Valentine XIII

This was made with SU cardstock, KI Memories patterned paper. The phrase is also KI cut out of a sheet of 12x12 patterned paper. The brads are Making Memories.

Valentine XII

This card used SU cardstock and the patterned paper is KI Memories.

Valentines X & XI

Cardstock from SU and patterned paper from the Target $ spot.


Cardstock from SU and patterned paper from the Target $ spot.

Valentine VIII & IX

Here are two more Valentines that I made this weekend.



This card was made with Stampin Up cardstock but the designer paper and embellishment are from the Target $1 spot. (Gotta love Target)




This card was made with Stampin Up cardstock and the Love & Joy SU stamp set and the designer paper is from the Target $1 spot.

Birthday Shout Out!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIMONE!!!!

It is a pleasure to have you in my life. I wish you a day of fun, laughter and good eats! A year of good health, good love and many many days filled with smiles and sunshine!

This is on it's way, sorry for the delay, it's just a way to celebrate another day!

RAK Sent

Okay, so this is the stuff that I sent out for the January RAK that I spoke of in a previous post. These items are on their way to Florida. The card was from my last SU demo in November. I left it blank so that Florence could use it herself. I had the card and wanted to make sure that these items got out in time and that I wasn't holding it up trying to come up with a January card idea. The stickers (I did not photograph all the stickers sheets) and the mini scrapbook package are for her to use in crafty projects of her own. The blue/yellow items are a notebook and pen set for making lists of ideas or supplies that need to be purchased. I hope that Florence enjoys her items.

Reality TV

I promise to post pictures of the RAK that I sent out on Tuesday. The recipient should have it today and I feel safe posting what I sent later today.

In the interim I want to know if anyone else digs reality tv like me.

In particular (since it was just on last night) Project Runway.

What's with Rickie?
Why is he always crying?
He cries when he's under pressure.
He cries when he's sad and thinks he's not good enough.
He cried last night because he WON!!!
WTH???

Jillian seems to be my favorite along with Rahmy (sp?) so far.
Christian puts out new ideas and I like his clothes, but I don't care for his attitude.
Sweet Pea is soooo nice but I'm not sure she has it in her to win it all.

Anybody else out there watch this or another one of the reality fare?
Leave a comment and let's dish.

What's In A Name

What Constance Means

You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily.
You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind.
A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable.

You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life.
You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you.
At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself.

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.
You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.
You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong.
You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know.
You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do.

You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life.
You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home.
You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble.

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.
You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.
You have the classic "Type A" personality.





You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.
You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.
At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

A Mini Rant

I have nothing to show today because if I post my "creation" then the recipient might see it before they should and that would not be right.

Instead I just have a mini rant inside that I must get off of my chest.

Living in Chicago most of my life (the nice stint down in Florida for some of my schooling was a treat)I have come to deal with snow. Unless the snow is measuring in feet and the crews have not been out to clear the streets, there is no reason to stay at home when you are expected somewhere. Specifically work. I just do not understand the people that when there is more than an inch of snow believe that they cannot navigate the roads and get to work. The person of whom I speak grew up in Pennsylvania, a snow state! The vehicle is dependable and working, the drive is under 50 miles. Why would you put additional pressure on your co-workers because you want to stay home? I just don't understand people. I just get aggravated because as the manager of this department it gets under my skin when the good workers constantly have to keep things running smoothly when the icky ones are being icky. Enough of that!!!

Sorry for the rant!

On the bright side, the sun is shining on the newly fallen snow and it is a winter wonderland.

My chihuahua Gidget even had fun playing in the snow, even if it was for only a minute or two before her poor belly got all wet and cold.

I also want to admit that I have a problem, not just the one mentioned in the rant above. I am a craft supply hoarder! I recently invested in a SU ink pad holder. When I assembled it and saw how many spaces for ink pads there were I never thought I would ever fill them all up. This morning before work I went down to my craft cellar and began to put away the ink pads. To my amazement and horror, I filled up the entire thing!!! I have to buy the extender. YIKERS!!! Once I straighten out a few things I will post a picture of my craft cellar and the hoards of supplies.

Hope everyone has a good Tuesday and that if you have to navigate the snow that you are safe.

Hibernation

This weekend it was bitter cold here in the Windy City and I was all for hibernation whenever I had the chance.

Friday night had me at my J.U.G. friend Debbie's house to do some crafting. Some of the scrapbook pages that Debbie had done were spectacular. I got 8 cards partially finished. Partially because I didn't prepare my supplies correctly and didn't have all of the cardstock that I needed for my design idea. Therefore, I have nothing to post for the visual side of this post.

Saturday, I met my Bally buddy Steve and we worked out for 1-1/2 hours. I love working out in the morning it makes the whole day better. I just wish it was plausible during my work week. Steve and I have a standing arrangement to meet every Saturday morning at 8:00am. Working out with a buddy is SOOOOO much easier and way cheaper than a personal trainer. Hopefully by the summer I will have a leaner buffer body. I just need to find a week-day buddy so that I get my arse to the gym more than just once a week.

This is for any "scientist" readers of my blog. Would someone please look into making foods that are good for me (veggies, low fat, low carb) taste like chocolate. I would be eating those foods all of the time because I wanted to and not because I should be eating them.

With the Martin Luther King holiday being observed today I don't have school tonight and intend to do some crafting so hopefully I will have a new "creation" up for tomorrow's post.

Stay warm!!!

Jen T's January RAK

I received my Jen T's January RAK from Jodie of Honolulu, Hawaii. The first picture is of the lovely card that Jodie sent along with some wonderful goodies. Some silk flower embellishments, some rose stickers and a very cute card with a pocket on the inside to slip a gift card into or a note.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH JODIE!!!

I can't wait to use the embellishments and hope to have something up soon using my new gift.

Valentine Cards V, VI & VII

Last night was a school night so these are "cheater" cards. I had a card kit that had the cards, the embellishments and all I had to do was put them together.

Valentines III & IV

Both of these cards were made last night while I watched tv.
The cardstock is SU Real Red, Pink Passion and Whisper White.
The patterned paper is from Target's dollar spot.
The chipboard heart on the first card is also from Target's dollar spot.
The white heart brads came from my stash and I am not sure who manufacturer's them.

Valentin Card II

I know that this looks almost identical to my Christmas card but the mojo isn't flowing right now. It's like I have too many ideas floating through my brain and when I go to create nothing comes out. So sorry for the duplicate!
The cardstock is SU Pink Passion, Real Red and White. The patterned paper is from the Target "hot spot". The stamps are SU Love & Joy stamped with Pink Passion ink.

A J.U.G. Reunion

I have been very blessed.
I have a group of women that I am proud to call my life-long friends.
We are very similar in our upbringings and the fact that we attended the same school. Some of us through both grammar and high schools and some just grammar school or high school. As we have grown our paths have taken us out of state or out of the country to live but the bond that holds us together remains strong. We have different opinions on many things and often can have some very heated debates on any number of topics but the strong bond of friendship and love keeps us as a strong group. Ask any of the men that have married into our little group, when the J.U.G.'s (Just Us Girls) get together there is always plenty of food, laughter and often high decibels of chatter. You can tell when we are together that is for sure. Stacie came in for the weekend from Las Vegas (with talk of moving back home to Chicago) and a group of us got together for breakfast Sunday morning. I am sure that I speak for the group when I say that we want you back in town!!! Cindy, Stacie and Sue

Seven of the twelve J.U.G.'s

Cindy and Stacie

Stacie and Mary Anne

Stacie and me (I hate the way I look in pictures but have made the resolution that I am going to take more pictures this year and deal with my fear of photos.)

Bubbles and Stacie

Stacie and Patti

"Chops" and Stacie

Stacie and Rhonda

Bubbles, Rhonda, Stacie, Patti and myself as we were leaving the restaurant.

Stacie and Courtney(a junior J.U.G. and Rhonda's daughter)

Target

Ya just gotta love Target.
As stated in my previous post, I went to Target on the way home Friday night.
I not only scored at "the dollar spot" on some very cute Valentine papers and VD embellishments but also found two winter coats marked down to $25.00 each!!!!!

SCORE!!!

Yep, I am a firm believer that if you find something that you like that fits then buy it in every color that they have. I do this with tops, bottoms, shoes.... So, when I saw a gray heather to the knee coat on sale for $25.00, I thought SCORE. Well, they had the exact same coat in red heather. You know that both of those coats made it into my cart and then on home to my closet.

MAJOR SCORE!!!

Vacation Pictures

I haven't made any new cards so today's post are two pictures of the sun setting over the Pacific ocean and the pier in Oceanside, CA.

Also want to say that today on my way home from work I stopped at Target and attacked "the dollar spot" area. They have very cute valentine scrapbooking supplies so ladies get out to Target and grab yourself some $1.00 fun.

My First Valentine

Here is the first valentine of the season. The card stock is SU, basic gray and not sure of the pink. The patterned paper is from Doodlebug as well as the small "rubber-like" embellishment. The ribbon is from JoAnn Fabric. The center square made up of the pink, gray, and white squares is held up with pop dots.

RAK from Down Under

I have FINALLY taken the pictures of the RAK that I received from Tess. Tess resides in Queensland Australia and was a participant in Jen's November RAK. Tess made me this great card (don't you just love the kangaroo) and also sent me some great supplies to play with. Chipboard letters, some fabric flowers and a kit that will utilize my sewing machine. I am looking forward to using all of these supplies in the near future and will post any creations that I make with them. Tess, I apologize for the delay in acknowledging your kindness and send you many, many thanks.

Under the Weather

Okay, I have failed in my resolution to post everyday but have an excuse. Friday, I found out that when I downloaded the photos from my digital camera into my home computer that I had erased the memory card. Thankfully they are on my home computer.

I am feeling under the weather, a fever complete with chills/sweats. I slept most of yesterday and only because I came down to do laundry am I posting now.

This first picture is of a surfer crossing the street (not a common place sight in Chicago) and the second one is a pre-sunset picture. I hope to post at least one if not more vacation pictures daily as well as some crafty stuff too. Enjoy your Sunday!

Wedding Card

These two pictures are for my sister Cindy in California. The first one was taken from the doorway shooting toward the front gate. The second (I had to step outside in the cold Cindy!) was taken from the side door (I don't have a back door) toward the garage/alley. See the hideous / freakish red that Rick painted the door instead of matching the garage. I was hoping that it would have been "fixed" before it got to cold to paint, but I was wrong. LOL!

This is the card that I made for the wedding that I went to last Saturday (12/29). The bridesmaids wore burgundy so I chose that as my inspiration. The cardstock is SU Bravo Burgundy. The sparkle paper is K & Company as well as the glittered heart. The suede is from Archiver's.

I used another piece of the glitter paper and a piece of SU Very Vanilla on the inside. The sentiment sticker was from my stash and I am not sure of the mfg. The small money envelope is from SU and the heart that closes the envelope is another from K & Company.

Happy New Year

YIKERS!!!!

I have already broken a New Year's resolution to blog everyday!
In my defense I was busy taking down the Christmas tree and moving the furniture back to the normal locations so that I wouldn't have to do it this weekend.

Brief recap:
My vacation was WONDERFUL!!!
I have many digital pictures and 4 rolls of regular film.

Christmas was quiet and very nice full of family and good food.

Saturday was the first wedding of one of the offspring of a J.U.G. (Just Us Girls). Bubbles' son Joe got married and the wedding was a blast. I danced SOOOOO much that I have blisters on the balls of my feet. I didn't want to take off the high heeled shoes I was wearing for fear that I wouldn't be able to put them back on. When I got home that night my left foot was bloody from where the blister popped and the right foot had a nice quarter sized blister. Needless to say, Sunday was spent off my feet, lol!!! The fun was well worth the pain. The other thing that totally made my night, weekend, oh crap, my whole week was someone told me at the wedding that I looked like Lauren Graham. Jeez, talk about flying high. I would like to say that he was drunk but it was the beginning of the wedding and he, his wife and myself were all in line at the bar for our first drink. I don't see it but it certainly made me feel good that night.

New Year's eve was uneventful. Was able to move around so I did some shopping and then home for a good dinner of steak with all the trimmings.

Lastly, New Year's day was the whole taking down the tree. It was my intention to get downstairs to the computer and keep my resolution so I will have to just make sure that I keep it for the remainder of the year.

I promise to download a pic of the card I did for the wedding and some vacation pictures either later tonight or tomorrow.