Where have I been?

I was doing better with keeping my blog up to date over the holidays than I am now with nothing else to do. I haven't even been on the computer all that much, thanks to my son who always takes it over when he's here & now there's my daughter, who has discovered the fun of the WWW, thanks to Nickelodian. At least when she's on the computer, I can get something else accomplished somewhere else.

I have been a bit creative lately in my non-computer time. I signed up to do a demo for The Memory Zone this past Sat. using the new Border/Corner punches by Fiskars. They are so cool! Here is a page made using one of these punches.

I just love these beauties! I also want to give a HUGE Thanks to Kelly Crowl for letting me use one of her punches for the demo too! I also brought a bunch of my own border punches too with lots of examples for people to see. I'm kinda proud of myself for actually planning ahead & being prepared for once. Too bad there just wasn't that many there to see my efforts. It was kind of a dreary day out, but I did manage to persuade one person to buy the punch that created the border on my page here. I thought I had another customer convinced to purchase one too, but I think she was more interested in the Quickutz. That's OK, maybe she'll be back & decide to get one eventually. She makes cards & these babies were right up her alley! I'm not a very good salesperson, I have to admit, so I need my examples to help me sell the product & even though I LOVE to talk, I don't get my "sales pitch" down very good until I've pitched it a few times. I always seem to forget some things in the beginning. It's a good thing I don't have to make a living in sales!

I have been seeing a bit more sneak peaks for this weekend's Craft & Hobby Association's semi-annual convention. It will be interesting to see who survives in this sad economy being the way that it is. We've had such an overload of products in years past that we as consumers have found it difficult to keep up with the industry. I loved all the choices, but found it overwhelming at times that I would not, nor could not be able to get it all or work with it all before the next round came out with even more trends. I hate to see some of my favorite companies closing, but I also like to be able to keep up. I would like to see prices drop a bit, I'd be more likely to make more purchases if I could afford them, but when they want $10 for a small plastic container of paper flowers or nearly $5 for 8 tiny fabric shapes, I just can't see the justification for that purchase. It's not the retailer's fault, they're dropping like flies around the country. Nor can they compete with the Walmart's, Hobby Lobby's & Michael's either. It's really not fair.

OK, well, I have more projects to work on & more things to take care of today, so I'll get off my soapbox (again!).

God Bless & have a great day!
Beth M.

HAPPY 2009!!!

I'm sure hoping that you all had a safe & festive New Year's Eve. Thank goodness we did. We didn't do anything special, really. Somehow we missed the message to spend it with our usual friends, but got a last minute invite which, unfortunately was too late. We made plans to spend it with one of Alan's "sorta" co-workers & his girlfriend & went to the movies. It ended up being Bedtime Stories. I recommend it for a family movie. Pretty predictable, but cute & funny none the less.

We got home & decided to watch the top 100 Hard Rock songs of all time. It sure did bring back a lot of old memories of my youth. (sigh!*) Didn't finish watching it either & went to bed at 11:30.

Today will probably be ham & beans with cornbread & slaw for dinner. We do this because Alan's family had a New Year tradition of eating the cabbage for wealth in the new year. I've heard of eating beans or black eyed peas for good luck. We'll try both, as we didn't get the beans last year. Do you have a New Year's mealtime tradition? I'd love to hear what it is.

Yesterday, I got a sweet surprise from my dear friend from across the big pond, Rose. She's sent me this cool award!

Upon receiveing this reward, I'm supposed to list 6 things that make me happy & pick 6 bloggers to pass on this award to. So here goes the the six things that make most happy:

1. God - Without God, I am nothing. God has proven to me many times that He exists & has helped me through the many rough times & I give him my heart & soul & I'm TRULY thankful!

2. My children- They are beautiful, smart & as far as I know, mostly healthy ( I pray they stay that way always). I also pray that they are happy to because I love them dearly.

3. My husband - without him, I surely would not be at the point that I am in this life, which is very good & I love him deeply.

4. Paper crafting- I love my hobbies of Scrapbooking, altering & card making. Papercrafting has brought me wonderful friends online & in person, as an added bonus to being creative. Bonuses make me happy too....;)

5. Gardening - I like to create flower gardens. I just wish my legs could take all the knealing & my back could take the bending. It's all so rewarding though when you see all these beautiful plants growing & thriving & you can say "Hey, me & God did that!"

6. Finding a great deal! - Who doesn't love to find a great deal on something? I don't care if it's new or used, or even someone else's trash for that matter. If I can make someone else's trash my treasure, then I'm doing the whole world a good thing by making it useful again & if I'm lucky, bringing it new life & beauty.

I'm supposed to choose people that have blogs I read, but to be honest, the same people that were selected along with me are the same people I would normally choose, so finding 6 different ones will be tough. I'm sure the "celebrity" one's won't know me from Adam, so I won't embarrass myself by nominating them. And that's NOT to say that I don't think the ladies I nominated aren't celebrities in MY eyes, but I am on a first name basis with them.

Now to name the six I think have a Kreativ Blog - and the nominees are...

1. Charity S. (Chica's Cafe) She has probably been chosen for this before, but she is so talented that she does deserve it again, after all, it's the first time THIS year she's received the award, right? ;)

2. Jen M. (5 Guys & A Gal) Jen is quite a creative lady in her own right & has also probably received this award before, as well. She is a designer for Creative Memories (A BIG deal!) as well as for several other places. She is the only female in a house full of guys & if you have time to create like she does with all THAT testosterone going on, you are THE WOMAN, in my book!

3. Rebecca S. (Momma's Masterpiece) OK, this woman is the Stitching Queen! She just ROCKS with the Bazzill In-Stitches & even in her own freehand too! I could not make this list without including Rebecca! I wish I could get motivated to put needle & thread to paper like she can!

4. Meg P. (Peacock Paperie) they don't caller Stampin' Meg for nothin, I tell ya! This woman can ROCK a stamp block with never a shadow to see! She has an astonishing collection of stamps that I'd KILL to have a day to play with! Mine just wouldn't turn out as breathtaking as hers, that's for sure!

I'm having a tough time coming up with 2 more names. So, if I remember later (but don't count on it) I might add the other 2 at a later date.

I have a couple of other awards that I need to post from Rose & another dear sweetheart from Sweden, Elisabeth. I've gotten those awards some time ago, but forgot about posting them, so I'm going to look like the blog over-achiever today after posting them all at once, when in fact, I'm an underachiever for not getting around to it sooner! I'm so bad, I may never get another award again! :0

And so, it's with a lifted heart that I say good-bye to the year 2008. It was not a great year for many people economically & I believe that most will be glad to see it go & not bring it's burdens to the new year.

It was a great year for me in my creative goals, as I was chosen to be on a Design Team for my local scrapbook store and I had been published in a few online publications, including making the cover for Scrapbooking.com!! Maybe I can say I was an over-achiever, since making a cover wasn't one of my goals. I don't think it ever would be! *snort!*

Here's wishing All will be fine in 2009!

God Bless & have a great day!

Beth M.