change in the weather = head colds for all!

Just when I promised to blog more consistently again I come down with a major head cold and then, of course, so does Joe! So our weekend wasn't as great as I hoped it would be. We were both grumpy, sleepy, and achy - but we are getting over it!

Saturday we napped and saved up our energy for our second to last (yay almost done!) wedding to video. It went really smooth and we got to work with our favorite photographer/friend and it was great to catch up with them. Check her out... Tonya Malay Photography. She is a great photographer, I had her come all the way up to NW Indiana to do our wedding! Check it out we are in her engagement gallery too...



Sunday we decided we had to get out of the house for a bit. We headed to Coconut Point to see Across the Universe. I loved the graphics in it but all in all I was a little disappointed in it. Frankly I think part of the problem was that Joe and I weren't feeling too great and were sniffling through the whole thing. I really want to see it again before making any hard reviews of it. Graphically it was way cool though. And it had Eddie Izzard, my favorite, so it was all in all a satisfying afternoon!

Today we are both feeling a bit better but I have to get to work on some things so it's time to be over the cold even if it's not over me!

{hugs}

new ebay addict.

{raising my hand}

So I finally made a couple of ebay sales last week. I don't remember if I blogged about them or not, but I sold a couple of printers that worked great but were just taking up space after I bought my new Kodak printer which I'm so crazy about. So I've broken out into ebay selling and I can't wait to get verification that my items shipped okay so that I can confidently put some more up to sell.

Well, as of today I am officially addicted to BUYING from ebay.

First off, did you know that Amazon doesn't take PayPal as a form of payment. BIG loss there. I am usually an Amazon buyer but when I started my paypal account and selling things I decided that my only online purchases were going to be through paypal so that I can start being more self-sufficient when it comes to buying scrapping stuff and goodies online (yes that's Joe celebrating you hear in the background!)

Well I heard about this book from Anahata Katkin's Blog and had to have it. I thought I'd try to look it up on ebay and low and behold ... there it was! It was as cheap as I could get it on Amazon but it was still better than full price so I grabbed it.

Then I had been checking out this seller's really fab dresses for a few weeks and today saw the coolest dress ever. I took a chance and bid on it even though it already had two bidders and I won! Check this cutie out...



I love it! I can't wait to get it. It screams NYC Spring to me and with leggings and some cute flats... oh I get giddy just thinking about it. I think I'm going to be grabbing up more of her dresses in the future!

Okay, time to settle down. I seriously laughed at the "Shop Victoriously" Ebay ads on TV. You know the ones where the people are all hunting after the retro lunch box, or racing to get the vintage radio. Yeah well I laughed at how silly the whole concept was, until I found myself jumping up and down in my studio after winning my new dress! LOL!

Any other ebay shoppers or seller out there? I'd love to check out some of your auctions or your favorite sellers! Leave me a link.

{hugs}

today's post is brought to you by...

Sassafras Lass and the color PURPLE!

So I hear the buzz in the scrapping world that purple is a no-no color for a lot of people. Why? Who knows. That's just what I hear! Me? I've never met a color that I didn't like (except for brown when it's all by itself, if it brings fun friends like pink or orange we are cool!)

Well the fabulous Sassafras Lass isn't afraid of purple and they have created the most fantastic new line that I was so lucky to have the opportunity to design with this month for A Million Memories.

These are the layouts I completed this week with the new Life Is Beautiful "Felicity" Line...

The first one is of my new baby 2nd cousin Elanor. I haven't met her yet but she is the cutest and I can't wait to see her and new parents Courtney & Mike (Courtney is my cousin on my mom's side!) I'm also pretty addicted to Rebecca Sower inspired posies right now!



This is my little Roxy who isn't so little anymore (although still a baby at 11wks)! She's a monster! We weighed her last night and she's pushing 17lbs!


An 8.5x11 of me. I can't believe I'm going to be 25 in a few weeks.

And my gorgeous momma!


Thank you so much to Sassafras Lass and Alison & Michelle of AMM for sponsoring me this month with this gorgeous product.



Had enough of purple yet?

I challenge everyone to try purple. It's great for B&W photos, for fall, for babies and so much more! Jump into color people!

{Hugs!}

catching up.

I've been a HORRIBLE blogger this past week. After my get-a-way to Daytona Beach with my mom and her Cracker Crash friends I needed an "extended" rest from things to re-connect with my hubby and figure out some life things (a.k.a. veg on the couch and over talk life!)

Last weekend was so much fun. I spent Saturday the 13th through Tuesday the 16th with my mom and her friends. They went to CKU Orlando and I met up with them for a fun Cracker Crash Crop at Jan's condo at Ponce Inlet (right down the beach from Daytona.) The beach was so beautiful and I took some portraits of all the ladies that turned out pretty great! (I'm biased but I think the ones of my momma and Jan are the cutest! LOL!)


One of the most exciting things for me during this trip was being able to see my mom and re-connect with her a bit AND scrap with her! I took some pics of her at the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse and she looked amazing!


I DID get some scrapping done during the crop. I finished working with Scrapworks "Spellbound" Halloween line. The product spotlight is up in the AMM Forum and all of my projects are in the gallery. There are way too many photos to put up here! This is the door hanger I did but I also did a Fright Night Garland, a Treat Box & Card Set, and a few other cards.


There is a ton going on right now with us pushing back our move AGAIN, new projects and manufacturers, new things with AMM... new new new new. For now though I'm still playing catch up!

Have a great Sunday!

{hugs}

LSS Vol. 2 Round 2

I finally finished and got my entry photographed for the 2nd Round of Last Scrapper Standing. I like it.


I always have good self-portrait days when I'm wearing my favorite shirt and my CHEAP aviators. I took a TON this afternoon because I knew I wanted to do a "photo booth" strip and this is my favorite I think of all of them....



Okay maybe this one actually (because I look like a badass)...


Okay maybe I'm being a little self-absorbed today! I rarely like the self-portraits I take of myself OR even ones that Joe takes of me. So when I played this morning and took these I was quite proud of myself! Also, I've had some major skin issues lately (mostly due to stress) and today was the first day I looked in the mirror and wasn't embarrassed (now if my skin will just chill out and be balanced for awhile!)

Okay enough about me.

JOEY COMES HOME TOMORROW!

He'll be back in the states (New Jersey actually) by 3:00pm so I'll get to hear his voice for the first time in 3 weeks. I'm so excited to have him back at home. I really need a vacation from these dogs. (Yes Roxy is a DOG now with the bad habits of a puppy!)

It will be so nice to have him here to split dog duty with me again so I have more uninterrupted time to work and so that I can have my sounding board back. It's so hard for me to create without him here. He is so visual and creative and is a huge help to me when I'm designing. Having my best friend back will be so great!

That's it for right now. I'm back to the kitchen to clean up and start my next project!

Marshall McLuhan COTD: Today I pulled the Queen of Clubs which reads: Hell hath no music like a woman playing second fiddle. (huh? anyone that can explain this one to me gets a cookie...)

{hugs!}

just a couple more Oct kit designs...

Last night and this morning I finished two more projects with the October Kit from A Million Memories. The first is a layout I did of my puppies...


And this is a little mini-accordion I did this morning and it really took no time at all. The hardest part was figuring out which pictures would look cute that tiny!


The mini-accordion is 1.5" x 4" and started out as a piece of cardstock cut to 10.5" x 4. This was such a cute and simple project and I think it would make a really cute favor or thank you.


This week is going to be amazing and super super busy! I have a manufacturer kit from Sassafras Lass that I'm going to be working on and a few more on their way. I also am working on some great class projects for A Million Memories, and my DT Challenge is still going on too until the 15th.

Joey comes home on Thursday night (really late too) and then Saturday I'm leaving for Orlando to see my mom and all of her friends for a weekend of cropping and fun. Joe and I are making time for sushi when he gets home (of course) and I can't wait to see my mom. Plus I've never been to a crop before so it's going to be fun scrapping with friends and my momma! (We'll be making some time for shopping and other stuff too!)

This past Friday my copies of Visual Chronicles and Journal Revolution came in and I have been devouring them. Well, not literally of course but they do put me in the mood to bake cookies! My review of these fabulous books will be featured in the November AMM Newsletter and on the website. I'm also doing a little technique section in the AMM Nov. Newsletter!

As if all that wasn't enough... I have a ton of errands to run to get the house and some things ready for Joe to come home AND I ran out of my favorite adhesive yesterday. So I guess that means it's back to the craft store as well.

I also wanted to find out if anyone could help me out with something: I'm looking for Mounted Rubber Alphabet Stamps. I have a really small set (Target $1) that's a typewriter font but I would also like a medium and even larger size too. I'm open to any font but I would really like a typewriter style or really basic font. Can anyone help me out?

Marshall McLuhan COTD: Today I pulled the Four of Clubs which reads simply: "AFFLUENCE CREATES POVERTY" (true, but I'd much rather be on the affluent end or in the middle!)

McLuhan Update.

So when I talked to Joe about the Marshall McLuhan cards he reminded me that I DID know who he was. We have one of his books (or compiled articles) called The Mechanical Bride which is so cool. All about media advertising and propaganda, and the myths advertisers pushed in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

What I love about this book (besides the articles) are the ads throughout it. For instance... The TIME Magazine ad with the subtitle "A nose for news- and a stomach for whiskey." An ad which explains the real-life grittiness of the TIME reporter and why TIME is the nations no. 1 news magazine. Or the Clark Grave Vault Ad which shows a beautiful woman holding her hand out of her window as it rains which reads: "There's deep consolation ... serene through shower or heavy rain ... for those who know the casket of a dear one is protected against water in the ground by a Clark Metal Grave Vault."

Or what about this one:

Yes who knew that Lysol was originally used as a Feminine Hygiene product OR that lack of feminine hygiene was the "one intimate neglect that can engulf you in marital grief". Hmmm... Beware Ladies! Okay this is too weird NOT to quote (tell me that a man didn't write this ad) -

"Too Late, when love has gone, for a wife to plead that no one warned her of danger. Because a wise, considerate wife makes it her business to find out how to safeguard her daintiness in order to protect precious married love and happiness.

One of the soundest ways for a wife to keep married love in bloom is to achieve dainty allure by practicing effective feminine hygiene such as regular vaginal douches with reliable "Lysol"."

OMG. If more women only knew that the way to a happy marriage was regular douches with their KITCHEN CLEANER! Oh My! And if you mail in the little form you can get a FREE! Booklet of new information about feminine hygiene courtesy of Lysol. Amazing!

Marshall McLuhan COTD: Today I pulled the Jack of Diamonds which reads: "To the blind all things are sudden."

Oh Sunday Afternoon...

Well the weekend is just about over and I have a major case of the blahs. Hey, it's my blog I should at least be honest right? I'm tired, and I think my system is just finished with the way I've been treating it. Staying up too late, moping around the house, unhappy with anything I try to put on the the page. I just feel a little stuck in my head.

I think it's definitely an art journal day. I did two (yes only two) layouts with the October Kit. It's not the kit's fault, haha, just that I can't seem to merge what I want to create with what comes out on the page.

This is the first one I did and I really love it. I completed it Thursday and it says exactly what I want to to. I sat Thursday morning out on the swing on the lanai just telling myself over and over again that every single day is a gift and a chance to start over, make it into whatever we want it to be.


But then this layout came out. And it's messy, ugly, and exactly how I started feeling Friday. The letter inside to Joseph is important, and not negative in any way, but the ugliness of the design I guess was just something I had to push through in order to GET to the letter.



But anyway ... I'm really ready to let go of some of the icky-ness that I feel today. I really think it's a physical/emotional thing. I have been staying up way too late, eating at weird times, and just overall keeping myself in a funk.

It's so funny too because I took all day yesterday to just get out of the house and go clearance shopping and to some craft stores. Not necessarily to buy stuff just to get out and moving. Well, I found the coolest stuff at Target all on clearance and today I can't take one good picture of ANY of it. It's like my creative side is saying... uh uh, no way. Get yourself out of the funk and THEN you can take pretty pictures. I guess my art isn't letting me hide behind pretty colors, flowers, and patterns anymore. Sweet.

(BTW... sorry for the downer post. There's more I want to blog about today but I felt like I had to get this nonsense out of my system first. Now I'm off to clean up a mess and start today over!)

sometimes you just have to look...

Happy Thursday!

Today is going to be an amazing day. I am busily working with this month's October Kit from A Million Memories. It is gorgeous. Yummy Indian Summer-like colors and the embellishments this month are so awesome.


There may be a few left still so check them out!

So you may be curious as to what the title of today's post is all about. Well today I for some reason as I was passing through our library I got the urge to look at this...


I swear I've passed this little deck of cards a million times and never thought to look at them. They are Joe's (maybe his parents') and I always loved the vintage look of the box and so I displayed them on one of our shelves and left it at that. I think I may have asked Joe at some point what they were when we were busy doing something and he just said they were cards, and since Joe loves keeping old decks and old tarot decks I thought nothing of it.

Well today I was curious for some reason and took a look inside. OMG, these are the coolest vintage cards ever. Each one has a quote on it that was either written by or chosen by Marshall McLuhan. Who is that right? Well this is what Wikipedia says: "

Herbert Marshall McLuhan CC (July 21, 1911 - December 31, 1980) was a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar — a professor of English literature, a literary critic, and a communications theorist. McLuhan's work is viewed as one of the cornerstones of the study of media theory. McLuhan is known for coining the expressions "the medium is the message" and the "global village".

McLuhan was a fixture in media discourse from the late 1960s to his death and he continues to be an influential and controversial figure. Years after his death he was named the "patron saint" of Wired magazine."

Cool right? No wonder Joe has them, as he is a huge fan of all things propaganda.



So for all of this time I've been passing by all of this amazing inspiration! See... sometimes you just have to look - and there it is! A cool find! I have no idea what these are worth so I will not be scrapping or altering them right away, although the thought has crossed my mind already. So instead each day I am going to randomly pull on and post it at the end of that days blog.

For today though I snapped away at a few of them so you can see how they are designed. Each one is different and every single one has a quote on it.


Off to design!

{hugs!}

Let Go.

This is a HUGE lesson for me and one I'm constantly struggling with. I am always having to remind myself to just LET GO!

A teacher I once worked with said that any issue that lasted longer than 15 minutes was drama and created a negative emotional attachment. I have always loved my drama. 15 minutes! I'm lucky to get over something after 15 days!


Today my art journal entry is a reminder to just let go of my drama and use it to create. Let go of my anxiety issues, drop negative situations before they turn into drama, let go of my fears. It's not easy but it's a beautiful feeling to release an issue.

I can't even explain how happy I am to finally break into this art journal experience. Beginning my day with a short creative burst of energy helps me focus and get more done. Plus I am amazing at what comes from some paint, black duct tape, one quick photo in front of a sunny window, and a graphic image. For me the page I create in the morning has become a daily devotion that I constantly find myself looking at to refocus my energy. Amazing!

And check this out.... I'm now a card carrying member of the ART ARMY! YAY! I got notification that my books shipped as well so I should have them before the end of the week and I can't wait. I really suggest everyone check Linda & Karen out and the entire Art Army, there are so many inpirational wonderful things going on!

I still haven't gotten any pictures from Joseph. Last night he and his friends had an adventure in Groningen before sailing out today. It involved karting, Dutch pizza and beer, and a closed parking lot. Oops! Apparently the ship is ready and has changed flags. I'm told we may be traveling on the Gem in December which would be fantastic!

Oh, and today while I'm working I'm enjoying a whole day of the Fab 5. I am stoked for the new season! Anyone else ready and waiting for the return of the Fab 5?

{hugs!}