Slow & steady...

is how I seem to be scrapping these days. I'm not in any race or competition, but I have lots of projects that I'd like to get accomplished & Lord knows I have puh-lenty of supplies to git-r' done! If only the inspiration & motivation came to me as often as the urge to buy supplies hits me! hee hee! I am doing much better than I used to, but I'm also buying much more supplies than I used to as well - so am I really making any progress? Yes & no, so we'll call it a wash. I'm getting much more pages & projects done that I've needed to do, but my stash seems to be growing by leaps & bounds.

Here is a metal sign I made yesterday (sorry it's a little blurry - my camera needs some repair). I bought the sign at Hobby Lobby at 50% off & wanted to make it for my garden shed. I just didn't know what phrase I wanted to use & I finally found it. I cut out the colored vinyl with my Cricut Expression & used Jasmine for the first line of quote & Storybook for the word Garden. Tinkerbell & friends was for the flowers. They're a little brighter than I wanted, but didn't find the right shades I was looking for at my LSS, but they might be for the best, since my garden shed sits in a lot of shade & it's about the color of the blue in the flowers too. You just might be able to see it as you're pulling up the driveway! LOL!!

God Bless & have a great day!

Summer CHA 2009 peaks have begun!

They're starting to roll in more & more as CHA Summer 2009 draws near. How exciting to see some of the new releases from some of our favorite Scrappy companies!

Take Cuttlebug for example! I l-o-v-e their embossing folders! They're going to be giving us a count down peak for the next month of the new releases on their blog. How sweet is that??? It gets even sweeter, cuz their giving some candy to those that spread the word! You can check them out by clicking on the Cuttlebug display below!


I'm already loving the Christmas & Star releases so far! I can't wait to see what else they have in store for us! You'll want to see for yourself.

Testing...

Well, I used to be QUITE computer literate, but since I haven't HAD to work with a computer & all the latest programs like I used to, I have fallen out of the loop more than I care to admit. Believe it or not, I had designed my company's website all by myself! That was before child #2...things have progressed in the computer/internet world faster than I cared to keep up.

So anyway, enough blabbering about why I can't stay hip & up-do-date in the internet world; I created myself this cute little siggy for my blog & had to see how it looks. In doing so, I have to create a new posting.

I do have to say that today, Brooke & I drove over to Warsaw because they have been having the greatest deals on hanging baskets & flowering pots! They get cheaper every week too! Last year, my hubby, Alan, made me this awesome flower bed bench from an old bed I found at a garage sale for $2. So, I was able to buy 5 big pots of New Guinea Impatiens for $15 before sales tax. I can't really take a pic of it currently because, much to my disappointment, the bed is made of nothing but glued together sticks of wood. After the first rain, everything started to separate into little chunks. Needless to say, it doesn't look nearly as impressive as it does here. I bought new finials, but DH hasn't had the opportunity to put them on yet.

So, if I can keep the plants alive & get the bench back to looking half-way decent, you may get an updated photo before summer is over, but I would't hold my breath if I were you. ;)

God Bless & have a great day!

New project to share...

My dear Memory Zone Design Team Co-Member, Kelly C. came up with a great challenge for the month of June. 

Since I love the idea of using craft paper with red as the main accent color, that I just had to participate this time. Plus, I had just gotten a few pics of Brooke picking strawberries the other day, so I figured I better get at least one of them scrapped. She wasn't very fond of the process, or the heat that day, & she definitely wasn't expecting the BUGS! OMG!! So, I may never get her to go strawberry picking again. (tsk!)



I used my Cricut to create most of the designs on my page using Home Accents, Home Decor, George & Lyrical Letters.

You can't see clearly that I used pop-dots on the berries in the corners, along the berry border at the bottom of the picture & the ladybug.

I wanted a patterned paper with strawberries on it, but all I could find was this sweet Creative Imaginations Cherry paper, so I took my Black Diamond Stickles to add "seeds" & turn the cherries into strawberries (sorta). I thought the white flowers sorta looked like strawberry blossoms & they add some nice contrast to the page, or so I think.

I was very pleased with how the page turned out & love how striking it is & yet simple. This was a true test of how good my new printer works for printing borderless photos too, & I am thrilled with the quality of the Epson Workforce 500! It also makes your photos water-resistant! And they are, to a certain extent, of course. I mean, let's be reasonable, paper is only paper.

Tomorrow is Father's Day & I pretty much have Alan covered, even though we'll only be spending the morning with him. He has to work on a side job, unfortunately, so he won't be spending the beautiful day with his family or finishing up the pool deck. That really stinks for him & us. But bless his heart, he's doing it for his family. I do plan to make him breakfast sandwiches, since that's what he's chosen & he doesn't get to have them very often, because Brooke usually wants baycakes (her word for pancakes since forever!) then, we got him a new cell phone & a Weird Al video DVD & some 80's DVD set that he had requested a looooong time ago. Jordan paid for the Weird Al DVD & a pool theremometer. I hope he's happy with his gifts, but he WILL complain about something, mark my words!

On the other hand, I think I need to be heading to Lowes, or a local restaraunt, to get my own father a gift certificate, because otherwise I don't know what to get him. He doesn't want for anything & never says that he wants anything. He was wanting a flagpole at one time, but I think he has put that wish aside as they're not sure if they're staying in the house they have right now or not.

OK, so that's enough ramblings for right now. It's hot out today & I've been inside the air conditioning for most of the day, so I think I should go out & enjoy some heat for a change!

God Bless & have a good day!
Beth

Going to the Oprah show...

Well, call me a bad blogger! I went to the Oprah show back in April & never did post my pics about it. DUH!!! Since you're not allowed to bring any kind of photography paraphernalia into the studio, these are the only photos that I could get. They're still cool to have though!
You'll have to excuse the gaps in text, I'm having some issues with getting Blogger to work in the fashion I would like. So bear with me here, please.

The show that day was Dr. Oz's last taping with Oprah before getting his own show in the fall. The members of the audience all received these Neti-wash pots to clean out your sinuses with a saline solution. I STILL have not tried it yet, since I seen the video of how you run the water in one nostril & it pours out the other just kinda grosses me out! Call me chicken (bock-bock!)

Here is my husband, Alan & I in front of the Harpo Studios sign. It's hard to get the entire sign & the large "O" at the top into the picture & still see them well.












This is the view of her studio from the side. This is a huge improvement from when I was there back in 2005.

























This is the angle from the sidewalk catty-cornered from the studio. This sidewalk runs along the front of her store. If you notice the large metal "O" here, these are at the top of all the railing posts in front of the store. Kind of a cool detail, I thought!












This is a bootleg photo I took inside her store. At the time that I took the shot, I did not realize that you weren't allowed to take photos inside. I did not get caught taking this shot because I didn't use my flash. Later, I got busted trying to take a picture of the girl at the register.











This is the ONLY spot in the store that you are allowed to take a picture. This is the chair that Oprah used to sit in before she remodeled her studio. I must say, this is NOT one of my better pictures of me.












This is the window display of the Oprah store. It's kind of hard to tell in this photo, but the opening in the window is surrounded by a large "O" (...notice a pattern here?)

This is a key fob I picked up at the "O" Store for my sister. I should have checked closer, because it has an etched water spot on it that won't come off. Luckily, my sister won't care.



This is a coffee mug I picked up for myself at the store also. I love the design & there were a ton of color choices to pick from. I also picked up a plum colored one for the lady that was willing to watch Brooke for us that day. Bless her heart, she was wonderful!!

I'm getting caught up....I think!

I have to say, it's been a busy month for doing projects that have deadlines. I've met most of them, but still dwindling away to finish the last touches on others. I had to complete a baby book before the end of May for my sister's staff manager. Here is the post showing that book. It's pretty simple, but since she's not a scrapbooker by any means, she thought it was amazing. I was happy with how it turned out, considering I did 13 pages AND the cover, inside & out, in less than a week! If anyone knows me, I don't pump out the projects all that quickly, so this was a major accomplishment for me!

Below is a graduation card I made for the son of some friends of ours. I had just used a pretty simple design & added some touches of orange, since his school colors are orange & black. I haven't heard his or his mother's thoughts on the card yet, but I hope they liked it.

















Next, is a word sign that I altered by special order for a lady that frequented my booth at a spring craft show. She loved the ones I had, but none of them matched her decor & asked if I could do a special order. It took me 2 months to get it done because I was having some difficulty finding the tan, brown & sage green in patterned papers. Finally, when The Memory Zone had totally redid their inventory, they must have decided to bring out some of their old stuff & there it was! Not that old, but a bit older Making Memories papers that were perfect, oh so I had hoped....

I finished the sign in a day & showed it to her & she said she "absolutely loved it!" The colors were perfect. I hope she wasn't just saying that, but she seemed genuinely happy with the sign.

I know you might not be able to see some of the details, but the "F" & "L" are embossed with some Cuttlebug embossing folders. Maybe, if you click on the picture, it might show you a larger image. So then, I also took the same green embossed paper & put it under the leaf cutouts on the "M" for another little added interest. The lady thought there might be others that she works with that might want one of their own, so she asked me for my name & phone #. I guess we'll see!

Well, I think I will call it a day today. Been really busy with 2 Bible school sessions & swimming lessons every day. I'm kinda whooped!

God Bless & have a great day!
Beth

It is June, right?

Well, for being the 3rd day of June, you'd never know it by how the day looks & feels here in North Central Indiana. It's only supposed to be in the low 60's for a high today. Global warming? Come to Indiana my friends, you'd never believe what the scientists are telling us. We haven't really had a warm May or June for several years now.

I do have to say that this has been the most normal winter & spring we've had in ages. I think with all the reduction in driving automobiles & trying to cut back on natural gas usage, because of the ridiculously high fuel prices, it just might have helped a bit in that factor. It's just my theory...

So, I've been kinda blog hoppin' this morning, because it is so cool & gloomy outside today, that I came across this blog that is having a pretty awesome Blog give-away! You gotta go check it out & maybe even try for your own chance at winning it! The blog is by Melissa Bove & her blog is called "Creating from the Heart". She has some very creative inspiration to look at, as well. Trust me, go check her out! You won't be disappointed - even if you don't enter her give-away.

Well, some good friends of mine are in the process of having their baby boy today. Shoot, he might even be here by now! I've been working on another baby boy mini album for her too, similar to the one posted below. I've only gotten up to month 6 completed, but making good progress on months 7 & 8-need more cardstock. I most likely won't be getting the book to them until this weekend, at the earliest, so I have a few more days to work on it. I'm putting quite a bit more detail into this than the last one, that's why it's taking me longer, but it will still be 2-13 page mini albums in 2 weeks. That's an all time record for me!

And so, I'll end this for today, but be sure to check out Melissa's blog!

God Bless & have a good day!
Beth