Santa time...

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...

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

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

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

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.

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.

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? ;)