photopaperscissors

Switching things up...

2009-12-27T09:40:00.000-08:00

...for 2010. New decade, new blog address. I'm done with being Creative Exile, so you'll find PhotoPaperScissors over here:

PhotoPaperScissors2.

Please update your bookmarks and any links to me you may have on your websites. Thanks so much!!

What do you any of you know about TypePad? I've created a blog over there, too, but wondering if it's free, or just a free trial.

Santa time...

2009-12-22T07:56:00.000-08:00

Well, the most stressful of my holiday events is over, supper club with Santa at our house last Saturday. Ben did waaay better with Santa than 2 years ago, he was one of the first kids up on Santa's lap this year!

In 2007, we tried to distract Ben with a school bus toy, but once he realized where he was...uh-oh. This year he handled it like a pro!

Unfortunately, he told Santa he wants a DS (like his sister). We're going to call his Leapster 2 a "Leapster DS." Good thing it has buttons & a stylus like sister's DS...

Oddly enough, Tess did NOT ask Santa for gerbils like she's been telling everyone she wanted to, and better yet, she did not question the fact I told her, that Santa does not like to bring pets on his sleigh (because it's a long trip and it's not good for the animals -- except the reindeer, of course).

Okay, next year I'm going to try and do better with this blogging biz. Yeah, I say that every year. Like I'm going to get to the gym and write that novel, too.

Happy holidays! Don't forget to track Santa's progress (one of my new favorite Christmas Eve traditions!)

sleep well, sleep tight...

2009-11-24T06:20:00.001-08:00

By now most of you have heard that my room -- and only my room -- was hit by bed bugs while at camp. I can tell you I now know more about bed bugs than I ever expected to...but, on to the LOs I did at Scrap Camp.

Thirty-five pages (24 LOs...turns out I was counting "wrong," but the right way was to my benefit!) from Wednesday night (arrived at 8:30p -- much later than expected after dropping off Ben in Farmington and going back home to pack up the car) to Sunday noon...although I didn't scrap at all on Sunday...too wiped from 1a - 3a bedtimes all weekend!

My first favorite of the weekend...after 5 missteps...did this one Thursday afternoon...

One of my very favorites...and a 2-pager :)

I was most proud to get ephemera from the Michigan International Speedway on this one. E thought to bring a booklet back and I wanted to get it on the LO.

I hope readers get the Ace of Cakes connection...love the Sepia action in PSE.

I got compliments on my layering and use of patterned paper at camp for this one...

Considering we (my roommate had an even worse reaction to her bites than me) got refunds from the camp, I'll consider it a good weekend away. Just the week after (and all the itching) was a bitch.

Amuse bouche

2009-11-02T20:07:00.000-08:00

I'm packing to go to Scrap Camp next week, hoping I don't come down with what Tess had over the weekend: chills, fever, coughing...everything but the killer sore throat that I hear comes with the H1N1 virus. I'm taking Airborne in preparation...not that it'll do me any good. So far Ben is hanging in there, no signs of illness yet. That's my biggest worry for now.

I'm working on a calendar for gifts this holiday season, digitally, now that I've figured out clipping in PSE 7...so I don't have much to share. My scrapping stuff is (mostly) packed and what scrapping I'm getting done is on the 'puter.

So, here's a little bit of amusement for you: Cake Wrecks. Saw it in People, then again through a blog where I was downloading digital goodies. Have a laugh on me, and think healthy thoughts.

fear

2009-09-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

I love challenge blogs, although I'm usually so wrapped up in my Chronological Scrapping that I just don't have time to do them, or my Mojo is using her frequent flyer miles when an intriguing one comes up.

I tend to go all out and support new challenge sites, like Julie's My Favorite Things (did the first one, but they come & go so quick I haven't had a chance to do more...working on #4, Food, but doin' it digi so I may never get it Quite Right, KWIM?) (digi takes FOREVER, BTW, but when I don't have internet -- a daily occurance, grr -- I turn to PSE training).

I've met a number of gals on the Point Blank Period start-up team, and have long admired the work of pretty much all of them, so I was really curious to see what they'd come up with. This one, about What Holds You Back (in a nutshell...there was more to it than that...) was instantly inspiring.

I struggle with the concept of having my own personal Style...I like to experiment, so I don't stick with one thing for long, however, I tend to latch on to trends & look back later to say, "ugh." But I have a rule, Never Re-Do, so I'm going to take my own advice here and Let Go.

The one thing I enjoy doing now that I have been tinkering with PSE7 for a few months is vintage tinting of my photos. My last 3 favorite projects have been about using this technique. I'm not sure yet if it is going to become a signature "style" for me (perhaps only on single-photo LOs) or if it is just a passing fad. Time will tell.

Here's a gift I made for Jan, my fantastic Secret Sis at SISiversary this year. She usually sent along a Starbucks gift card with my goodies, so I had a feeling she was in SBs a LOT :) I put a gc in with the personalized mug I decorated:

I was very proud of myself for figuring out how to use a brush to highlight Jan's cool new tattoo -- the cross above her heart -- without having to consult a PSE textbook. The vintage tinting tends to make details soft & dreamy, so I wanted to pop that tat and tuck a relevant Bible verse right next to it.

I used rather thick Stampin Up papers & embellishments, and some details curled and crumpled as I rolled this up and put it in the Create A Mug, so I'm glad I got a shot of it before it got damaged.

Deee-troit

2009-08-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

I got a call a couple of weeks ago, the entry we put in while cruising the A2 art fairs at the Doug FM booth yielded a one-year family membership to the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village, but we had to go downtown to the Fisher Bldg to pick up our prize.

What with weekend getaways and Varsity Day Camp and general summer runaround, it took me a while to get down there (I had to do it within 30 days...I think we just made it!). I brought a party pack of Zingerman's magic brownies to say thanks, the promotions gal who came out to give us our prize was thrilled. I believe she actually hugged the brownies.

It has been a while since I've been to Detroit, and it doesn't get any better the longer I go without a visit. Buildings, houses, factories disappear, and construction alters my memories of the Motor City (best billboard: "Recession: this is a test, not a final" -made me smile)!

First of all, I promised Ben a Giant Tire, and I-94 delivered:

I took a detour (some would say This Way Be Dragons), knowing the Fisher Bldg is on West Grand Blvd, but not taking the right exit for it. Grand Blvd (hasn't been grand in about 40 years) runs in a half-square through the New Center, and I took the wrong half. Oh how I wish I could have seen it Back When. There were some grand old houses and apartment buildings, but as Ben aptly put it, there were many "sad" houses, and a few "bad" houses. I wasn't too confident about stopping & whipping out my camera, too bad as there was one old house with a flower garden out front worthy of Ann Arbor (and that, my friends, is pretty dang grand).

Almosted ended up on the bridge to Canada...

Yeah, THAT'S a detour, people! And saw another great billboard:

Now THAT'S ghetto...LOL...finally got to mecca, the gorgeous Fisher Bldg, after a detour up Cass Corridor (REALLY didn't want to slow down and whip out my camera there)...past my alma mater, Wayne State (go Warriors! and, thank you for not being Tartars anymore --WTH, anyway?!)...

Ben ran right under the ropes and on top of this worn emblem:

Sorry, Fisher Bros.

Before we left, we had to stop in the restroom. Check out the swinging double doors and cool tiles:

Last stop: City Knits. Picked up the last of my Summer Tweed for my Kaffe Fassett afghan (yeah, right...intarsia, in Summer Tweed! Nutso) and some Tofootsie sock yarn. Got on their mailing list. LOVE their new space (well, 2 year old new space, but much bigger & more light...not in the bowels of the Fisher Bldg. anymore). All in all, a great trip & I'm glad my kids got to see a bit of Detroit. Even if it was from the car (perhaps more appropriate that way...)

Last pic...a beautiful mosaic wall...

Yup, the entire building is a work of art.

Knitting again.

2009-08-12T07:22:00.000-07:00

Last night I went over to the Dark Side, and went to a Meetup Stitch n Bitch. I realized as I (re-)introduced myself that I hadn't been to this group in 5 (!) years. They met a bit too early for my schedule (6:30p) and I really liked the Ann Arbor Knit In group I was part of for 3 years or more (which would go until 10p or later). That group has fallen apart in the last year, as graduate students graduate and new ones don't come along to fill in and members start spinning instead of knitting (it happens...and there are different meeting groups for THAT obsession!)

The Meetup group is moderated by someone who used to annoy me; perhaps I've become more Zen in the last few years, because she sat right next to me last night and I just knit away, silently enjoying myself & the conversation around me. It was sooo relaxing to finish up an old project (well, except for the stuffing and sewing, but that's easy enough) without a toddler pulling at me.

Went into Cynthia's Fine Yarns in Mackinaw City on Monday before we left, and Tess found a knitting loom she wanted to try, so I am finishing up the baby seal toy I started for her 3 or 4 years ago, so that she's inspired to keep at it. She's done pretty well with the looping and "knitting," but it's a slow process. I'll try getting her to do some actual knitting -- on needles -- again sometime soon.

I'm thinking I need to use Mandi's kit for a knitting project album; the handmade wood album covers she made for the kit are warm and natural and would be a perfect beginning to keeping a record of my (finished) projects. The papers she created are inspired by vintage clothing, some even have a hint of a knit pattern in the background that will also be perfect for a knit project album. She has some kits left and the price was reasonable, check it out:
I'm looking forward to playing with this kit soon...

Seriously. Exhausting.

2009-08-10T19:51:00.001-07:00

You would think having Gma along to corral the two kiddoddles would help just a little. Woke up in Mackinaw City to pounding rain and thunder and thought...oh well, the carriage ride should still work. Then the skies magically cleared and the day brewed up sunny and HOT. We got on Shepler's ferry at 10:30a, and got off the carriage around 1:20p, thirsty and hungry. Ben was just melting. Ate up at the fort and that perked us up just a bit, enough to shop in the Fort & walk back into town.

I had plans to take the kids to Mill Creek today, but was just too wiped from yesterday to even consider it. When does school start again? And why am I not putting Ben in preschool yet? Oh, yeah, potty training. Absolutely no progress there.

More pics up at fb, if I've friended you. If not, why? ;)

Absinthe makes the heart...

2009-07-28T19:13:00.000-07:00

We went to Weber's for dinner last night...E is a "frequent feeder" so we have mad coupons...one for $75, even, but we'll hang on to that one...our little family could never spend that much there. Last one we had we used for Mother's Day with the whole famn damily.

I mentioned it on facebook a while back...absinthe is "legal" again (but I'm guessing no where near as potent as it was before it was banned a century ago), and Weber's offers it. If you like ouzo (and oh yes I do), it is the same taste, strong licorice you have to cut with ice water and a sugar cube (to release the "green fairy"...didn't you see Moulin Rouge?).

It is a weird buzz...I find myself strangely alert when I drink it, and very talkative (like that never happens, LOL). But this morning I woke up very fuzzy-headed, and I even got to bed earlier than usual last night. We did NOTHING all day today, except get out to grocery shop very late in the afternoon. Later I made borscht with the GIANT head of cabbage we got in our half-CSA share late last week. I had just made stuffed cabbage so I couldn't use it for that (still have stuffed cabbage in the fridge!), but borscht only takes a half a head...so, yay me, I FINALLY got out our new vacumm sealer and shredded & froze the other half.

Right now it's the only thing in our new ($50 Craiglisted) upright freezer downstairs...pretty silly-looking all alone in there, but we hope to hook up with a quarter side of grass-fed beef some time before winter.

That's what I get for listening to this book with E on the way home from Florida earlier this year...it's what prompted him to start a(n overcrowded!) garden, buy the freezer, and get us into a CSA this summer.

Worth the price of admission...

2009-07-10T05:40:00.001-07:00

...oh wait, this is a FREE class over at Jessica Sprague! I don't know if you can still sign up for it, but I'm learning some useful things, like creating this vintage-style, hand-tinted photograph:

From this:

Of course, Tess liked the bright greens of the original, but when I saw this photo in the LCD screen on my camera, the image I had for an eventual LO was more toward the vintage image I finally created. Hey, it's my hobby, after all ;)

Looks like Friday night cropping will continue, thanks to my cropping buddies. Tonight we're all crowded into Kelly's, last week it was Shandra's. Tomorrow I actually crop ALL DAY, the final crop at Scrapbook Memories, a goodbye crop for Patti, the owner. I need to organize some page kits, because it's going to be too crowded for me to bring ALL my crap.

Finished this LO yesterday, after running to the Big M chain with my 50% off coupon so I could nab the last MS butterfly punch. I saw it being used all over the place at SISiversary and just fell in love with little patterned butterflies everywhere. And I'm not a butterfly person, in general (as I'm not a bird-on-a-branch scrapper, or the flourish type, either...)

This is my next-to-the-last birthday LO from 2008-2009. I have been DREADING getting these done, as I do every year, but my goal is to have a decent birthday memory book for each of my kids, as I have NO memories of my own birthday celebrations (such as they were with 4 kids and a working mom in the house). I just need to change up my approach from year to year to keep it fresh.

I am just about done with 2008 overall; the next pages I'm dreading are holiday (Oct-Dec) pages. I've done a couple pages for 2009 already, mostly everyday happenings, which are more interesting for me. Doing Project 365 last year gave me waaaay too many photos to scrap, which is why I am so "far behind" (I'm a bit anal, and *like* to scrap chronologically, so bite me Stacy Julian, LOL). Hopefully my Friday night crops continue, so I can keep up. I'm a happy scrapper when I'm all caught up (and it HAS happened before)!

Worth a listen...

2009-07-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

NPR's reading of the Declaration of Independence.

History. It's a good thing to remember now and then.

Sad.

2009-07-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

A little sad that this silliness is over:

SISiversary 09 rocked. I'm finally caught up on sleep and can write a little about it. The drive was exhausting, but I was also able to do the first real thinking in about 7 years (yeah, that's right...Tess is 7...you don't even have to do the math)!

The ride home was more tiring than the ride down. Took me 9 hours to get there, and 11 to get home, because I kept stopping at all the little places I saw on the way there...a quilt shop that turned out to be out of business, Elizabethtown (too bad everything in Glendale was closed on Mondays), another store called House of Quilts that was, sadly, all made-up quilts (Made in China), although I did find a cool new houndstooth backpack pretty cheap (my purple one is just sad). Oddly enough, I didn't really stop to eat (aside from a half a chicken wrap in Elizabethtown); I think not sitting down to a hot meal all day made the drive home even harder.

It's not like I didn't get enough shopping done in the SIS onsite boutique. I actually was able to behave better than at Creative Escape (most likely because things in the SIS boutique were not at CE prices...ooo, snap). There were only about 77 women at SISiversary, compared to 700 at CE, so overall the atmosphere was more friendly and laidback, although I have FINALLY learned (I hope) not to jam back-to-back classes on my schedule, and forget about things like oh, say, lunch (the slight time change messed with me all weekend).

Okay, more photos to make me happy again:

Angela Spangela (aka Professor H.L. and roomie extraordinaire), and Jamie BoBamie, who had the cutest little New Joisey accent...you only heard it on certain words and then BAM it was straight on into a brief Sopranos or RHNJ episode...hee...just for a flash...

Aimee was my late lunch buddy on Friday (and NOT a roomie, which I finally remembered by oh, say...Sunday) and Saturday dinner buddy (fried pickles? really?!) and all around good for a gut-busting giggle at any given moment.

Wendy (spelled it wrong for a reason!), another great, totally laidback & relaxed roomie, she even got up as a karoke virgin and sang Friday night. That's when I knew she'd be game for anything. Sorry I made you mess up a page with my concoction Saturday night. You got me back on video, so we're even...

Oh, just go to my Flickr site and you will see so many happy moments. I'm definitely signing up for next year!

Finally, I am most sad that my Friday night crops seem to be over. Scrapbook Memories is closing for good on July 11th at 5p and will be closed for most of the holiday weekend (including tomorrow). There is a final goodbye crop for Patti (owner) on the 11th, but that's a Saturday, so I think I'll have to skip Friday the 10th. Basically, that means...no more scrappin with my peeps on Friday nights. Sniff.

Gettin Digi Wit' It

2009-06-04T14:49:00.001-07:00

Armed with CK's Computer Tricks for Scrapbooking 3, a load of online digital freebies, and my rudimentary knowledge of Adobe programs (Pagemaker...heard of it?), I've been spending a LOT of time on my computer creating 8x8 digital LOs (since I don't have a wide-format printer...I like my LOs in my hands, thanks!)

I'm still working on the concept of brushes (I can't get them to show up as a layer, and I can't seem to bring them forward off my background so that they can be seen...seems I have to add them to a layer -- say, patterned paper, or a photograph -- before I layer that piece onto my background...), but at least I can load brushes, and see them -- bonus!

My LSS is closing, by the end of July, if not earlier. She's selling to a liquidator mid-June, which means after that she can just walk away and choose not to hold late-night crops, or even have the store open. There are plans in the works among us Friday night regulars to keep getting together at least once a month, but I am really going to miss scrapping with Real Live People (and, moreover, friends) on a weekly basis. Which is why digital scrapping is not taking over my life just yet.

Full swing

2009-05-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

Well, now that Memorial Day is over (early!), summer is in full swing. More so when Tess gets out of school in a couple of weeks (!)...just wanted to update you so you know I'm still alive...busy, but alive!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

Still a favorite...

Scrapping challenges

2009-05-05T06:06:00.000-07:00

I've taken to carrying around one of my (MILLION of) blank journals, to make notes & doodles about scrapbooking layouts that are in my head. I even brainstormed in church on Sunday, for this leftover SIStv challenge:

We had to use a certain page design, the color orange, bling (my suggestion to the list), the word "joy," stamping, and tape. I hope I'm forgiven, since I *was* scrapping a Psalm!

The next sketch in my notebook was for the first challenge over at the new KiddieLit blog. The theme was Wizard of Oz, and I used the following from their element list: HOME for my topic, a quote from the book/movie, the color yellow, blue gingham (hand cut letters), red sequins, rainbows, and twisted ribbon.

I did 5 more challenges at SIS for NSD, although I managed to get 4 challenges into one LO, so I really only did 2 more pages. I thought I was tapped out for inspiration, but having a notebook along for the Boring Mom Bits (church, storytime at the library, etc.) really helped keep me inspired.

Hopefully keeping track of due dates, like the one for this challenge, will help me enter more of these challenges and keep me scrapping during the week, not just on Friday nights.

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

2009-05-02T15:48:00.001-07:00

Baby monkey card
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile

I had a baby shower this morning but I'm now over at SIStv checking in on all the crazy NSD challenges. I think I'm down for nearly a dozen, so this will be a short entry!

Kelly, one of my crop buddies, sang "You Are The Champion" (a la Queen) to me when I finished this project last night (a month-by-month baby album, not the card pictured here. I made this card from paper scraps from the album this morning)!

What's incredible is that I decided around 1p yesterday that my friend Stacey needed a baby scrapbook as part of her gift. To be presented at the shower I attended this morning.

I took me about 4.5 hours of solid scrappin' to crank this out. The biggest time suck was punching out letters & glueing them down. The second biggest was choosing the paper I'd use for each page.

I love this gift for new moms. You can see the entire album in its Flickr set.

I AM THE CHAMPION! Stacy Julian would be proud.

Scrapblog header

2009-05-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

I played around a bit this morning (instead of writing a post, shame on me!) and created the new header, above. It's a WIP (work in progress), so stay tuned and feel free to give me some advice! I need it, LOL...I especially need to know how to change my blog background color in Blogger!

Thanks to NanBHack at SIStv for walking me through how to save a Scrapblog as a JPEG so that I could edit it further on my computer!

It's Friday night, so that means I'll be off to scrap in just a few. Scrapping until midnight, then coming home to fire up my computer and start celebrating National Scrapbooking Day with Michelle, who will be posting a challenge at 1:00 a.m.

So THAT'S how she gets to be the first one to post the blog entry thread at SIStv...

Feeling compelled...

2009-04-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

...to enter this fabulous contest! I have recently learned to love kits and this one's a beaut..you could win it for FREE!

Click on the pic to check out the deets.

Will update soon, E is home after dental surgery and I'm about to take off for a walk. Hit a number on the scale last Wednesday that I was hoping never to see again...let's just say an "8" was involved *shudder*

LOTS of rummage...yipee!

2009-04-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

Crazy weekend, starting with Friday morning...up at 6a to shower & get kids ready early...had MOPS. Up late the night before making a salad for our Caregiver thank-you luncheon on Saturday...bringing it in Friday saved me a trip Saturday morning...

Cropped until midnight, finishing up this LO and completing another...

Up at 6a AGAIN on Saturday, to hit the first of the April-October Ann Arbor Antiques Market. I woke up at 4:40a and turned off my alarm, deciding I needed sleep more than rummaging, but woke up at 6a anyway (!) so I showered & headed out early.

Some awesome finds...a tin toy stove to start a display collection (Debbie Bliss inspired that, I believe), wooden blocks (from 50 cents to $3), a printer's tray to decorate a la AE, two vintage tennis rackets for a display down the stairs to the "man cave," some vintage tennis photos for same, and two mesmerizing paintings that I would love to know the origin of...

I couldn't stop looking at them, or thinking about them, so I had to have them. The second one is damaged. There is a big gouge out of the one girl's red hat, and damp or water-stain marks around a couple of toys in the window. They are rather large, about 18" x 24", quite darkened by time, but I am loathe to try and repair them lest I lower their value. Considering I got the pair for $48, any higher price would be interesting, but I don't think Antiques Roadshow is coming to town anytime soon.

After rummaging, I met the fam for lunch, then took Tess to a birthday party at the movies...I had the dubious task of sitting through the Hannah Montana movie. Now I have a couple of questions for Disney:

1. Nuns in an English boarding school? Didn't think I'd catch that, did you?

2.Are there really 5 year-old fans left to their own devices to discover Miley's secret? That was just disturbing.

3. What was the casting description for Travis? Must look 12 but have a voice like a 40 year-old? Did his voice change after you cast him? Where did you find him, Sundance? Are they cloning Robert Redford now? Obviously I was disturbed by the young man they cast in this role...

4. If that's Miley's Grandma, who were Vicky Lawrence and Dolly Parton playing on the TV series?

5. Thanks for reminding me that Brooke Shields and I are old enough to be Miley's mom. You guys really need to deal with the Dead Mom issue, BTW. That wasn't really a question, more of a commentary. Being a mom and all.

Thanks. You know where to reach me.

Easter and then some

2009-04-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

Survived spring break week (barely). So nice to have E back home (even if he got to go to work all week...yes, even all day Good Friday).

Too much candy for Tess, though. I'm glad she's at my MIL's with E & her brother. Three! meltdowns! before! breakfast! (not including the jellybeans at 6:30a).

The Easter bunny came by at 6a to leave jelly bean trails from each child's bedroom door to the spot where their Easter baskets were located:

Luckily, she (I'm convinced the Easter bunny is a she...c'mon, give us ladies one holiday, right? Santa's got his and I've never seen a female leprechaun, we can't be witches only...besides, who REALLY goes and fills those baskets? Can I get a what-what...)

SHE put Tess's basket in our room, so that I would know when she was up (see 6:30a, above) and feel some of her excitement, not like Christmas 2007...ahem.

Grandma wanted a picture of the dress she made for Tess & her AG doll, we got it but not without (another) tantrum and sour face (AFTER the photo was taken, thank goodness):
I would have preferred that she comb her hair (and the doll's), but as we had just experienced Meltdown #2, I let it go. As Tess so wisely noted, "her hair matches mine!" Somehow I don't think Grandma is going to appreciate that...

Lil Guy got a very nice basket, too, and I got a nice photo of the both of them. Rare, believe it or not. Tess cannot be in hug range without squeezing Ben until he smacks her.

I had to move fast.

Hope you are having a bright, sunny Easter weekend too.

Peace out.

Crap.

2009-04-06T13:23:00.000-07:00

I called E in Colorado this morning and told him he's never. allowed. to take a trip alone ever. again. Here's a little summary of little things that went wrong and drove me over the edge this weekend:

1. Ben didn't nap Saturday.

2. He woke up at 4 a.m. ready to roll. Uh, no.

3. Alarm went off at 6:30a so that I could get ready for early church before waking Tess; she had to sing in both services for Palm Sunday.

4. Sunday evening she swallows a metal marble from the Mousetrap game. Yes, she's SEVEN. I have no idea why she thought it would be a good idea to even put that in her mouth. Ben, maybe. Tess, uh, no.

5. Call 911 in a panic, they send an ambulance, she's fine. We just have to wait until it passes. Lovely.

5b. the only bright spot: I am not charged for the ambulance visit (apparently you only get charged if you ride).

6. The other bright spot in my weekend was the fact that Tess was supposed to go to a friend's house at 1p today and sleep overnight. In fact, Tess's only question before the ambulance arrived was, sniff, "will I still be able to sleep over?" sniff... The friend's mom called this morning; they are out of power.

So now I have Tess's friend visiting and sleeping over here tonight.

At least Ben is napping.

And I made brownies.

Charmed, I'm Sure

2009-04-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

I was on FIRE with this project Thursday and Friday. This is the most fun scrapping I've had in a while. The idea just came to me and I couldn't let it go...ever since I found Cindy (fellow Friday Night Cropper) throwing away slide protectors (gasp!)...I KNEW there was a mini-mini journal in there somewhere...

Lots of other LOs in my SIStv gallery...I've been on fire generally in that department. I know it will wane once again, but I'm enjoying the ride for now.

E's out of town for a 4-day weekend. I'd call it an "exchange" trip for my trip to SIS Live at the end of June, but he has not arranged childcare for me (as I have for him that weekend), so I've come to think of it as more of a "retaliation" trip.

My only bump with not having him around was getting both kids out the door early (8a) this morning, so that Tess could sing in BOTH Palm Sunday services. After Ben woke at 4a last night. He NEVER does that, except that he did not nap yesterday (kids out front with sidewalk chalk on our driveway, kept him up) so at 4a he was all. done. He wanted to have major conversation with me, but after 20 minutes of trying to rock him (only to have him pull back and start on a new subject with me), I put him down and walked out.

Of course when I went to get him up early this morning, he was passed out like a little drunk, arms in the air, nothing would wake him except for some gentle shaking and calling and conversation. Payback time, baby!

Kindergarten Art

2009-03-26T07:32:00.000-07:00

The pile in my kitchen hutch is still there (Tess's 1st grade work), but our kitchen table is (mostly) clear. I went into my scrap room and got to Tess's pile of kindergarten art from last year and remembered this gem:

All about her day, Step One: "I git my mom ep" -- It made me laugh when I first saw it, and it still does (I especially enjoy the accompanying artwork). I see she didn't get the concept of the assignment...she doesn't go back to sleep In The Morning. She does now, though. I have to "git her ep" in the mornings this year. My alarm goes off at 7a but I usually hear the high school bus coming through our neighborhood at 6:50a. Yeah, you read that right. 6:50a.

Seriously, I do NOT remember getting up that early for school as a teenager. Then again, I didn't take the bus. I thought school started around 8:30a, but another Livonia grad claims we all started at 7:30a. Of course, I didn't take the bus, but I walked or my Mom drove my sister and I in, so we had to be ready to leave with some time for travel.

My new printer has a scanner, obviously. I have soo much scanning to catch up on. Not too happy that I have to have Kodak paper for it -- makes sense, but I had just bought a HUGE package of Canon paper; I ended up giving it away at SIStv since my pictures were coming out dull. E claims Kodak ink is cheaper (one of the many reasons he picked this printer); I'm hoping the same holds true for Kodak paper.

Photoshop EleWHA?

2009-03-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

I'm cleaning out kindergarten artwork (goodness, my girl has come a long way in a year...but I still love some of her original spelling!) when I come across a Scrapbook Answers (sniff...long since shut down, every issue came with a) DVD...two of them, in fact. One had a 30-day trial of PSE 4.0 so I downloaded it. I've been looking for a replacement for my beloved but frustratingly slow MS Picture It software, which is apparently not compatible with my new Vista system.

I went to a beginner's tutorial site and tried a few simple steps...holy cow, it is not at. all. intuitive, nor does it work as they describe (and they are also using PSE 4.0...I know there is a 7.0 version out right now).

I am so disappointed, I wanted digital scrapping to be easier, not harder, than paper scrapping, but there are so many steps and I've had to start over so many times with one stinking LO that I'm giving up for today.

29 days to go...

Here's the paper LO I worked on this weekend...not anything ground-breaking, but it takes care of most of the pictures from our trip to Ohio last August. I haven't done a 2-pager in a while, this was time-consuming...but not as time consuming as my first (so far) failed digital page!

Oops! The girl's bus is here...gotta run.

Skipping church

2009-03-22T07:18:00.000-07:00

Wow, I was on a roll there, wasn't I? Well, today I am Pampering MySelf (yup, check those initials), so I let E take the kids to the gym/daycare and later his mom's (packed up some of my stuffed cabbage for her), and I have the house to myself.

I have been in a really bad mood this week (again, check the acronym up there). I slept in until 9a and made the executive decision that I was just not going to be ready to head out the door by 9:30 a.m. Most Sundays I am -- Tess has Sunday school, then children's choir, then she joins me halfway through church (BRILLANT idea, thanks Liz!) and E picks her up after to go to my MILs for the afternoon. Most Sundays.

Today I'm going to get some scrapping done. While it's nice to haul everything out of the house and go meet friends, I like having EVERYTHING I own, scrapbooking-wise, at my fingertips. Don't you just hate that feeling when you're out at a crop, and you know you have the PERFECT embellishment, sitting in packaging at home? And since I'm on a buying freeze (a mode I got into while saving for Creative Escape last year, that -- given the economy -- seems to be a permanent habit of mine), I can't just go buy another embellishment. While I'm scrapping, I'm going to organize, as well. But first, I must start with my Hot Spot in the kitchen:

This has been festering for weeks. Mail, Tess's school papers (check out the hutch...that has been multiplying for months), books from the library, magazines (Tennis, anyone?), perhaps a check or two down there somewhere (that would be nice). Let me know if you see anything that is yours...

On the lighter side, I have been working with the SIStv Winter Detox kit to make a fun mini (8x8) album that I hope to post soon. I entered their (snort) Style Star publishing contest for the theme "Spring Green," against my better judgement (I hate contests, and I hate WTP -- Working To Publish -- seems such a waste of my limited scrap time...besides, me? a Style Star? That's a stretch):

Well, it was fun, and I scrapped some amazing photos I took of the Huron River overflowing its banks, an annual event, it seems (we've only lived here 2 springs so far).

Hopefully I'll be back later with pictures of a clean kitchen table and hutch and some scrapped-up goodness.

I am so going to hell.

More rummaging...

2009-03-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

...in Florida, of course! Church rummage sale, amen. They take some pride in what they're selling. Now, let's see how these PhotoScape page combos turn out:

Pretty cool, huh? (the PhotoScape program, I mean. I'll get to the frame in a sec...) Too bad it doesn't seem to have an "exit" option -- you have to close the whole program and start over to do a new project. Weird. I'm sure I'm missing something. Took E to find the crop option, so perhaps he can help me with this, too.

The bottom of the frame says "British Make." It's a heavy silver frame, 8.5" x 5" (frame opening is 7.75" x 4.25"). I could not for the life of me figure out how to open it, then found that the bottom of it slides back and the glass and backing slip out (see top photo combo).

Total cost?

25 cents.

I love church rummage sales.

My next find -- one more from the rummage sale, and another from Betty's Stamp Pad (WARNING: dangerously loud and annoying music set up there...lower your volume...and, most of her inventory is hopelessly out of date, as well as ridiculously expensive, but there was a find or two there):

From the rummage sale, a small Cuban cigar box, with the most gorgeous little clasp. I'd like to alter it, but it's almost too beautiful to cover up. Almost.

From Betty's, the wooden tic-tac-toe boards are perfect for altering. She had a really gorgeous sample which I completely forgot to photograph. Oh well, that leaves them open to my individual interpretation.

Cigar box? Another whopping 25 cents.

Tic-tac-toe boards? $3 a pop.

Things I'll remember about our trip...

2009-03-11T05:54:00.001-07:00

1. It rained in every. state. on our trip down. Yes, even when we got to Florida:

2. That damn DS. We had to limit Tess's time on it to about 45 minutes-1 hour. Mesmerized.

(yes, I'm aware she's holding the case upside down. She was just getting the game chip out, not reading. Reading she is still doing great at, despite the fact that she brought no books along. She gets car sick, like me).

3. Golf carts are even funner than cars! Especially when Pa lets me drive!! --Ben

4. Dr. Seuss fish at Mermaid's Kitchen, Sanibel Island.

5. Mermaid's Kitchen: where desserts are the only thing worth getting. Seriously, don't eat there. The decor (mermaids!) and their cakes are awesome, but not their $24 shrimp (lunch!!) entree, with only 4 shrimp on the plate, a tiny cup of coleslaw, and a pile of inedible french fries.

6. Tearing into Charlotte Harbor on our friend's father's boat. Took my breath away!

7. The peacefulness of the canal (once we slowed down...)

8. How much Ben loved the ocean and its waves. Add another swimmer to the family!

9. The creativity of my daughter, the Indian Princess:

10. Pelicans dive bombing in formation toward a school of fish in the swim area:

The highest temps reached was 78F. On our last day. Which ended up being Saturday instead of Friday, so we could hit the beach. Finally.

We took 2.5 days to drive down, but made it back in 2 (ugh). On the drive home, we listened to waaaay too much HSM2 dance party music (Ben's favorite: hey batter batter swing, better known as I Don't Dance) and I knit a very yellow sock, which will henceforth be known as my Florida Sock(s). Found out I can turn a heel while in the car, and not get sick.

Fresh from my desk...

2009-02-25T12:50:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-23T07:07:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-22T12:58:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-21T13:24:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-19T08:39:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-18T13:27:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-17T07:26:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-16T08:05:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-02-05T14:19:00.000-08:00

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...?!"

Creative Therapy Challenge #46

2009-01-31T16:04:00.000-08:00

This challenge was What is your favorite poem, and why?

Can you believe, despite being in AP English from about 8th grade on, I didn't learn to love poetry until I was in college? Prior to that, the only poem I remember studying was T.S. Elliot's The Wasteland, which my junior year AP English teacher absolutely loved and made us interpret the hell out of, line by line. I adored my teacher, but she couldn't make me love poetry.

Ozymandias was the first poem I "got" all on my own. It was like a light went on in my head. I loved it so much I memorized it, the first (and so far only) poem I'd ever memorized. I loved the imagery, the build-up, and the final comment on mankind's hubris. Frankly, I loved the big words like visage and colossal, I loved phrases like antique land. I loved that it made me realize we need to live in the now, and not try to build monuments to ourselves that we foolishly believe will live forever:

OZYMANDIAS

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

I learned to love poetry in teacher's college. I studied to be a secondary school English teacher, of all things, so I had to at least pretend to be interested in poetry. The book that did it for me was Sound and Sense. I still have a copy somewhere. It broke down poetry into layman's terms. Despite being so "advanced" all those years, I needed something simple to explain poetry to me, to make me love it. To turn the light on.

Not Dead Yet

2009-01-27T12:19:00.001-08:00

An interesting article on blogging from Writer's Digest.

I can't imagine being so techologically hooked-up that it would kill you!

Well, as long as you're here, I may as well entertain you...

On Mondays we try to have a Family Night, which usually involves us all laying around watching a movie. A couple of months ago, E thought the kids would enjoy Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Yeah, I know, not smart. I remembered that it was a little racy, but forgot Christopher Lloyd's completely creepy end as Judge Doom (flattening a villian who then pops up and continues to come after you...the very stuff of children's nightmares. Thanks, E!)

Tess kept hiding under the covers, saying, "Turn it off! Turn it off!" but I wanted to assure her that Eddie Valiant & Co. get him in the end. She's at that age where you can draw the line between bad characters and the actors that portray them, so I mentioned that Lloyd plays a really great Good Guy in one of my all-time favorite movies, Back to the Future.

Santa was listening, and brought me the BTTF trilogy on DVD for Christmas. Not having learned our lesson, we spent a couple of Family Nights watching each in turn. The first movie isn't so horrible, some bad language and sexist situations (somewhat over Tess's head), then the second movie was too dark. At least Ben gave us all some perspective: he became obessessed with flying cars.

Both kids were bored by the third movie, wandering off during the romantic scenes (when Marty comes to get Jennifer off the porch, where they left her at the end of BTTF2, and leans in to kiss her, Ben actually turned away and said "ew" !!) (he is starting that way too early, LOL).

But we scarred Ben for life (again) when the modern freight train at the end completely destroys the DeLorean. He was taking in big gulps of air, near sobbing, saying, "Car! BOKEN!" At least we tried to assure him that Doc Brown would be able to put the car back together again. Sort of.

Holy cow, just looked up Lloyd's DOB. He is the same age as my mother. So is John Cleese. Maybe 70 is the new 50?

Resolutions

2009-01-15T10:58:00.001-08:00

Hmmm, maybe mine should be to give up my blog...no...can't quite do that...but I am on facebook a LOT more often, so if you know me (or think you do), drop me a line and I can give you my moniker "IRL..."

At least I took the Christmas music off.

How it all started...

2008-12-24T18:06:00.000-08:00

In case you wanted to know.

Still love me some Santa-trackin' on Christmas Eve.

Ben is fascinated this year :)

Some stats (check passenger weight before and after his flight...hee)

Sleigh Technical Data
Designer & Builder: K. Kringle & Elves, Inc.
Probable First Flight: Dec. 24, 343 A.D.
Home Base: North Pole
Length: 75 cc (candy canes)/150 lp (lollipops)
Width: 40 cc/80 lp
Height: 55 cc/110 lp
Weight at takeoff: 75,000 gd (gumdrops)
Passenger weigth at takeoff: Santa Claus 260 pounds
Weight of gifts at takeoff: 60,000 tons
Weight at landing: 80,000 gd (ice & snow accumulation)
Passenger weight at landing: 1,260 pounds
Propulsion: Nine (9) rp (reindeer power)
Armament: Antlers (purely defensive)
Fuel: Hay, oats and carrots (for reindeer)
Emissions: Classified
Climbing speed: One “T” (Twinkle of an eye)
Max speed: Faster than starlight
Note: Length, width and height are without reindeer.

All Things Tim

2008-12-08T09:14:00.001-08:00

To keep me from thinking about the huge flame war/phone call fight I'm in the middle of with family (Merry 'effing Christmas, eh?!), I'm over at Tim Holtz's blog, enraptured by his 12 Tags of Christmas tutorials. Oh, and I've posted some holiday music, which you can turn off if it makes you crazy.

Speaking of going crazy, I had to go to special notice at the All Things Tim Yahoo group, as there are about 900 members and over 200 emails a day coming off of it. But it's a fun place for swaps and ideas and talkin' Tim.

Here's a bit of Christmas knitty goodness for ya...I'm halfway through Mom's Noro armwarmers...luckily I think my brother and I have kept her out of our happy holiday battle (it's been a long time coming, is all I can say about that).

I'd better go cast on arm warmer #2...peace out.

The "Ice" President

2008-10-07T07:23:00.000-07:00

Seriously.
Funny.
GO!

Oh, and I totally forgot about Shannon's Welcome party and our assault of Tim Holtz in yesterday's entry. So I've added it to the bottom there. Fun stuff, go look!

Ready for a Rant? (and a Really Long Post)...

2008-10-06T06:24:00.001-07:00

Since Ben turned two, I realized I no longer have claim to postpartum anything. I realized the same thing when Tess was two; I felt better, more myself, still connected to my child in that mysterious way (you're tired when they're tired, still...but now once you put them to bed, you get your second wind...things like that).

So before I go into how wonderful CE was (and it was...the energy is still vibrating around me a month later), I have to get something off my chest. For once, it's not about the kids. Sorry if I've been boring you silly with their antics in the past two years (mostly over at Flickr...my Project 365 seems to be mostly ProjectBen365).

I met so many spoiled women at Creative Escape that it started to piss me off (then I stopped paying attention to them). If I heard one. more. woman. tell me that "oh, my husband sent me off to my first CE, and he just keeps sending me!" or, "I just dropped $400 at the on-site store!" or, "They really should let CE alumni have first grab at registering, everyone else can wait!" I was going to bitch-slap someone.

Luckily the classes were all fast-paced, and I naturally gravitated towards more laid-back, sweet people, who -- like me -- knew how lucky they were to be there, had worked really hard in the past year saving up money for the event, knew they were getting tons of swag, and didn't have to hit every. scrap. store. in the greater Phoenix area.

Somehow I missed the worst of the bitchiness (yes, I've heard there was worse...but I didn't ask for details) and unfortunately, whenever you get a group of women together there is bound to be that cattiness out there in the open for the rest of us to gape at.

'Nuff said. On to the good stuff.

Wednesday, September 3rd
Tess started school Tuesday, so I barely had time to wave her off on the bus before I turned around and left for the airport (Ben was up north with my folks). This was my first time packing for a scrap event that required air travel, so I made sure to hop on my scale at home to double-check my Giant Bag Full of Really Heavy Tools (seriously, Crop-A-Dile? Ten pounds right there). "We" weighed in at 37.5 (well, my *bag* did, haha), so I knew I was safe to check it and not pay the extra fee (of course, the airline weighed it in at 38 pounds even, so I was glad I was not close to the 50 pound limit...two words: ball machine. We've been there).

On the plane, I managed a first even for klutzy me -- I spilled an entire can of tonic water in my lap. Luckily, it landed only on me, because the girl sitting next to me was watching Lost Season 1 on her pretty white Mac laptop -- thank God I didn't splash her. Also, mom was right...you should always have a complete change of clothes (and by complete I mean Including Clean Underwear) in your carry-on. Saved by a Momism!

On the shuttle to the resort, I met the most interesting person...an 85 year-old man, VERY talkative, who was heading back to his condo after ferrying an old 747 around the world...literally. He rattled off the places he had been in the last week of "work" (he's actually a volunteer) -- including Turkey and Singapore. He told us his life story, from when he first learned to fly at age 13, to his military training during WWII, to the fact that he could ferry planes now due to the fact that he was the "last of his line," thanks to all the radiation he was exposed to during his military career (a little TMI, but like I said, VERY talkative). I'm one of those strange people who could listen to stories like that all day; older people fascinate me. One of my roommates, Renee, told me later that there is a whole group of older retirees who ferry these hulking, ancient aircraft around; they're called the Confederate (or Commemorative) Air Force. I got goosebumps just talking to the guy. Made my day!

When I got to CE, I checked into my room and called Julie (my SIStv angel), who lives in Phoenix. We were hoping to meet up, but unfortunately we got the day we were to meet mixed up and she was without a ride, bummer. Later I sent her the Little Miss Chatterbox magnetic notepad I found for her at Target's dollar spot. Yup, I attract the talkers, hee.

As I walked around the resort, I kept *thinking* I recognized people from a tiny 100x100 pixel photo at the Yahoo group site, but alas, no one had name tags yet and I was too shy to approach anyone. I wandered around by the pool in that wonderful "dry heat" of Arizona, which I usually relish, but since it was the end of monsoon season there were mosquitoes bigger than crows out there, and they were going for jugulars.

There was a treasure/scavenger hunt going on, sponsored by Oriental Trading Company, but I didn't even have to get out my map -- I just followed the crowds of women gathering around styrofoam treasure chests. You had to sign the book inside to be entered for prize drawings on Saturday night, so I did my thing and went back inside before getting eaten alive.

I realized it was 5:30 p.m. local time, which meant 8:30 p.m. *my* time, and all I'd had to eat was a box "lunch" (Snacks of Doom) on the plane (I ate dried sausage...that's a first) almost 4 hours prior. I had dinner scheduled with my Circle Journal gals at 6:30 p.m., but knew I couldn't wait (until 9:30 p.m.) to eat dinner. I also realized some alcohol would loosen me up a bit; I was wound tight with anticipation and shyness. Sure enough, a beer and a chicken enchilada or two later, and Josiane (of the CJ group) came right up to me; I was able to smile, relax, say hello, and act like an adult, not a middle-schooler.

This also helped me keep my expenses down at dinner; we were given all meals with our registration for Friday and Saturday, but I was on my own the rest of the time. I split a salad with Susan ("in NY" -- there were no less than FIVE Susans on the Yahoo board...also a lot of Michelles...it was hard to keep everyone straight without a face for the name). The salad had an amazing creamy garlic dressing that I was hoping would keep the mosquitoes at bay, but alas...I did not venture outside again that evening to test my theory.

It was fantastic to meet IRL all of the ladies whose journals I had worked on in turn over the last year; I'm so glad I got in on the first round Circle Journal right after winning my "Golden Ticket" last October. I knew from CKU-Detroit to find & join the complimentary Yahoo group (I even joined the 2007 CE group, waiting for the 2008 group to form!).

The artwork that rolled by as each more complete album crossed my desk was increasingly inspiring and each journal really challenged me as a scrapbook "artist." I can only hope that my work was up to par!

picture courtesy of Shannon Coyne.
Back row: Susan (in NY), Elsa (Canada), Shermala (Kansas), Shannon the Great (organizer of all CE swaps, Arizona), Carolyn (my "mailer" from Maine), Keri (Texas); front row: me!, Josiane (Texas), and Shari (another Michigander!)

After dinner, I headed up to Shannon's welcome party...60 women, even in a suite, was too dang hot for me, so I ran downstairs with most of them to stalk Tim Holtz and see his reaction to Shari's T.I.T. (Totally Into Tim) buttons. Hee!

I will say this about Tim...I don't think that guy ever has a bad day. Here come 35 women charging at him and he stood up with a smile and had us all laughing about his fear of heights (discovered suddenly when he was taken to a hot air balloon ride...and couldn't get out of the car) in about five minutes. Must be all that grungeboard he sniffs, or perhaps his alcohol inks. Whatever, he is one cool dude. His project was the only one we finished in class. Okay, from now on I am dotting the "i" in Tim's name with a heart whenever I can.

Exhasuted, I finally retired to my room around 11 p.m. (still calculating the time change, that made it 2 a.m. for me...soon, I would have to stop doing that) and met Renee, with whom I shared a room for 4 nights, and we each settled into our full- (not queen, as touted) sized beds, after watching a bit of the (ugh) RNC and discovering Tina Fey's double running for VP with McCain. Spooky!

More on Days 2-5 as I have time...thanks for reading so far!

Lil update

2008-09-19T12:51:00.001-07:00

Well, after my 3rd day of wearing pink (I'm a black, brown, grey fan, myself) I caught this sp as I headed out for more classes at Creative Escape. Seems I've come home with quite a bit of pink to wear, and little by little it is sneaking into my wardrobe...dang that pink!

My computer has been sluggish (since before I left, actually) and I caught a cold on the airplane home (that's why it's called Airborne, right?!), then I was swept into the frenzy of school mornings, getting Ben from my folks, getting him back into a routine at home (thought he might be giving up naps, like his sister did at 2 years, aaaaccck!), so I haven't had the computer time I dreamed of in the last week or so. I've even had a couple of days without 365 photos of any kind...sp or otherwise!

Seems my priorities have changed up a bit...that's what happens when you give yourself a luxurious creative retreat in Arizona for 4 1/2 days. It's a good thing. I might even give it a try next year...(pssstt...you can sign up for the CE09 registration lottery already...go go go!)

Have to run in a few minutes to meet the school bus...will try to give you a day-by-day Creative Escape update soon!

Catching up before taking off...

2008-08-31T19:01:00.001-07:00

E just came up to compliment me on this photo, and I realized it sums up our travel experiences of late.

I haven't been posting for several reasons. First of all, our summer was deathly quiet and boring until about 2 weeks ago. For some crazy reason, we decided we could travel about 2000 miles in the space of 2 weeks...first, to Cincinnati and back, then to Camp Michigania and back. What were we thinking?

I'm going to blame it on my sister...she "took" our usual Fourth of July time at our folks', stretching it into a two week visit so that we could get no time in before (bad weather) or after (folks off sailing for a month).

Then perhaps I'll blame Camp Michigania. That's easy. Well, really it's our fault, for not deciding to go until after their annual lottery (in January...who's thinking of summer vacation in January?! Not us...) We were put on the wait list for Week 10 and Week 11 (the last two weeks of camp).

We got in for both weeks...but couldn't take Week 10, as we'd already planned our trip to Cincinnati, to see friends in from California we'd hadn't seen in 3 years. We were #9 on the wait list for Week 10, we'd never dream we'd get in. Being that we were #1 on the wait list for Week 11, we had a sinking feeling we'd be called up for it, and we were.

Add in the complication of getting Ben to my folks after camp (for my jaunt to Phoenix later this week), and a bout of flu (yes, while at camp) for three of us (Ben, Egor, and me, not all at once, thank God), that left us stumbling into town late yesterday, tired, sick, not ready to unpack and repack and shop and cook for my week ahead.

Look at that countdown clock! Whoo-hoo. I'm hoping to share more pictures soon, but probably not before I take off on Wednesday. Phoenix, here I come!

Guess what his favorite new word is?

2008-08-14T13:04:00.001-07:00

223365
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile

Ben, say bottle.
Bot-tle.
Ben, say orange juice.
Orng-jus.
Ben, say supercalifragilisticexpialdocious...
No.
Ben, can you say yes?
No.

The boy is spent.

Busy preparing for CE. Went to look for new luggage today...my rolling carry-on is so small, and the next size up in our luggage collection is HUGE (will weigh 50+ lbs with paper supplies stuffed in there upon my return...), so I need something medium-sized but I want something cUtE, KWIM? God, luggage is ugly these days.

Maybe I'll borrow Tess's cupcake suitcase...

Summer slump

2008-07-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

I have just figured out something that bothered me for years. I'm glad I did it before August, when I usually snap over it.

You see, every July I'm at an emotional and physical peak. I'm a summer baby (who turns 42 next month) and I have always loved hot weather. Summer is my absolute favorite season. I love the late summer sunsets, I love all the light, period. I'm on a personal high that doesn't end until October or so.

Creatively, however, I always find myself in a slump. I have all this energy but I can't seem to focus it into amazing projects. I go to a quilt show, and for the first time, I don't buy anything from the vendors. I'm not feelin' it. Perhaps I'm finally realizing I need to use what I've been collecting for 20+ years...just sew the damn stuff, kwim?! But I'm so scattered I just don't find the time. Oh, wait, rotary cutter + sewing machine + toddler = disaster. I'll use that as my excuse (this time...)

Then I take part in an online scrapbooking challenge. Wow! My work really pales in comparison to gals using the latest and greatest (which I have ceased buying to save up for CE08...can't help it). Really, it's embarrassing. My work can't possibly be picked as one of the four weekly winners, and I don't even have the collection they are using for extra "points" in the game, so I have no prayer of winning the Big Prize.

I almost let that get me down today (I went over to Webkinz and took care of my horse -- finally figured out that damn weight lifting class, sheesh!! -- that calmed me down) but perhaps being in my 40s helps put this annoying annual cycle in perspective.

I'm participating in the challenge, that's enough. I know creative mojo comes and goes (right now, for me, it's left the building). It will be back. It's just an online game, and I don't have to put my entire creative ego on the line over it. I'll participate next week, and the week after, even if I don't have a chance of winning, because it's stretching me creatively (even if I don't take it far enough at times). I can be inspired by the winners, by the other folks who participate and *don't* win, because really, most of the creations are truly amazing, given the crazy rules we are handed each week.

Perhaps I need to shift my creative priorities. The quilt show was amazing. It's only held every two years, and the last time I attended I was 7 months pregnant with Ben. In two more years, he'll be nearly four years old. I think I can sew SOMETHING by then, don't you?

Not as lovely as this, but SOMETHING, right?

The Lizzie Quilt
made by Jean Ballou
and Alison Winter
quilted by Crystal Smythe
I had a hard time deciding between this one and a pictorial quilt for my Viewer's Choice...but being that this was made for a six year-old, and had a very sweet dedication, sentiment won over sensibility.

Summer Indoors

2008-07-15T13:15:00.001-07:00

I keep a list of all the books I have read in the front of my daily diary, and recently I was AGHAST to learn I've only been averaging 6 books a month. Shameful. Well, it's not like I have a busy schedule or anything...or a toddler ready to crawl all over me, demanding cuddles & tickles (seriously, who can resist?!) every time I collapse on the couch to polish off a chapter or two.

We've been heading to the library every Monday so that Tess can record her books for the week (she's committed to 7 books a week, or chapters of a book, easy enough, for their summer reading program) and get a weekly prize. Last week (when I discovered my lack of reading prowess) I took out a pile of books & got to reading.

So far, I'm enraptured by Gone With The Wind (although I'm having a hard time getting Clark Gable out of my head...such perfecting casting...Vivian Leigh? Not so much...too old). I can only imagine the opinions this work of fiction raised when it was first published in 1936...so different from the narratives then on the market...I think of the depressing and ponderous works of oh, say, Hemingway or Fitzgerald, and find this work flows so much easier...really, the first modern romance novel since Jane Austen (who is ponderous only for the language of her day...I'm sure she was an easier read back in her day).

Many times I really have to get my head into the "voice" of an author (like Jane Austen) before my reading starts flying. I can't believe I'm nearly done with GwtW, a 1,000-pager, in just over a week.

However, the other books are coming due and I need to move on.

In other (probably TMI) news, I went to my OB/GYN doctor for my annual check-up (2.5 years overdue, oops) and found out I have indeed been dealing with a yeast infection...since taking antibiotics at the end of November. The symptoms weren't the usual (that is DEFINTELY TMI), and they were mild enough that I managed to "fight" it for that long.

However, now that it is taken care of, I'm beginning to realize exactly how hard my body was fighting...over the weekend, I felt like a wrung-out dishrag, and last week (before the diagnosis) I had a killer migraine that almost made me vomit. My glands were so swollen that I could hardly swallow (and I'm still dealing with the remains of a sore throat) and overall I was tensed up like a boxer waiting for a hit.

The moral of the story is, get to your doctor A.S.A.P., especially your "female" doctor, if you're dealing with strange symptoms Down Below. I actually had an appointment in June, but had to...ahem..."re-schedule" due to the visit of my Red Haired Friend...okay, definitely TMI.

Crazy knitting

2008-06-26T04:28:00.000-07:00

If you are a CE teacher, volunteer, roomie, etc...NO PEEKING.

Oops, too late.

I've heard that some folks give gifts at Creative Escape, and I've been trying to decide what would be appropriate...something crafty, but NOT scrapbooking-related (lord knows we're going to get enough swag, after paying what we've paid for registration)...something from Ann Arbor, to boot...

I started to make these for my three roomies (Renee, Michele, Cendrine) and realized it only takes a day (seriously!) to knit one of these (from One Skein), and felting is oh-so-fun. I can fill them with crop candy (Jelly Bellies and Gummi Bears) and Zingerman's Magic Brownies (will they individually wrap those for me?), put a pretty tag on them and voila! My requirements for a little crafty, Michigania giftie are fulfilled.

Now to make 11 more of them...in different colors, because if I had to work with that much pink & green, I think my eyeballs would fall out.

Vintage love

2008-06-24T12:31:00.000-07:00

I have wanted an old manual typewriter for a while; I had two (!) growing up, both Underwoods. This project from toomuchcoffeegirl really sparked my desire, though. Good thing the ribbon is still working; she helped me understand that getting a new one and rewinding it take quite a bit of work. It can be done, but it doesn't sound as easy as it used to be. At least I can use it when the electricity is out ;) Typing away is quite therapeutic, as well.

The kids like banging on it and it stinks a bit from being stored in a barn or garage somewhere for too long, but I love the smell and have a handful of project ideas for it. It's rather small, student-sized and portable; came with a box that I had to put in the garage for airing...really stinky. E wanted to throw out the box but the collector in me said, "No way!"

I love the "self-starter" button on it. I sure could use one of those from time to time.

Stormy Weather

2008-06-08T19:54:00.001-07:00

160365
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile

We've had several days of hot, windy weather and I have been waiting for a big storm. There was thunder, lightning, and rain through the night last night, but it was still muggy today, and windy.

FINALLY something wicked blew through town. And of course, I had to stand on the front porch and get a picture. Stupid Midwesterner.

Before this, I showed Tess a storm cloud directly over our backyard. You know the kind, the swirling storm cloud that looks like boiling water? Tess said, "it looks like toothpaste coming out of the tube!" Clever girl.

That's when I went and got Ben up from his nap, to get both kids in the basement.

And then I went to the front porch to get this shot.

Crafty grrls in the house

2008-06-07T13:09:00.001-07:00

I have been the Queen of Super-Crazy-Busy scrapbook layouts lately. I'm inspired by so many LOs in the SIStv gallery, but I can't quite pull them off. Ah, well, I'm having fun with lines like Tinkering Ink and the latest from Luxe. Patterned paper doesn't cost much (at most, $1 a sheet) and I typically pick out about 3 to use. Then I raid my stash to see what matches -- cardstock, ribbon, bling, chipboard accents, paint, etc.

I just cleaned out my PSB (Paper Sticker Binder, for those of you who are lost already) and gave Tess a shoebox full of old stuff I know I'm not going to use. She sat with me and created six 2-page "spreads" like "Florida" (with a dimensional Cropper Hopper sticker she labeled "luggage") and "Spring" (with every old Mrs. Grossman's floral sticker I've held on to for the last 7 years). She's got style, that kid.

And yes, I'm still knitting. I recently started this chevron scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Ever the Queen of Blended Yarns, I'm mixing a silk thread I got in a 2005 swap (from an angel in Japan; my swap partner had bailed on me) with the alpaca sock yarn I picked up in Chicago in April. The watery light in my kitchen does not do the purple justice; trust, me, it's pretty. And oh so soft. I think alpaca is my new favorite fiber. I love that I found it in sock yarn. I've got to find some more of that!

I even taught Tess to knit. She eagerly looks forward to going "into the woods, around the tree," to see "up pops the rabbit" who "slips away" (my horrid paraphrasing of a knitting chant I heard someone teaching kids to knit to). She only lasts about one row (20 stitches) and I have to be sitting rightnext to her; I think it is more about "cuddling with mom"-time than learning to knit. Hey, whatever turns her on to the craft!

True story

2008-05-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

I don't often open emails from my cousin, she's a recent born-again Christian and is always sending the worst schlocky chain emails, but this one had no FW in the subject, so I gave it a chance. I opened one like this previously and it was really important news about my aunt (her mom).

True story.

Good morning all,

I just wanted to share a letter that I am submitting to the American Kennel Club for an award for mom's dog Brutus. They award 5 different types of awards for outstanding dogs. Its called an ACE award.....Award for Canine Excellence. Because of the Yorkie lover I am and the love I have for my mom, I think he deserves it. Keep your fingers crossed!!!!

Love,

DeeDee

PS. Mom seems to be doing pretty well, we go to the DR. on Wednesday.

Dear AKC,

This letter is being submitted for my mother's Yorkshire terrier, Brutus, as a candidate for the AKC-ACE Award. Brutus is two years old and a puppy from my very first litter of 5 pups.

The moment my mom laid eyes on him, she fell in love. My mother is currently a lung cancer patient. She had a portion of her lung removed in Feb. 2007 and has endured radiation therapy and chemo therapy. In March of this year, she awoke during the night with symptoms of the wintertime flu. At 6 am she called me and told me of her sickness and we decided that she had picked up the flu the prior day while attending a funeral. I would call throughout the day to check on her.

At 2 pm that afternoon, she called me and was complaining about Brutus. She said that he was driving her crazy because every time she would almost fall asleep, he would bark and jump at her continuously. I told her to just put him in his crate so she could rest. She reiterated to me again, that he would not leave her alone. After hanging up, I decided that I should go get Brutus so she could rest easier. I tried to call my mom and tell her I was coming, but she did not answer the phone.

Being 25 minutes away, I decided to call her neighbor and have her check on my mom but before I could call, the phone rang and it was the neighbor. She informed me that my mom had called her to come get Brutus but when she got there my mom was extremely sick. She was vomiting and extremely ill and laying on the bathroom floor. I told her to call 911 and I would meet my mom at the hospital, which was only 2 miles away from my mom's house.

Upon arriving at the hospital, my mom was being checked out and before I knew it, they were telling us that she did not have the flu, she was bleeding internally somewhere and she was extremely critical. You see, her blood pressure was at 52/37, heart rate was 125 and she was very low on her blood counts. They were assuming that she was having a heart attack because her vitals were so bad. This hospital was going to stabilize her and they would be airlifting her to a hospital 40 miles away in Ann Arbor, Michigan. That is what they did and my mom spent 5 days there but I have no doubt that if it wasn't for Brutus keeping my mom awake, she would have gone to sleep and who knows what would have happened.

Cancer keeps us wondering daily but I feel somewhat safe to know that we have a 7 pound Yorkie looking out for her. Please consider Brutus as a recipient of this award, he deserves it in my eyes and in my mom's.

Tess in 2006 with Brutus's mom, at my cousin's house.
We were there visiting her new puppies, Brutus among them.

Dude, where's my paint chip?

2008-05-12T12:55:00.001-07:00

I am so happy with this green I could marry it.
(family room...winner: hmm...nobody guessed this one.)

I always heard you use warm tones where you eat, and cool tones where you "live"...saw this green on a home show, and they mentioned how it "brings the outdoors in" ...our willow tree seems to be in front of our fireplace now!

The orange (Benjamin Moore's Aura in Buttered Yam) was pretty intense going on, but dried to a warm finish. (dining/scrap (ha!) room, winner: Shannon guessed I'd do 2 colors in here, so is she half-right?)

Our painting supervisor called in the color code for a *quart* (what I picked up to sample on Friday) when he ordered another *gallon* (oops), so this went on too light at first, BUT the guy doing the painting knew I wasn't happy with that, and he took his lunch hour to go to the paint store and get me the right shade. (bathroom, winner: Shannon!)

Since I was going with a Sherwin Williams shade, I had to give up my paint chip (I want it back! It's called "Drizzle") , but I was delighted that the painter went the extra mile for me and STILL got it all done today.

I'm pretty easygoing in life, except when it comes to color matching. Then I get a little persnickety.

All in all, a crazy Mother's Day weekend. My sister came in to town on Friday; she wanted to tag along with me to Novi to meet Mom for Mega Meet, but decidedly did NOT want to check out scrapbooking. She insisted on going to Flute World, which bored Mom & I to tears, but we got back at her by getting so absorbed at Mega Meet that we were very, very late picking her up from 12 Oaks, the mall where we dropped her whiny @$$ off earlier. All's well that ends well, even if I didn't get to go to Archivers. I only picked up and dropped off my Mom there :(

Eeny, meeny miney moe...

2008-05-08T12:41:00.000-07:00

I have lived in a beige house for the last 6+ years (and before that, beige apartments...you know, apartment "cream"...?!) So I am delighted to take on the task of painting our new place. Not sure why the old house never got painted (except for the purple room we did for Tess...a year before we put the whole place up for sale). And I did have a pink living room in my home in Redford...which ended up painted taupe (Martha Stewart "Mushroom," actually) when the ex-fiance almost moved in (and then I sold the place, two years later...I'm detecting a trend...)

This time around we are here for a while (we hope), so I want colors I love...although I do have to please E with them as well.

So, the colors above are for three rooms: family room (accent wall), dining room (whole kit and kaboodle) and 3 walls in our luxury bathroom upstairs. Your mission? Figure out what color goes in which room. And yes, I've already made up my mind.

Shining sinks

2008-05-06T11:01:00.000-07:00

E was admonishing me yesterday because Ben hadn't been outside to play all day. After all, we have a new swing set and the weather was gorgeous, but perhaps he's forgotten just how much a 19 month-old can get into outdoors...especially when you have a pond to make you extra-nervous.

After I did my self-imposed morning chores (I subscribe to FlyLady's emails, but rarely follow them...the task for yesterday --cleaning off your kitchen counters-- suddenly inspired me) where I felt the urge to clean every. single. bathroom. sink. (did I mention we have 5 bathrooms in this house? One of them a handicap bathroom that we hardly use, for a previous owner with ALS, but still...FIVE)...seriously, I went to put a full liquid soap container back in the main floor bathroom and the sink was DISGUSTING...once I start a job, I may as well be consistent...but not perfect, right, FlyLady?

ANYWAY, after that was done (I left one upstairs sink for later...the backyard was calling), we all trouped out to the back forty and had a very pleasant morning swinging, pulling chairs under the overhanging branches of our willow tree (the one advantage to having a pond...willow trees...), checking out the goldfish in the pond (amazing how they survive the winter...they are HUGE and were coming up to the surface to feast on water bugs) and generally enjoying the sun on our backs and the wind in our hair.

Now I'm about to get my recipe LOs done (for a CE swap), and I was just thinking how much I got done in January...during Lain's challenge...and how that has changed my perspective on my "free" time. Ben's home, but napping, so I can grab the hour and a half or so that I have and spend it cleaning (did that this morning!), cooking (peeled potatoes & got them in water as he was settling down) or getting creative.

I'm so glad I got the cleaning bug out of my system first thing this morning!

NSD hoopla, sort of.

2008-05-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

Well, National Scrapbooking Day has come and gone AGAIN, and again I did nothing special...on that day, at least.

Ben has been gone all week, so I actually got a lot of scrapping in during the week...including my first altered item...this altered clock. Here's what it looked like when I bought it (for a DOLLAR) at the rummage sale the week before:

I swear we had the exact same clock in our (orange and avocado green) kitchen growing up.

Best of all, I put a battery in (had to bang it around a bit) and it is keeping REAL time. Tess wants it in her room but it's in my scrap room because I MADE IT and it WORKS.

Friday I went out early to the Zone, they were having an anniversary sale and giving away goodie bags to the first 100 people. I got there at 9:30a (they opened at 10a) and was given a card as #67 in line (!) Too bad somebody else got to all the dark black Bazzill card stock before me; it was 5 sheets for $1...also too bad they didn't get their Herma shipment in of removable adhesive refills; I would have stocked up!

I did get out to Chelsea and crop from 12 noon until nearly midnight, with only a break to get home and meet Tess when she got off the bus, give her dinner, and get her to the gym's daycare (where E was playing tennis). I still only managed to get 4 layouts done in all that time, but I did use up a lot of my stash and I'm happy with the results (the fourth LO is for Tess's school album, and not exciting enough, IMHO, for my SIStv portfolio!)...

Saturday (the Official NSD) I was supposed to go to Grand Rapids and (finally) meet the Michigan SIStv "SIStas" to crop with them at Pages in Time, but Ben had developed an ear infection while up at my folks and, while he was on medication and feeling better, I decided to go get him and give him cuddles. It's hard to be away from your baby, especially when he's sick. Of course he's perfectly fine today but it's nice to have him here to keep an eye on him and he enjoys being home.

Monday moanin'

2008-04-14T11:45:00.000-07:00

Well, that wasn't TOO bad...Dr. Roy was done in about a half an hour with Tess, she only cried when she got the "sleepy juice" (novocaine), a concept that originally made her laugh. Our dentist is great with kids...told Tess she had some "cavity bugs" he had to put to sleep (thus the sleepy juice) and take out for her...although I knew the real procedure would not make her laugh...she's at school doped up on Motrin, hopefully she'll get through her day okay.

It was wonderful to be out in the morning, even though it was cold. We went to the Dexter Bakery as a "treat" (yum...get a filling, fill up on a sugary donut...brilliant, mom!) since she wasn't going to make her bus and needed lunch (yes, I know, a donut...) We wandered over to the downtown Dexter Pharmacy, one of those wonderful old teeny tiny family-owned pharmacies, something that actually gives us one up on snooty old downtown Chelsea, our artsy-fartsy neighbor to the west.

The pharmacy had a bunch of tiny 3x3 encouragement cards marked down to 50 cents; I bought a handful to put in Tess's lunch on Fridays. Yes, I know, I should actually MAKE her little cards, I used up all my little card creations (so far, need to make more) on her earlier this year. I can't believe she has only 7 more weeks of school left.

Tonight is my Stampin Up Stamp Club...my last for a couple of months, since I am still saving for Creative Escape. I'm pretty much caught up on my registration fee, but I still have to get airfare and save up to pay my roommate, whoever she may be...I've decided not to get a hotel room, but instead depend upon The Kindness of Strangers. Good thing I'm in the Yahoo Group, lots of roomie connections there.

Here's this month's swap card...I went to my cardstock stash and picked a color (CTMH's Barn Red) I'm not all that fond of, that was masculine, that I had a lot of, and added some copper accents (embossing powder and metallic paper) for an elegant-yet-whimsical Father's Day card. Crown is Anita's, argyle background is SU, letters are my current favorite CTMH alphabet, Tiny Typewriter. Which reminds me...I have a new CTMH shipment coming today, including a new Summer catalog...to be released Into the Wild May 1st...I'll be listening for my Man in Brown for the rest of the afternoon...ready to pounce!

Amoeba knitting

2008-04-13T16:50:00.000-07:00

I noticed today, as I put YET ANOTHER new knitting project into a leftover gift bag (this time a Hello Kitty from Tess' birthday), that my knitting bags seem to be splitting and multiplying. I haven't touched what's in my ACTUAL knitting bag for about 3 months (the red tank top from IWK I started last Fourth of July...and it's nearly done, too...) While I swore I wouldn't get stash, I do have an overabundance of actual projects.

I went to Chicago the week before last (spring break...my folks did not go to Florida, and E wasn't budging, so I said I HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE, and I did, to visit my sister), where I stopped in at Loopy Yarns. As I walked in, the gal behind the counter said "everything in the bins on the floor is a dollar a skein, because we're sick of looking at it," so I snagged a very pretty blue ribbon yarn (Berroco's Glace) and some Elsbeth Lavold alpaca...not enough to make a sweater, of course, but I've got a pattern for a decent vest (and I have a vest phobia, so that is something!) that might work.

On another note, Tess has the first (!) of her cavity fillings tomorrow. I am so depressed about this I can't even think. *I'm* the one who brushes her teeth for her (most of the time), and she still got cavities. At our Friday night crop, Kelly and I were praising the flouride in Livonia water (where we grew up), she never had cavities and I have only 3 after all these years.

Tess has FOUR cavities, three filling appointments coming up. It's making me physically ill to think of it. I just hope I can hold it together for her tomorrow.

Hoppy Easter

2008-03-23T14:36:00.001-07:00

083365
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile

I was laughing so hard at this concept over at my MILs today, that I actually started crying. Then did it again about 20 minutes later.

So of course, I had to go home and recreate it in the snow on our deck out back.

Still makes me laugh.

Those crazy Russkies

2008-03-22T08:00:00.001-07:00

Consider the source when you view this: my ultra-conservative brother sent it on:

Sweet Home Alabama

...now I know what crazy stuff he subscribes to online.

A relaxing Easter weekend ahead...really

2008-03-20T07:31:00.000-07:00

Ben is up north at my folks' for the weekend so I'm getting in some quality time with Tess...oh, where is she now? In front of the TV, of course. But we have kindergarten P.J. night tonight, no siblings and E out of town for the day, so it worked out. Too bad she has no school tomorrow; I could have cropped all day but now I have to entertain her. I might even take her cropping with me for a bit tomorrow.

As always, sorry for the lack of writing in here. I am keeping up (!) with my Flickr 365 projects, so I am updating there every other day or so with my photos and stories. I guess I'm just out of steam for writing here.

Finishing projects left and right, though...

Baby hat for Ingrid & Co.,
guaranteeing that the weather
will now warm up.

Hat for me, with yarn bought last
Saturday from a local spinner.
Yet another reassurance that warm
weather is around the bend.

Page for a Creative Escape Circle Journal
on Travels/Destinations for Shannon.
Fun one!

It's O-VAH!

2008-03-02T19:41:00.001-08:00

365062
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile

Whew. E thought I was crazy when I told the girls' parents to come back in an hour and a half; turns out I was right on target (he thought they needed 2 hours).

Here was the party line-up:

Arrival: put handprint on Tess's birthday T-shirt. Sign it. Get your rock star gear: sparkley boa & glitter sunglasses (the Hannah Montana specs I'm sporting were one of Tess's gifts...shh...don't tell her I tried them on...)

Craft: Rock Star/BFF foam frame creations. Photo opps with party girl Tess.

Game: drop-a-clothes pin -in-the-bottle. This determined the order they would go in for...

Goodie bags: follow your color of curling ribbon (7 in all) twisted around in our basement to your goodie bag (fun to set up, until I got to ribbon #4...#5...and got increasingly tangled in my own cleverness).

*proceed to drive adults crazy with the whizzing lip favors I put in the goodie bags*

Food: popcorn...cake...ice cream...juice.

Gift opening.

Everyone arrived at once, and everyone left at once. Clean up began.

Made for a short Sunday, though!

Well now...

2008-02-29T18:58:00.000-08:00

How often do I get to post on a Leap Day? I've been blogging (we used to call it Online Journaling) for nearly 10 years now (anniversary in April) and I don't think I ever have posted on a February 29th. How exciting was my Leap Day? Well, I stayed home from my usual Friday night crop because the roads are frightening (good thing, too, it started hailing around 7p) and I needed to make Tess's birthday cake...SIX girls coming over Sunday to celebrate and things are gearing up.

E is still sick, he went to the doctor's today but nothing more than constricted bronchial tubes. He's had a history of asthma so when it went to his chest (mine went to my sinuses), he was in a lot of pain. He's actually been home from work since Tuesday, poor guy.

He was so terrific all last weekend when I was laid flat by this bug, that I didn't mind staying home and helping out with the kids tonight. Especially with the driving being so bad.

Gah I hate winter

2008-02-25T18:18:00.001-08:00

365056
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile

Sorry, I haven't been updating. This morning at 2:00 a.m. whatever put a chokehold on me Friday night let go; I've been sick all weekend (such a good employee). At least I've been keeping up on my 365 projects at Flickr, even if I don't upload That Day (I've been as much as 4 days behind, catching up all at once).

This is a quilt I'm working on, that I'll be working on a long time. Saw one done as a high school graduation gift, a handprint from each of your child's teachers over the years. Mrs. P was the assistant teacher for both of Tess's preschool years, and by the time I saw the quilt that inspired me, her first preschool teacher was gone, so I decided to use Mrs. P's handprint to represent both years of preschool.

Not sure how it works for middle and high school; I guess your child picks her favorite teacher for the year and you hunt them down at parent-teacher conference. We'll see.

The Cabinet

2008-02-12T12:59:00.001-08:00

The Cabinet
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile

Would you pick this up if you saw it sitting curbside in the snow (and 7 degree weather)?

Even with a missing door? (I'm going to Velcro a piece of brown velvet there for a "curtain")...

Even though the back of it has been replaced with an piece of paneling, and several inside sections with plywood? (very neatly, I might add)...

Even though the bottom left drawer opens with a twist tie? (the matching hardware fell out as I was carrying this into the house, yay!)

Even though you have a very similar record cabinet (handmade by the father of a parish member at your old church) already in your scrap room?

Here was the tipping point for me:

Vinyl records: 12"
Scrapbook paper: 12"

Coincidence?

Pick your hobbies carefully...

2008-02-06T09:10:00.001-08:00

Tess on horseback
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile

The key to not being bored out of your mind at your kids' practices, lessons, games, whatever, I guess, is to hope they choose a hobby YOU love (or for you to take up knitting, which I plan on pulling out at all future soccer, basketball, tennis, or other sports-related event either kid picks up).

I absolutely LOVED being in the barn/practice ring with Tess Saturday morning. Even though it was bitter cold in the ring, even with the smell, even though *I* did not get to ride. And she really enjoyed it too.

Now, it looks like Ben will be taking up tennis...that should make E glad.

Checking in

2008-01-19T18:58:00.001-08:00

019365
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile

Still around, still taking pictures. Still doing a layout a day, sometimes more. I'm really rocking the scrapbook supplies. Can you believe I've done over 20 LOs this month? Holy heck, that's more than almost all of last year. Ben's baby album is almost done, our family album for 2007 only needs Christmas scrapped, and I've got a great head start on my parents' 50th anniversary album (that's for next month...) I discovered how to link to my gallery at BPS...no need for me to upload twice (there and SISTV), although it looks like you have to be signed in at BPS to look at my stuff. SIGH.

In February I take a big hit to my crafting budget...$549 to be exact...for Creative Escape. I've already done 3 circle journals (of 9), including my own, which is out there in the "circuit." We'll get them back at CE. It seems so far off but it's getting closer every day.

Not feeling well today, sore throat, headache. Took a looooong nap while E had the kids out at the gym. Tess is big into her new Webkins pony (now that we can get online with it). When she was done playing she was instantly "bored" and wanted to do a craft...so I built her a fort. I need to take it down now and get my quilt back on my bed...freakin cold tonight! Brrr.

No resolutions...

2008-01-10T10:51:00.000-08:00

...just lots of photo projects for me in the year (and month) ahead.

Project365: A photo a day. I'm already struggling, but I'm determined to keep my camera with me and read. the. damn. manual. Finally. I'm also putting these photos into this group, since I started on January 1st. You can start Project365 anytime if you'd like to join me...

365Days: A self-portrait each day. This one is much easier, since you have a built-in subject. I can see myself sticking with this for the long haul.

Get a L.O.A.D. of This: A layout a day challenge (free!) at Big Picture Scrapbooking. I have finished more pages this month than in all of October, November, and December 2007 combined. Since the gallery is impossible to search, I've loaded all my completed layouts into my portfolio at SISTV.

Squeezing in

2007-12-29T20:27:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how we doubled our living space, yet still can't fit my whole clan in our dining room. Minus two of my siblings and a new SIL, even. Oh wait,

One seven-foot Christmas tree

One six-foot-five nephew

One high chair shoved in a corner

One obscenely giant pile of presents

...and a partridge in a pear tree.

At least I got to crop for 13 hours yesterday...roughly 11a to 11:30p. I finished the cover art for Ben's Favorite Photos album, the first circle journal for Creative Escape (two 8"x8" pages on My Town), two two-page layouts for Ben's First Year album, and our Thanksgiving layout (another 2-pager).

One of my gifts for Christmas was a gift certificate for Shutterfly, with which I promptly bought one of their Most Excellent pre-paid plans (500 4"x6" photos for 12 cents each, expires in 2 years but I've already ordered 50 photos and I'm not nearly done with my 2007 photos/pages yet).

Good thing I signed up for Lain's FREE class at Big Picture Scrapbooking. That will help me finish up 2007.

For Kids Young and Old

2007-12-24T15:59:00.000-08:00

I love it. The NORADsanta.org site jams up around midnight, after all of us adults get home from candlelight service and the kids are finally asleep. Or maybe not.

Man! That big guy is really on the move ;)

Visitors and cookies

2007-12-14T20:22:00.000-08:00

Sorry to have been quiet for so long (like that's never happened before)!

My folks have been visiting for exactly a week; they leave for home (4 hours north) tomorrow, but are coming back Monday night. Not sure of the duration of their next stay, but as long as my mom keeps making Christmas cookie favorites, I'll be okay with it. The free babysitting is just a perk.

My dad, remarkably, survived pancreatic cancer, diagnosed in late 2000. He had a full round of chemo and radiation back then, and was declared cancer-free for 5 years just a while back.

His doctors don't think it is cancer now (fingers crossed), but he hasn't been able to eat or drink anything without pain for over 2 weeks now.

He's on what we joking refer to as the "feed bag" overnight; he became so grumpy on Wednesday that we "forced" him to eat something; the stomach pain soon returned and he had a procedure this morning that forbade him eating, so he's back on the bag.

Anyway, they NEED to go home for a couple of days, mom is involved in a charity raffle and she has to get tickets organized; they've also been washing and wearing the same clothes for two weeks now. Dad was first admitted to the hospital in Saginaw where his internist practices; that doctor has released him to care at an Ann Arbor hospital, thus the extended stay Chez Denise & Co.

Despite the free babysitting (or perhaps because of it), I'm exhausted. It's hard to cook for people when you know someone in the house is starving for a good meal, yet can't eat it.

Needless to say, I'm quite relieved I decided a while ago to send out (gasp!) ordinary store-bought holiday cards. Adding "create card masterpiece to send out to 60+ mailing list" would have meant no holiday cards this year. "Just Moved" postcards were enough this year.

Found!

2007-12-04T09:09:00.000-08:00

1. My iPod*
2. My quilting books**
3. Our two red boxes of Christmas ornaments***

*I went back to the coffee house where I last remember taking it and posted a note (I need to go back and take that down), then remembered that was one of the last warm days we had, looked in the pocket of my warm-weather jacket, and there it was. Whew.

**They were stored vertically, so I didn't spot them the 6 or so times I looked in that box (E discovered them).

***Irreplaceable, so and even bigger WHEW than #1.

Disco Fever

2007-12-02T10:37:00.001-08:00

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!Waaaay too much fun.

FInally, a new layout

2007-11-23T19:02:00.000-08:00

I don't know why it's taken me so long to FINISH something; oh, yes, (A) very few Friday night crops in the last month, my 5-hour stretch to get stuff DONE and (B) been hard at work finishing an 8x8 mini-album of favorite photos from Ben's first year (still have to do the journaling on that one before it's ready for its close-up).

Becky Higgins has been a real inspiration of late; this layout is one of her sketches, and the First Year Favorites album was totally her schematic (scroll down to near the end of that entry and you'll get a taste of what Ben's album looks like. Very, very, VERY similar...).

You know, I was just kicking away toys after I put the kids to bed, and I had the funniest recollection. I was remembering a manuscript that came in to the publishing house where I used to work. It was cute, all about a kid who imagined his parents playing with his toys after he went to bed. Not sure why we didn't publish it...oh yeah, a senior editor with serious procrastination issues, and the story probably had a flat ending (the fate of many of the unsolicited manuscripts we received).

Not long after we turned the manuscript down, I saw an episode of Growing Pains (remember when they brought a little kid into the show, long after it had jumped the shark, to try and improve ratings?!) where the young boy goes to bed and imagines the older Seavers...playing with his toys.

Nothing new on the earth, I'm telling ya.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T19:18:00.000-08:00

Make a slide show, scrapbook, or ecard

There's FIVE pages to this; it freezes up my computer every time. If you're patient, you should (eventually) get a play arrow to move around the "layouts."

At least the music is pretty.

Oh deer.

2007-11-16T12:18:00.001-08:00

Oh deer.
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile

So this is what greeted me this morning as I headed out of town. This is the same sports establishment that has a "live bait" vending machine out at the curb all summer long (refrigerated, of course. I've always wanted to see someone stop, thinking it's a pop machine, then drive off when they realize what it is...of course, the giant LIVE BAIT across the front kind of gives it away).

Every year when I first spot this, I do a double take. The first time I ever saw it, I was about 2 blocks away before it registered in my head. Then I was like..."wait...did I just see...what?!"

So far Tess hasn't noticed them. She did one year and I think I gave a lame excuse like, "oh, they're just stuffed deer for display." Brilliant, I know.

These poor guys were looking a little less deflated when I first passed them this morning. I caught this shot (sorry) on the way home after heading out to Chelsea for MOPS this morning. My least favorite sight is a buck with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Eeeww.

I live in such a klassy town.

PR Countdown!

2007-11-14T10:13:00.001-08:00

You know where I'll be at 10p tonight.

Laughter is the best medicine

2007-11-09T20:36:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't you know, I got my first-ever ear infection...from my little guy. He had 102-degree fevers last weekend, and completely lost his balance by Sunday. E took him to Urgent Care that afternoon and sure enough, the two ears that the nurse practitioner saw on Friday and thought "looked a little red, maybe from the crying" (because we had to wait in the examining room for 45 minutes, and he had a FEVER?!) were really quite infected.

My left ear has been ringing for about a week and a half (somebody answer that! ba-dump-bump (sorry)), so maybe I had it first. But after three nights of coughing and that long for an earache, I finally got myself (fancy that!) to the doctor's today. Cough syrup, real good ole fashioned CODEINE, whooo!

So, this is what is making me laugh myself better. Nothing like some seriously ugly time-warp clothes to cheer you up. Beats the old Playboys we found in our house, back in 1978, under the cabinet of our bathroom. Vintage porn, that just wouldn't be right to blog about, now, would it? Clothing to get your ass kicked in is much, much funnier.

Bubble Tea

2007-11-03T19:06:00.001-07:00

Bubble Tea
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile

Aaaack! My old Minolta Dimage camera takes crap pictures. At least I readily found the cable to connect it to my computer (moving...bah...I have lost an entire box of quilting books, BTW...grr). I had pictures on it from August. It runs out of battery power within 20 minutes of recharging. But, it's tiny, so I always have it with me. For moments like this.

Tess has recently switched loyalty from Nickelodeon to the Disney channel (yay, no more Dora! boo, annoying hyper Doodlebops).

Anyway, we are now big fans of the This is Emily Yeung (formerly hosted by/known as the This Is Daniel Cook) shorts, wherein a very smart and precocious 6 year old host explores something new in each mini-episode (10 minutes? 8?). This week Emily made a mask in one and her own flavor of bubble tea in another.

I told Tess that there was a place in Ann Arbor that serves bubble tea, and man, she was all over that. I have always been curious about it myself, and once I found out the "bubbles" were pearls of tapioca, I was game. I love me some tapioca.

We went to TK WU on Liberty (a longer walk than I remembered from my usual Washington Street parking structure) and had a watermelon green tea with milk.

I wish I'd thought of taking a picture of the lid. Very Japanese (even though we were in a Chinese restaurant...a VERY GOOD Chinese restaurant. Check it out sometime), cute, with a little girl and a bunny.

Tess took a couple of sips but the milk was rice milk (I'm pretty sure) and she's not a big fan; it was very sweet so I'm surprised she didn't care for it. She did finish up the last few sips later on, so maybe she did like it after all. Just not *that much* of one.

Oh, hey, I just got a notice that I won a drawing for entering my layout over here (totally random drawing, so it's not like I did better than all the other ladies there...who were WAY more fantastic than little ole me) Check out the little dude doing the drawing. Adam rocks!

Oh, and I finally got my invitation for Ravelry (actually, that was pretty quick...about a month, compared to some folks waiting 3+ months). Fun, fun, fun. I'm CreativeExile over there if you're looking for me, although I don't have much going in the knitting department right now. Too much drama over family Thanksgiving going on, but, more on that later. Maybe. It's too depressing to talk about right now.

See ya next month...

2007-11-01T12:11:00.000-07:00

Looks like I'll be participating again this year...

..as "Creative Exile."
Nothing like a last-minute decision.
I'm getting famous for those! :D

Hey, it's free!

CE, CKU, CTMH, SU, and other abbreviations

2007-10-28T10:40:00.001-07:00

On Friday I got a special email that I had "won" the lottery *to register* for Creative Escape (CE) 2008 in Arizona (E finds that whole concept suspect and silly, so)...It took me all weekend to figure out how to propose this to E, as it is a weekend away from him and the kids, albeit not until next September.

Going is going to require a lifestyle change for me. It is quite an expensive event, but after going to Creating Keepsakes University (CKU) in April, blowing my budget *after the fact*, and having moved into a house with a room for me to spread out my scrapbooking stuff, I have realized a few things.

1. I am not the kind of scrapper who stocks up on supplies because they are pretty, and I *might* have a use for them, someday. I have been guilty of that in the past, but it's not what makes for happy scrapping in my world.

2. I have everything I could want from Close To My Heart (CTMH -- for whom I have been a consultant for 4 years now) and I've been in a Stampin Up (SU) monthly stamp club for a year and half, so, same sentiment there. Those two commitments have cost me over half of my monthly budget each month for too long now; I need resign from CTMH and quit the SU stamp club when my latest round is up in February.

3. I have soooo much leftover stuff from CKU that I haven't used yet (see moving into my own space, above) that I don't need to buy anything for a while.

4. Putting a down payment on the event (non-refundable, gulp) and *saving up ahead of time* to finish paying for it, as well as hotel and airfare, was a challenge for CKU (see blown budget, above), but I have been less interested in spending money on new stuff (see leftover stuff, above) and I feel totally ready to go on a serious craft diet to attend something this special.

5. I have plenty of knitting stash to keep me going through the winter when I get the itch to knit (my other expensive hobby, which I have not been spending much money or time on lately).

6. Ditto quilting stash.

7. Scrapbooking gives me the most relaxation and satisfaction right now. I need to step back and step up and really treat myself to an extended scrap retreat.

7b. And I need to save up for it this time, instead of paying for it the year after.

I sound like I'm still trying to convince myself, don't I?

UPDATE: Sorry, I wasn't trying to convince myself since I've already paid the deposit. Now the challenge is to see if I can stay on track until the final balance is due February 4th. When I quit CTMH and my SU stamp club (which I am glad to give up; both have been exhausting to my budget), I should have $130 or more to save toward CE --per month -- and I feel that is totally do-able.

Besides, I am SO not giving up my spot! Not yet, at least :D

Smile Box

2007-10-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

Just playing with a new toy...haven't subscribed yet, as Mom's on dial-up and I think this will completely choke her system...

Dang it, I just printed 24 of my favorite photos from Ben's first year, and I forgot the sleeping one! Another favorite!!

Make your own slide shows and scrapbooks

Batty!

2007-10-20T20:38:00.001-07:00

No thanks!
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile

Took Tess to a program at the library today. We had a really great "Girls Day, " actually. E's FINALLY getting the message (plus, it's colder in the mornings now, and doesn't get light enough TO PLAY TENNIS EARLY) that after scrapping until midnight, I like to SLEEP IN Saturday morning (really?)! So he took the kids to the daycare at our gym (Becky, feel free to snort right here) first thing this morning and let me have breakfast and shower and get ready to pick up Tess and take her to this organization's program. It was exceedingly cool (until they got too close).

Tess is fascinated by bats, wants one for a pet, has a little Beanie Baby bat she takes to bed with her (and has named "Whizzie," for some reason known only to a 5 year-old). And she did great with the whole program, again, until they got a little too close to her (she came and climbed on my lap, crying, shortly after I took this photo. Poor girl).

I took many fun photos (he could have let me pet one and I wouldn't have shied away...just bees and wasps, remember?!) and put them up at the usual place. Great organization, BTW. We saw a similar presentation at Cranbrook a few years ago, with a Russian friend of E's family, but we didn't have Tess with us at the time.

Tess and I went to lunch at Dexter Pub after that, then costume shopping. Ben is wearing a recycled costume of Tess's (a cow/sweatsuit number), I'm recycling my farmer's outfit (um, overalls, basically) from that same year, and Tess wants to be a black and white (barn!) cat...not a black cat, that would be too easy, sigh. So from the suggestion of a friend, we looked for a white feather boa to cut up and sew around the neck, sleeves, and cuffs of a pair of pants for her ensemble. For a family party next week, E has graciously offered to be a pig (!) to complete our barnyard theme (seriously...his suggestion).

Speaking of cats, we may have to borrow my MIL's. Seems mice *do* poop and eat at the same time, as I found suspicious pellets ON BENJAMIN'S HIGH CHAIR TRAY yesterday. E heard (and saw) evidence (in the form of a mouse scuttling under our stove) at 3am last night, after he fell asleep on the couch downstairs while watching TV. Thank God for Chlorox wipes and D-Con traps that hide the body. Yeeeech. Wish us happy hunting.

A near-perfect Sunday

2007-10-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was nasty. The boy behind us (12) had friends over, and for some UNGODLY reason they were up at 7a, in the backyard, shouting and laughing and causing a ruckus. AT SEVEN A.M. Gah. Thank goodness the reigning adult over there finally got done with his/her 30-minute shower (I'm horribly biased, I'm guessing it's a him) & settled them down, but it was too late for me. I had gone to bed at 1a after cropping in Chelsea, and I was awake for good. Actually, awake for the worse.

Today went much better. E took the kids at 9a to our gym's daycare, then took them swimming there, then visited his mom for the afternoon. A whole day to myself! I almost wasted it sitting around drinking coffee (in PEACE) and reading the paper (again, in PEACE).

I finally got motivated, showered, and spent about an hour working on my Thanksgiving swap cards for stamp club ("the first rule of stamp club...we don't talk about stamp club"). I won a pound of handmade paper at crop Friday night, and I've already started using it for cards. Some of it is really pretty. I used up some of the uglier stuff for this card, and now I find I have a fuzzy sort of fondness for the crinkly brown paper I used. Go figure.

Then, I ran my favorite Sunday afternoon "errand" -- hanging around poking through the stacks at the Ann Arbor Library's Friends of the Library Book Sale. They have raised their prices drastically, though, so I had to do some serious weeding before I got up to the cash stand. Two bucks for hardcovers and trade paperbacks! Zut alors. Anyway, here's what I snagged:

Great Little Quilts, Eleanor Levie -- just for the fleur-de-lys pattern, and the elephant and donkey picture quilts
The House, Teresa Waugh -- started reading this at lunch. Gotta love eccentric British characters
Pushkin's Children, Tatyana Tolstaya -- just trying to figure out E
The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls -- to help me get over my mild childhood
To Hell With All That: Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife -- I need a laugh
Made in Detroit, Paul Clemens -- because I collect Detroit books and I've been meaning to read this.

I ate lunch (in PEACE) at Seva's, one of my favorite restaurants (and vegetarian, so E never wants to go there) and had two of my favorite dishes: Enchilada Calabaza (stuffed with butternut squash -- hee, I can sense my friend Gabby curling her lip in disgust already) and Cocoa Cake, which I was surprised to find on the menu. A waitress there told me a while ago that they take it off the menu when the temperatures get over 78 degrees. My piece was certainly refrigerated, but still good. I can never finish it, though. Mmm...late-night snackage.

Came home to an EMPTY house, had coffee, relaxed before E came back with the kids. He put Ben straight to bed and Tess is listening to Harriet the Spy on CD. Hee. I'd better go in there and listen, too.

The hazards of a (very) warm autumn

2007-10-05T13:02:00.001-07:00

Cider mill
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile

I am so ready for sweater weather. I know in about a month I'll be bitching about the snow and ice, so I'd better be careful what I wish for.

We had an outing, Ben and I, today at Jennie's Farm Market. I'm glad I announced early that I'd only stay about an hour (Ben needed to nap, I needed to eat & get ready to volunteer at Tess's school), because -- like at the cider mill in the photo above -- there were bees EVERYWHERE.

Some of you who know me know I can take anything but bees...give me a mouse, a snake, even a big, hairy spider, I can deal, but bees -- nope. And they were really lovin' me today. I had one bumping my arm over and over, another took a shine to my glasses, several times...well, let's just say I had to come home and rest this afternoon after that morning battle. Hey, I'm just proud I lasted a whole hour. Sometimes I see a bee, and I scoot.

But I do love me some cinnamon donuts & fresh apple cider. Even if I do have to eat them in the car.

Did you think I forgot?

2007-10-02T10:20:00.001-07:00

12 months!
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile

I had the weird feeling after this last photo was taken, that somewhere I had missed a month. But no, I got them all.

I just missed a newborn photo...I remember thinking around day 2 or so, when I was home alone for an hour or so (Mom and Dad were visiting, but out shopping, or doing something equally useful for us), "gee, I should start taking the orange quilt/Ugly Doll pictures today," but then I was tired and worried about Ben's endless sleeping; sure enough, we went into the hospital the next day to take care of his severe jaundice.

So that is a story in itself, with plenty of photos...

Anyway, here is the full set. Complete at last!

Vote!

2007-09-20T09:20:00.001-07:00

You know how I all feel about Christian websites (or anything overtly Christian). Or maybe you don't (it all creeps me out), but here is a fun chance to vote for the cover of a new book for a Christian author. Holy cow, I can't believe I just wrote that on my site. And I didn't creep myself out. And you're still reading.

Matthew is funny. I needed more funny Christians when I was growing up.

In other (non-Christian, far as I know) author news: E is sad. So very sad.

Our running joke when we were first married was, either I start reading the Wheel of Time series (oh, how I hate fantasy), or have a baby.

And Tess was born.

Sick too

2007-09-19T19:53:00.000-07:00

Great, now E is throwing up. Ben's 1st birthday party is Sunday afternoon. Durr. I hope the kids don't get this bug for more reasons than just that. It is the most wicked throwing up I have ever done (or witnessed). Like you are possessed.

Good thing I didn't go to Scrap Camp with everyone today.

Here's a purty picture to distract you from the idea of a stomach virus.

A rather tasteless weekend (for me, at least)

2007-09-17T10:57:00.001-07:00

The ultimate test...
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile

Ben is here enjoying his quilt from Karen D. Yum! She gave it to me when I came along to the Great Ann Arbor Quilt Guild meeting (finally!) on Saturday. It's all those cool Harry Potter fabrics I was admiring when Karen posted about them...ooh...about 6 months ago! Sneaky girl.

Unfortunately, I didn't get these photos posted until just now because I've been battling a wicked stomach bug that hit me Sunday morning. I'd been tossing and turning all night, and E came in to the room just in time Sunday morning to see me nearly hork up a shoe. Honestly, that was all I had left in me by then.

I'm still feeling achy and weird but I'm trying to get to the mounds of laundry that piled up (in just one day, apparently) and to wipe off every surface that E seemed to hit in the kitchen while caring for the kids. Hey, he cleaned up after me (iiich) AND gave up tennis (the beloved Sunday night league that he runs), so I can allow him a small disaster. Or two.

Morning Reflections

2007-09-13T05:57:00.000-07:00

Kids just waking up...I woke up early (6:30a), just before my alarm went off, with a disturbing dream. Woke up glad it was just a dream. All I can say is, I need to learn Russian. Then maybe these dreams where my husband and MIL are talking frantically to me in Russian will make sense, and be less disturbing.

Tess got all emotional on the drive home last night about her Dyeda (Russian grandpa). Out of the blue, she says:

"Bacteria can make you die."

Me: "It's pretty rare, though."

Tess: "What did Dyeda die from?"

Me: "Cancer."

Tess: "Sounds like 'pencer...and 'can't...'"
(she drifts off here, obviously sounding things out and rhyming them, to help her remember, then...)

Tess: "I miss Dyeda. I loved Dyeda. Why did he have to die?"

Then, within 30 seconds of my attempts to comfort her and find out the source of this sudden sadness, she's off talking about her bus driver and how they all have to be quiet when they are crossing railroad tracks (we soon came to railroad tracks, thus the jump to a safer subject).

Apparently her bus driver, Jen, has a CD player on the bus, which she turns down to listen for the train...all the kids have to hold their hands up to show that they are being quiet...and Jen went into a rant one day about her CD player (still not sure of all the connections on this, but it was pretty funny).

"Our bus driver spent her time and money to have music on the bus and we have to all be quiet when she stops at the tracks.

"But I wish she had Backyardigans instead."

Me: "What kind of music does your bus driver like to listen to?"

Tess: "Blues...y'know, stuff like that. Backyardigans has the blues. She should play Backyardigans."

(Tess is obviously obsessed with our Backyardigans CD...maybe she should take it on the bus some day for Jen to play...heh, I'm sure that would be appreciated...)

Neighbors

2007-09-08T17:40:00.000-07:00

I need some advice. Tess has never had neighbor children to play with before, she's always gone alone into our yard and played just fine on her own (if a little lonely).

She's been over at the neighbors' two doors down all. day. Seriously, from like 11:30a -- when I walked her down there to ask if their 6 year-old could play -- with a break for lunch at 12:30p (she came over to ask if she could have pizza with them, they'd invited her but I'd already made her a grilled cheese sandwich at her request...she ended up eating that AND pizza!), to a visit from a bunch of neighborhood kids to OUR house for about a half an hour at 4p, until she FINALLY came home ("just for bug spray, mom! I'm going back over there!") where I insisted she stay home for dinner (with a little bit of questioning, it seems *they* were eating dinner, so I kept her home).

I've spoken to the mom on a number of occasions this week, she's super-friendly and works outside on their home a lot. This weekend she and her husband were working outside all day, replacing wood frames and staining wood around their house. They were totally cool with Tess being over there all day (I went over at 3p when Ben woke up from a nap to check on her).

Apparently they had *another* neighbor girl over to watch their kids (they have a 6 year old and a 4 year old), so essentially I had free babysitting all day. E thinks we should offer to pay, I'm thinking the 12 year-old was more of a mother's helper while the parents worked around the house.

I'm all for asking, I'm just not sure how cool it is to have Tess over there all day. She goes in the evenings after school, too.

Anyway, this is a new issue for me. I'm happy to have kids over here, we just don't have the super-cool playset up (and won't, until next spring).

Tess goes to her Baba's tomorrow, then we have friends over who are leaving for Colorado (sniff), so she'll be distracted.

These gorgeous photos are distracting me right now. After E being gone all day at ANOTHER tennis tournament (last one this season, so help me God), I'm happy to surf the net for the rest of the evening.

And she's off...

2007-09-05T09:12:00.001-07:00

Ben went down at 11:27a, the bus came at 11:42a. Whew. Tess had just finished her popsicle and was upstairs getting her socks. She loves her crocs but I thought socks might be necessary in school (who knows, she might come home with a note, No Crocs Allowed).

I love that she picked out her frilly socks with lace at the top. Oh, and polka dots and paisley TOTALLY go together, as long as they are both in the same color family. Right?

I was very surprised and pleased to get a call from our bus driver yesterday, telling me that they would pick up Tess at our driveway. The bus came sooner than I was expecting today, though, so it all happened in a rush.

An assistant came down and drew a (pink, hee) chalk line on our driveway, the "Do Not Cross" line for Tess, and showed her how the driver will signal when it's okay to get on the bus.

The driver had Tess turn around to get her picture taken (yay!); when I spoke to her yesterday she said she expected cameras and hugs, etc. etc. so it was nice to have her give me a moment for that.

I wasn't expecting a to get a little teary-eyed. I mean, c'mon, Tess has been underfoot all summer. I haven't signed her up for any sports or dance or crafty classes, so it's been me and her and Ben all. summer. long.

But now she's off on her own adventure. The Big One. I had to give her lunch at 11:15a, so I packed her a snack to eat on the bus ride home. She had packed some books to read (my suggestion) and a big ballerina bear, but when I pulled that out to put in her snack I asked her about it and she decided she's a big girl now so she had me take it out. Awww.

I threw in a notepad and pen for her to draw with, since she loves to draw, and her snack for the afternoon. She decided last night to pack a change of clothes "in case I don't make it to the bathroom in time" (which has only happened once at school, when she was THREE).

Now I've got my precious free time (and here I sit, writing an entry). Here's hoping Ben does at least a 2-hour nap this morning...I've got 40+ postcards to make. At least my scrap room is getting, well, more scrappable. Is that a word?

Some creative time

2007-09-04T07:59:00.001-07:00

Okay, after the bitching yesterday, I have to say I did manage to get in *some* crafting time. I'm going to make about 60 of these postcards to send out. I wanted to make sure the bear-in-a-box was secure on the front, so what could I use? Something I have plenty of...packing tape! Naturally.

Too bad CTMH is retiring this set. Stampin Up retired *their* Just Moved set in July, so I had to go with this one. Looking back at the SU set, I like this one better after all. Certainly more for the money -- 15 stamps to SU's 7, for $18.95 versus $23.95. Acrylic is cheaper, after all. It'll be interesting to see what both companies comes up with for this theme in future catalogs.

Today is the last day of summer vacation. Tess was very excited to learn that she starts school TOMORROW. More to the point, that she is going to see her friend Mackenzie then.

I'm putting her on the bus, for now, and letting it drop her off in the late afternoon. I think she's going to be on the bus home alone, almost -- everyone I talk to is picking up their kids from school. First of all, I don't want to wait in the long, loooong line in front of the school with a baby in the back, and secondly, I don't want to waste a moment of Ben's nap time, either when Tess leaves or when she comes home. We'll see how she does. She's sensitive, but has her tough side. I hope she doesn't need it on the bus.

Ben is still a bit all over the place with naps; for the most part he takes two, but sometimes he skips a morning nap and takes one monster afternoon nap. Tess gave up her morning nap altogether when she turned one, and her afternoon nap was gone when she turned two. Hopefully everyone's prediction that two kids can be very, very different will come true in my kids' case.

At least someone around here is relaxing

2007-09-03T19:43:00.001-07:00

Big Feet
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile

Tess checked out my new jetted tub today...only without the jets (naturally). I turned them on for her after she got out, and the just the soap she had used made a TON of bubbles. So now I know why the home inspector said not to use bubble bath in this tub.

Tess had to jump back in to enjoy those soapy bubbles.

Damn, that was a long weekend. I haven't had much of a break since Friday night. E and I got into a wrassle (is that a wrestle and a hassle?) over it today, in fact. His solution (to the fact that he gets to work with ADULTS all day, AND gets out to play tennis every. day. for 2-3 hours) is for me to get a job.

I know (and I know he knows) that that is a knee-jerk reaction, and that my going back to work would bring us more headaches than me being home, despite the fact that I don't get paid for the work I do around the house and with the kids.

The discussion brought to mind a statement I read in one of those mother-empowerment books, a statement that made me realize how our society as a whole does not "get" the sacrifice families make when one parent stays home (to be fair, I do know of at least one "househusband" in our circle of friends).

If you choose to stay home, you will see a big fat "ZERO" on your Social Security earnings for the year.

If you hire a nanny...

..she gets Social Security.

And a paycheck.

Welcome to my life

2007-08-31T10:57:00.001-07:00

Boxes, boxes everywhere. This is (going to be) my new scraproom, a first-floor study with the dining room straight across for crop nights.

It has been soooo long since I cropped; can't wait to go tonight. Yup, gotta get out of the (new) house. It has been so long since I've been able to organize for cropping that I just ordered 63 photos JUST FOR BEN'S BABY ALBUM and that only takes me through APRIL (month 7) of his life.

I'll probably only get his baptism done tonight, but at least I'll be organized for crops in September.

More fun photos:

Ben loves my Cropper Hopper cart...

Proof that my children are part monkey:

State Superstar!

2007-08-16T10:12:00.001-07:00

E is off to Indianapolis this weekend to play in the USTA regional finals for his tennis team (yes, they went with Tshirts that read "Dumbledore's Army"...last year it was "Chico's Bail Bonds"). Pretty cool, huh? Yeah, I'd be more excited if we weren't -- this time next week -- moving house and in need of packing...packing...packing.

Good thing we have a hearty chunk of our furniture in a PODS unit somewhere. I always envision that last scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark when I think of our things in storage.

At least I was FINALLY able to secure a babysitter -- one who can drive herself home -- for my regular crop night. I'll need a break by then.

SOLD! and bought...almost

2007-07-29T17:29:00.001-07:00

In a flurry of activity last week, we sold our home (after 4 counteroffers... countercounter-offers? counteroffers to the power of 4?) and looked at nearly a dozen homes before finally putting in an offer this morning. Somehow I managed to get some scrappin' done in there (this is the Betsy Ross House in Philly). We won't know until the end of the week, most likely, if we got the house.

There were three signs is relatively short order that it was "our" house: we walked through to the back patio and all of us shouted "WILLOW TREE!" --everyone knows that is my favorite kind of tree, especially in spring; my MIL heard bullfrogs galumping when she went outside to keep an eye on Tess (this has a special significance for her as my FIL was fascinated by the frogs they heard on their daily walk to a nearby pond) (earlier, the first offer on our house came in on my FIL's birthday); finally at the next house the battery on our video camera died, as if to say "you are done looking now!"

E has instantly mellowed on the me-time/you-time issue, amongst other things. Weird how stressed the whole home-selling, home-buying process made both of us. I think it helped him process his dad's death, in a roundabout way.

Strangely Peaceful

2007-07-15T17:53:00.000-07:00

I put Ben down at 8:30p (poor guy's been rubbing his eyes for an hour, but he had no afternoon nap so I didn't want to put him down *too* early, only to have him wake up in an hour and be up until 10p) and went to check on Tess, who had been bouncing off walls at 7:30p, then complained of a headache and went upstairs around 8p.

This is what I found. I like how she is clinging to the bed rail, as if to keep from falling. Asleep, that is. Now I can only hope that she doesn't wake up vomiting. The last time she went upstairs and fell asleep on her own while it was daylight was when she had the stomach flu. She was three years old then and it was 4 o'clock in the afternoon, but still. Crossing my fingers here.

Today I had 5 whole hours at the Zone to crop. All of my bitching during and after our "vacation," where E {begin lengthy whine} dragged us to his friend's place in Petoskey (I know, poor me, gorgeous condo near the shores of Little Traverse Bay, whaa, I'll shut up now) JUST SO HE COULD PLAY SOME TENNIS, not considering I wasn't planning on cropping again for a full TWO WEEKS (although I did get out for a couple of hours when we got back early from our trip), {/whine} finally paid off.

You'd think I'd accomplish more than two layouts in 5 hours but that's what a long break does to me. E has also been encroaching on my Sacred Fridays, where I try to get out to Chelsea for my weekly crop by 7p (and I crop until midnight...or until they start running the vacuum to get us out, usually around 11:15p). Now, Sacred Fridays are something that NOBODY should mess with, most of all E and his frickin' tennis schedule. I think he learned his lesson today when I was gone. All. Day. Sweet.

Friday (a shortened 3-hour crop, more like 2 hours), I tried an 11 x 8.5 ("landscape") layout for the first time. My pictures required it, so I closed my eyes and jumped. Eh. Not so fond of that one, but today's -- second one in a row! -- was a LOT more fun.

LOVE the Stampin Up "Notebook" alphabet (now retired) for "Binky Face" (no, I did not hand draw those letters. I wish)! Not too sure about the tab and the journaling strips, but overall the layout works in the mood I was going for -- playful and silly.

The other layout I completed today I totally dreamed up yesterday. I recently read an article on hair care in Real Simple magazine, and under Oily Hair (totally my type) it listed all the things I *should* be doing to take care of my fine, oily hair, and voila! I am doing all of them! So I ripped the article out, grabbed a page kit I received from a swap-bot swap, and went to town.

Here's a couple of reasons why this layout is so out of the box for me:

1. PINK!
2. ribbons
3. hidden journaling
4. TURQUOISE!
5. a button (gasp!)
6. for the dot on the "i," no less!
7. FLORAL STUFF (!!)
8. I finally used my Coluzzle file folder template.
9. and my Autumn Leaves journal box stamps.
10. more than 2 fonts on the page (shh...don't tell the scrapping police...)
11. did I mention I used PINK and TURQUOISE?

I can't promise anything, but since I have just purchased Elsie Flannigan's 52 Challenges book, you may be in for more surprises on my pages...