Fresh from my desk...

Here's one that's been sitting on my desk all week (and then some...I hate it when I can't get out to crop on Friday nights!) from last summer. Used bits of the SIStv Retro Modern collection, none of the exclusive (bright) papers, just the pale yellow cardstock and October Afternoon embellies they put in with the rest.

Ben was TERRIFIED of Colors the Clown...she kept walking past us to set up at the gazebo and he clawed at me every time she went by. Tess was oblivious, as usual (like mother, like daughter...). She spent most of her time at Dexter Daze (yes, it's spelled that way, how beer tent is that?!) in the moonwalk (or, as they say on Big Bang Theory, "bouncy castle") or knoshing on her giant tube of colored sugar (aaaack).

I was highly amused by the setup for the Dexter Area Museum: a mannequin torso, dressed in a museum T-shirt, topped with a cutout of Judge Dexter (our esteemed founder) wearing a paper engineer's cap. Some of my cropping buddies thought it was creepy, but it cracked me up.

I really should be packing...at least I cleaned out the car today. Gah, that was dIsGuStInG. I still need to set the shop vac on it all, but Ben's napping. How nice will it be to drive for 2.5-3 days in a CLEAN car?! Ahhh...

Hittin the Road

In anticipation of leaving for Florida -- we're driving -- we've had to purchase a few things to keep the kids entertained. Ben tried out his new headphones this morning:

...unfortunately, we only have one iPod. The little earpieces that come with it never stay in the kids' ears, so headphones are a better option. We'll have 2 DVD players and this way they can each watch their own thing and listen to their own thing, without disturbing us. Not that we won't hear, "are we there yet?" 1,200 times before we get there...

Tess is getting a DS (her birthday is next week, but she's getting it early), so she can also use her headphones with that. I'll have some knitting (maybe my iPod from time to time). E will be keeping his eyes on the road. Now I'm off to look for some audiobooks...

Card Making

I realized my usual birthday card stamp (the Whoo Hoo Dress by Paula Best) was not going to cut it for someone I know (not really her style or attitude), so I broke open my new Hero Arts stamp set and had fun today. Tired fun, since Ben woke up crying an hour earlier than usual, and woke me out of a dead sleep. Good thing, though, because I was having a very sad, bizarre dream about him. Sigh. I hate those dreams.

Since I don't like to dirty up a stamp set (especially an acrylic stamp set, once I've found all the different-sized blocks I need) and only use it once, I went on to make some Thank You cards as well. Running low.

I heard scraping on my front porch yesterday afternoon and opened my front door to find a neighbor trying out in his new double-handled shovel (the one we introduced him to after our first big snow this winter). He told me he thought we weren't home and it was coming down pretty hard yesterday, so I used up the last of my Thank You cards when I went over with some fresh-baked scones last night.

No wonder I couldn't get out to shovel my own driveway and walk; it took me and hour and a half to make three cards today...mostly thanks to coloring each. little. matroshka. At least it was relaxing.

Fleece Fair

Despite winter storm warnings, I HAD to head out of the house this morning for Spinner Flock's February Fleece Fair. Mmm, warm wooly goodness:

Row upon row of handspun, mostly local fibers. I had some beautiful purple wool in my hand, but found some gorgeous, true-black alpaca, yum, and bought that instead. "Grown" and spun right here in A2! I haven't decided if they will be a pair of cabled mittens, or socks. I'm too busy stroking my new skein. As far as I can tell, it's not going to be itchy, so I'm leaning toward mittens. The last pair I knit from local yarn came out waaaay too scratchy, and I'm still trying to figure out a lining for them that will let me wear them.

I have not yet learned to spin (I don't need another expensive hobby), so these rovings look like nothing more than alien blobs landed on Earth, but I can still imagine how fun they would be spun and knit into something that looks a little less like a Tribble, and more like a hat:

Finally, all kinds of fibers from all kinds of animals are featured. There was even "Kitta Bear," which is a much nicer name than "dog hair from an Akita." It smelled strangely good, and yes, I sniffed it. There was silk, cotton, and buffalo to be spun, amongst others:

Now I'm off to take care of my whiny daughter, who wants me to finish with the seal I started knitting her 3 years ago, before I start ANYTHING else. So sorry if this entry is scattered, I just sent her away because the whining was grating on my nerves. I think I need to go stroke my new yarn some more and calm down.

Supper Club Throw-Down

I knew I wanted to get to the Knights of Columbus rummage sale this morning as early as possible, but 8:30 a.m. wasn't gonna happen. I did managed to get Ben in the car by 9:00 a.m., though, so we scored pretty well. This rummage sale is like the January Australian Open...it's early, but it kicks off sale season, in a way. I'm going to try and hit more this year.

In addition to getting a full-length, bevel-sided mirror for Tess's room (because I do NOT need to see my entire body at once, thanks) and a quilting book I've been coveting (more to read than to actually quilt, since sewing is not my strong point) for $4 and 25 cents (!), respectively, I brought home a small cache of treasures for myself and for friends.
Not sure how bad the catfight for the 25 cent Twilight calendar (2009!) will get between Kelly & Buffy tonight at Supper Club. I may have to divide it in half, and make them share. Unless one of them already has it, which is completely conceivable (did I mention these women are ADULTS, not teenagers? Moms, to boot?! I just don't get it, and yes, I've read the first two books in the series. Eh.) (BTW, I still think Stephen King is a tool.) Ben is watching Thomas the Tank Engine as I write this, and while I respect Stephenie Meyer's difficult task of writing while raising her three boys, I can't help but think, why did she name the majority of her male vampires after Thomas characters?! Didn't she think we'd notice? Or was it completely subliminal on her part?

Onward (clockwise-ish). I couldn't resist the shabby chic tin flower vase in a frame ($3); it goes perfectly with my family room wall color, and made me smile...Tess has her own art case/clipboard, this yellow one ($1.25) is for me. I plan on carrying along scrapbooking supplies while we're on the road to Florida. She can have the stencils and crayons and markers inside (except for the owl stencil. SUPER adorable.)

I've wanted a cash box (75 cents) for a while, and I actually sort of collect (by accident) metal office accessories...I have a metal paper rack, in-tray, and a really cute metal paper carrier with a locking lid; this is a great addition and with dividers that might actually funtion for keeping our monthly receipts in order (after I scan the cards to use in scrapbooking...they are vintage-cute)!

Next comes all the tiny stuff. I got stuck at the toy tables (imagine that!) with Ben not wanting to move from all the cars for sale (lots of RC cars without remotes...bummer. Not that that stops a two and a half year-old, LOL), so I kept finding little treasures there, as well.

If Kelly doesn't win the Twilight calendar, she may have to duke it out with Debbie over the tiny, clear-lidded box of holiday Mickey Mouse playing cards. I think it would make an adorable mini-album, and Debbie is all about mini. Teeny, tiny minis. I did find a box of travel Dominoes for her to alter, because Kelly might get ugly if she loses out on the calendar.

The travel Monopoly game is all mine, though. Another Florida trip distractor. Check out the little money! Hee. Now if I could just stand to play board games with Tess. She is one sore loser.

Curse of the Babysitters

This was SUPPOSED to be a busy week, evening-wise. Last night we were scheduled for a date night with our MOPS group (bowling). I was really looking forward to it, especially after a 5-day weekend, courtesy of President's Day and the local school district (grr...)

But our first babysitter's mom called to tell us her daughter had been home from school all day with a "gastrointestinal illness." (Not sure why she didn't say "stomach flu." Perhaps her variation is supposed to be more impressive).

Tonight we were supposed to head out to Grass Lake for a birthday party for E's "other" wife, his mixed doubles partner Steph. Guess who left me a message last night that she is sick? Babysitter #2. Thank God I'm going out tomorrow with Supper Club (minus E...we already agreed on that).

Thank goodness, too, I took time this morning to do a quick LO on our current shared passion, watching Season 1 of The Big Bang Theory on DVD, borrowed from E's friend and co-worker, Jim. We haven't had this much fun since we bonded over That 70s Show.

After running errands in Chelsea with Ben, I sat down and watched two more episodes while Ben chatted in his crib for an hour and a half. So much for a break today.

Busy Bee

I've had an explosion of creativity this weekend. I've ignored housework, laundry, cooking, kids & hubby to get these done:

...good thing, too, because I checked the SIStv forum and they are due FRIDAY, the 20th, not the 28th like I thought.

These are ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) for a Rainbow ATC swap Stacey Fike is hostessing. You make six of each color, then get six different colors back. So I'll be getting 18 rainbow-colored ATCs in exchange, sweet!

In Valentines Day news, I got a new printer. My Epson may just need new toner cartridges, but it has been smearing black ink with its rollers lately, despite nozzle checks & head cleaning, and cartridges are $25 a pop (I need black and CMYK, so that's $50, ouch); it was time to try something new.

The new one (Kodak ESP 5) has a built-in scanner (something else I've been needing) but I'm not really thrilled with the print quality. E, of course, did his Consumer Reports (aka The Engineer's Assistant) and CNet research, and found this one to be the fastest on print time as well as one of the cheapest (ahem) on the market, so...Happy Valentine's Day to me.

Tess got conversation heart stickers, Ben got a Mack toy (Cars movie, naturally), E got a (very) funny card (let's just say it involved fuzzy monkeys and a banana joke), I got a printer (and some consolation flowers Saturday night...I might have shared Pitiful Husband Attempts at Valentines Day stories from Friday night with E earlier in the day...oops)...well, it was better than most romantic holidays around here :)

Retro Modern collection layout

I wanted to start ordering from Scrap in Style this year...I even cleared my scrapping account to help me save some dough each month. This is their first new collection, also known as Winter Detox. At first I wasn't too sure about the bright colors and busy patterns, but now that I have it in hand I'm really, really loving it and finding all sorts of photos to use with it!

I'd like to link right to my SIStv gallery, but for some reason, Blogger does not like their script. So here is my first LO with this collection, straight from my files!

Wish I could make that script work...anyway, this kit has exclusive Mod Sheets -- combo patterns you can cut apart or use as pre-planned LOs -- plus some cool vintage stuff (that's retro wallpaper in foil & yellow on the bottom there...too funny, I think we had something similar in our bathroom growing up, only with foil flowers, ooo la la, stylee!) and October Afternoon embellishments.

I added the playing cards, SIStv red gaffer tape, white ric-rak and crocheted dragonfly, and bling bling bling.

Kinda crazy for me, but it worked with this photo and I had LOTS of fun working with bright colors, for once!

If I could be any car...

Mmm...

Not too sure about this color combo.

I think it's growing on me, though.

I am spending waaay too much time watching Cars.

Which reminds me, I need to go get my free tokens!

Can you say, "cabin fever...?!"