Stamps and Scraps...{by Scrappindad}

A Tutorial For You

2009-09-22T20:28:00.002-07:00

I have created a tutorial on how to make this fun little bag that can be used for place settings at Thanksgiving or just to fill up with treats for the special ones in your life. Please visit my Stampin' Up! blog at http://www.stampindad.blogspot.com for more details.

I created the tutorial in a Word document format and I have attached it here in PDF form so it can be printed and followed easily.
You can download the tutorial by clicking here:
Thanksgiving Treat Bag Tutorial

The Official Launch!

2009-08-06T07:20:00.003-07:00

I have officially launched my brand new Stampin' Up! blog!

If you are a follower/reader here, please come visit my new blog and add yourself as a follower or subscribe for email updates.
I will still maintain this blog as well. My other blog is primarily to showcase my Stampin' Up creations and to use as a business resource as I grow my Stampin' Up! business.

Please come check it out at http://www.stampindad.blogspot.com.

Thank you so much for your support!

My First Zindorf

2009-08-04T21:45:00.005-07:00

I have always been very inspired by the work that Michelle Zindorf does with basic ink and a few other supplies. She is truly gifted and amazing!

I have recently been studying her blog and trying to learn some of her techniques. I thought I would give a try to making an image using some of her techniques.

I will tell anyone I meet that I'm NOT an artist. When it comes to understanding depth, spatial placement, lighting, and all of those other important elements - I'm really quite clueless. So if you look at this and think shadows are wrong or colors are wrong - bear with me ... I'm learning.

Without further ado ...

I used all Stampin Up inks to create the scene. The inks I used were: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Lovely Lilac, Ballet Blue, and So Saffron for the sky. Then I used So Saffron, Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, and Basic Brown to do the field and mountains. The stamps are all from Inkadinkado.

I did nothing else to the card but stamp "Thank You" in the middle and a short sentiment on the inside.

This card is for a good friend at work. Her birthdy was today, but I missed getting her a card in time for that. I've been wanting to make her a thank you card for a long time and it just felt more appropriate than making a belated birthday card.

I hope you enjoy it. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Sweet Baby Boy

2009-07-26T21:22:00.006-07:00

Here is a card I made for my best friend and his wife who just had a baby.

I tried to keep it to only Stampin Up supplies as possible with my limited resources. I ended up using a sheet of bazzill for the yellow base because I didn't have So Saffron in the size I needed. I also ended up using my Cricut to cut out the phrase because it just fit the best with what I had in mind. It is all cut with the All Mixed Up cartridge. The ribbon and DSP was given to me from a friend from Stampin Up's last Sale-A-Bration. I ran the solid green through my Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder.

You can find the instructions that I followed to make the card here:
http://craftiblog.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/2009-04-23-quad-fold-card-sample-tutorial/

This card was inspired by a card that can be found here:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1420046?&si=baby boy

Let me know what you think.

New Cricut Cartridges!!

2009-07-20T07:41:00.002-07:00

For those of you who have a fond love of the Cricut machine and cartridges like I do, you'll be pleased to know that they are releasing 6 new cartridges at Summer CHA next week.

I'm sure many of you who read this blog may already know about this, but I wanted to share it anyway for those that might not.

It appears that 5 of these are full cartridges and 1 of them is a Solutions cartridge. There is also talk that 2 of these will be exclusively available on the new Gypsy that Provo Craft is also releasing at CHA. However I have to get them, I will get them because they are FABULOUS!!

I haven't been this excited about a cartridge release in a long time! They have really outdone themselves this time.

I have not yet been able to get screen shots of my own for you, but a great Cricut blogger named Gracie has some great shots up on her blog. Unfortunately you have to work your way through an error that shows up when you get to her blog. Be patient and just click "Okay" on the error and then click the "back" button until you can view the images. It will be well worth your time!

The names of the cartridges are: (click on the links to view images)

Picturesque
Serenade (Solutions)
Winter Woodland
Everyday Paper Dolls
From My Kitchen
Sweethearts

I hope you're as excited about these as I am. I can't wait to get my hands on them and show you some fun projects made with them!

LOTS of new stuff ...

2009-07-15T08:14:00.004-07:00

There is a lot to cover here with this post. I’ve made several new cards that I’ll be discussing as well as some exciting news.

First of all, my exciting news. As of this morning I am officially a Stampin Up! demonstrator. I’ve been wanting to join for a long time but just couldn’t justify doing it as a hobby demo and having to meet my quotas on my own. Just recently I was asked if I would be interested in taking over a local group of stampers from a demo who is retiring. That was just the catalyst that I needed. I’ve been told that this group alone should meet my minimums, but I’m going to venture out and try a few other things as well. Now I can’t wait to get my starter kit and get going on this fun new adventure!

On to the cards that I’ve created.

This first one was created for two purposes. It uses one of Dustin Pike’s images that will be released this week and it follows the Mojo Monday Sketch #95.

I used simple cardstock from my stash for most of the project. The pattern paper is from a DCWV Christmas stack. I embossed the light green cardstock with the snowflake Cuttlebug folder. The Santa Claus image is colored with Prismacolor pencils and OMS as usual. I put stickles on the white parts of Santa’s suit and flocking on the snow areas of the image. I created little snowflakes by making an asterisk (*) with a glue pen and then covering those with flock as well. Unfortunately, the flock can’t be seen that well in the photo. I really love the effect it gives the image though!

This next card is one I made for the challenge on the Sugar Sweet Paper Treats Blog.

The challenge was to do some kind of a summery splash project. I originally had a different stamped image in mind to use, but I couldn't find it when I wanted it, so I used this one instead. This is a Dustin Pike image that was released a while ago. I colored the image with a different technique than I usually do. I used Stampin' Up ink pads and their blender pens to color the image. You can find info on the technique here if you're interested. It also follows a sketch challenge on the From C To Shining C website for Wednesday Card Challenges. The sketch and challenge can be found here.

This last card is one I made for a coworker's birthday that is next Monday. I've kind of become the resident card maker at work for special events. It's kind of fun to share my creations with my coworkers.

It is a 6x6 card that was inspired by this one at Splitcoast Stampers. I used some DCWV cardstock and some older Chatterbox paper from my stash for the papers. The "HaPPy" is cut from the Alphalicious Cricut Cartridge. I stamped "birthday" with a stamp from The Paper Studio with brown Stazon ink on a transparency. The crocheted flower is from Fancy Pants Designs and the rhinestone brad is from Making Memories.

Phew! *Wipes sweat from brow* That was a lot to cover in one post. I really need to do a better job at updating this thing at least twice a week. That's a new goal of mine. I'm pretty sure I'm also going to be starting a separate Stampin Up blog too so stay tuned for info on that. Thank you so much for checking in, reading, and supporting me here on my blog!

Christmas in July with Dustin Pike

2009-07-08T21:54:00.003-07:00

Dustin Pike has been drawing up a storm - a winter storm that is!

In the spirit of Christmas in July, Dustin has provided a fun and festive holiday set of images for this week's release.

I had fun working with these fun little snowmen in the burning heat of July. It has definitely put me in the mood to start planning my Christmas cards for this year and attempt to get an early start.

So here are two cards that I have made with recent images from Dustin to showcase his wonderful art work.

This first card is made using the freebie that Dustin offered on his blog last Wednesday. It still fits perfectly with the set being released this week and fit perfectly with an idea I had in mind.

The card basically follow's this week's Mojo Monday sketch. I wanted to put "Let It Snow" on the outside, but just couldn't quite fit it into the design. So I made my own pattern paper on the inside with various snowflake stamps and "Let It Snow" stamped randomly on the card base in Versamark ink (sorry I didn't take a picture of that.)

It is colored with Prismacolors and OMS as usual. All of the pattern paper and cardstock is from DCWV. I put stickles on his black buttons and on the hills of snow underneath him for sparkle and texture.

This second card is made with an image from this week's release. I love how the snowman is tilting his hat in a sort of greeting gesture. I immediately though of "Season's Greetings" when I saw this image and wanted to create a card around that sentiment. This card follows a basic sketch from Cardmaps in September of 2007. Again, all paper is from DCWV. I stamped the sentiment with a stamp from The Paper Studio using SU! Whisper White craft ink.

Thanks for looking and be sure to head over to Dustin's blog to get this week's release of new images!

Mystery Freebie

2009-07-01T19:09:00.002-07:00

Today's freebie at Dustin Pike's blog is a mystery. The design team didn't even know about this one ahead of time.

I'm not going to spoil it for you though. You'll have to go download it for yourself to find out what it is. Click here to get the image.

Awesome Blog Candy

2009-06-30T06:32:00.002-07:00

Check out the awesome blog candy at Scrapmaster's Paradise! Today's the last day (sorry) so hurry over there!
http://thescrapmaster.blogspot.com/2009/06/june-blog-candy-giveaway.html

Greetings Earthling

2009-06-18T06:49:00.005-07:00

Today is release day at Dustin Pike's blog. I've been such a slacker lately and have not done any cards with his previous two releases. So I wanted to be sure to at least get one done with this week's images.

This was my first time I've ever tried to color anything digitally. The coloring all took me so long that I didn't have much time left to do a very good card with the image. I'm not entirely pleased with it. I colored the planet, the background, and the moonscape all in Photoshop Elements 6. Several of the colors I used are Stampin Up colors that I put in the digital colors for. I then printed out and colored the UFO and the sign. I wanted a greeting for the sign that wasn't the typical "out of this world" kind of comment and I like being able to use this one for any kind of occasion. I used Sticles on some of the stars and around the middle of the UFO. I used pop dots to bring the UFO and sign up off the card.

So head over to Dustin's blog and check out this week's new images. Stay tuned for some prehistoric fun next week!

Freebie Wednesday Again

2009-06-17T10:11:00.002-07:00

Once again it's a freebie Wednesday at Dustin's Blog!! This is a fun little background to go with the images that will be released tomorrow. So go get the freebie and then check back tomorrow for the official release!!

Dustin Pike Freebie Wednesday!

2009-06-03T08:56:00.004-07:00

It's Wednesday again ... that means another freebie on Dustin's blog.

Here he is:

Unfortunately I haven't had the time to do a card with this fun little guy yet, but I most definitely will be soon! In the meantime, check out Dustin's blog to get the image for yourself and to see some creations by my fellow DT members.

I am featured in Pagemaps

2009-06-02T07:22:00.004-07:00

Well, technically, it's Cardmaps but it's hosted by Pagemaps.

A couple of months ago an unfortunate thing happened for Becky Fleck (she runs Pagemaps) where she lost all of the email addresses of those that had contributed to Pagemaps and she sent out a mass email informing everyone what had happened. She asked that if you had contributed previously that you let her know.

I took the opportunity to let her know that I was interested in contributing and gave her my blog address. After she looked at my blog, she invited me to contribute a card for the June edition of Cardmaps.

I've known about this for some time now but was asked not to make it known until the issue was released. So I've been sitting on this for a while and chomping at the bit for the June issue to be released. Well, here it is:

http://www.pagemaps.com/jun09cardmaps.htm

Here is the sketch I was asked to create a card for:

Honestly, I really struggled with this sketch. It was definitely a challenge for me. I don't normally use tags of any sort on my cards. I decided I would step out of the box and alter the sketch to what I would use with my cards. I came up with two designs.

I sent both designs to Becky and let her choose which one she wanted to use in the feature. You'll just have to go check out the feature to see which one she chose. *smile*

It's probably the closest I've ever come to having my work "published." So I'm quite excited about it. Not to mention I'm a big fan of Pagemaps and am so excited I get to be a little teeny tiny part of it!

Birthday Monkey Shutter Card

2009-06-01T07:59:00.005-07:00

I created this card last week for my mom's birthday. I couldn't post it until after I was sure she had gotten it. Sometimes she checks in on my blog and I didn't want her seeing it before she got it.

The images are from Dustin Pike (of course) and are colored with Prismacolors and OMS (of course). I've been wanting to use these adorable monkeys for quite some time and this card seemed perfect for them! I put Stickles on the sprinkles and Crystal Accents on the cherry. The cardstock and pattern paper is from DCWV and My Mind's Eye.

I followed the instructions found here for the shutter card.

Thanks for looking! Let me know what you think!

New Releases by Dustin Pike

2009-05-28T07:02:00.003-07:00

Today is release day on Dustin Pike's blog/website!! There are some great and fun images in this new release! Be sure to head over to Dustin's blog today to see the new images and make your purchases. Although I haven't seen the official release yet, I'm sure that he will release them in another awesome package deal!!

The Doodle Dragon Design Team has been working with these images to come up with some great projects for your inspiration. Be sure to check out their blogs listed in my sidebar to see their awesome creations!

Here are two cards I made using images in the new release:

SOMETIMES YOU'RE THE BIRD:

HOWDY!:

Thanks for looking!

Freebies from Dustin Pike

2009-05-27T11:12:00.005-07:00

Today is Wednesday and that means another freebie on Dustin Pike's Blog!!! YIPPEE!! This time you get not one, but two freebies! Check out Dustin's blog to get the freebie.

DON'T FORGET tomorrow is Release Day on Dustin's Blog. I'll be back later this afternoon with some of my sneak peeks of a couple of the new images.

Until then, enjoy the freebie!

A New Name ...

2009-05-26T08:59:00.003-07:00

I've decided to change the name of my blog.

For a long time, Scrappindad's Scribbles has seemed a little too juvenile for me. I've been tossing things around for a long time. I've always kind of liked the sound of the alliteration (words starting with the same letter) so I struggled finding things that sounded right and conveyed the message of what I do.

So I finally came up with "Stamps and Scraps ... {by Scrappindad}" for a new title.

I will be working on a new blog header image over the next little bit now that I have the new name. I'm not very good at that kind of stuff, so it will probably take me a while to come up with something that looks good. Anyone better than me at this stuff want to volunteer to make one for me???

I'm still not entirely sure if I'm completely happy with the blog background right now. That may change again too - then again, it might not.

Thanks for the support while I make changes around here!

DUSTIN PIKE IMAGE RELEASE

2009-05-21T11:18:00.007-07:00

Today is Thursday and there is a release of Dustin Pike's digital stamps today. Unfortunately, Dustin has had some significant troubles with his laptop this morning and wasn't able to make a blog post about the new releases.

The images are still available for purchase on his website though.

Here are the images he has released today:

These images are so much fun! The party animals are great for all those birthday cards we all have to make. The tiki monkey is the perfect summer fun image. And then the fix-it dragon will be perfect for those upcoming Father's Day cards. And since wedding season is quickly approaching, he has thrown in a happy couple for coloring!

Please take a moment to check my fellow DT member's blogs to see the prjects they have created with these wonderful new images! They are a great source for inspiration using Dustin's images.

The entire set can be purchased for $10.00 (WHAT AN AMAZING DEAL!!), or individually for $2.50 each.

You can purchase the images at the Doodle Dragon Studio

Dustin Pike Sneak Peak!!

2009-05-20T07:30:00.003-07:00

Dustin has a new release coming out tomorrow (remember they will be happening each Thursday). Once again, there will be no disappointment with this week's release. These images are FABULOUS and FUN!

The design team got the images a bit early so we could make up some projects to accompany them on release day.

In discussing the images with my wife when we saw them and what we thought I should do with them, the predominant idea for this set was a "honey do list." I don't really know if it's a good thing that I created this or not, but it seemed to be the perfect fit for the images.

This is actually the first time I've colored one of Dustin's dragons. I really wanted to go with something that wasn't the standard green, and blue dragons have always kind of been my favorite.

I really liked the idea of him having a shimmery tummy and spikes, so I put some stickles on him and spread them around a bit.

The tools that Dustin included along with this image made for a perfect little "border" of sorts.

So be sure to go over to Dustin's blog today to get the weekly freebie and then make plans to be there tomorrow for his new release.

Don't forget about his blog candy contest that's going on right now too - those details are in the previous post here on my blog.

Don't we all just love Dustin?

Dustin Pike Blog Candy

2009-05-18T10:10:00.005-07:00

Dustin Pike is giving away his first ever blog candy. Here are the details in his own words:

It''s official... It's my very first "BLOG CANDY" and after much thought I came up with this...First I was just gonna pick someone randomly from a post but then I realized there alot of people who really would appreciate a card made by the visitors to my blog... I have chosen one site.

http://www.postpals.co.uk

Next time I can find another similar site and do the same thing. If you know of a site like this please let me know and I can schedule it for another month...

So whatcha gotta do is create a card, project something paper crafty for a child on this site. It doesn't have to be my art (appreciated, but not required) , follow the mailing directions and send it in the mail. Next post a photo or scan of what you did on your blog or site and I am trusting everyone on this part (mail the item)... post a comment on this post that you have done all of this and I will choose 1 grand winner and 10 first prize winners. All chosen randomly...What's up for grab.

1 Super Grand Blog Candy prize: Dino Rubber Stamp from http://www.papermakeup.com
Right now there are 3 stamps, but the others are coming first part of June, The winner will win the entire Dino line designed by me "In rubber", not digital stamp.

10 first prize winners will win 2 digi downloads of their choice from my digital stamp line.

http://doodledragon.dustinpike.com/Digis.htm
http://doodledragon.dustinpike.com/Digis2.htm

Please feel free to share this wherever you feel the need, I would like for these kids to get a flood of cards from people making their day just a little brighter.

*****Due date of June 6 2009, that gives people a little time and the dino stamp set to be done, BIG thank you to Katie at Paper makeup for donating the prize*****

So go check out the site at http://www.dustinpike.blogspot.com and enter to win the Blog Candy.

Dustin Pike New Releases!!

2009-05-14T07:31:00.004-07:00

Dustin Pike has just released 7 new images for purchase. You can go to his blog at http://www.dustinpike.blogspot.com to check them out. You will also see a link to view a gallery page where he is displaying creations by his design team using the images.

Here are two of my creations using his new images:

"I'm Not Asleep"

I love Dustin's bears. The expressions he puts into them give them so much personality, they're just so much fun to play with.

This card is a 6x6 gatefold card. The bear is colored with Derwent Studio and Prismacolor colored pencils and then blended with odorless mineral spirits. The pattern paper is by DCWV. The cardstock is a mixture of Stampin Up, DCWV, and Bazzill. The font is 2Peas "Proud Papa" for the sentiment. The flowers are by Fancy Pants Designs with Making Memories brads. I used the Stampin Up ticket corner punches for the corner designs.

"Wishing You a Magical Day"

I love this wizard! I just jumped out at me as a favorite among the new releases. I love how Dustin leaves blank spaces for you to be able to fill in with your own sentiments!

This card is a trifold gift card holder. It's a 6x12 sheet of paper folded into thirds. The brown cardstock is DCWV, the blue cardstock is Bazzill. The stars is a sheet of printed vellum I've had FOREVER that I just cut and placed over the same blue cardstock. The border punch for the stars is by Martha Stewart. I colored the wizard with Derwent Studios and Prismacolor colored pencils and blended it with odorless mineral spirits. I cut him out and raised him off the card with pop dots. I filled in the starts on his hat with silver stickles.

Please go check out Dustin's new images and the creations by my fellow design team members at http://www.dustinpike.blogspot.com

Mother's Day Flower Pot Card

2009-05-06T08:31:00.004-07:00

So I jumped on the recent bandwagon and made a flower pot card for my mom and mother-in-law for Mother's Day.

I followed the tutorial found here to make the basic card. The pattern paper is by Fancy Pants Designs. All of the cardstock is DCWV and the gems are from a set I bought from JoAnn. The flowers were cut from the George cartridge, the leaves are from the Walk In My Garden cartridge, and the leafy stems are from the Joys Of The Season cartridge. The stamps on the card portion are from Studio G. I blurred out the writing since I took the picture after I wrote it out to my mom.

I have also submitted this card as my creation for our most recent challenge on Sugar Sweet Paper Treats

Let me know what you think. Thanks for looking!

Two Graduations and a Sympathy

2009-05-05T08:00:00.010-07:00

I've recently made several cards that fall into categories I don't usually make.

My wife and I are at the stage in life where we really don't know very many graduates. The graduates we do know tend to be college grads rather than high school grads. I'm sure there will come a stage later in life where I will be making a lot more graduation cards than I do now.

Anyway, here are two graduation cards I made. One is for my brother-in-law that just graduated with his Bachelors and was accepted to grad school. The other one is for a neighbor that just graduated with her Masters.

This first one is a technique I recently learned called a swinging card. I really would like to do a tutorial of this card soon, but haven't been able to do one yet. I won't go into how the swinging portion is made, as I am hoping to do a tutorial.

The pattern paper is DCWV and Chatterbox. The gray paper right under the grad hat is just gray cardstock that I stamped with Studio G stamps and Staz-On ink. The hat is just a piece of clipart I got off the internet, printed, cut, and covered with glitter. I then embossed a brad to make it black. The tassle is just embroidery floss that I made into a tassle. The "congrats" stamp is from The Paper Studio. On the inside, the pattern paper is also Chatterbox and the border punch is from Martha Stewart.

This is a shaky little video I took to show how the graduation hat swings.

This next one uses DCWV pattern paper, May Arts ribbon, and a Changito image and sentiment. I colored the image with my Prismas and mineral spirits. The pin is my first decorative pin I've made and used for a card.

A coworker's father recently passed away so I made this sympathy card for our coworkers to sign and give to her. The carstock is just from my stash. I used the Cuttlebug for the embossing and the embossed butterfly. The pattern paper is My Mind's Eye. I used the Martha Stewart lacy border punch, and one of the EK Success slimline punches for the other scallops. The sentiment was cut with Wild Card. I embellished the butterfly with some bling from my stash. You should have seen the reaction from my coworkers when they found out I made it and not my wife!! LOL!

Thanks so much for looking!

Dustin Pike Design Team!!!

2009-05-03T19:24:00.002-07:00

I am so priveleged and excited to announce that I was just chosen to be on the charter design team for Dustin Pike Designs. Some of you may have heard of this fantastic new artist to be hitting the crafting world. His name and his art have been spreading through the stamping community like wildfire!

Please take a moment to check out his artwork here on his blog:

http://www.dustinpike.blogspot.com/

And you can purchase his pieces of art to add to your collection here:

http://doodledragon.dustinpike.com/Digis.htm

Please tune in regularly to see how things develop with this new design team and to see some of the artwork of Dustin Pike that I will proudly be displaying on my blog!

Sugar Sweet Paper Treats Challenge #2

2009-04-25T20:15:00.007-07:00

Here are the requirements for the second challenge we were given over on Sugar Sweet Paper Treats

1)Create a project, any project, using a Neapolitan ice cream theme.

2)Use all three colors; chocolate, strawberry and vanilla.

3)Use your favorite flavor as the dominant color in your project.

Here is the card I came up with to satisfy the challenge:

The brown and pink cardstock are from Stampin Up. I don't know the names of them because they were just given to me in a RAK. The pattern paper is My Mind's Eye Wild Asparagus Collection. The butterfly and flowers were cut from the Storybook cartridge. The sentiment is a Studio G stamp using SU Close to Cocoa ink. The ribbon is just from my stash.

Thank you so much for looking!

Dustin Pike Card

2009-04-24T09:37:00.007-07:00

I have found and fallen in love with the art of Dustin Pike. He is an absolutely gifted artist and cartoonist. He makes his fabulous art available as digital stamps for all of us papercrafters to use. He will soon have some of his images available in traditional rubber stamps as well.

You can see his artwork (and get freebies on Wednesdays) on his blog at:
http://www.dustinpike.blogspot.com/

You can purchase his artwork from his Etsy shop here:
http://dustinpike.etsy.com/?ref=em

Here is a card I created with one of his free images:

The card itself isn't great. I would have preferred it to turn out better. I really need to improve my coloring techniques to really do justice to his images.

The colored cardstock is DCWV; the white cardstock is SU's Whisper White. I made the sentiment on my computer. The ribbon is May Arts. The Cuttlebug folder is Divine Swirls.

Thanks for looking! Let me know what you think and make sure you visit Dustin's sites!

So Tweet ...

2009-04-21T07:40:00.003-07:00

Here is a thank you card I made in triplicate for some very sweet friends who deserve a sweet little "thank you."

Sorry the pictures aren't great. I had to use a scanner this time instead of my digital camera.

The pattern paper is DCWV (Spring Stack); the stamps are Imaginisce and The Paper Studio; I used both brown Staz-on and SU! Chocolate Chip inks; the birdie is from the Happily Ever After cartridge; Scallop punches are by Fiskars and Marvy Uchida.

Thanks for looking!

Two Birthday Cards

2009-04-15T21:25:00.007-07:00

I have a couple of friends with birthdays next week so I made a card for each of them.

I always find male cards much harder for me to do for some reason. You wouldn't think I would have such a hard time creating for another male ... but I always do.

I used copper Stickles on the sprinkles and then traced over all the lines in the frosting with a glitter pen for subtle, yet still manly enough effect.

The cardstock base and the pattern paper are DCWV. The stamp is by Inkadinkado and stamped with Stampin Up's Close to Cocoa. The ribbon and snaps are from my stash.

This one is probably one of my most favorite cards I've done in a while. It was just rather unexpected to me how much I liked it (especially the pattern paper).

The cardstock base and the butterfly are both from the dual color papers by Cored'inations. I was hoping to have it look more pink when I sanded it away, but it just appears white. The pattern paper is DCWV, the felt flourish is by Fancy Pants, the scallop border punch is Fiskars, the butterfly was cut and embossed with a Cuttlebug die set.

Now here's the really funny part ... I took both of these to work so I could take a picture of them before I sent them out. I got labels on the envelopes, got the pictures taken, got the stamps on the envelopes, got distracted and put the cards in the envelopes without writing in them, sealed the envelopes and mailed them!

So the people receiving them will each receive a handmade blank card for their birthday!

(what a dork)

Sweet Thing (SSPT Design Team Challenge #1)

2009-04-10T17:00:00.007-07:00

***Drum roll please***

I'm finally posting my result from the very first Sugar Sweet Paper Treats (SSPT) design team challenge. Cheryll (the team leader) asked me to throw out the first challenge to the team. I chose to challenge us all to make a creation that had 1) some kind of sweet treat on it, 2) the word "sweet" on it, 3) and pink as a main color.

The rest of the design team has done an AMAZING job with all of their creations! You can check them out HERE. I really should have posted mine much earlier on and then I wouldn't be so intimidated by the awesome creations they have each made.

But such as it is, here is my creation (there are several pictures):

This is a little basket I made using the same basic instructions for an "explosion box." I just tweaked things a little bit so it wouldn't explode and so I could have the scalloped edges I wanted. It is also similar to the scallop envelope baskets I have seen shown on the Splitcoast Stampers site.

I used DCWV pink cardstock as the base of the basket. I then covered the outsides with patterned paper from My Mind's Eye. The handle is also DCWV cardstock and MME patterned paper. The cupcake is cut from the Doodlecharms cartridge. I cut off the candle that is cut with it. I then put random dots of Crystal Accents on the cupcake and stuck a clear seed bead on each dot. I used Cotton Candy Stickles around the edge of the frosting. I then popped it off the basket with a scalloped circle punch from EK Success and some pop dots.

I made a coordinating card to go with the basket:

The accordion fold card is made following instructions that can be found HERE:
http://www.mylifesart.com/2008/08/bella-rose-accordian-card.html

Here is the band that goes around the card:

I made the band a little wider than I needed it so I could use a Martha Stewart border punch on the edges. The cupcake is also cut from the Doodlecharms cartridge and made the same as above. On this one I included a cherry that I covered with Crystal Accents to give it some glossy shine.

So there it is. What do you think??? I hope I have lived up to the reputation already established by the talented team of which I get to be a part!

Thanks for looking!

3 Birthdays and a T-O-Y

2009-04-10T16:19:00.007-07:00

It has been WAY too long since I last posted something here. I APOLOGIZE!! I've been quite busy lately both at work and at home, and just haven't gotten to posting some of the stuff I've been working on. Just because I haven't posted doesn't mean I haven't been crafting though.

Though I have done much more than this lately, I have 3 birthday cards and one Thinking of You card to share with you today.

This first birthday card is a double diagonal-fold card I made for a good friend's birthday. It will hold 2 tags or whatever you choose to put in the pockets. Usually I make tags that I intend as bookmarks and put them in the pockets.

Products used: Pattern paper - My Mind's Eye; Cuttlebug Folder - Perfect Paisley; Scalloped punches - Marvy Uchida and EK Success; Stamps - Inkadinkado; Ink - Marthat Stewart; Ribbon - May Arts; Other - Stickles and tags from stash.

This next one is a card I made for a lovely neighbor who often comes over and shares her Stampin' Up creations and her sweetness with me and my family.

I stamped the image using a Studio G stamp, then colored it with some Zig markers I have. I put stickles on it to give it some glitz. I then colored around it with my Prisma pencils and blended the colors with the odorless mineral spirits. It didn't quite turn out like I wanted, but it's okay. The scalloped square is from the Storybook cartridge.

Supplies used: Stamp - Studio G; Markers - Zig; Colored Pencils - Prismacolor; Cuttlebug - Happy Birthday, Swiss Dots; Cricut - Storybook Cartridge; Other - cardstock and lace from stash.

This last birthday one is one I made for the talented and lovely Cheryll (thememorykeeper) who heads up our SSPT Design Team. Her birthday is today and I hope she has received the card by now!

This one too is a double diagonal-fold card. It was a bit harder for me to do though because I wanted to use DCWV's glitter cardstock as the base. It took me a while to figure out how to fold it so I would get the glitter where I wanted it to show. Then when I went to cut it, I did it wrong anyway. I ended up just having to fudge it a bit and glue stuff where I wanted it to get it to look right and show the glitter where I wanted it.

I posted a few different shots trying to show the glimmer off of the glitter paper and the glitter on the cupcakes. I dabbed a bit of Martha Stewart glue on each of the "sprinkles" on the cupcakes and then covered them with coordinating glitter from Pebbles, Inc. The scalloped square is from the Storybook cartridge, the Cuttlebug folder is "happy birthday," and "swiss dots." The stamps are by Inkadinkado and the markers are Zig. The ribbon is by Offray.

This next one is a "Thinking of You" card that I did for a monthly card swap I'm in. It is almost a direct copy from this card:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1275655?cat=fav

But I always have to tweak things a bit to make them my own.

For mine I moved the ribbon to the other side (and didn't have any adorable polka dotted ribbon to use) and then I popped out the "Thinking of You" on a scalloped circle and turned it slightly so it would be offset by the black behind it. I then added a touch of bling to the sentiment.

Supplies used: Stamps - Inkadinkado; Ink - Staz-On; Punch - EK Success; Other - bling, ribbon, and cardstock from stash.

I hope you've enjoyed them all!

WE'VE LAUNCHED!!!

2009-03-29T15:53:00.001-07:00

The Sugar Sweet Paper Treats Blog has officially launched!!!

Go check it out to put a face to each name of the design team members and see what the first challenge we're going to be working on will be.

While you're there be sure to sign up as a follower and also check out the other talented team member's blogs!

Thanks so much for the support!

Sugar Sweet Paper Treats

2009-03-28T20:04:00.002-07:00

This is a phrase that you'll likely be hearing from me pretty often in the near future. The darling Cheryll Kim (thememorykeeper) from the Cricut MB has assembled a design team for the new Sugar Sweet Paper Treats blog and I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the members of the team.

This is the first design team I have ever actually been on. There have been several in the past I've wanted to try for or have been recommended for but just didn't feel right about. I don't know what it was about this time or this team, but something felt right so I threw my hat it. I expressed my concern about now wanting to let anyone down due to how busy my schedule can be. Thankfully Cheryll came through for me and made me a floater on the team so that I am still a part of the team and can contribute as much as anyone else but will be forgiven if I'm just too busy to get in one of the projects that we're challenged to do.

All in all, I think it's going to be a great and fun team to be a part of and a great beginning experience for me as a design team member. I can't wait to share with you what we will be doing as we begin this fun new adventure.

So look over to the sidebar on the right. There you will see that I've created a new bloglist of all the other team members and where you can find their blogs and view their inspiring work. I hope you will take the time to visit them!

A Few New Cards ...

2009-03-16T07:28:00.007-07:00

Here are a few new cards that I've made in the last 2 days.

Yesterday was my daughter's 4th birthday, and this is the card I whipped together for her Saturday night. We were so busy planning and preparing for her party and wrapping her gifts and such, that a card had to take a back seat and get done when I could get it done.

For the cupcake, I stamped "Happy Birthday" in the background with watermark ink. After I stamped the image, I colored it in, and then highlighted it with Stickles.

My mom has been in town for the birthday. We had an opportunity to spend some time yesterday and make a few cards. I showed her how to make an explosion card and a waterfall card. This was actually the first time I'd ever made either one myself, but I'd seen tutorials on both of them before.

Here is the explosion card:

Closed:

Open:

Here is the awesome tutorial by DAWN GRIFFITH that I followed for the explosion card:

Here is the waterfall card:

You can't really see it on the waterfall card, but each of the stamped images has glitter on it too. I just used my Gelly Roll glitter pen to color over parts of the image after it was colored in.

Here is the awesome tutorial from DAWN GRIFFITH that I followed for the waterfall card:

Materials List:
Birthday Card:
Cardstock-Bazzill; Stamps-The Paper Studio Company; Inks-Martha Stewart Crafts, Versamark by Tsukineko; Border Punch-Martha Stewart Crafts; Ribbon-May Arts; Markers-Bic Mark Its; Stickles by Ranger Industries; Other-Pop Dots and pattern paper (unknown)

Explosion Card:
Tutorial by Dawn Griffith; Flower-Prima; Brad-Making Memories; Green cardstock-Bazzill; Stamp-The Paper Studio Company; All other products from stash.

Waterfall Card:
Tutorial by Dawn Griffith; Cardstock-Bazzill; Pattern Paper-Chatterbox; Brads-Making Memories; Ribbon-May Arts; Stamps-Studio G; Markers-Bic Mark Its; Glitter; Gelly Roll Glitter Pen;

Thanks for looking!

Free Standing Pop-Up Card

2009-03-09T10:43:00.002-07:00

I have a few special Thank You cards that I need to get sent out and I decided I wanted to do something a little "out of the box," or different than my standard card.

After looking through several ideas and options at Splitcoast Stampers (where I always go for new ideas), I found the Free Standing Pop-Up card tutorial. I had seen a few of these here and there on the Cricut MB, but had never made one myself. So I followed the tutorial and made two copies of this card.

They were loads of fun to make and really quite easy. I can definitely see myself making this type of card again and again.

You can find the tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers at this link:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/freestandingpopupcard/

And you can find a great video tutorial by Dawn at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA44EZ5z_Tg&feature=channel_page

Materials:
Cardstock & pattern paper - DCWV; Stamp - The Paper Studio Company; Ink - Martha Stewart; Punches - Marvy Uchida; Ribbon - May Arts.

Thanks for looking! Let me know what you think!

Two Slimline Punch Creations

2009-02-24T19:52:00.003-07:00

So it seems that the new slimline border punches by EK Success are all the rage lately. I'm a sucker for a cool border punch, so I got sucked into the craze. I went to Michaels on Friday and using a 40% and a 50% coupon, I bought two of them. The two that I bought are called "Swiss Cheese" and "Dotted Wave."

I really love the way the punch folds down for a slimmer profile and easy storage. They punch just as well and are just as easy to line up as the Fiskars and Martha Stewart border punches.

I couldn't play with them right away, but I finally got the chance last night to make some cards with them. I've enjoyed them so much that I went back tonight and bought two more of them!

The cards are basically the same. The only real difference between them is the punch I used. The patterned paper is from a stack I bought at Walmart, all of the ink I used is from the Martha Stewart line, the two scallop punches are both by Marvy Uchida, the two stamps are both Studio G Easter stamps from Michaels, and then of course, the two border punches by EK Success.

Let me know what you think!

These two are created with the Dotted Wave punch:

And these two are created with the Swiss Cheese punch:

Valentine Swap Cards

2009-02-07T21:33:00.006-07:00

... so it's been a while since I've posted here huh? I'm kind of a loser in the whole "regular blogging" thing - it just doesn't happen. Sorry to anyone who actually checks to see if I ever update.

Anyway ... here are two cards I made a couple of weeks ago for a Valentine swap I was in. I just had to get around to taking and posting the pictures. I had to make 8 cards for the swap so I made 4 each of 2 different designs.

Both cards use a rather nontraditional color scheme for being Valentine's cards. The pattern paper on both of them is from Chatterbox (back in the good ol' days when their paper was good).

This first card was created just because I recently got the Happily Ever cartridge and wanted to make a card with the absolutely adorable owl that is on the cartridge. So I created the card base in Design Studio by using the shadow feature and welding two of them together. Then I sized the two layers in Design Studio as well to make sure everything fit well together. (Does anyone else hate the eyelashes on this owl?? They ripped on me every time!) The sentiment was just created in Microsoft Word using the WordArt tool. I used 3 different fonts on this one and can't tell you what their names are. The hearts in the word "HOOT" are colored in with Crystal Stickles (but you can't see it in the picture).

This card was completely inspired by chocolate and was the reason for the nontraditional color schemes. I wanted to do something that was going to be a little unusual and this card was the first of the 2 designs. When I saw these papers, I was immediately inspired to do something based around Valentine chocolates for my cards. I love the rich browns and creams that all came together so well. The felt heart was cut out with a Cuttlebug die, the scalloped edge on the light brown was done with a rotary blade, and the scallops on the pattern paper were done with a Martha Stewart punch. The sentiment on the inside was also created in MS Word using the WordArt tool. I also used stickles on these hearts (although you still can't tell).

I created PDFs of the sentiments I made for the insides of both cards. You are welcome to download them and use them for your own projects. All I ask is that you acknowldege where you received them and then let me know if you post the project somewhere so I can see it.

"You're a Hoot"
http://www.mediafire.com/file/jmmim3myznj/You're a Hoot.pdf

"Love and Chocolate"
http://www.mediafire.com/file/xj5izmd2bky/Love and chocolatae.pdf

OK ... so I'm a big jerk!

2009-01-24T13:20:00.007-07:00

I felt it was time for me to come out and acknowledge how big of a jerk I am.

Over the past several weeks there have been several of my very good friends and blog readers who have nominated me for awards. Most of them I knew about - one of them I didn't. At any rate, I've done a horrible job of following through with the reward and posting it on my blog and acknowledging that I've received it.

So to those that awarded me - I apologize. Maybe I didn't deserve it huh?

But now it's time to move on and do what is right. So I'm posting each of the awards that I've received here and who I received it from. If you are a reader of this blog, please take the time to visit each of these people's blogs and see the wonderful creative people they are.

Lucy has some fabulous and fun creations for kids and using the Cuttlebug.
Visit her here: http://www.loopylousloopythoughts.blogspot.com
Lucy gave me this award:

Ruth is a friend from across the great pond. She has some fabulous and creative cards and makes such wonderful use of the Paper Dolls cartridge.
Visit her here: http://ruelysicreativecards.blogspot.com/
Ruth gave me this award:

Ted is a true friend and brother in papercrafting. He is a faithful and true friend that I feel priveleged to know and call a friend.
Visit Ted here: http://tedologycrafts.blogspot.com/
Ted gave me this award:

Okie is so sweet and generous that it's hard to even put into words. She has been such an inspiration to me not only as a papercrafter but as a person. She spends countless hours preparing .cut files for so many people and she shares them selflessly. She is such a true friend to so many people and I feel blessed to know her and call her a friend. Get to know Okie and get to love Okie.
Visit Okie here: http://okieladybugsscrapnmore.blogspot.com/
Okie gave me this award:

I truly am grateful for these friends and their support and inspiration. There are so many others that are such a great inspiration to me as well.

Typically the "rules" of these awards is that you are suppose to pass them on to at least 5 others. The problem with that for me is that most of the people whose blogs I frequent have already received them. Not only that but it is so hard to limit it. There are so many people who are so creative and whose work I thoroughly enjoy.

Thank you for supporting me and my blog!

A couple of new cards ...

2009-01-12T20:47:00.005-07:00

This first card is one I made for a close cousin of mine. She had her 4th baby (her first boy) on Christmas day. I really am not very practiced at making baby cards - I hardly ever make them.

Inside of card:

The pattern paper is from Prima. The stamp is Imaginisce and I colored it with my BIC markers. I did the Gamsol technique to color around the white circle before I stamped the image. The inside image is also Imaginisce. The "congratulations" stamp is from Fiskars (I think).

This next card is a birthday card for a friend of mine.

Inside of card:

The pattern paper on this one is from My Mind's Eye. The bird stamp is Inkadinkado and the Happy Birthday stamp is Heidi Swapp. Both are stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with a dull gold embossing powder. I created the sentiment on the inside in Microsoft Word and then colored it with my BIC markers. The flowers are from Fancy Pants.

So what do you think? Leave me a comment.

OWL always love you ...

2009-01-08T22:01:00.007-07:00

Here is my second Valentine's card of the year. So far I'm not doing as well as I'd hoped at getting several different ones made this year. Oh well, I'm having fun with the ones I'm doing anyway.

I made this card primarily because I wanted to use the OWL cut and also use my new SCAL software that I bought. The original owl that this is designed after comes from the Happily Ever After cartridge. My version, however, came from Jen C. on the Cricut message board. She designed it using the Design Studio software and the George and Plantin Schoolbook cartridges for those of us that want him but don't want to buy the other cartridge. I'm so thankful for her hard work!

The text is cut using my new Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) software that I got from a good friend. For the first time, I was able to cut words using fonts on my own computer. I love that ability! I'm so excited to be able to play with it more and see what I can do!

Anyway, here's the card:

The pattern on the front of the card was made by rolling a Stampin' Up roller stamp across the red paper with Versamark ink and then embossing with clear embossing powder. As mentioned, the OWL is courtesy of Jen C. and the text is courtesy of Sure Cuts A Lot. The heart on the inside of the card is cut from the Graphically Speaking cartridge. I cut both pieces, the base and the outline out of the same color cardstock. Then I covered the outline with Versamark ink and clear embossing powder. I like how it makes it a different shade of the same color and helps it stand out with its shine. The sentiment is a Studio G stamp from Michaels.

Thanks for looking!

First Valentine Card of the year...

2009-01-02T23:33:00.006-07:00

I don't generally make very many Valentine's cards but I plan to make a few this year. I'm also in a swap that I'll have to make some for so I'm starting to practice. Here is one that I made following a sketch I got from Pagemaps. Here is the sketch

Here is my card:

The pattern paper is Chatterbox (from a LONG time ago); the Cuttlebug folder is Swiss Dots; the stamps are all from Inkadinkado.

I actually went ahead and made two copies of the card since I was making it. So the pictures below show the two different versions of the inside of the cards:

Hopefully I'll be posting several more cards before the holiday actually arrives. We'll see if that actually happens though ...

It is what it is ...

2008-12-19T08:53:00.005-07:00

I have a close friend at work that always uses the phrase "It is what it is." I thought that it would be a fun idea to make a plaque with the saying on it for him to display in his office as some sort of motto or mantra.

I love the "top note" shape and was delighted when I found it in a wooden plaque. Although it is a favorite shape of mine, I found it hard to work with as the base - especially being a wooden base.

The plaque was bought from Hobby Lobby and then painted brown. The pattern paper is Crate Paper. The letters are cut with the Alphalicious cartridge. The ovals were cut with the George cartridge after being sized and shadowed in Design Studio. I hope you enjoy it. (I hope he appreciates it too.)

It's always hard to make gifts for men with papercrafting supplies and work to make it appealing to the eye but still keep it masculine. I struggle so much with projects for men!

Just a Quick Card

2008-12-05T10:09:00.004-07:00

Sorry I've been MIA for so long!! I've actually been quite busy creating and working on projects. The problem is that most of them have been for swaps that I'm right up to the deadline on so I get them out as soon as I finish them instead of taking the time to take pictures of them. I always remember that I forgot to take pictures after I've already mailed them. Once I get them all back, I'll have to take pictures and show what I worked on.

So anyway, this is just a quick card I made for a friend's family.

The darker paper is actually a vibrant blue color (sorry for the crappy pics - they were taken on my Blackberry). I Cuttlebugged the final layer of white with the Swiss Dots folder and then I Cuttlebugged the 3 strips of white with the Snowflake folder. The scallop circles are from Mini Monograms cut at 2 1/2" and 2 3/4" and then layered. The paper strips and the scallop cirlces are attached with pop dots.

Hope you enjoy!

Find me on Facebook!

2008-10-24T13:59:00.002-07:00

I created a facebook account over a year ago but haven't really done anything with it until today. I've got my profile all set up and I've been adding all the friends I can find.

Take a look at my profile and add me as a friend if you have a Facebook account!

Thanks!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=707472330&ref=profile

An Award...

2008-10-24T10:59:00.003-07:00

I was just made aware that Emma nominated me for this award:

I appreciate being ranked among those whose blogs she has nominated. They are some truly talented women.

So I am suppose to nominate 6 people to pass this award onto. Here they are in no particular order:

There are so many people who's work inspires me that it's hard to limit it to such a short list. These are people though that I definitely don't think get enough recognition for the incredible work they do!

Halloween Countdown Calendar

2008-10-15T08:53:00.005-07:00

After seeing a few similar items on Splitcoast Stampers, I decided that I would alter a clipboard into a Halloween Countdown Calendar. I had loads of fun doing it and my kids are really enjoying using it to count down the days.

The ghost and the cat are wooden shapes I bought from Michael's. The "days til Halloween" is printed from my computer using "Burton's Nightmare" font. It was then colored in with 2 different shades of purple glitter pens.

I used the infamous Martha Stewart "Drippy Goo" punch at the bottom of the purple and the green. The tags are cut from the Joys of the Season cartridge and then cut the base again on shadow feature. They are then stamped with a flourish. I colored in the number with the Martha Stewart glue pen and then applied glitter. The background for the number area is embossed with the "Traffic Jam" Cuttlebug folder.

Instead of putting a pocket or something on the back, I created a pocket into the design of the calendar. I have all of the number tags in a ziploc bag in the pocket on the front.

The pattern paper mostly comes from the DCWV Fall stack. The purple and orange striped papers are something else.

I'm planning to make a Christmas version of this as well. It really was quick and easy to put together. I can't wait to make another one!

Thanks for looking!

"Adore" Layout

2008-09-27T08:14:00.003-07:00

This is a layout I did for a crop challenge on the justbuggin site during our online crop last night. A sketch from pagemaps was posted for us to follow. Here is the sketch:

Here is my interpretation of the sketch. This is a photo that was taken of my wife and our then-2-month-old baby during a family photo shoot. I think it is one of the most gorgeous pictures I've ever seen of my wife and I absolutely LOVE the adoring look she has on her face as she looks at the baby.

This is a closeup of the journaling spot and the flourish I used. I stamped the flourish with Versamark ink and the embossed it with clear embossing powder.

Just a closeup of the title. It's a Making Memories rubon.

A closeup to show the detail of the stamp (by Fancy Pants) and the scoring I did using my Scor-pal.

Supplies used: cardstock - unknown; pattern paper - My Mind's Eye; Stamps - Fancy Pants Designs and Autumn Leaves; Ink - Versamark and Stampabilities; Pen - American Crafts; Rubon - Making Memories; other - Scor-pal.

Thanks for looking!!

Expo Goodies

2008-09-20T20:22:00.006-07:00

Today my wife and I went down to the Scrapbook USA Expo in Sandy, Utah. They have this thing every six months in March and September. I almost always go both times.

We had a good time and got some fun stuff so I thought I would post some pics here of the goodies we got.

You can't really see it all very well but this is the whole loot:

These are some Sizzix Texturz plates I got for my Cuttlebug. They had a booth that had 40% off of all their Sizzix stuff. These were originally only $10, so I got them each for $6. There are 6 plates in each package.

They were doing lots of drawings and stuff throughout the show. They also had numbers taped to the floor that they would call out. Well one time they were calling out numbers, my number got called and I won a $10 gift certificate to one of the booths. I used it to get the scallop punch you see here.

Some Studio G stamps that were 89 cents a piece at one of the booths.

Stamps were really the area where I scored a bunch today. The top 2 sets here are from Making Memories and were $7 each. The bottom 2 sets are by Fancy Pants and were $2 each.

These sets are also by Fancy Pants. These are their big 12x12 sets that retail in the stores for $40. I got 3 sets for $10 each. I got "In My Words," "Doodles and Things," and "Blissful Season."

These felt sets are also by Fancy Pants. They each have 4 sheets of 12x12 cuts of felt. Lots of fun shapes in each one. They normally retail for about $15 each and I got them each for $3.

I got 3 different sets of these crocheted flowers from Fancy Pants. Each set is a different color scheme. Each set has about 8 flowers in it. They retail for $4 or $5 and I got them for $1 each.

I got 2 different sets of these cute little pins. They have 32 pins in each set and retail for $4. I got them for $1 each.

These are some Imaginisce and Studio G stamps I got for a pretty good deal.

So there you have it. I got spoiled today. My wife told me not to expect much for Christmas. She was joking (I think). I'll definitely not be spending anymore the rest of the month and into October to cover for this (at least not much anyway...)

Now I just gotta go organize and then use it all...

Thanks for looking!

A Couple of Cards...

2008-09-20T20:06:00.003-07:00

This first card is a Halloween one I made just because I wanted to use the Studio G Halloween stamps I bought from Michael's this year. I bought several more than the ones I used here, but I had this idea in my head and these stamps fit it perfectly.

I also used one of the new Cuttlebug embossing borders on the top and bottom of the card.

Right now they are only card fronts, I haven't made them into cards yet. I made 4 of them and have no idea who I made them for. I just wanted to make them.

I also used my Scor-pal to score a line above and below the pattern paper. I love my Scor-pal!

This next one is one I made for a friend at work whose wife just had a baby girl.

All of the cuts on it are from the Graphically Speaking cartridge. The paper is Chatterbox and The Paper Studio.

Thanks for looking. Let me know what you think.

Happy Halloween Mummy...

2008-09-15T09:45:00.005-07:00

I just wanted to post this Halloween card that I made for my mom. I won't send it out for a while but I wanted to be ahead of the game.

All of the Cricut cuts on here are from the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge. The word "boo" is a wooden word I bought from Michael's. The sentiment on the inside is printed on my computer using a font called "Burton's Nightmare," and then I colored it in with a purple glitter pen. The finished size of the card is 8 1/2" by 5 1/2" I just folded a standard size cardstock in half. I wanted a bigger canvas to play with.

I hope you enjoy this one. (I hope mom enjoys it too).

I'll hopefully be adding some more later in the week.

Card front:

Card Inside:

A few new cards...

2008-08-29T21:56:00.007-07:00

This first card is one I made for my niece for her 15th birthday. I wanted it to be something that would be true to my style but not too cutesy for a teenage girl. I thought the black and white would be very fitting for a teenager.

This is the outside of the card. The fold of this card is not a standard fold. The card measured 11" wide by 6" high. Then I scored it at 5" to allow the pattern paper on the inside to show through.

This is the inside of the card.

This is a closeup of the inside of the card.

This is to show how the card opens.

This next set is a set of cards I made for my secret sister. The covers of the cards are each different but the insides are the same.
The covers are done with sets of stencils I bought from Michael's. They were just adhered down and then I sponged black ink over the stencils to get the images you see. The purple paper is run through the Cuttlebug with 3 different embossing folders. The pattern paper inside is older DCWV stuff. The stamp is a foam stamp from Lil' Davis Designs. The flower is Prima and the ribbon is from Hobby Lobby.

Mexico City

2008-08-28T18:53:00.006-07:00

For about a week now I've known there was a possibility that I might get to go on a business trip to Mexico City, Mexico in November. Today I found out that it's all pretty well been approved. So as long as plans continue as they currently are, I'll be going to Mexico. I'm rather excited that I'll have the opportunity to leave the country. I've been to Canada before but somehow that just doesn't seem as foreign to me as Mexico does.

I've done a little reading that has kind of scared me a bit but I'm sure everything will be okay. Unfortunately, it is a working trip and there won't be much of an opportunity for touring or sight-seeing. I may get to stay one extra day to be able to see the sights. My wife and I are also looking into the possibility of her coming along with me. Since it is a working trip, I won't get to spend a lot of time with her but it's still a perfect opportunity for a little getaway for us. My job will be paying for my flight, hotel, and food. So for my wife, we'd have to pay for her flight, food, sightseeing and shopping. That could still get quite expensive!

This is not a trip I would normally be going on as a normal function of my job. I'm going to assist a friend and coworker and to be able to learn more about what he does and how it's done. It's more of a training trip for me than anything. I'm not only excited about the location but also to be able to learn new things.

The purpose of the trip is to be involved in the rededication of the Mexico City temple. Originally dedicated in 1983, it has undergone some remodeling and will need to be rededicated. Here are a couple of pictures of the temple:

Here are just some general shots I found of Mexico City that I thought were pretty:

Wedding Gift Set

2008-08-16T13:52:00.005-07:00

A coworker of mine got married yesterday so I made her and her husband a gift for their home.

The wooden letters are purchased from Walmart. The pattern paper is Chatterbox. Most of the ribbon is May Arts or Offray. The flowers are Prima. The brads are Making Memories. The felt pieces are Fancy Pants. The little tags are all from All My Memories.

The first picture is a gift bag. The bag is from Walmart. The pattern paper is from Around the Block. The cardstock is DCWV. The ribbon is Offray. The "happily ever after" comes from the Cricut Storybook cartridge. The "ever" was cut a second time, run through a xyron and then coverd with glitter embossing powder.

The other two pictures are the card to go with the set. The card is inspired by Susie B. The cardstock is DCWV. The inside is scored with my Scor-pal. The heart is cut from Storybook, run through a xyron and then embossed with glitter embossing powder. The "best wishes" is from Alphalicious cartridge. I used the Swiss Dots embossing folder. The ribbon is from Offray.

I hope you enjoy seeing them. I really hope the couple enjoys receiving them. Thanks for looking!

The Love of my life ...

2008-08-12T10:00:00.004-07:00

Yesterday was my 8th anniversary. I took the day off of work and spent the day hanging out and doing various things with my family. (Thus the reason this wasn't posted yesterday)

Anyway, I just wanted to take a moment to show the world the love of my life.

She is far more than I could ever deserve and I count myself so very lucky that she is my eternal companion and my best friend.

A Male Birthday Card

2008-08-08T13:28:00.004-07:00

I really enjoy making cards but I often struggle with making cards that are meant for men. With the scrapbooking industry being inundated with products such as flowers, buttons, ribbon, glitter, and flourishy things, it can get hard to keep a project looking masculine.

So after looking for a good design I incorporated some ideas I found into one and came up with the following card for my best friend's birthday.

So tell me what you think. Did I keep it masculine enough?

(A list of products used is available if desired)

A busy weekend (with the Osmonds)

2008-07-29T08:56:00.008-07:00

This weekend was the annual Pioneer Day Commemoration Concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. This year it was done in conjunction with the Osmond family to celebrate their 50th year in the entertainment business. Because I do all of the closed captioning for broadcasts and choir events, I had to work the whole weekend on this concert. I tell you now that it's finished that it certainly was worth it! The entertainment was wonderful. The Osmonds truly are an amazing family and wonderfully gifted entertainers.

The original four Osmond brothers (Alan, Wayne, Jay, and Merrill) have been in the entertainment business for 50 years now. They were later joined by Donny, then Marie, and then their youngest brother, Jimmy.

There are two older, lesser-known brothers who are deaf named Tom and Virl.

Below is a video of one of the songs that they sang at the concert: (You'll have to pause my playlist at the bottom to hear this - sorry)

Merrill also has a son who is deaf. Justin Osmond is a personal friend of mine. He was involved in the concert doing all of the ASL for the deaf and hard-of-hearing to view. You can view information on Justin and his work providing hearing aids to millions of children with the Starkey Foundation on Justin's website:

http://www.justinosmond.com/

Justin Osmond with his uncle, Donny.

Through Justin I was able to meet 6 of the 9 Osmonds. I met Tom, Virl, Merrill, Jay, Marie, and Jimmy. I wasn't able to meet Alan, Wayne or Donny. Donny is by far my most favorite and I thoroughly enjoy his singing. I wish I had gotten to meet him. Of course, since I was at work I didn't have my camera with me to take any pictures but oh well!

Donny sang a song he wrote called "Whenever You're in Trouble" that I absolutely loved!! The song was written as a tribute to their parents as well as the Saviour Jesus Christ. It is truly inspiring!I will definitely be getting my hands on the mp3 of this song. Here is a sample of the song: (again, you'll have to pause the playlist)
Whenever Youre in Trouble - Donny Osmond

I truly am grateful for the opportunity I had. It was very enjoyable!

Some Projects

2008-07-22T13:18:00.003-07:00

For the family reunion that we went to last weekend I made some projects to contribute to a family auction. We were trying to earn enough money to cover the costs of the reunion plus buy a plaque for an ancestor in a museum. We did raise enough money.

I donated 4 projects but only 2 of them were recent creations. The other 2 were ones that had been sitting around for a while and I hadn't done anything with them.

The first one here is a stationery box that I learned how to make from the Cricut MB. It's made entirely from cardstock. I did it all with a "Thank You" theme. There are 8 standard cards with envelopes, 10 cards sized 3.5x3.5 and 8 tags. The pattern paper is Chatterbox, Cardstock is Bazzill, stamps are Inkadinkado, Fiskars, and Stampin Up, Scallop Circle is from Mini Monograms cartridge.

Outside of box

Inside view

Top View

Card

Small card and tag

This next project is some altered letters that spell "HOME" we added some letters to them to make the phrase "Love at Home." I really like how these turned out. The stamped images are not stamped in ink. They are stamped with a versamark pad and then chalked over the image for a more subtle and soft look. The stamps are Inkadinkado, the scallops are Fiskars Threading Water punch, and flowers are Fancy Pants. The rest is just various items.

Thanks for looking. Be sure to tell me what you think. Thanks!

The weekend...

2008-07-21T08:17:00.013-07:00

Now that the weekend is over it's time to begin recovering from the weekend.

I took Friday off of work and we headed to Bear Lake for a family reunion on Saturday. When we arrived on Friday my wife took our oldest son to the Minnetonka caves with some of her family. I got the pleasant job of staying behind to watch our younger 2 while I set up our tent and got sleeping arrangements ready. We weren't really "camping" up there. We were sleeping out in the yard of the "family home" we were having the reunion at.

The weekend went well over all. The two older kids had loads of fun with the whole "camping" thing and thought that was way cool! The baby didn't seem to agree so much. He woke up both nights around midnight and 3:00 a.m. My wife and I didn't get a whole lot of sleep over the weekend so I'm sure it will take a couple of days to recooperate.

Saturday we had the reunion which was a good time. They did a family auction to help raise money to cover reunion costs as well as some other family projects. The auction was definitely the most lively and fun part of the reunion. I contributed four projects. I only have pictures of two of them but I will post them later (I don't have my camera with me).

After the reunion was over we took our kids down to the lake to play on the beach. We were only there for about 2 hours but they had a really good time.

We got home yesterday around 3:00 and then just tried to get the house back in order and get ready for a new week.

So that was my weekend. Anyone else do anything exciting?? Sorry this post is boring but I wanted to at least have something new on my blog. I will have lots of pictures to post (hopefully tonight) after I get them off my camera.

I'm Back!!!

2008-07-17T13:51:00.003-07:00

After much consideration (and some prodding from a good friend), I've decided that it's time for me to become a blogger again.

I've been asked several times by people why I don't have a blog to post my projects on where people can go to see them in one place. Well, here it is. The primary intent of this blog will be a place for me to post projects that I create, post a little bit about news in the lives of my family, and maybe on occasion to post a tutorial or two.

I have MANY supportive friends from the Cricut MB who have made this possible and made it something worth my time and effort to do. They have all been so wonderful, loving, caring, and sharing with me that I want to be able to share more of myself and my life with such valued friends.

I've spent a lot of time making the blog look as good as I can and updating it the best I can. Unfortunately, I have no way of hiding the posts from my blogging days of more than 2 years ago. If you'd like to read them, feel free. (But they're really not very interesting).

I am considering this my official blog launch and will now be hoping to keep it updated regularly. I will apologize ahead of time if I don't keep it up as much as some might like. I would like to post to it everyday but doubt that will happen.

I don't have any projects to share right now, nor do I have any insightful words of wisdom to impart to the throngs and masses of my adoring fans (ha ha) so until I do, please enjoy two of my favorite videos from Youtube. They are both using the same song by Josh Groban titled "In Her Eyes" and each is set of highlight a different love story from 2 of my favorite movies.

I hope you enjoy them.

Unfortunately, the second one won't allow for embedding on another site. So if you're really interested in seeing it you'll have to follow this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7w3ng6SFNk

Thanks for checking out my blog - I hope you've enjoyed yourself.

One More Angel in Heaven

2006-09-08T08:26:00.001-07:00

Barbara Mary Nelson Fowles, age 73, passed away on September 1, 2006, in Orem, Utah, following recent surgery. She was surrounded by her family.
She was born on July 13, 1933, in Lehi, Utah, to Alfred Nephi Nelson and Estella Hannah Webb. She was the oldest of five children.

She married Don Mitchell Fowles on September 8, 1948, in Pleasant Grove, Utah. They were sealed for time and eternity in the Mesa Arizona Temple on March 21, 1990.
She was raised in Lehi and Pleasant Grove and lived in Pleasant Grove after her marriage. She lived full time in Yuma, Arizona, for five years, during Don's illness.

Barbara was an active member of the LDS Church and held many different positions, including seven years as Relief Society President; and, most recently, as Compassionate Service Leader. She was involved in various acts of service, including Pink Lady and temple worker. She will be greatly missed as a long-time employee of Allred's Ace Hardware in Pleasant Grove. She was well known for her humility, kindness, and selfless devotion to all who needed her.

She is survived by her children: Marilyn Fowles, American Fork; Vicki Smith, Pleasant Grove; Randall Don (Kathy) Fowles, Pleasant Grove; and Cheryl (Rick) Storrs, American Fork; 12 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild; sisters: Beverly (Bill) Millring, West Valley City; Carol Ehlers, Payson; and Kathleen Casper, Pocatello, ID; as well as many close and dear friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, Don; her parents; her brother, Eugene; and great-great-granddaughter, Lexi.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday, September 6, at 11 a.m., in the Timpanogos Stake Center Chapel, 800 North 100 West Pleasant Grove. Friends may call at a viewing Tuesday, September 5, 2006, from 6-8 p.m. at the Olpin Family Mortuary, 494 South 300 East Pleasant Grove; and, one hour prior to services. Interment will be in the Pleasant Grove City Cemetery.

We are mourning the passing of my aunt who was one of the kindest women I have ever known. She truly was the living example of charity. Her life was spent selflessly caring for all those she came into contact with.

Unfortunately, in her desire not to have others worry over her, she decided not to tell anyone but her children that she was sick. We had no idea and thus, had no time to prepare ourselves for her loss. It was quite sudden and unexpected. I am currently living less than ten minutes from her and never went to see her. I'm so sad that she is gone.

In the face of unfortunate circumstances, I was able to spend time with my little family. My wife and children came to visit for several days for the funeral. Luckily, I was in a situation to take some time off work so I was able to spend four days with my family.

For those who are following the saga, our house still hasn't sold. It has now been two months on the market. We have had a lot of people come look at it but no one has made an offer yet. I just heard that the mortgage rates went down a little so we're hoping that may spur some sort of movement - I don't know. But I am getting quite frustrated with the whole situation. I don't know how to pray any harder or show any more faith than I have been. We're just resolving ourselves to believing that this is our little test in patience and family strength. Hopefully it will end soon though!

All is well.

Jason

How Lucky Can A Guy Be??

2006-08-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

I tried to write about this here and post the pics but the blogger photo system doesn't like me much.

So here is a link to a little story about how I got to meet the editor in chief of Creating Keepsakes today and some other very wonderful people too.

Check it out:

Edited:
I had to remove the link because it was casing formatting problems here on my blog.

The Housing Market

2006-07-25T13:12:00.000-07:00

Well, things have been busy since I got down here. I spent most of my first two weeks getting settled in and looking for homes in the evenings. Unfortunately, we are moving to a more expensive housing market. Finding a home in an area I was comfortable with and then finding a home I was comfortable with became quite challenging.

Work is going along well but it is quite busy right now. My supervisor is leaving the country in about 2 or 3 weeks and will be gone for about a month. We have a lot of training that needs to be done before she leaves but she already has so many projects that need to be done before she leaves, I just feel like I'm taking up more of her time and adding to how much has to be done.

Anyway, we're working through that. It'll work out.

Well, I was able to find us a house to live in. Unfortunately, it's a little bit further away than we had hoped but I think it will be just find. It's about 20 to 30 miles from downtown Salt Lake but it shouldn't be too bad. There is an excellent transportation system that I should be able to use.
Anyway, it's a wonderful deal!!

The house sits on a half acre of land. The first quarter acre is cultivated and has a VERY well maintained yard. The second half is a field with trees. My wife is absolutely ecstatic about finally being able to put a garden in part of this space. The house sits across the street from a small cemetary. At first I didn't like this idea much but then I got to thinking that it means we will never have neighbors across the street. It's an old cemetary that is already full so there won't be funerals happening there that we will have to worry about. It's a four bedroom two bathroom house with two family rooms. It was built in 1966. The entire house has just had brand new carpeting installed, brand new linoleum in the kitchen and bathrooms, fresh paint in and out of the whole house. There is a beautiful deck that spans the whole back of the house (it needs a new coat of stain - but that's no biggie). The backyard has a HUGE storage shed and a small basketball court. There is a living room and a family room that are about the same size - big. There is a large master bedroom (unfortunately, without a master bath) and a large bedroom on the upper floor. The bottom floor has the second family room and another bathroom and two more bedrooms.

So here's the plan: we will be putting our two kids in the one room on the top floor with their clothes and essential room stuff. We will be putting a nice sitting area in the family room on the top floor. We will be putting our tv and other entertainment stuff in the family room downstairs. We will be putting the office/scrapbook space in one of the rooms downstairs. The other room will be a playroom for the kids so we don't have to keep their toys in the room they're sharing. The kitchen right now doesn't have a dishwasher and there is only an evaportive cooler in the roof for cooling. We have asked them to give us an enough of an allowance to put in a dishwasher and a central air cooling system. They accepted that and the rest of our offer - we are ecstatic. Now we just have to get our other house to sell.

Our realtors selling our house did a search today in our area with the same paremeters as our house. There were 40!!! We're hoping and praying that someone will be led to our house and be ready to buy it soon.

I can't get the pics to load here (what's up with that??) so here is a link to view them. Just click on the word link.

Enjoy!

j

Things are moving along...

2006-07-11T12:25:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try to be more regular with writing here now. Now that I have a job where I actually have my own office, desk and computer that I work at everyday it may just be easier to do.

So yesterday was my first day of work. I can't tell you how excited I am!! Everyone around here has been so nice and friendly. My coworker and I get along so well and I have so much to learn from her. Yesterday was kind of a boring day - mostly just orientation. It finished much earlier than they had planned so I had time to come up to my office and get things situated and organized the way I wanted them. I have a totally cool computer with a 19" LCD monitor sitting on top of a brand new DVD player and right next to a brand new 19" flat screen LCD TV. I'm not trying to brag at all but I was totally excited! I plan to take some pics soon of the office if they'll let me.

I was able to get some projects done before I left to decorate my office with that I want to get posted sometime soon too.

The only major problem right now is that I miss my family. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." Heck yeah, it does! I knew I loved my wife and children but I didn't realize just how much I would miss seeing them everyday. I can't go home until next weekend - it might just kill me! I'm trying to find things to do to stay busy either with work or some other things so I don't just sit around and miss my family (quick and easy way to get depressed again).

Today I've actually started working on some projects. Unfortunately, I can't do much to practice my stenography skills because the machines and software they ordered for me won't be here for two weeks. So, I'm doing other stuff. My in-depth training will probably start tomorrow. My supervisor has a lot of projects she's trying to get finished up before she starts training me.

Anyway, thanks for indulging me. This is just the most official and professional job I think I've ever had and I am just so excited!!

J

Some major changes in my future

2006-07-06T15:32:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been almost four months since I wrote here last. Oh well, life goes on and is sometimes more important than writing in my blog. Although, I probably should have been documenting the events of the past four months somewhere. Oh well, moving on.

So here's a quick run-down. I got the depression and anxiety under control with some very good meds. Fortunately, we didn't have to go through a lengthy process of findind the best meds. The first ones I got really seemed to do the trick and keep me under control. So things quickly started getting better for me emotionally and mentally. I was still out of work and still not yet feeling comfortable with the idea of going back although I had put out some applications. School started going much better and I returned to the positive, excited attitude I had about it when I started instead of hating it and wanting to find something else. It's a good thing that I did stick with it because that leads into what is now going on in our lives.

At the end of April (while I was still sorting out my emotional state) I got an email from a friend of mine. She does the closed captioning for the LDS Church. When I decided I wanted to look into this as a career, I met her and spent a day with her kind of seeing what she does and what is involved. She and I have kept in touch over the past year and a half, and I have depended on her during some of my schooling. Well, she started asking me how school was going, what speeds I was typing at, how I felt about it, if there was anyway I could finish the program doing a distance ed kind of thing or some other way, etc. The Church had a position open for a closed captioning specialist and had had it posted for over a month. They hadn't had much success with their applicants. Six of the seven had no experience at all on the stenography machine that is also used for captioning and the one who did was running a lucrative business in St. George and didn't want to relocate. The problem they are having is that any captioner working in the business would not give up the money they are making to go to work for the Church, which unfortunately, doesn't pay anything close to actual business world salaries.

So my friend started looking into the options of using me - a student who didn't quite meet all of the requirements they were looking for but was moving along well in school. It took many, many meetings and for a while it wasn't looking too positive. Then on the day that I was told I didn't get a job that I was sure I would get, I got a call from the Salt Lake people telling me that they wanted me to come down for an in-person interview. The interview went very well as far as I was concerned and I really enjoyed the whole opportunity. Unfortunately, things still moved rather slowly with many, many more meetings involved. This whole thing went clear up to the top of the HR departments in the Church headquarters for approval.

Well, on Wednesday, June 28, after two months of waiting they finally called and made an offer for the job. I was so relieved! There are quite a few contingencies placed upon me and some very strict time requirements in place in which I have to meet their requirements. But, they were impressed with me and felt like I had the potential to become what they need.

So, I'm moving to Salt Lake!!!! And to make this a little more clear to anyone reading this - this is exactly what we would hope for in our lives. After meeting with Church's captioner a while ago, I decided that when I was done with school I wanted to try for a job there. To have this come along so soon for us is a Godsend! We will finally be making enough money to keep my wife home with the kids (although, like I mentioned before, the salary isn't stellar). We will be moving to an area where we are more comfortable and have a lot more family. I will be able to work in an environment with coworkers who have the same belief and value systems that I do. And all of the material I will be working with will be of a spiritual, church-related nature. Not the worldly stuff that I would be captioning on television. The benefits are excellent and we couldn't be more excited about this whole thing!

So that's the long and short of it. I will be quitting school but will continue my education on a personal course with the other captioner as my mentor/teacher. We are hoping everything goes as planned.

I had some pictures to post of where I will be working, but I can't get them to post here - I don't know what the problem is. Oh well!

Thanks for reading this and thanks to all those who have been so supportive!

J

CRAZY! (Sorry - it's a long one)

2006-03-17T15:25:00.000-07:00

So in case anyone was wondering - no I did not die! I can't believe how fast the time flies sometimes. Seems like it wasn't that long ago that I was enjoying being able to play on the internet while recovering in my bed and here we are like a month and a half after my last post. CRAZY!!

So crazy is a pretty good word to describe what's been going on with me lately. I seriously feel as though I have been going a little crazy. And I mean no jest when I say that. I also do not mean to make light at all during this post of anyone who suffers from or has any brush with mental illnesses.

So here's the story. I don't yet know entirely what caused everything but I quickly became an emotional wreck after returning to work and school after my surgery. The only thing I can think of is that it is just a combination of everything that has been happening culminating all at once. I literally have not felt physically well since before Christmas. I progressed from my "theory" into my highly tense, stressful and discouraging speedbuilding class within a week after returning to school. Being away from my job for ten days made me realize just how much I absolutely hate that place and hate my job.

So slowly and almost undetectably depression, anxiety and panic attacks started creeping into my life. I still can't pinpoint when I first started feeling it but it quickly started taking over and controlling my life. I would wake up in the mornings with a knot in my stomach. I would have so much anxiety as I got ready for school and work that I would literally start to dry heave as though I would vomit at any moment. I got to the point where eating breakfast was almost impossible. Soon that started creeping into lunch and dinner as well. I almost completely lost my appetite and rarely ate a full meal. During my days at school I started to withdraw from everyone around me. I no longer associated with the people I started school with and didn't really want to talk to anyone. I was always sad and sullen and really didn't want to be there at all. The worst of the day would usually happen right before I had to go to work. I would often get so anxious about it that I would start crying. Crying probably isn't a good description. I was more like bawling hysterically. During all of this my poor wife is having to deal with me bawling over the phone to her and complaining all the time about how I don't want to go to work and how I'm not really happy with school anymore.

It all got to the point where I didn't want to leave the house - especially when my wife was staying home with kids. I was skipping school every chance I got and going to work only because I had used up all of my paid time off for my surgery. So after many discussions with my wife we decided I would start by looking for a new job that would make me happier even if we had to make some changes with school and other things. Then this past Saturday I skipped work and stayed home so I could call a counseling service that is supplied by my employer. After talking with them for an hour and knowing the things I was experiencing were real and I was going to be getting help - I thought I would be okay and start on the path to recovery. I figured I'd be able to cope with life until I could make some changes - WRONG!

It started all over again on Monday. I had been pretty much in control for most of the day and was doing okay until I was talking to my wife right before work. Then just out of nowhere it crept up on me again and I was crying worse than I ever had. I decided I couldn't go on like this. I walked into work and I quit my job. I can't believe I actually quit my job! That's something I'm still trying to process. I had several chances to back out of it but the whole time I was doing it I felt right about it and I felt that was what I needed to be doing. The shock hit me later that night when I finally realized what I had done and what it implied.

I don't regret it though. I am sure I will find something else (hopefully soon) and life will go on. I have actually felt much better this week though. I have been able to go through my days without crying and without having a panic attack. I am still feeling like there is definitely some depression and anxiety left to deal with and I'm not going to give up seeking professional help just because I have felt better this week. A lot of the anxiety I feel now though is over trying to figure out what kind of job would be best and where that might be. Luckily the hospital is willing to give my wife extra shifts while we get through this and they pay quite well. I am feeling bad over her having to work so much more because of me but we both agree that I couldn't go on like that every day.

So now I'm trying to heal in more ways than one. The surgery healing is coming along but I am still dealing with some inflammation and nerve pain. The doc thinks it will only be about another six weeks before all of that goes away as well. I hope so. It will be so nice to actually feel good again. In the meantime hopefully I'll get this other stuff taken care of and be on the road to a full recovery soon.

We're not so sure that school is the right thing anymore right now either. I like the prospects of the career but there are also some things about the work and the training to get to it that I'm not so sure of anymore. This just may not be what I want to do with the rest of my life and I don't want to get through it and then want to change paths again. So I'm doing some evaluating of my goals as well as my other options and we'll see it where it leads us. I'm just not sure right now.

The family is doing wonderfully though! My beautiful little girl just turned one on the 15th. She is so cute and so much fun. It's amazing how much of a little girly-girl she is already. This one is definitely all girl!! She unfortunately got the chicken pox a few weeks ago while I was still recovering from my surgery. My poor wife had a houseful of sickies to deal with. I don't what I would do without her.

Anyway, I'm still plugging along just trying to find my place in this world. Not yet sure where that is but I know we'll find it someday.

I really am sorry to anyone who reads this that it is so eratic and so depressing when it is updated. Hopefully someday I'll be more regular with it.

Thank you for bearing with me and supporting me.

J

Just Healing Now

2006-02-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

Everything with the surger went pretty well. I've ended up with a little more pain than I'd anticipated but I think that will soon be better or at least more manageable.

I'm spending a lot of time in bed getting stuff done on my laptop or doing other school work. I've had an opportuniy once or twice to get to work on my scrapping projects a little. My project for my wife really hasn't turned out the way I was wanting it to so I don't know if I'll post pics or not. I'm really not very happy with it.

My poor wife has been an absolute angel through this whole thing. She is taking care of me, our two sick kids and a sick cat as well! I know she has got to be so tired but she is handling it all quite well. I don't know what I would do without her.

If there's any more developments that come up I'll be sure to write about them. For now, I'm just dealing through the pain and discomfort and enjoying a very nice break from school and work. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers - I really appreciate them!

J

Going under the knife

2006-02-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

So sometime (most likely during our move this summer) I strained something well enough to cause some hernias. I've been feeling some discomfort and sometimes pain in my left side on and off for a couple of months. Just recently I got quite sick with the "crud" and ended up coughing like crazy for 2 or 3 weeks. Towards the end of that I started noticing a physical bulge on my abdomen. A co-worker said it sounded like a hernia so I had it checked out. Sure enough, an obvious hernia on my left side and probably one on my right side as well. Oddly enough though, they are hernias which are more common among women than men. (I've always been weird that way).

Anyway, so the surgeon says the left one definitely needs to get fixed and he might as well fix the right one before it gets any worse while he's doing the other one. So tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. I go under the knife to have these little buggers fixed.

I'm not very happy about the whole deal. We are just about to finish paying off our last medical bill from 2005 and then this happens. On top of that, work will only pay me for part of what I'm missing and part of what they are paying me is only at a percentage of what I would normally be paid. Finances are rediculously tight as it is right now and this certainly is not going to help. Iwould put it off if I could but there would be more danger involved in doing that than it is worth. Not to mention the discomfort level is getting pretty high right now.

The doc is only expecting about ten days for recovery before I'll be back in school and work. I'm hoping it's shorter but we'll have to wait and see.

Just so any of the scrappers who read this blog know, I have been trying to keep up on your lives. I read as many blogs as I can and I do check message boards when I can too. I miss being able to participate but I still think of you all quite often.

I've actually been taking a little time to work on a Donna Downey-inspired project for my wife for V-day. I will try to get some pics taken of it and posted after I get it done.

Other than that life continues at its normal, busy pace right now. My two little ones unfortunately both have bronchitis right now. I feel so bad every time I hear the cough. I wish I could make it all go away. They've both been good little troopers so far though and have kept happy attitudes. My daughter will be one next month (I can't believe it!) and is starting to take her first few steps now and then. She is absolutely adorable and I really need to post some updated pictures of her so you can all see her.

Thanks for all your support.

J

A Few Changes...

2005-12-21T23:09:00.000-07:00

I made a few changes. Variety in life is a good thing.

J

So Much for More Time huh?

2005-12-21T21:59:00.000-07:00

So now that it's been more than a month since I last updated my blog, you might be wondering what happened to all that extra time I was going to be getting. Well, I did get it but it just so happened to start right before the busy holiday and I still haven't really had any extra time to breathe. It has been good though. I get to be home in the evenings with my family a lot more now and I have really enjoyed that. The problem is just that the evenings have been full of other things needing to be done. I obviously haven't had much time for blogging and I certainly haven't had much time for scrapping. I am seriously missing my scrap room lately. I walk in every once in a while just to stare around and enjoy it for a minute.

Am I too optimistic to hope that after the holidays I will have a little more time in the evenings to do the things I want to do instead of all of the stuff that has to be done? I seriously miss reading blogs and writing in mine. I do still occasionally get to read blogs but it comes in little snippets of time and I usually don't ever have time to leave comments.

Scrapping is what I really miss though. My daughter is now 9 months old and I only have 3 pages done for her book. That is really pathetic! I always told myself I wouldn't allow my second child to have less pictures than the first one and all that jazz. Yeah, well, life kind of gets in the way sometimes. The poor girl just happened to be born right before we move and dad goes back to school. We've still been taking a lot of pictures but they just don't get printed or scrapped right now.

Enough of what's not happening. So here' s what is happening. Nyah has been crawling now for about a month or so. She's standing up everytime she can find something to lean against. There's even been a time or two when we've seen her let go and stand on her own for a few seconds. We're assuming it won't be long before she's walking. She's getting plenty of teeth and she eats like there's no tomorrow.

Auryn is the same as usual. Full of attitude one minute and totally sweet the next. I guess that's a typical three year old huh? He's so smart and he does very well with letters and numbers. He's learning how to read small words, write letters, and do basic math. He loves to learn new things!

We are all excited right now for Christmas. My mom is coming to spend a little over a week with us during the holiday. My work schedule worked out so that I will have 5 straight days to be home with her while I'm on holiday break from school. It will be very nice.

School is going well but it keeps me busy. I start a new class in January that focuses on legal terminology. I'm expecting this class to require a lot more of my time for homework and study than the English class I just finished required of me. I'm not looking forward to that.

My wife is supportive as ever and is Super-stellar Mom. There's no way I could get through any of this without her. How did I ever get so lucky?

Thank you again for supporting me and checking by periodically. I really am hoping to be posting more often soon. Maybe with a little luck I'll even be able to start posting on message boards again too!

Thanks again!

J

A Little More Time??

2005-11-20T17:55:00.000-07:00

I may finally be having a little more time in my schedule. Things seem to be finally working out for me to be with my family a little more and have a little more time for schoolwork.

There just didn't end up being the possibility for us to have me quit so we started looking into the possibility for me to go down to part time. I put in a request and my supervisor and her supervisor both approved it. Unfortunately, I found out that the center manager had put a freeze on all changes to part time. I was quite upset and told my supervisor I would have to quit. She pleaded for me to give it a little time and stay if possible but also mentioned she understood my situation. She said it would probably be near the end of December before the freeze would be lifted.

I had to have some concrete information so I could make a decision to stay or go. So I decided to go directly to the source and ask the center manager how long it may take to have the schedule approved. She gave me her reasons and listened to mine. She said she understood and said she would check with scheduling to see what could be done. She said she wouldn't be able to bump my request up ahead of anyone else'sbut she would check to see what the timeframe would be. That was Friday before last. She said she would get back to me the next week. I hadn't heard from her by the Thursday so I followed up with her. An hour later she delivered me a message that my new schedule would start on November 28th. I was shocked!

I had only anticipated to find out what the time frame would be - not to actually have the schedule approved!! She says she didn't really do anything and that the head of scheduling was already working on it for me. I don't really believe that because of my previous experiences with him. But that doesn't matter to me. I am so excited!!

So my new schedule will give me a total of 5 nights a week home with my family. I will work Mondays from 2 to 9, Tuesday from 2 to 6, Wednesday and Thursday I will be off, Friday from 2 to 9, and Saturday from 8 to 5. Though I'm still working four days a week I get to have an earlier shift on Saturdays now and I leave work earlier on Tuesdays. That gives me three whole days off of work and two other nights that I get to be home in time to have dinner with my family and put the kids to bed. It will also allow me to have more time to keep caught up on my schoolwork and still be home on my nights off in time to enjoy some time with my family.

Unfortunately, to make it all work, we will have to take some more money in student loans to supplement our income. We both feel it is worth it however to help me stay on track to finish school on time and be able to be with the family more.

So, I'm excited. Thankfully it's all in time for me to be able to be with the family more during the Holidays. Hopefully I'll have a little more time for scrapping and blogging as well somewhere in the schedule. We'll have to see.

Thank you all for your support and encouraging words. What would my world be without my friends and family??

Thank you!

J

A Day In My Life.

2005-10-23T20:05:00.000-07:00

Once again, I apologize for the lack of material on this blog. Things have been just as busy as I had expected they would be. Even my days off have been filled with catching up with those family and house things that don't get done on any other day.

School is good though. I really do love it! It is quite intimidating and scary to think that at some point I have to get up to 225 words per minute when right now I'm working at 30 and having to stop the tape sometimes. It also gets intimidating when we talk to students who've been there for 2 or more years and they've still not graduated. I'm working very hard to keep my head above water with school and doing okay so far. This week I add a new book to my repertoire of lessons that I'm sure will start causing me to fall behind. Vanessa and I are talking about our options for me to cut down to part time with work or to quit all together. I must say I'm quite excited about the possibility of quitting but in order for it to happen we would have to take additional student loans to supplement Vanessa's income. I'm NOT excited about how far in debt we would be by the time I finish.

Here's what we're asking ourselves though. Is it worth it to us to be more in debt up front? If I fall behind, which at my current rate - it is guaranteed, I will be in school loner. The least amount I will ever pay for a semester of school is $5,000. If school takes me 5 years instead of 2 1/2 years then I will have at least $45,000 in student loans plus the 5 years in school. That means I have to work at a job I don't really like for 2 1/2 yrs. longer and my wife has to work 2 1/2 years longer instead of get to stay home with the kids. On the other hand I could quit and take about $800-$1000 additional each month in loans and have a better chance of getting the program done on time. That means I get into my field earlier and Vanessa gets to start staing home with the kids sooner. I have a hard time stomaching the idea of being that much more in debt though. Each month taking money that will put me further in debt instead of working to make money for my family. I'm pretty torn right now.

So, since I really don't like my job much, I'm not going to include any pictures or detailed information here about it.

Here's some pictures and information about what I do with school though.

This is a rough idea of the machine I work on currently. Mine is just about as old as this but is yellow in color. It is one I'm renting from the school for now. After about six months I will probably buy my own machine which is much newer and much nicer. It will cost me about $1500.00 though.

This is what the keyboard looks like. With a steno machine it is not about words but about strokes. The keyboard is divided into the initial (left) side and final (right) side. With keys representing sounds of the english language more than words, every word of the english language language can be stroked on this keyboard. It is compared more to playing a piano than anything. I stroke combinations of keys simultaneously to create words or syllable of words much like a pianist depresses keys on the piano to create chords.

This is an idea of what my notes would look like. They are printed on paper that is about 2 inches wide with each stroke appearing on a seperate line. Sometimes one line can have an entire phrase or it can have only one syllable of a word - it depends.
These notes here are way too small to actually read but if you're intereted in seeing them in their full size visit this website:

http://www.cocra.org/careers/read_write.html

Basically it is like learning an entirely new language again. There is a complex theory with rules that govern every stroke I make. The woman who invented must be a genius! Here is a link to the site for my theory.

http://www.phoenixtheory.com

So that's a little of what I do right now. Like I said before, it is VERY difficult and demanding but I am loving it so far.

Thanks again, to everyone for being patient with me and being so supportive!

J

Just to say hi

2005-10-03T06:25:00.000-07:00

I thought I would take a few seconds just to say hi to everyone. I haven't fallen off the face of the earth but my schedule is much busier than I had even anticipated. I'm very tired!

I'm considering cutting an hour off the end of each of my shifts at work just to try and establish some sense of normalcy with my life and my family. I seriously don't see my children anymore. They are generally asleep when I leave and in bed again when I get home. Friday morning before I left for work my daughter woke up and that was the first time I'd seen her in 2 days! I can't handle that!

It may take a while because work is incredibly slow getting schedules changed but I have to try and figure something out.

Thank you all for your kindness and support. I'm hoping soon to post some pics of what my daily life entails now - no promises though.

Take care!

J

Cruisin' Right Along at Top Speed

2005-09-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

So just a quick note before work starts.

Life is busy! I have completed my training so for all of this week and next week I'm working 12 to 9. On the 27th I start school. School is from 8 to 1:15 and then work is from 2 to 9. I'm planning to leave the house at 7 and I get home around 9:30.

Right now before school starts I get up with the kids in the morning and try to get them and myself ready and out the door by 10:30. Let me just say I have no earthly idea how women do it all so well and don't go crazy! God bless the women in the world!

Work is okay. It's work. I'm trying to find a way to be okay coming to work everyday and not hate my job. I NEVER wanted to work in a call center but here I am and I have to stick it out because it is the most flexible thing I could find for my school schedule.

Thank you to the bloggers in my life! It really helps keep me going to take a few minutes everyday to just read what is happening in friends' lives. Thank you all so much!

Planning a little bit of scrap activity this weekend. I actually haven't been able to do much real scrapping lately. I seem to think that I need to do all these other little projects that are outside of the album. So this weekend is two paint cans. One as a "thank you" to a co-worker and another for my desk at work. Last week I did a cd of my son and a file folder of my daughter both to put in my cubicle at work. I try to sneak at least one tiny little session a week to try and relieve a little stress.

My wife is planning to be a slave driver on Saturday though. I only have tomorrow and one more Saturday before I start working every Saturday. She wants some yard work and the garage done ASAP. So I'm just glad we have a standard that we don't do housework or yardwork on Sundays - that's my scrap time!

Well, gotta go get on the phones!

"Thanks for calling, this is Jason. How can I help?"

(Repeat 50+ times)

Take care all!

J

5 Little Known Facts

2005-09-04T11:06:00.000-07:00

So, as promised, I need to list 5 little known facts about myself. I had planned to do this last week but it just didn't really seem like the right time with all of the tragedy and hard times several of my friends were facing. Anyway, here goes...

1. I don't eat chocolate, ice cream, cake, licorice, gum or hot dogs very often at all. I'm certainly not a fan of any of the above. I also don't like tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, beans (of any kind), sour cream, milk and many, many other things.

2. I'm extremely anal about some things. My closet...All of my hangers HAVE to be white - no other color. All of my shirts have to face the same direction and be separated by the kind of shirt. Most of my shoes, on the other hand, are simply thrown in a basket at the bottom of the closet.

3. I swear I must have the world's smallest bladder. I can seriously go to the bathroom 2 or more times an hour. There was one time I was watching a movie with my wife and sil and seriously went to the bathroom more than six times during a two hour movie. It's quite pathetic!

4. I was a horrible baby to my mother when she was pregnant. I was due on April 14th and born on May 10th. I was 23 inches long. After 36 hours of labor the doctors finally decided I wasn't coming on my own and decided to do a c-section. My mom and I both almost died. She also had sneezed at some point late in the pregnancy, I flew forward and broke some ribs. They couldn't set or fix the ribs because she was pregnant and so large.

5. I was born with my pinkie finger stuck in my right ear lobe. So it looks like my right ear is pierced but never has been. My left ear on the other hand was done by choice (at a very foolish age) and is not used anymore.

So there you have it.

So my mom and my aunt are here visiting us for the weekend. My aunt told me that she reads my blog to keep up on how we are doing and what we are doing. She also told me that I am far too whiney on my blog. So, after I finish the cheese with my whine I promise to do better and not be quite so whiney and complaining on my blog.

But then again, promises are like rules - made to be broken!

J

I've been tagged

2005-08-31T07:09:00.000-07:00

My good friend Colleen tagged me for the most recent thing going around our world of blogs. I don't have time this morning Colleen but I will get my list put together and posted asap.

Thanks to you my friends for your encouraging support - I appreciate it!

God bless and keep those now in the wake of Katrina (the skank).

J

Platitudinous

2005-08-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

platitudinous: lack of originality, triteness, boring

Ever think that one word could so accurately sum up an entire blog? I must apologize to the crowd of approximately three people who stop by here. I don't write to please the crowds but I know when I enjoy reading a blog and when I don't. This would most certainly be a blog that I would not enjoy reading.

I know that I get frustrated when the blogs that I enjoy reading are not updated regularly. This thing has been very poorly updated recently and for that I must apologize.

I also had more of an intention to include photos of a general variety as well as pictures of some of my work on a regular basis. That just simply hasn't happened because photos seem to take so darn long to get on the blog and I haven't had any time to create anything lately to put on the blog.

I just found out this weekend that my time will probably be getting cut even shorter. The job my wife is working at starts at 7:15 so she will have to leave before me. That puts me having to drop the kids off in the mornings before I go to work. Which means that now I have to get up earlier which means that I have to go to bed earlier every night so I can get up on time. So now I'm sure I will work all day, come home, eat, put kids to bed and then go to bed myself. Instead of having a few moments in the evening to try and do some projects before I have to be to bed, I will now have to go to bed much earlier.

Maybe I'm making a mountain out of a molehill again (who me?). Maybe once we get into a routine it won't be so bad - I don't know. All I do know is that I'm certainly going to be missing the schedule I had working for the school district in Pocatello where I got to be home every evening after 3:30 and had plenty of time to do things I wanted to. By the way, who starts school at the awful hour of 7:15 anyway?? ( my wife will be working for the school district) The school system in Pocatello started at 8:30.

Anyway, so to the three of you who may read this in the next couple of days - I apologize. I don't foresee any time in the near future being alotted for me to update more regularly or to include more fun things on this blog - I just don't have the time.

Thanks for being faithful though - much appreciated!

Sorry for the delay

2005-08-15T07:02:00.000-07:00

I only have a few minutes to post so I thought I'd write a quick hello and a promise to do more later.

You may notice that the text is now in black. I got my laptop last week. I received it several days before Dell had told me it would ship. I was very excited! There's been a few confusions I think though with what I ordered and what I got so I will be spending some time on the phone with Dell here pretty soon.

I started my new job last Monday. It's been okay so far. We have a 5 week training to help us learn all about Wells Fargo, their products, their systems and all that other jazz. So, only 4 weeks left now!!

The one thing I have absolutely hated so far though is the stinkin' commute! I come from a city where traffic is not that bad. I can get anywhere I want to go in about 15 minutes max! Now it takes me about 15 minutes to get from my house to the interstate and then at least another 1/2 hour to get to work once I'm on the freeway. That is on a good day though. I have never had to sit in stop-and-go traffic on a daily basis. It's driving me insane!!! What would be a half hour drive easily becomes 45 minutes to an hour. I leave my house every morning at 7:00 so I can make sure I'm at work at 8:30. This has been a huge adjustment!

Now with the ridiculous price of gas I'm just more flaming ticked off about the whole situation! This is going to cost be a bloody fortune to commute like this in stop and go traffic five days a week driving a Chrystler New Yorker! Maybe its time to consider trying to find a more economical car. Or maybe it's just high time the government pulls their heads out of their political rears and does something about the "gouge at the pump"!

Anyway, the house is coming along. We are trying to make some final decisions on paint colors and then we will start painting soon. Hopefully after we do that, have the carpets cleaned and replace some blinds we will be able to get rid of the stale smoke smell from the previous inhabitants. Neither of us are smokers and that smell is driving me insane (please, no offense to anyone who does smoke)! Does anyone have suggestions for eradicating such a smell?

My wife starts work this week and so starts the outrageous cost of child care. We found a lady who will charge us $15 per kid per day. That's 30 freakin' dollars a day! Which is $150 a week and $600 a month. I can't believe it! We're hoping my wife will get a different job she applied for that will have her working three 12 hour shifts. So our child care will only need to be 3 days a week instead of 5. That will certainly help with the cost. Not to mention she'll get to spend more time with the kids. We'll have to see how it works out.

Well, work starts is a few minutes - I'd better go. I will post some pics soon of the new laptop and other fun stuff. Bye for now!

We're Outta Here!!

2005-08-04T05:47:00.000-07:00

Like promised, in blue in honor of my new laptop. (The printer shipped on the 2nd but no word yet on the laptop itself)

Anyway, "Today is the day, the sun is shining, the tank is clean, and we are out.... THE TANK IS CLEAN!!" -Peach from Finding Nemo

We really are out of here though. Today is the day we are going up to sign the closing documents. Tomorrow morning after all the funds are transferred and the sell is recorded the house will be ours! So tonight we have to stay at my brother-in-law's house but tomorrow night we will be in our very own new house. We are so excited!!!

We will spend most of our time until the house is actually ours doing some shopping for the house. Today we are going in for the final walk-through and doing some measuring and color sampling so we can figure out what we want to do with stark white walls. (Color please!! Someone give me some color!!!!) I don't know if it's the scrapbooker in me or if its the design shows I've been watching all summer on HGTV but I've got to have some color in this house and I've got to have it soon! So as soon as the unpacking is done we are starting in on all of the walls in the house.

So the next time I post I will be posting from my new house and hopefully I will have some better pictures of the interior that I can share.

Bye for now!

Dude! You gotta get a Dell!

2005-07-31T16:44:00.000-07:00

I JUST BOUGHT A LAPTOP!!!

I've been hemming and hawing over buying one for a very long time. My wife always seems to come up with a reason why I should wait. This time when I brought it up she didn't fight back so I jumped on the opportunity. It took me a couple of days to research what I really wanted but I finally decided on the Dell 600m. I'm pleased.

They had a good deal on it but my final payment was still $200 more than the deal started at. After adding a warranty program, a snapcover and a surge protector. Then the darn tax and handling feel really made it shoot up! The shipping was free (saved myself $30)!

Anyway, I'm ecstatic and I'm going to be dying to see the UPS man in my new driveway next week. It doesn't even ship until the 11th (my anniversary) so I have a while to wait.

I hate waiting!!!

Anyway, here's some pics:

I got the Venice Blue snapcover. I've always liked that one!

I'M VERY EXCITED!!!!

In honor of my new Venice Blue Dell laptop, all of my posts will be written in blue until it shows up. Sorry if you hate it!

A few more pictures of the house

2005-07-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

I just got these pictures from the realtor yesterday. I asked her to go back out to the house and measure the space for the fridge for me and while she was there to take some pics of the inside of the house. The pics are good but the info about the fridge space is not.

I guess the opening is 36" x 68". The fridge I was planning to buy is 35 5/8 " x 39 1/4". It is obviously too tall for my opening and I've been told that it will also be too tight on the width as well. Apparently you need an opening that is approximately one inch higher and wider than your fridge. I'm really bumbed now because I don't know what fridge to buy. My wife and I really wanted a side by side with a water and ice dispenser in the door. We found a really good one at Home Depot for only $699 but it's not going to fit. Every other fridge I've looked at that we like is the same size or larger. I don't know what to do. We could make some alterations to the opening but I'd feel more comfortable having a carpenter do that and I'm sure that would cost more money than I really have to spend on this whole fridge thing.

Oh well, here are the pics:

This is a really nice one of the outside. I like the blue skies better than the twilight skies in the pics I took of the outside.

This is a really nice one of the kitchen. It's a U-shaped kitchen with the dining space sitting in the opening of the U.

Here is the other side of the kitchen with the pantry and the opening for the fridge. It is plumbed for an ice maker - I just really hope we'll be able to find a fridge that will fit that has one!

This is part of the master bedroom. We are so excited to have a much bigger closet than we had in the last house. Our last closet was so small I had to keep some of my clother in the kids' closet. (and yes I said "I" not "she")

Here is the master bathroom. We are ecstatic to have our own bathroom! We are also very excited about the amout of storage and space in this bathroom compared to our last one - it was severely lacking both!

Here is the bathroom we will be using for the children. It is situated right between their two rooms. It only has the one vanity but it is plenty for them.

This is the family room/office. We will be using it for an office. It is the only room in the house with hardwood floors. We will be putting one or two table in it for my scrapbooking, the computer desk, some bookcases, a filing cabinet and either the futon or day bed so it can be used for a guest room as well. I'm quite sure it will be quickly cramped!

Unfortunately she didn't send me any pictures of the living room or the kids' rooms. I really wanted a picture of the living room but oh well huh?

So what do you think?

A dang treasure trove or something!

2005-07-28T07:24:00.000-07:00

Today I would like to talk about a few cool things I have found recently.

Many of you know that Vanessa and I were headed to the Boise area on Monday and Tuesday to start looking for houses. I will spare you all the details about realtor problems, our other appointments in the middle of the search, and other things from the search that just aren't worth wasting your time with.

But here's a rough breakdown: Finally get out of here a little after 8:30, arrive at Boise about 11:15, phone calls forever, finally meet entirely new and different realtor at 1:00, search listings for an hour, see 2 houses (both definite NO!), have an appointment 1/2 hour away, realtor says "See you tomorrow", we think "Tomorrow's our last day and we've only seen 2 houses so far", decide later to call realtor back and see if she'll meet with us again, meet realtor again at 7:00, look at a few more houses (most of them not good), find one we really like but by now it's too late to contact the listing realtor, have to wait 'til tomorrow (think to myself, "It probably is already in the works for someone else), go to my brother-in-laws small apartment and sleep.

Next morning: wake up, get ready, leave apt., go to the absolute SLOWEST McDonald's I've ever been to for breakfast, finally decide to leave before I've even paid because it's taking so long and Vanessa has an appointment soon, drop Vanessa off at appointment, go to TOTALLY AWESOME scrapbook store, pick Vanessa up again and we're off to meet with the realtor again at 1:00, find out the one we liked the previous night is being sold already, only have a few hours to look but not pleased with what we're finding so far we decided to search again but increase our price range, have many more promising prospects, look at a few in town and find one that is a definite possibility, keep looking at the rest on our list, run out of houses in town so we start workin toward the next town outside of where we are, look at one that is VERY cute but a little high for us and still occupied (that would really slow down our quick move we need to make), look at the next house on the list, walk in and immediately feel like this is the one we want, finish looking at it and look at one more in the same subdivision just down the road, didn't like it as much so we decide to ditch the rest of our search and make an offer, offer finished at about 8:30 p.m., drive back to house for some pics and another walk around (couldn't go inside though), finally on the road at about 10:30 p.m., arrive back home at about 12:30 a.m., CRASH!

So that's the hunt and here's the house.

It's a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house with living and family rooms, a 2 car garage, and a dishwasher! We're very excited about the dishwasher. It was on the lower end of our new price range so it was closer to where we wanted it. It was one of the only ones we'd seen with the extra family room or something we could use for an office and other stuff. You don't know how many times I almost had to give up my own scrapbook space! This house will save me though! It's a newer home built in 2001. The only problems for us is that it's only one level and very minimal storage. So the 2 car garage will have one car parked in it and the other half will be storage. I still don't know how we'll fit it all!

It has a cute bay window and little covered front porch area. Hopefully soon the realtor will be sending me some pics of the inside - I was so excited about the house I forgot to get the camera and take some pics - dang it!

So that's that. We feel it was very productive for a very short and very busy 2 days. We are set to close on Friday, August 5. I start work the following Monday so it will be a VERY busy weekend!

There were some other pretty cool things I found during the trip as well. Granted, they were much more minor things but still pretty cool. During Vanessa's first appointment on Monday I went over to Michael's to try and buy a Coluzzle template that I need. They didn't have it but I found some other cool things. Many of you know that I am a foam stamp junkie! (By the way have you seen the new Heidi Swapp foam stamps? I LOVE THEM!) Anyway, I found some cute ones - not Heidi's by any means but cute. The alphies were $4.99, the words were $2.99, the large flower was 99 cents and the small one was 49 cents. If you like them too they are not located with scrapbook stuff or stamps. They are over with the stencils. Here they are.

On the second day while Vanessa was at her appt. I went to a scrapbook store to find some things I needed for a project I'm doing for her. They had some new lines of Chatterbox paper that I'd never seen before. I absolutely loved them! The ones I bought aren't exactly new but the one here is not one I've seen before and it's part of the "room" I'm already using on the project.

Yesterday morning when I went upstairs for breakfast I found two more cool things in the mail. I got this totally cool journal that I won from Donna Downey's blog.

It's even autographed!

I also found my very first tag from my tag of the month swap. This beautiful one is from Colleen. I think she did a great job with it. I'm trying to figure out where I'll use it though because we are nowhere near a beach and don't often get to one. I'll have to a little creative in how I use it.

So many cool things I found in the past couple of days it felt like a dang scavenger or treasure hunt or something!

Well my wife has been very cool while I update my blog here but my time limit is way up now! Gotta go!

p.s. Sorry it's not a very entertaining read but I'm not a very entertaining person.

Moving On...

2005-07-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

Well, it has finally happened. My wife and I have both been offered jobs in the area we are looking to move to. Unfortunately, neither of the jobs are exactly what we'd hoped for but they are enough to get us up to the area and try to get settled.

Now the stress of finding and buying a house in a limited time is what we'll face next. I start my position on August 8 and she starts hers on August 16. That gives us 3 weeks from Monday to find, offer, buy and move into a house - crazy! But then again why should I expect any different lately? Isn't that about the exact same way things worked out when selling our house?

So we're going up to the area on Monday and Tuesday with our realtors to find us a place. It should prove to be a long, busy and probably emotion packed couple of days. I just really hope we'll be able to find something that will at least be suitable and comfortable for us. I'm so scared we're going to end up in something much smaller than the one we sold and be unhappy with it.

We have good realtors though and they are coming with us and then hooking us up with a friend of theirs in the area to also help - I'm confident in their abilities to find us something that will work for us.

I'm very scared that our financial situation will also prove stressful. In order for us to find something decent in this larger area we have to look in a higher price range than our last house which will make for a larger house payment. Unfortunately the jobs aren't paying much higher than the ones we had in Pocatello. I'm also quite nervous about childcare and how much that will run but I can't foresee being able to keep my wife home and not have to work on my income alone.

All the unknowns and variable just drive me nuts! I am very much the kind of guy who likes to have control of the situation and be able to make plans ahead of time. There's so much in this situation that we just can't figure out until we get there and I absolutely HATE that!

Oh well, such is life huh?

A Pretty Cool Find

2005-07-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

I love it when I find a good deal!

My wife and I were recently shopping at JC Penny trying to find her a swimming suit. The search for that was unfruitful but I found a nice little deal as we were gettting ready to leave.

This nice little photocube was stacked with about 30 other identical nice little photocubes. I decided to stop and take a peak.

I liked the brown leather look and I liked that it had places for five photos. What I really liked though was that it was a multi-tasking decorative piece. It opens up!

I love things that function as more than meets the eye! I started thinking to myself, "This not only looks cool, has a place to display photos but its functional too! I think I could use one or two of these in my scrapbook space - I'm sure I could find somewhere to put it."

I thought yeah, that's great but at $4.99 - I'm not quite sure. So the absolute best part of the whole cube was discovered when I turned it over.

Not only does it look cool, not only does it display photos, not only is it functional, not only would it be great for my scrapbook space but it was reduced to 77 cents!!!!! That was the deal closer right there!

I started thinking "At this price they could possibly be good gifts for grandma's or something - I'll have to have more than 1 or 2 and I'm sure I'll find something to do with them." My dear wife sportingly agreed so we left with five of these little babies.

I tell you it took control not to buy more of them. So if you have a JC Penny anywhere near you go see if you can find these things.

I love a good deal!

The Weather Dude

2005-07-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

Go ahead and criticize me or roll your eyes - I don't really care.

Yesterday the temp. in our area was hovering VERY near that 100 mark. When I checked my blog yesterday the very first thing I saw was the Weather Pixie. In my opinion she was not wearing enough to keep me comfortable. Knowing some of the people who check my blog to keep updated on what goes on in our lives - I knew they wouldn't be comfortable seeing such a thing and more importantly I wasn't really comfortable seeing her there like that either.

So the Weather Pixie is now the Weather Dude. Some may think it is a little wonky for a guy to have a guy over there who will change his clothes with the weather. But I submit that there are plenty of my blogger sisters who have a female on their blog and it isn't given a second thought. I don't yet know how much of his clothes he will shed either - I may have to change it later.

I even looked for some other kind of weather icon or something I could put there but had no luck. So if anyone knows of something else - please let me know.

So regardless of what anyone thinks, feels or says - no more weather pixie who looks a bit too much like a prostitute for my comfort!

Besides, it's my blog and I'll do whatever I want!

This makes me so happy!

2005-07-09T21:53:00.000-07:00

IT'S ABOUT FRICKIN' TIME!!!!

For anyone who doesn't look at "the dashboard" or blogger home - they have finally made it so you can upload pictures to your blog without having to do it through another stinkin' site. Can I just say how happy that makes me??!!

I would get so ticked off at having to upload my pic to a site, then send it to my blog, then open the pic then write about it then upload another pic then send it to my blog then copy it and then paste it, yada.. yada.. yada...

I love it when things happen that make life easier for me!

And now I'm going to add a pic just because I darn well can!

Me and my kids on Father's Day.

Oh! And for anyone who hasn't read Colleen's blog entry on "the puppy saga" - you don't want to miss it! PMS or no PMS I have to say AMEN SISTER!

The rundown of our 4th

2005-07-06T10:39:00.000-07:00

Old Glory
Originally uploaded by Scrappindad.

I figured I would post some pics of the 4th and a little of what we did.

Life really doesn't get too exciting in the podunk town of Rupert, Idaho - even for the 4th of July. Their fireworks show was on June 30th (don't ask me why). We watched from my in-laws' front yard. They have a good view but I couldn't get any pics of it.

We slept in way too late on the morning of the 4th and then made a big breakfast for the family. After getting ready we headed down to "Rupert Square" to watch a parade with the kids. It was nothing but fire trucks, horses, trucks, cars, motorcycles and a few cheerleaders. In my opinion it was about the most boring thing I ever sat through. I don't think Auryn liked it much either.

Auryn at parade
Originally uploaded by Scrappindad.

After the parade we came back home and Auryn played around on his bike for a while. He enjoys nothing more about being at grandma and grandpa's than to have much more space to ride his bike around.

Auryn's bike ride
Originally uploaded by Scrappindad.

After lunch Auryn had a nap (and so did daddy) while mommy and grandpa went to the store. Auryn must have had a little too much to drink before nap because he wet through his pullup. Thus the reason for different clothes halfway through the day. For dinner grandpa barbecued some burgers and we ate outside.

Auryn at BBQ
Originally uploaded by Scrappindad.

After dinner I set up a favorite family game. We call it ladder golf, or snake golf or horseshoe golf but there are literally hundreds of names I've heard it called. Auryn loves to play along and through his own set of balls. It makes a standard game go much slower but I have much less of a headache when its all said and done. (I don't know how well you can see this pic but I am scratching my eye - not picking my nose!)

Golf game
Originally uploaded by Scrappindad.

We played the game well into the night while we waited for the night to get dark enough to light off fireworks. Auryn was patient but anxious. He was so excited when we finally got started. There were some neighbors behind us that had what were obviously illegal fireworks but it made for a nice show for us to watch while we let off our own piddly little fountains and sparklers. Auryn absolutely loves sparklers!

Auryns Sparkler
Originally uploaded by Scrappindad.

Although they are only fountains and sparklers I think I was able to get some pretty decent and usable pics of fireworks.

Fireworks
Originally uploaded by Scrappindad.

Through most of the day the little one just hung around and slept and played. She really was not very happy with most of the noisy fireworks and she had no trouble making it known. She had lots of fun earlier in the evening playing on a blanket with her mom and Aunt Shandra.

Nyah
Originally uploaded by Scrappindad.

All in all we had a pretty good day. It was a little more boring than I'm used to but it was nice to spend it with family. My little American Kid certainly enjoyed himself though!

American Kid
Originally uploaded by Scrappindad.

Thanks for reading about our day. I sure hope everyone else had a good and safe day as well.

Officially Homeless

2005-06-28T16:52:00.000-07:00

homeless: adj. "Having no home or permanent place of residence"

SOLD!
Originally uploaded by Scrappindad.

So it is official now. I am officially homeless. We spent the night in the house Sunday night on air mattresses and then spent all day Monday doing the last bit of cleaning that needed to be done. At 3:00 we signed all of the papers and officially turned over the house. I must say for someone as emotional as I tend to be it was a bit difficult to stop and look around the empty house for the very last time.

After we finished some other errands we went over to a friend's house for a little visit. She had planned a going away party for us and had several people come over to chat with us and say good-bye. It was a very nice thing to do. For the most part it wasn't too difficult to say goodbye to everyone. The real difficult part was when it was time for us to leave. Everyone else had gone and it was just us and this couple who threw the party. They have been more like a brother and sister to us than just friends and after all the emotions of the day it was impossible for any of the four of us to hold it back any longer.

Anyway, it was an emotional day to say the least. Now the real fun of "nose-to-the-grindstone" job hunting begins. Wish me luck!

Reading makes me happy...

2005-06-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

I thought it was about time that I actually took a second to update my blog. It's been WAY too long.

Life has been CRAZY the past few days again. We have just been going gangbusters on getting this house packed. All we have left is our room, the kids' room and the linen closet with a few little odds and ends here and there. We pick up and pack up the moving truck on Thursday. A majority of all our belongings will sit in a storage unit until we have a house to move to. The vital stuff will all be coming with us to the in-laws house. For anyone who might be wondering my scrapbook stuff is of course included in that "vital" stuff. My dear wife didn't even put up a fight with me on that one. I think she understands for me to maintain my sanity over the next month or two I MUST have a place to escape to. Only two boxes of stuff that I don't use often are going to storage - everything else comes with me!

I hate this stage of moving though. All my walls are bare and I'm surrounded by boxes. I've never felt so empty and crowded all at the same time - it sucks!
(Not to mention my little obsessive-compulsive need to have things straightened, cleaned and organized - yeah I'm going a little crazy!)

My poor sweet little boy. This has been hard on him I'm sure. Mom and dad don't have time to play because we have so much to do. I don't think he realized that we're never coming back to this house - he thinks we're going on a trip to see grandma and grandpa. The real horror will strike tomorrow when he and mom start packing his room and boxing up his toys - I"m soo glad I won't be here for that!!

In the midst of all the insanity around here I try to snag a few seconds here and there to catch up on the posts at the ssmb and read my favorite blogs. I must say that just reading the fun and witty things that are posted at Kenny's, Colleen's, Lindsay's, Cathy's and Donna's blogs just make me happy.

THANKS GUYS!

Everyone can use a little comic relief in their life.

Well, my wife just reminded me that we are still in fact quite busy and my bedtime has come and gone. What would I do without her?

C-ya.

Something Refreshingly Different

2005-06-09T10:37:00.000-07:00

Because it seems like all I do is post about the boring and hectic moments of my life I decided to take a little break from the mundane. I'm not much of a creative writer and I'm certainly not very funny so I will take the easy way out for this post and use a formula I found at Colleen's blog. Here goes:

A is for age - just turned 27 in May.

B is for booze - none I don't drink at all.

C is for career - Right now I'm an Educational Interpreter for the Deaf. Going back to school this fall to change my career and eventually become a closed captioner.

D is for dad's name - Floyd. My children will never be named after my father.

E is for essential item to bring to a party - generally games of some sort. I don't ever go to wild parties, they tend to just be small get togethers with friends and we always play games.

F is for favorite songs at the moment - I really don't know, there's so much music I love!

G is for goof off thing to do - Read blogs, write in my blog, read mb's, play on the internet. I RARELY watch TV anymore because when I have free time I have so much to do on the internet.

H is for hometown - Pocatello, Idaho. Born in Utah but I've lived in Pocatello for most of my life.

I is for instrument you play - NONE! I attempted the clarinet in school but it quickly became obvious that I am not musically inclined!

J is for jam or jelly you like - there's this one we can occassionally find around here that is a 3 berry blend - I really like that one.

K is for kids - two, Auryn who just turned 3 and Nyah who is almost 3 months.

L is for living arrangement - married almost 5 years

M is for mom's name - Kathleen (now my daughter's middle name)

N is for names of best friends - Jeff (my all time, life-long, will-always-be, best friend of 14 yrs. now) Aaron and Jason are two other really great friends whom I love. And of course, my eternal best friend - my wife!

O is for overnight hospital stays - twice. Once after a nose surgery - only one night. The other time was after I was life-flighted to a major hospital because I was told I was dying and needed a life saving operation. After two nights in the hospital and many more tests I went home with a simple prescription.

P is for phobias - spiders. I hate those things with a blind, passionate hatred!

Q is for quote you like - "Don't walk in front of me - I may not follow, Don't walk behind me - I may not lead, Just walk beside me and be my friend."

R is for relationship that lasted the longest - My marriage to my wife of almost 5 years. I didn't really have many serious ones before that.

S is for siblings - one brother, Sam.

T is for Texas, ever been? - No. Not much of a driving desire either. If occasion rises I will go.

U is for unique trait - a male scrapbooker - what else is there to say?

V is for vegetable you love - not many. I guess corn is on the top of the list.

W is for worst traits - my wife hates how picky of an eater I am. I'm also very bold and straightforward and can sometimes hurt people's feelings without thinking. (My poor wife)

X is for X-rays you've had - more than I can count. I have regular chest x-rays and I've also had several MRI's and a CAT scan. I've had various ones on different bones in my body as well.

Y is for yummy food you make - I don't make yummy foods. (My poor wife)

Z is for zodiac sign - Taurus

I know that whole thing is kind of boring but it's either that or me doing some more ranting about moving and expensive cars (which by the way is still making the same noise I paid $1300 to have fixed.)

Good day!

The Expensive Car

2005-06-06T21:32:00.000-07:00

'94 Chrysler New Yorker
Originally uploaded by Scrappindad.

This blue beauty has now become affectionately known as the "expensive car". That's the only thing my son calls it now. Here's why:

We got the car on Tuesday and my father-in-law told us there was some noise going on with the power steering and it was leaking a bit. He figured it would stop after all the seals and everything had time to get lubed up and whatnot (the car had been sitting for about a year). Well I drove it a bit on Tuesday and Wednesday for work. Wednesday evening we piled the whole fam in for a trip to Walmart. About half way there we notice a really bad sound going on with the steering. We decide we had better have it looked at instead of just waiting for it to get better.

So my wife takes it to the shop on Thursday. They look it over and say that there is definitely a leak on the passenger side of the power steering line. He said they may be able to just fix the leak but if not they would have to replace the whole rack and pinion steering. You guessed it - the whole thing had to be replaced. So after having them fix the rack and pinion, the thermostat, and the littly hydraulic things that hold the hood up (that stuff was all broken too) the total came to a nice, pleasant $1,000.00-ish. I about DIED! We had no choice - it was already done so it had to be paid. Thank goodness for a credit card in a situation like that. Did I mention that the parts only came to a little over $400 - the rest was labor!

So we go pick it up and pay for it. The wife takes the baby home and I take my son to go get lunch for all of us - hey we already spent 1,000 bucks today what's a few more? After we pick up the food and head home I start hearing the exact same awful noise. I was ticked! As soon as I finished my lunch I took it right back to that shop and made it very clear (my kind way of saying I was quite p.o.'d) that they had not fixed what we asked them to fix. The mechanic comes out to look at it and moves the steering wheel from left to right - "I don't hear any sound - I don't know what you guys are talking about" (This is about the point I get real close to losing my temper and start spouting some not so nice things). I kept myself in check and kindly told the mechanic to get in the car and we would take a drive so he could hear what I was talking about. Five minutes later my point had been quite well proven and he had a big fat ostrich egg on his face! So we go back to the shop so he can look it over.

After several minutes I'm fed up with waiting and ask someone to go find out what is going on. I am informed that it is now the power steering pump that is the problem and was the reason for the noise. WHAT???? Why was that not noticed and taken care of before?? This is the point where I lost my temper. I had just paid these bozos $1,000 and they couldn't catch this. Their excuse was that the seals had been so broken and chewed up that they damaged the pump when they were flushed through. I told them I was very unhappy that they didn't fix the problem. The mechanic was very adamant that they had fixed something that was broken and needed replacing. Long story short, he gave me a deal on the pump and replaced a couple other things for free.

So this car that until Saturday morning had sat in the shop more than in my driveway has now cost me a pretty $1,300!!!! Thus the title, "the expensive car"

I hate cars!!

Sorry for such negative news - I have to vent somewhere. It had darn well better not give me anymore problems now.

Like drinking from a fire hose...

2005-06-01T09:25:00.000-07:00

I feel like my entire life has suddenly become a situation that is much like taking a drink of water from a fire hose. Here's why.

We have made the commitment to go ahead and move to Boise so we told our realtor to go ahead and publish the house in a local home seller's magazine and put it in the MLS. Well apparently she got the house in the MLS on Monday night. The calls started rolling in on Tuesday around 11:00 a.m.

By 3:00 p.m. we had received approximately 10 calls to show the house and had 5 appointments for Tuesday alone starting at 5:00. Just as we were getting ready to leave the house for a few hours so it could be shown we called our realtor to ask a question. She told us we might as well come up to her house because she had just received an offer on the house and we needed to discuss it. The official "For Sale" sign had only been in the yard for a little over an hour!

So we went up to the realtor's house. We found out that the guy who was making the offer is another realtor in town who also has many other properties he owns and manages. He was offering on the house and hadn't even seen it yet. I guess he was going on faith that it would be comparable to other homes he knew in the area. To make sure he came in strong and had precedence over others, he offered $1100 more than we were asking. His offer had a few things in it we didn't like when we read over it. While we were reading and discussing his offer another one came in! After figuring it all out the two offers came out to be within a couple of hundred dollars of cash we would walk away with. Because the first offer was from a realtor and had a strong a reliable lender we decided to keep working with that one. By 8:00 p.m. we had countered his offer, he accepted and I signed the papers!

The closing will be on June 27. That gives me almost 4 weeks to find a job, find a house, pack and move! We can't buy a house in Boise until we have a job because no one will pre approve us for a loan. We haven't had a whole lot of luck yet finding jobs so we're kind of in a bind. So now it looks like we will be packing, moving everything we don't REALLY need into storage in Boise and moving in with my in-laws until we can find a job and a house in Boise. They live an hour from us and about 2 hours from Boise (about right in the middle). My in-laws are great, they have plenty of room but I am certainly not excited about living in limbo!

On top of all the realtor calls around 2:30-3:00 my in-laws showed up at the house with a little "gift". They were delivering my wife's grandpa's car. We were originally hoping that he would give us the car (there had been talk of that) but it didn't happen. I guess he still wanted money out of it or something. So my incredibly gracious father-in-law bought the car from him and gave it to us. We are on the agreement that the car will be paid back "sometime". He has told us to not even worry about it until we get to Boise, get settled and figure out if we can start paying a monthly payment on it. At any rate, it's an interest free loan! The whole situation is more than we could have possibly hoped for. I love my in-laws!

'94 Chrysler New Yorker
Originally uploaded by Scrappindad.

The car is a '94 Chrysler New Yorker. It only has 56,000 miles on it and is incrdible condition! It's certainly bigger but MUCH nicer than my Geo. The wreck was certainly unfortunate and came at a bad time but I think we walked out of it in better shape than we were before!

We have been truly blessed and I must offer praise to God for it!

"...with God all things are possible." Matt. 19:26

Here's the damage...

2005-06-01T09:16:00.000-07:00

So I figured I would post some pics here to display the amount of damage done to my little "tin can". I was able to sell it to a mechanic for $225. Just enough to pay for the tow, storage and ticket with a wee bit left. Enjoy the carnage!

Geo Side View
Originally uploaded by Scrappindad.

Geo Front View
Originally uploaded by Scrappindad.

Geo Total Carnage
Originally uploaded by Scrappindad.

Geo Closeup
Originally uploaded by Scrappindad.

The Rolling Memorial

2005-05-25T11:10:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many of you have seen this. I got an email about this truck that is called "The Rolling Memorial". Instead of trying to post all of the pictures from it in my blog I figured I would just find a link and give that to you.

Check it out. I think it is so cool to see someone do something like this to truly honor those who died and not have it all wrapped up in politics and bureaucracy. He seems to simply be doing this to honor those who perished.

I have not been paid at all to endorse this site or the individual. Enjoy!

"Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die."
~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Catching up...

2005-05-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

So it has been an incredibly busy week!! We have made the firm decision that we ARE moving to Boise this summer. Now there is so much that we have to do to get ourselves and the house ready.

Here's a recap of my busy week.

Monday: Went to Walmart after work. When we got back from Walmart there was a message from our realtor asking if we would be okay to show the house on Tuesday afternoon. The house isn't even on the market yet! So we had to stay up until midnight cleaning and preparing the house. I guess our realtor emailed other realtors just to let them know what was coming up. Apparently some of them had clients looking for what we're selling. CRAZY!

Tuesday: Had to work that night at the store - pretty uneventful. The biggest and coolest thing was the salute from Donna on her blog.

Wednesday: Taught my class that evening at the store. It went well but we went about an hour over the time I had alotted. It was fun though. When I got home I found out that my poor son had had a nosebleed earlier in the evening. This was no common nosebleed. It bled strong and steady for a half hour. My wife got it cleared up and he was okay. We put him to bed and then about midnight (right after we finally got our daughter to sleep) he woke up screaming something about water. When I went in he had blood all over his face and bed. Another serious bleeder lasting at least half an hour! He was so upset that he didn't really want to go back to sleep. I told my wife to back to bed and I stayed up with him. After finally getting him back to sleep I went to bed. He woke up again at 3:00 and I had to sleep in his room on the floor to keep him settled down. Poor little guy!

Thursday: Took the day off of work because I was so tired and I figured we'd have to take my son to the doctor. The nose pretty much stopped bleeding so we didn't go to the doctor. My mom spent the day with me helping me take care of the kids. I had a doctor appointment in the afternoon. After the appointment, on the way home, I hit another car with my little Geo and pretty much destroyed the little sucker! I'm really kind of upset over the whole thing because we certainly can't afford the problems associated with a car accident and no car in the middle of trying to move the family to another city. I could fix the car but it would cost more than the car is worth. Nerves were shot the rest of the day! Watched the Apprentice finale and was shocked to see Trump pick Kendra over Tana. Tana really screwed herself with the last task!

Friday: Because of all the blood now clotting in my son's nose the mucus can't come out of it so it is making its way out of his eyes. Poor guy woke up with his eyes sealed shut. Still steaming at myself over the car and trying to figure out what we're going to do. Mowed the lawn after work and only got finished in the nick of time before a HUGE thunderstorm hit. Didn't have time to clean up all the grass and other stuff. Spent the rest of the evening preparing the house to be shown again on Saturday and cutting paper for my class on Saturday.

Saturday: Spent the whole morning cleaning up the yard and trying to stay out of the way as the house was shown not once (like we had expected) but twice! Finally finished the yard and then had to finish preparing everything for my class. Got that done just in enough time to get to the store and set up. The class was great! One of my students from Wednesday night took her project to work the next day and three of her co-workers took my Saturday class. They were totally beginner scrapbookers so it was a lot of fun! I really did enjoy it! My wife talked to her parents and told them about the accident. My mother-in-law told us that my wife's grandpa is planning to get rid of his car because he's too old to drive anymore. He was planning to give it to a dealership and let them sell it (he doesn't care about the money). My in-laws are going to see if he will just give it to us instead - that would be so nice!

Sunday: After doing some church related things I spent the whole day with my family. I made two "Thank You" cards and one generic card so I felt really productive after that.

Now here we are on Monday. I hope this week goes better.

Remember this quote from a previous post?? I'm trying really hard to keep it in mind!

"Under the storm and the cloud today,and today the hard peril and pain - tomorrow the stone shall be rolled away, for the sunshine shall follow the rain."
-Joaquin Miller (1839-1913) American Poet

I'm on cloud nine!

2005-05-18T10:14:00.000-07:00

So I'm feeling pretty special since yesterday afternoon. Here's the story:

While reading Donna Downey's blog I saw a post where she directly referred to a male scrapper friend of mine, Kenny. I thought that was pretty cool so I went over to the message board we are a part of and made a post saying this:

"So Donna Downey specifically addresses Kenny in her salutation to her most recent blog post. Just how does this guy rate so high on the celeb "rubbing elbows" list??

I guess I'm going to have to start posting to their blogs too so they realize there's more than one male scrapper in this world!Congrats Kenny! Donna must know and love you to salute you in a blog!

Enjoy your fame but don't forget the little people!"

Well, much to my surprise Donna actually read that post on the message board and replied by saying this:

"oh crap!!

who knew their was so much testosterone around here. Well Jason, i didn't even know that you were reading my blog....and yeah ya better post LOL!!!!

so how can i make this up to you.....hmmmm (thinking, thinking...)

read the blog tomorrow to find out!

Well, when I went to read the blog yesterday this is what I saw: (The text has been removed and replaced with an encouragement to look at Donna's blog)

The text though is not the important part. She specifically said "hi" to me in the banner of her blog. I have no idea how many people saw that yesterday but I did. AND I LOVED IT!!!!

The picture is still there but she has now removed the "hi jason". I'm glad I was able to "capture" the image for proof that it really did happen. (Thanks "Hello")

All I have to say is:

DONNA DOWNEY IS SO COOL!!!!

Advice from Ali Edwards...

2005-05-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

DISCLAIMER: I hope I am in no way committing copyright infringement in doing this or upsetting anyone either.

I was reading on Cathy Zielskie's blog this morning about her "Art Journal Challenge". I went to leave a comment and came across these words from Ali Edwards:

"Dude...here is what I have to say to you my dear friend...MAKE IT YOUR OWN. Embrace those lines and make it how YOU want it...no rules. No judging. You rock at what YOU do...so do that."

I absolutely needed that advice for myself. Working in a scrapbook store where I see sooo many fabulous pages and GREAT work I often get caught up in the "man I wish I could do that" frame of mind. I spend too much time wishing I could do work that doesn't come naturally to me or be the scrapper that I'm not.

So here I am committing to myself that I will "make it my own" and not try to be something I'm not. I also commit to not scrap for the intention of being recognized or published. I will still submit if something fits but that can not and will not be my goal for scrapping. If along the way recognition or publication happens - then so be it. If not, then I will be happy with the "art" that I have created and the legacy I will leave.

I promise.

2005-05-11T21:54:00.000-07:00

27 Candles....

So here I am 27! My dear wife knows I don't like traditional cake and ice cream so she bought me a cheesecake instead. It was VERY good!

Big windbag!

Here I am with my beautiful daughter in my arms as I blow out my 27 candles.

The day was pretty typical and uneventful. I usually don't like to make much out of my birthdays anyway. I had to work all day at the school district and then I just spent the evening with my family. We attempted to watch "National Treasure" which my mom had bought me. It didn't work so well with kids baths and other stuff we had to get done.

My wife bought me a new shirt, some dress slacks, a Monopoly game for my collection and a jump drive. I didn't get anything scrapbook related which kind of surprised me but I'm okay with it. My jump drive will certainly be used for scrapbooking often enough.

The day was very nice. Thank you to all you dear friends who send kind wishes!

"Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things." ~Author Unknown

Some interesting birthday stuff...

2005-05-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

You Will Die at Age 76

76

You're pretty average when it comes to how you live...

And how you'll die as well.

What Age Will You Die?

I'm pretty certain I'll be dead before 76. I'm a constant worrier and this quiz aked nothing about pre-existing medical conditions. Unless I have a major operation sometime in my life the life expectancy for those with my condition is not past 70.

You Are 23 Years Old

23

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.

13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.

20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!

40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

So 23 huh?? I guess it's nice to know that I'm a little younger at heart than I am on the face!

Your True Birth Month Is January

Loyal

Social

Logical

Easily jealous

Loves children

Rather reserved

Highly attentive

Likes to criticize

Needs close friends

Ambitious and serious

Smart, neat and organized

Hardworking and productive

Loves to teach and be taught

Quiet unless excited or tensed

Sensitive and has deep thoughts

Knows how to make others happy

Searches for the greatest romance

Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds

Romantic but has difficulties expressing love

Always looking at people's flaws and weaknesses

What's Your True Birth Month?

So then why did God decide on May?? I was actually due on April 14th. I was almost a full month late! This January description certainly seems to fit me though. I wonder what the description is for May??

You are 73% Taurus

How much do you match your zodiac sign?

So I thought I would be closer than that to my actual Zodiac sign. Most of the questions seemed to fit my personality. I answered a lot more trues than falses.

So there's some interesting facts about me and things that relate to my birthday.

Another year older...

2005-05-09T22:34:00.000-07:00

Do I look 27?

My birthday is tomorrow and as I stood looking in a full length mirror today I thought to myself "Do I really look like I'm 27?" For so long in my life people have always thought that I am older than my actual age. I often feel like I don't even look close to my age. (I certainly feel my age though). My wife's brother is only two months older than I am and I always have a difficult time remembering that we're so close. He looks and seems so much older than me. I certainly don't mind my age and I'm not complaining about being 27. I just find it difficult to believe that I actually am. So often I still feel like I look like the gangly and lanky kid I was in high school. Even though I weigh considerably more now than I did when I was in high school it's just hard for me to get that mental image of myself to change to something older and different. It's certainly been interesting for me to reflect on my feelings about this recently.

"A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip."
~Author Unknown

Just a thought...

p.s. Sorry for the bad picture you have to look at but I wanted something that was VERY recent so I did remote shot with my digi cam.

Busy this week...

2005-05-08T21:23:00.000-07:00

I won't be posting much this week on the blog or on any of my mb's I play on. I only get my "prep" hour (aka "computer time") on Tues and Thurs this week. I also have to spend a lot of time fixing my resume and doing some job hunting. I have to change my oil in both cars this week, I work Thursday evening and all day Saturday, and my birthday is Tuesday. So.... not seeing much computer time in my upcoming week.

I hope you all have a fabulous week!

And just a thought....

"Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not."
—Oprah Winfrey

(Who doesn't love Oprah????)

Cities best for me...

2005-05-05T14:13:00.000-07:00

American Cities That Best Fit You:

80% Austin

75% Las Vegas

75% Miami

70% Denver

65% Atlanta

Which American Cities Best Fit You?

I don't know if I agree with this. I've never given thought to living in Austin, Vegas or Atlanta. I even said that I wanted a city in the west - Atlanta is NOT in the west