Flute bug hits here!!

Brooke says that her & mommy have the flutes (flu). Isn't that funny? Flute? She comes up with the cutest stuff sometimes. I'm only feeling a little better because I took some extra strength Tylenol, but it only makes me feel a little better. Sure beats feeling chilled to the bone & achy all over though! I just wish I didn't have to cough! It hurts so bad to cough, but it's OK to swallow, so I don't think I have Strept throat (yet). At least the house was mostly picked up before I got sick, so I shouldn't have to do a whole lot extra when I get to feeling better.

Poor Alan, he got up & washed & dried Brooke's sheets in the middle of the night last night because she got a little sick too. Then he had to get up a couple of times to tend to her. Yet, he still went in to work today. Bless his heart! He brought her into our bedroom & let her sleep on the floor. Now she'll probably want to sleep there all the time! She laid there during the day today too while I was in bed. She got in a good nap at least. She doesn't seem to be as bad off as me, which is good! We got sick because Jordan was still sick & I brought him home for the weekend. I wish I had know he still didn't feel well or I would have skipped getting him this weekend too. He's been sick since last week, so I passed on bringing him home then. I knew he was sick when he didn't want to play his online video game that he LIVES on when he's here.

I don't really have anything more to chat about today, we're supposed to get some rain, freezing rain & snow tonight & tomorrow. I just may keep Brooke home from preschool tomorrow just to be sure she's not going to pass it on.

Have a good one!

Last Night's Lunar Eclipse!

This is a picture I got of the Lunar Eclipse that took place last night. Luckily, we didn't have any lake effect snow clouds overhead to block our view. I think it looks pretty cool! This was the best picture out of all of the ones I took. It's kind of small after loading on here. If I try to crop it in any further, then it starts to look fuzzy. Sometimes if you click on the picture, you get an enlarged view that's much better.


Well, I don't have much to add today, other than this picture. Just a bunch of errands to run that are almost done & getting Brooke from preschool. I need to get going some more on my Design Team projects for The Memory Zone scrapbook store. I have so many ideas rolling around in my head that I need to get them sorted out & done! They'll be kickin' me outta there if I don't! LOL They have the Cricut cutter & an Accucut machine that I really need to go in & learn how to use. Today is not the day though. Thursday's aren't my good days, too busy with preschool, errands & cleaning later.

Later.....!

Preparing for Valentine's Day!

OK, just so you know, I've been trying to get paragraph breaks to work on this friggin' blog, but I can't seem to make them happen. Sorry that it looks all run together, but it's not being my friend today!

Today Brooke has preschool & so I decided this morning that we would work on her Valentine cards to pass out to the kids in her class. She has been looking forward to doing this for a couple of weeks now & asks me almost everyday if we can do them. When she doesn't get the answer she wants to hear, then she says she's going to go work on her own cards for preschool. I had picked her up a couple of darling little scrapbook embellishment kits at Target for $1 each, so she's been chopping & taping those up. I guess maybe I should have better inspected the one with the heart shaped confetti, because now I have to try to clean all those up & some are sort of transparent. What a mess! But, it's cute & I LOVE that! I started to use my scalloped scissors on these, but to get them aligned properly from front to back, you have to cut the card while it's folded. My scissors are too dull to cut through the 3 layers where it all overlaps. So, the teachers & helpers get these at the top row. We had to save back a green frilly heart so Brooke could make a card for Daddy too!



This is the inside of one of the teacher's cards

The inside of one of the student's cards. I used a Quickutz heart shaped die to make that heart.

Her party is Thursday & she has to also decorate a special heart shape for one person that's supposed to be a secret. I want to find a heart shaped paper doily to put on it & then use my scallop scissors around the edge. Then, who knows what for the center of that? We might even make it into a magnet!

We still need to work on the goodie bags, but I have a little time for that too & don't have any bags yet. Need to get those today at the dollar store. I think we'll work on a special treat for the teacher's too....

I thought we were going to have something to look forward to this weekend with the weather, because they said it would be in the 40's on Sat., but now it doesn't look like it at all. Now they're saying only in the mid twenties. What??!! At least Feb. will be half over by the weekend, so we might have something to look forward to with March right around the corner. Ya think, maybe? I just want to see my flowers come up & hope that I didn't kill them when I planted them. I typically have at least one or two casualties each year. Sometimes, I'm just impatient & dig them up only to find that they were still just making good roots or learn later that they're biannuals & don't do anything the first year. Duh!!! I do need to start some seeds here soon though. I have no problem getting seeds to sprout, it's keeping them alive & not getting leggy that I have a problem with. Each year I learn a new trick or two, now if I can just remember what those tricks were from the previous years, I'll be doing good! Maybe they're not even a new trick, I just might not be remembering them from before. LOL

Last year, I moved a bunch of some beautiful pale blue & dark blue tiny flowers so that they would be closer to the daffodils on that bed. I had noticed they were all blooming at the same time & how striking the yellows & blues looked together, but they weren't close enough together to give the effect I was looking for. I sure hope I can reap the rewards of the beauty I'm hoping for this year, but will probably have to be patient for at least a couple more years.

When we moved to our house 5 years ago, there wasn't much landscaping to speak of, but more than any other house I had lived in, so that was still a plus! It was mostly some bushes & LOTS of hostas. There were a ton of lavendar Iris growing around the large Oak tree bed & they did great one year. I'm not much of an iris person and not the lavendar ones especially. So I dug them all up, gave some to the neighbor across the street, some to my friend & just tossed the rest over to the edge of the woods. Well, they have taken off very well & I must say, I like the look much better than the weeds that have a tendency to take over there. I think I'll keep them there!

I need to stop all this flower talk...it's making me long for the warmer, sunny weather that is sure to be a little ways off yet to make me happy.

Blah Paradise...

Well, it's just another day in Blah Paradise, that is if you like blah! Today is cold again, the flood waters are going down, but the ones that aren't down are now frozen ice rinks. Not my thing either! I just want it to be warmer, even just in the 40's warmer! We had some sun Sat. afternoon & that helped, but not enough for my cold bones.

I think I'm going to have to break down & go to the dentist very soon. I have an old filling that I think has seen it's day & I will probably have to have a crown now. It's killing me to eat or drink stuff. Hmmmmm....maybe that New Year's Resolution is trying to force me to keep my word by losing a few pounds because I'm not being able to eat. Nah! The other side of my mouth doesn't hurt, so that CAN'T be it! I can still eat on that side.

I have been working on a couple of things for my DT projects that are due in the next few weeks. I'm supposed to do a page layout for my "Dares" challenge about something that Pisses Me Off! Ummm...finding a topic isn't hard for me at all, it's coming up with the concept to fit the anger. Maybe just a page full of hyroglyphics & a picture! Or, maybe a picture of my ex-husband with his face all scratched up in ink! Yeah! That's a good one! ROFL (by the way, I was informed by my fellow DT member KellyC, that ROFL is a form of exercise!) There you have it! I value her opinion highly too! I'll tell that to the doc when she asks if I exercise on a regular basis. Well now, I've digressed too much, so I'll move on.

I'm also working on doing a Tinkerbell mini-book using one of the Basic Grey mini chipboard books. It has a lot of pages to it, so I doubt I'll complete every single one, but I'll have plenty left as it is. I've almost finished the cover & am happy with the results so far. I have to say that this is a challenge too because the only other chipboard book I've completed is one that I had page for page picture instructions on. I just added a few other things for my own personal character, but it was all their idea. This Tinkerbell book will be all my own creation. Well, the front cover is all my own so far, I may need inspiration from somewhere else on the rest of the pages, but I have small ideas that keep coming to me. I'd like to be able to say it is all totally my own.

Sat. I had to do a demo at The Memory Zone scrapbook Store for their month long promotion. I was selected to demo the Basic Grey Notch & Die tool because I have this tool & created a layout & a gift bag using it. I had a blast doing the demo, but I think Kelly C had even more fun with it. She has such a fun personality that I think she could probably be a better sales person than me. They did have a customer that must have been so impressed with my picture frame, that she carted it around in her shopping cart all through the store until she got to my table to ask me about how I made the frame. She ended up buying the rest of the Fancy Pants paper that I used & she also purchased 3 of the Making Memories 4x6 transparency books, because she liked my idea of using them in the glass opening of the frame. That made me feel good to know that something I made impressed someone so much that they thought it was worth going overboard on it! Now I know it's not just me that does that! LOL

Well, the rest of the laundry is calling & I need to start getting myself around to go to the dr. Fun, fun, fun...

Here we go again.....

back to the town of Plymouth in being in a flood stage- again! Most places that were flooded before are flooded again, & if some people were almost flooded the last time, well, they ARE flooded this time! It's getting to the point that I don't know what roads to take because you don't know if they're flooded too much to feel safe driving through it. Now, everything is trying to freeze too, so there's water AND ice. Winter in Indiana...remind me why I stay here???? Oh yes, I have a kid that wants to go live with his dad instead of Arizona-which is where I "could" be! Huh??? On a lighter note, I've been altering things like a crazed woman & really enjoying it, much to the hubby's dismay. Here is my latest creation that I can show off right now, anyway.For others, you'll have to check the TMZ DT Gallery link on the right.
This is a wooden cigar box I found somewhere last year. I got it just so I could alter it & I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Front

Inside

Well, I'm having some funky issues with this blogger, so I'm going to end this for today & hope it can straiten itself out by tomorrow.

Brrrrrrr......!!!

Is it cold where you are? It is where I am! Temperatures dipping in the single digits or negative numbers overnight. Thank goodness we have 2 woodstoves to help with keeping our heating bills somewhat in check & a dedicated hubby that makes sure we have plenty of wood to burn each winter. He makes sure there is a fire in one, if not both stoves, when I wake up in the morning.

I've been keeping pretty busy this winter with my Design Team projects for The Memory Zone scrapbook store. Thank goodness I have that motivator to get me moving along on projects that I should get done. I finished a cute picture frame today that will be in my gallery on their website in a few days & IRL at the store after 2/2/08. I managed to get all my Valentine projects completed for the last meeting in time! I didn't care for the first card I made, but turned it in anyway. Wouldn't you know, I came across some sticker labels that I also had gotten from the DT mtg, but forgot I had them. So I ended up making another card from them & a card from my left over scraps of the other stuff I was given. I like that card the best, maybe because it's different than most. I like different ~ not weird different, COOL different!

If you get a few minutes, check out the link to my Design Team Gallery over on the side bar. While you're there, check out the other DT members & other members for some fantastic inspiration! You're sure to find SOMETHING!!

Officially A Design Team Member!

Well, it's official. I am a Design Team member of The Memory Zone (TMZ) scrapbook store here in Plymouth! We had out first meeting on 1/14/08 at the store. I got to meet all the ladies that I've chatted with on the store's message board. It's so great to put faces with names, although Charity's was easy, since she has hers as her avatar. I love the perspective of it too!

We were broken down into two groups with Rhonda being the leader of the group I'm in, & Barb was chosen as our lead assistant. We were given a lot of projects to get us going on, so I'm hoping I can be creative enough & keep up! It's still pretty intimidating for me at this point. We have a meeting twice a month & probably a DT crop each month, as well. I had to go out get myself a decent planner for this as I think I'm going to need it. LOL Organization is NOT my strong point, unless it's my paid job! Then I can kick some organizational @ss! I just CHOOSE not to in my home life.

Fortunately, Rhonda has let me off pretty easy with doing projects that are more of my strong points. No page layouts yet - thanks goodness! I get to do more paper crafting & altering! YAY!!! IF I were smart (ha ha ha ha!), I would have taken my camera & started keeping track of my experience along the way.

I have most of my projects done for the next meeting, which is just a week after the first meeting, but I still need to work on the card part of the assignment yet. I hope I can make it work a little easier than the projects! I so hope they like what I came up with...that's my biggest fear ~ that they won't like them.

So long for now, gotta get some info to my leader! I almost forgot!

Here is another page I did with my new Qwikutz lettering font called Journal. Since this photo was taken, I've added purple letters over the gold ones to help it stand out a little more & give it some dimension.




I had taken this page class at The Memory Zone Scrapbook store here in Plymouth. I finally found pictures to fill the page with & added the flowers, buttons, brads & the doodling around the title afterwards. I didn't realize it at the time, but my printer was running low on blue ink, so the pictures are different hues, but I think it looks kinda cool!




This is a card that I made like the sketch I made for KT Crafts newletter this week. It was my 2nd submission after finding out my original design had already been done for the previous newsletter (which I hadn't gotten).




Close-up of the spirelli thread work around the Basic Grey brand of die cut.




A Valentine card I made from a sketch that I was asked to do for KT Crafts newsletter, but I knixed it after realizing it looked too similar to the one that had been done by Glee, for the previous newsletter that I hadn't gotten.




A page I just did with a picture of Brooke looking at the lights on our tree from last year.




Jordan's Freshman year football pictures

Flooding In Plymouth

Below are some pictures of the flooding that has occurred in our little town of Plymouth due to the rise of the Yellow River from all the melting snow & heavy rain in less than a week. These pictures were taken today (Thurs.-1/10/08)& they're telling us that the river won't even reach it's crest until sometime on Friday. So, it looks like one more day of rising waters for the poor people!

Note the irony in the street sign that's at the intersection of where the flooding begins.


This is a little bit of a closer shot of that flooding.


These next pictures are from a little further south of town. It's also a detouring street because of flooding up the road.






I have been to garage sales at the house at the end of this "street."

2008 Resolution...

Well, it's now 2008! Have you've made some resolutions for the new year? I've only made one that I intend to stick with & that's to try to get more organized. However, I should consider several other resolutions, but this one is already HUGE to begin with! LOL We started this mission in 2007 by getting rid of stuff in garage sales. We had 5 sales last summer & made a good dent in the excess, not to mention a good chunk of extra cash! (always a good incentive!) We have this huge room upstairs that we refer to as the "Yellow Room" because of the very ugly yellow shag carpet & the yellowish wallpaper, that's falling off the walls. We use it for storage because our house has no attic or basement & the garage is too small to be useful for any kind of extra storage. The yellow room is also where I have my scrap space & a craft space. I plan on getting rid of quite a bit of my crafting stuff because I don't plan on using many of the items & would like to move my computer to that area in the near future. This will also free up a large corner in Brooke's bedroom, as well. I also need to move my treadmill upstairs too. Nothing like doing a little stairstepping as a warm-up for walking. I'll be pooped before I even get there! LOL-JK (sorta)

We did make a major update on our Master Bedroom this fall, I am so happy to say. It's not totally done though, as we're going to get new furniture soon, so I have no drapes or new bedding yet & some of the old furniture is still being used in the meantime. I will post the before/after shots when we get that final stage & before it gets messy again! Just a little visual for you to imagine, if you will, an OLD, dingy, ORANGE, shag carpet & only 2 little reading lamps mounted to one wall! I'm sure the carpet is original to the house when it was built in 1978! Wait until you see the pictures of the laundry room carpet ~ it's shagadelic baby!! THAT'S the next project & Alan knows it's supposed to be too.

I am currently working on a challenge from to do a Scrapbook layout a day for the month of January on BigPicturescrapbooking.com