them in your head? But I can't show you just yet, sorry. ;-)

And while I've got your eyes, I'd like to show off a recent accomplishment! As you all know, as evidenced by my recent blog loss, I'm about the least skilled computer techie ever. LOL Debbie, the owner of Creative Cookbooking had total confidence in me and asked for my help redesigning the site and I have to say! I LOVE IT! Please click on the little chef dude (over there -----> ) to see it. I hope you'll come over to play with us! The challenges will be expanded to include things other than recipes, and we have several exciting things planned in the next couple of months. :-)

I hope y'all are having a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Happy New Year!



Good riddance to 2009! The further into the year I got, the worse it got! I'm happy to see it go. BUT! 2010 is starting off with a bang!

I am very honored to have been chosen as the Chef of the Month at Cookin' Up Creations! If you like a fun, friendly community, come check it out! We're getting ready for a week long blog hop and there will be lots of challenges and prizes.



For those who are wondering, I never heard a thing back from Taco Bell. I'm sure the money we spent there won't be missed. :-P

I've been a scrapping fool this week, so I will be back soon with some creations! Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend! :-)