.... My Window Into Time ....

2011-11-20T06:59:00.004-05:00

Unity Stamps is having an awesome sale ....

I SPY Let's Celebrate Webster Pages !!!

2011-06-23T04:54:00.002-04:00

Exciting things are going on over at Webster's Pages!! I just love their papers and embellies!! Check it out! Webster's Pages

To post or not to post ...

2011-05-31T22:13:00.003-04:00

I can't believe it's been almost a year since posting on my blog. Where has time gone. My friend, Sherrie, called me lazy (she like lives 2 states away) - says I'm too busy working and take no time for fun and playing. So, I'm going to start playing around with this blog thing again and see how to change the background and change the pictures and so forth. And along the way, maybe I'll write some stuff and share some stuff. Scrapbooking has taken a back seat these days to work but I hope I start it up again. Vacation begins in two short weeks and hopefully that will drive me to create some pages for my scrapbook cause I'm be driving around the U.S. again which I really love. Going to go to a High School Band Reunion - isn't that wild. It's been like 35 years since I've seen some of the people.

Anyway, in the meantime, those that follow my blog, here I am! I'm back and hope to be visiting your blogs soon. Take care, Terri

Blog hopping ....

2010-08-12T15:27:00.001-04:00

Look what I found ...love the title of Tracie's blog. Life and times of a 12x12 Addict. Yep, that's me. Check it out!!

http://lifeandtimesofa12x12addict.blogspot.com/2010/08/sharing-some-more.html

Whew - it's hot!!!

2010-08-11T15:22:00.001-04:00

Well, I thought my friends might think I've dropped off the face of the earth since I haven't posted in so long! I've just been really busy the past couple of months with work and play and work and play. I'm scrapping at some new places now like Let's Scrap and Croppin' Paradise and having a fun time.

Croppin Paradise has has a four week crop going on but I just joined in week 4 and still have done 7 challenges. Lots of old scrap buddies there, too, which makes it extra nice. So here are some challenges I've done in the past few days ...

This is a layout from our trip in July to Georgia driving on the Antebellum trail and seeing all the old homes from days gone by in the South. Gorgeous homes.

Here is another layout from the Antebellum Trail trip. We stopped in Madison, Ga, because of the antique stores. Didn't buy anything but it was a nice little town to visit.
And Jeremy posted a pic on Facebook that I lifted and scrapped. Hard to take his picture when he is living in another state. We saw him in May. I'm going to start calling him Moon Doggy since he loves the beach so much. (For those of you my age, that is a character from the Gidget movie.)

And that's all for now ... see, I am alive and doing well. It's 98 degrees today - hot as fire so no place better to be than sitting in the house in cool air conditioning. It's a scorcher for sure.

Take care all - T

Vacation!!!

2010-05-14T10:36:00.003-04:00

Had a wonderful time this week visiting Jeremy in Florida. The sun was shining and we stayed at the Hilton where poolside drinks were plenty. Jeremy even came over and "chilled out" with us. And then we had a wonderful dinner at Columbia restaurant which is a Spanish restaurant that had awesome steaks!! And of course I have to mention that it was great visiting with Romeo (Jeremy's pooch) too. Last time we saw them both was January when Jeremy was on his way to Fl so Romeo has grown a little since then.

This week is my dad's 79th birthday and my brother's 49th. I hope they both have a wonderful celebration - too bad I can't be in both places (or either place for that matter) to help them blow out all those dang candles. :-) Today is the last day of vacation and then back to work on Monday. I'll spend the weekend unpacking, washing clothes and all those other things you end up doing coming back from vacation. But I truly took a week off from work with no 'computing' in the interim. That's a first for me!!

Thank you for Entering! - Kim Komando's Spring Gadget Giveaway Contest

2010-05-03T10:32:00.001-04:00

Thank you for Entering! - Kim Komando's Spring Gadget Giveaway Contest

Posted using ShareThis

It's Spring time and the pollen is falling ....

2010-04-08T15:52:00.003-04:00

Pollen!!! It's everywhere .... in your hair, in your eyes, in your house!! On the dog, in the garage, on the cars, on the porch, tracked in the house, everywhere. You can't sweep it up, vacuum it up, or wipe it up. It's there and you might as well leave it there until it stops. Then start cleaning!!! It's pine pollen and you can see it here in the pine tree. Those yellow things are the male and female "squigglies" ... ok I'm not a horticulturist ... that yellow is all pollen. A breeze comes and you're driving in a yellow haze. Some of the squigglies will make pine cones, others won't. ::cough:: ::wheeze:: ::sneeze:: ::sneeze:: Welcome to April in North Carolina!!

Pagemaps Sketch for Couture Cardstock

2010-04-05T14:45:00.003-04:00

Pagemaps blog has a contest going on right now for layouts made with anything using their sketch which I love because it allows for 3 pictures!!! So here is my entry into that contests.... Sherrie talked me into entering .... :-)

Ok, so where did January go?

2010-02-19T09:03:00.004-05:00

Ok, I thought I saw January but evidently I was mistaken! Time is flying by ... Wasn't it Christmas just a few days ago? It has snowed three times now in the Raleigh area - enough is enough!!!! Come on Spring and Summer - I'm tired of the cold, windy, rainy, snowy, chilly season. I want sunshine, the beach, the ocean, green grass to walk barefoot in, shorts and short sleeves, the sun on my face, and not wearing 5 layers of clothes in the morning to take a walk. I would much prefer having a nice cool glass of iced tea in the morning instead of a cup of hot coffee. And I need more space in my scrappy area so I'd like to put up the space heater and the humidifier. Come on SPRING!!!

2010-01-23T12:45:00.001-05:00

CHA preorders @ Serendipity!!

From Kristen @ Serendipity!!

Some of the NEW CHA WINTER products are now available to pre order in our store!! BG will be loaded tomorrow or Monday- Maya Road may follow when & if image occur.

Please review info on how to order PRE ORDERED items- Some will be in upcoming kits (it is posted on the main info page for the line)

OH DONT FORGET---- 15% off these pre orders with a code: Winterchagoodies This code must be redeemed in the code box at the VERY BOTTOM of the shopping cart.

Make sure you mention the discount and code info when posting!!! P.S if there is not enough of any product or line ordered then Kristen will cancel and refund you.

And if you aren't participating in the crop there this weekend you are missing a whole bunch of fun and lots of awesome challenges!!

It's Picture Time ... Blue Ridge Mountains & Fall

2009-11-19T06:37:00.008-05:00

So here are a couple of layouts I did from our September trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway ...

And a couple of pics from our home highlighting the colors of Autumn this week.

The Holidays are approaching ...

2009-11-18T09:34:00.002-05:00

I've been away for a few months ... just plain busy at work. There are never enough hours in the day to do all the things that need to be done or I'd like to do. The older I get the shorter the days seem to get and now that the time has changed, the days are even shorter. What is about the time change that makes us want to sleep more?

I've been busy decorating the house for the Open House for the Zebulon Women's Club on November 29th. Billy has been buying more and more $1.98 boxes of Christmas lights and throwing them in the trees outside. Even Sadie-dor just stares at that strange red/white donned tree in the backyard wondering what in the world did the old man create back there.

My nephew was hurt a week ago but is recovering, my SIL Janine decided to take an 8 point buck on in her new car - and lost - and our vacation was cut short in the mountains in September because the window broke and wouldn't roll up which wouldn't have been bad if it was 80 degrees, but it wasn't, so we drove on home to get it repaired. Five hours on an interstate with the wind blowing and the semi-trucks passing you with the driver-side window down was not a pleasant experience but we managed. At least it wasn't too cold that day.

And now the holidays are coming on fast. Thanksgiving coming next week with Christmas right on the heels four weeks later. I'm looking forward to the yearly shopping spree with my best bud Cheryl the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday. We do have such a wonderful time together. Unfortunately, Emily will be up north so she'll have to wait for the next shopping spree the day after Christmas. It's not the shopping, it's the eating, drinking, and watching all the idiots doing the stupid things they do that we get a kick out of when we go. Unfortunately, Billy won't be our bag boy this year as he has been in the past. I don't think we can ever talk him into doing that again. LOL

Well, that's all for now. I am alive and I'm sorry I haven't been posting lately but it's just been a very busy time for me at work and at home. I miss visiting all my friends blogs but promise to do so once I take some vacation later in December. Ya'll take care and thanks for stopping by!!

Scrapping the weekend away ...

2009-10-16T16:43:00.004-04:00

Well, it's that time again ... crop time at Serendipity Scrapbooks.

This weekend, they are having a "Pimp Your Bra" crop for breast cancer. Strange name for a crop, I know, but take it all in stride and come on over and have a great time. You can make contributions to breast cancer research and don't forget about all those great challenges you can do. I started today already cause I'm wrapping up my week of vacation just chilling out here at the house. So come on over and scrap some.

Beach Babes are Back!!

2009-08-31T19:46:00.004-04:00

Shackleford Island Ponies
North Carolina

The beach babes are back in town after partying (yeah right) all weekend. We are getting older for sure. We were a little worried that we'd be rained out due to Tropical Storm Danny but it skirted off the coast of NC and instead we got blasted with severe storms that came up from the gulf. I mean the lightning and thunder was so strong and so loud, we jumped out of our beds. Well, they did, I slept thru it - I was exhausted.

Saturday we took off for Cape Lookout. We had a guy take the six of us over to the island and there we stayed all day. I'm a little crisp from the 95 degree, blue skies, not a cloud to be seen, hot weather _ LOVE IT!!! We watched the surfers riding the swells from the storm the night before. Just a great day all around.

And talk about food. We each had to do different meals for the weekend so I made tarragon cabbage slaw for dinner one night and Traci and I made caeser salad on the beach and grilled out shrimp that we skewered on a $5 grill that you threw away after you used it. So fun!! And yummy - we even grilled pineapple for dessert. We had crab/artichoke dip, shrimp, scallops, crab cakes - all freshly caught and made. And ended it all with fresh blueberry pancakes on Sunday morning.

And we watched a weird but good movie - 7 Pounds. Ironic that I probably gained 7 pounds. LOL I won't tell you about it because it's new but you'll have to rent it to see what I mean.

This morning it was back to the grindstone. First we walked in the drizzling rain and then it poured the rain all day today. I just stayed here by the computers and worked all day and some night. I'm ready to hit the hay now and go read the inside of my eyelids - sleep!!!

Ya'll have a great week!!! TTYL

Cape Lookout, North Carolina

THE NATIONAL PARKS: My Parks

2009-08-31T09:43:00.001-04:00

Countdown to the Beach Trip .... WOO HOO!!!

2009-08-25T11:39:00.003-04:00

Ok, three more days and I'm on my way for an all girls' trip to Harkers Island, NC and three beachy days. There are 8 of us going - each of us fixes meals while we're there. I'm responsible for lunch on the beach on Saturday - we take the ferry over to Cape Lookout (ok ya'll, google these locations). Anyway, we take the ferry over (no cars) from Harkers Island to Cape Lookout and then walk across the sand to crash on the ocean side of the dunes. From there, we roast and toast all day long. I'm taking romaine salad with shrimp and garlic bread for lunch! It's light to carry and requires no cooking (I'll toast the bread before we go).

And let's not forget this past weekend - WOO HOO - I had fun at Serendipity Scrapbooks - wow - I can't believe I actually got 24 layouts done (and 4 cards). They had awesome challenges - it was fun and it made me do some thinking on how to make a non-Disney layout using a Disney challenge. LOL Honestly, the challenges were so cute!!! I did them all and extras of many. And that Three Little Pigs accumulative card-making challenge was wild - who knew you could put that much stuff on a card!!! Go figure.

Well, back to work .... hoping you are having a fun Tuesday!!

It's the weekend ....

2009-08-21T02:27:00.006-04:00

Ok, so why am I up so early. I jumped out of bed thinking it was time for my morning walk (I walk with my neighbor every morning at 6) and put on my walking clothes and then decided to look at the clock. It was 1:11 a.m.. GAD!! So I decided to go to the scraproom and chat a little.

I got my scrap area all cleaned up this week so I'm hoping that will inspire me to scrap this weekend while participating in Serendipity Scrapbooks Happily Ever After crop that starts today and goes throughout the weekend! They always have awesome challenges there that inspire me to get creative and boy do I need help since I've been in a scrapbookin' funk! I'm waiting anxiously for them to post the challenges to see what sparks me to do anything!!. :-)

And I have some terrific ideas for several vintage layouts and an Ad Challenge to post over at Vintage Flaire. I've been scanning old photos and creating black and white photos to create some neat vintage layouts. Plus I've been scouring the scrapbook stores and shelves for papers and ribbons and such to add to my layouts. I even found some Dick and Jane book pages to use. What fun that will be if I can just get started!!! :-)

I did the laundry and grocery shopping last night. Nothing more to do than scrap. Oh and plus Monica invited me to Archivers on Sunday to crop away for 7 hours in a crop there. That will be fun scrapping with her for the day. So I'll take some of the challenges with me there. It will be great to get out of the house for a while other than my morning walk and errands.

Counting down also to the morning of Friday August 28 which is when I'll will be off to the beach for an all girl's weekend sunbathing in the sand and getting down and dirty with the tequila and shrimp!! Yeah baby!!! What a great picture shoot!!!

But first, I must try to get back to sleep .... I mean, it's 2:42 a.m. - what in the world?????

I've lost my MOJO ...

2009-08-19T17:17:00.005-04:00

Help, I can't find it. Scrapped a little last Friday, just four birthday cards and a little card box, but that was it for like four weeks now. I'm too tired after walking every morning at 530 a.m. this week - UGH - and then working all day and some nights and then fixing dinner - then it's time to go back to bed and start all over again. So please, somebody send me some mojo to get me scrappin - I got tons of vintage ideas for Vintage Flaire and there are several crops this weekend at Serendipity Scrapbooks And then there is a Sunday crop at our local Archivers and my friend wants me to go there on Sunday. I love crops but I hate packing up my stuff to go which is why I don't usually go anymore. Online crops are so much easier and they have challenges and games and prizes whereas, store crops are just that - cropping! LOL

Well, I guess I'll go fix dinner and maybe try to scrap later - nope, have to work tonight - UGH!!!

And yet ... another Road Trip planned ....

2009-08-17T13:49:00.002-04:00

So we have planned another Road Trip for October - this time we are going the full length of The Blue Ridge Parkway!!! We've always wanted to take a Road Trip when the leaves change so we opted to go this year. Plans are in the making with Sadie-dor already taken care of by the neighbors - we have such fantastic neighbors. And since the car is now repaired from the wreck from our other Road Trip to NASA, we are all set to go. Just looking for some nice B&Bs along with Parkway to stay. I'm going to love doing some Fall layouts - I never get a chance to do them living over this close to the coast and having all Pine trees. :-)

Look Out - Another Road Trip!!! NASA!!!

2009-07-15T10:30:00.008-04:00

Hi all, yes it's been a while since I posted. Been busy with the 4th of July and then we took a road trip last week to NASA!!! We had hoped to watch ST-127 Space Shuttle Endeavour lift off to the Space Station but alas, the weather has been awful in Florida so we didn't see the launch - in fact, the launch hasn't happened yet. It was supposed to go Saturday, then Sunday, then Monday, then Tuesday which is today so hopefully it will go today!

Ok, so here we go on the trip. We left here Wednesday night last week after finishing up work for the day and got as far as Brunswick, Georgia. Stayed at a brand new Hampton Inn hotel - great soft beds!!! We got up on Thursday and headed down the road, not on the interstate, but instead we took route A1A and went down the coast. We drove through Saint Simons Island, Georgia and looked at some real estate and had lunch at a great restaurant, Mullet Bay - great shrimp!!! From there we traveled to Fort Frederica (an old Fort) and then to Kingley Plantation (an old plantation) and Ribeault (an old, but new plantation). I was able to pick up several stamps for my National Parks book - not sure you are familiar with the National Parks book. In the United States, we have National Parks and we love traveling to them. Well, they have a book that you can get stamped at each of the parks and it's just fun getting the stamps. ANYWAY .. we continued on and arrived in Titusville, Florida early evening. That town was like a ghost town except for one little red car on the road with us who decided to drive into our suburban. CAR WRECK!!! Not a whole lot of damage but it was damaged. No big deal - that's why we have insurance and no, I wasn't driving, the other one was. LOL

So we stayed at a Best Western in Cocoa Beach and it sucked big time. Don't go there!!!! Cocoa Beach is dead - I have no desire to live in Florida at all. I don't wear pink much less live in a pink house - I swear everything looks like sand down there. And rain everyday at 3 and muggy and bugs and sand sand and more sand. So I had to write a nasty note to Best Western because their hotel was nasty and they didn't have our reservations and it was just yucky. Of course, the space shuttle was supposed to launch so there was nowhere else to stay other than there. So we stuck it out. Be weary of beachfront rooms - we were two blocks inward but you could see the water if you closed one eye and stood on one foot. LOL

We were able to spend the day at Kennedy Space Center and evening stayed at night there and watched Star Trek (the new Star Trek) on the IMAX theatre - how KEWL was that!!!!
We had a blast off (get it?? ) at the Space Center. On Saturday, we visited the Astronaut Hall of Fame and we also toured around some of little museums in the area. I bought a bunch of NASA souvenirs like a puzzle of the planets and can you believe it - NASA actually had 12x12 scrapbook kits for scrapping so I bought some of those too. We traveled back to the nice Hampton Inn hotel in Brunswick Saturday night and even stopped back in Saint Simons and ate dinner at Mullet Bay again. What a difference leaving North and South Carolina and Georgia and stepping into Florida.

We also stopped to walk about in St Augustine which was okay and we stopped in Savannah and ate lunch at Paula Deen's restaurant (whew, butter anyone??).

So here are some pictures of our trip -this is a picture from the islands off the coast of Georgia.

And here is a picture of Endeavour on the launch pad - it is still there still waiting to be launched.
Evening at the beach - off the coast of Georgia.

Stay tuned for many scrapbook layouts to be created from the 400+ pictures I took on this trip!!! WOO HOO!!!!

My Brother ...

2009-06-26T00:11:00.004-04:00

Hey Dean, here is a layout I did of you the other day .... love you, Bro!!!

Whew what a weekend and now what a week!

2009-06-15T09:15:00.007-04:00

I finished up the crop this weekend - 22 layouts - OMgoodness! Here are some layouts I made this past weekend...My trip to Salzburg, Austria ...

My trip back home to Lexington, KY ....

And another new challenge has been posted by me at Vintage Flaire. So check out the various challenges there from the DT- lots of neat vintage and shabby chic layouts, cards, and ideas. Not to mention the free pics you can download and printout from flickr (as a member) to use on your vintage and shabby chic items. On this layout I used sheet music I picked up in a vintage package I purchased on Etsy and then added the front of a card with the two children on it. The picture is me and my older brother from 1959??

Serendipity Scrapbooks Staycation Crop This Weekend

2009-06-11T21:59:00.006-04:00

Stay-cation online Crop Friday June 12th-15th Are you one of the many people that found themselves canceling their vacation this year? Maybe you decided on postponing it or scaling it back to a long weekend. Either way, Serendipity has the crop for you. We are celebrating Staying Home with a Stay-cation crop. Our Design Team has come up with clever challenges based on our favorite vacation spots and local treasures that we are celebrating. Just because you can’t go away this time of year doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate a summer Stay-cation. As with all of our crops, we give away an awesome prize package for the Queen of the Crop, not to mention each challenge and game is good for a RAK.
Hope to see you there. Stay-cation forum Starts 9am Pacific/noon EST Friday the 12th

The early bird gets to read more blogs ...

2009-06-11T05:19:00.002-04:00

There is something to be said about waking up earlier than everyone else. Quiet time and time to sip my java and go blog hopping! I love ready my online friend's blogs and seeing all the things they have created. I also love going shopping Etsy style. I found some cool vintage scrappy things there last week so the packages are starting to come in and I love what I bought. For instance, yesterday I receive an envelope with really ancient children's book covers - great to use on a layout and gives your layout depth. These are genuine too because the envelope smelled a little musty - the smell you would expect from "real" vintage stuff. When I see some of these items, it reminds me of my youth. I don't know about you but I have a hard time remembering when I was really young. I mean, do I really remember or do I remember because my parents told me or my brother. I have one of those brothers that remembers EVERYTHING!!!

Anyway, I pondered the question "do you open the can of biscuits with a knife or do you whack it up against the counter's edge?" I ask because I'm cooking biscuits and when I whacked the container against the counter, of course it didn't open so I had to release it with a poke of the knife. Makes you go "hmmm?" Do ever wonder what other people do that you do?

So anyway, it's Thursday and only two more days until the weekend arrives. I have no plans for the weekend so I don't know why I'm so fired up about it getting here. Funny how we wish for time to go quickly and then when it does, we complain that it goes too fast. And the older you get ... well let's just say wasn't yesterday 1973? LOL Oh what's the line from Steel Magnolias that Dolly Parton says ... time marches by and before long it marches across your face .... or someting like that. You get what I mean. Oh to be young again!!!

Ok so now that I have totally depressed you with the youth thing, grab yourself a cup of java and go blog hopping with your online friends or do some Etsy shopping. That's where I'm headed. Have a great week and talk to you on the boards!

Scrapping Sunday

2009-06-07T13:35:00.005-04:00

All the housework is done so I have nothing better to do than scrap away the hours today. Ok, yeah, I'm sure I could be doing something "productive" but it wouldn't be as fun as what I'm doing now. There's nothing like scrapping in a clean house!!! WOO HOO!!!

So Serendipity Scrapbooks is having another crop the 12th and I'm creating some vintage pages for Vintage Flaire. So for SS, I did a pre-crop challenge, a cookbook. The challenge was to use pictures of gardens, farmer's market, etc and then the things you get from there, you make things to eat. Or something like that. Anyway, I put together this scrapbook - quick and dirty - and instead of putting the standard recipes in it, I wrote down how to make some things I make all the time like cubed steak and chicken and rice. I signed the back page to my DS, Jeremy, and I'll send it to him. Either that or into the closet it would go and never to be found again. :-) So here is the cookbook. I'll post the vintage pages later today - still working on them with all the KEWL stuff I found on Etsy and other places.

WOO HOO!!!!

2009-06-05T10:40:00.002-04:00

I'm so excited for two reasons!!!

I won at Serendipity Scrapbooks - the grand prize for their May Mayhem month crop. I was really surprised because my scrappy friends there were hustling as much as me and getting things done left and right. Thanks to Kristen for the wonderful prize and for Pink Paislee for sponsoring. And thanks to the marvelous Design Team on Serendipity Scrapbooks for all the work they did for the 31 days in May. What an awesome and very busy crop it was! And just think they are having another crop the weekend of June 12 - I think they are trying to scrap us to death. LOL

My second bit of exciting news is that today is my 31st year with my company. I cannot believe I made it this long. Wow, thirty-one years, am I blessed or what? I look back on the 31 years and think of all the people I have met, worked with, become friends with, watched retire, some have passed on. I think back when I was a newbie fresh out of four years of the Air Force. Who would have thought some 31 years later here I would be. Thanks to my family for all their support and all my friends and peers who have steered me and mentored me. It's not said as often as it should be - Thanks!!!

Groovy Tuesday on a Wednesday ....

2009-05-27T10:56:00.003-04:00

I don't know where that saying came from (the title) but I've been saying it since high school days which was a long time ago. Maybe it was from a song - who the heck knows. There were so many folk singers and people singing about the war and drugs and lovefests back in my days, its amazing I can understand half of what they sang about. Anyway, today is my last day of a 5-day vacation and I am truly chillin' out today just catchin' up on my bloggin and doin some scrappin (that's southern for blogging and doing some scrapping - I mean who really needs the 'g').

Anyway, yesterday had a great one-day trip down to Wilmington to see my son. Of course it rained all day but we muddled thru the puddles and did what we planned on doing. You know the routine - mom, buy me, buy me, buy me .... sure hon, not a problem. Just kidding. Actually, it was just a day planned for the two of us to "hang out" and that is what we did. New tires, new contact lenses, groceries, a little clothing shopping, eating crab legs at the bar. I had a wonderful time and it was great just to hang with my son for the day. The rain followed me all the way back home last night. I'm so tired of the rain this spring. We are drought free for sure now. Here are some pics from the day!

In Memory ....

2009-05-25T23:02:00.003-04:00

Today is Memorial Day and I want to personally thank all the veterans, both young and old, here and gone, who have fought so valiantly for our country and for others in the world. I, too, am a veteran like my brother, cousins, father, and grandfathers.

As part of today's Memorial Day celebration, I did a layout for a challenge at Serendipity Scrapbooks to honor my son who passed away 7 years ago. So Josh, just so you know that we miss you each day, love you always, and wish you were here with us. Love - Mama

Memorial Day Weekend!

2009-05-20T09:17:00.002-04:00

Are you ready for a three-day weekend? Boy, I am! And as a veteran it's an extra special weekend for me - lots going on around the Raleigh area with concerts and Memorial Day special events. So when you're out this weekend enjoying a concert, having a picnic or simply playing outdoors with your kids, take a few minutes please and think about our men and women in the Armed Services who are serving this wonderful country both home and abroad. Without their sacrifices, where would we be today?

Thank you Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, National Guard, Coast Guard!

May Mayhem Continues!

2009-05-20T09:14:00.007-04:00

At Serendipity Scrapbooks, they are still having their month-long fun month as I call it. I've been playing lots of games and racking up points. Plus they have Blue Light Specials going on where you can get great discounts on items in the store. I love the challenges and the games though. My scrappy friends should come and join me and see if you can get as many points as me. ::tee hee::

Here are some challenges I've done so far ...

These three are layouts wehre I made my own flowers - LOL - some look pathetic but hey, it works!! :-)

This page was for a May 25th Memorial Day challenge ....

And this one we had to make our own flowers ....

Here we had to scrap a day ....

And this one we had to take a sketch from a card and use the sketch on a layout...

I survived by mini vacation ....

2009-05-04T10:36:00.004-04:00

Well, today I am recuperating from the past three days of not working. Yeah yeah, I know, the weekend doesn't count as vacation but for those of us that work them, in addition to the five weekdays, it is a vacation!!!!

I started with swimming Friday morning - the instructor told us that starting in one week the class would start at 8 instead of 815 - dang, now I have to leave even earlier to get there. And when the outdoor pool opens, the class isn't going to be held outside like it was last year - it's too cold they say. Horse hockey - as Colonel Potter on MASH would say. Give me a break!!! I so looked forward to those early swim sessions to get a little tan in the early hours. Well, guess I can kiss that good-bye. Maybe I'll go join the place in Rolesville and kiss the YMCA good-bye.

I then went to get may hair highlighted and trimmed. Recall that last year I had surgery and lost most of it! Well, it grew back nice and thick but now it has this funky wave in it like something from the 1930s. So I trimmed it a little short again although I would love to get it long again. Oh well!!

From there, over to the Fresh Market to pick-up minimal groceries. I find that I buy stuff and it's going bad in the frig. So trying to cut back a little. I must say though, last night I made a French Onion Salisbury Steak on Cheese Toast that was to die for. I got the recipe out of a Cuisine magazine freebie that came in my mail - one of those mini-magazines where they try to entice you to sign up. Well, I didn't sign up but I did cook!!! Yummy!!! That and steamed asparagus - oh my - make a small dog break its chain!!!

Then over to Cheryl and Mark's Friday night - burgers on the grill and Trivial Pursuit. We hadn't played for like a year. Sherrie and Scott were also there so it was the girls vs. the guys. The women prevailed - as we usually do - and the guys didn't even see that we snuck in a wedge without earning it. Suckers!!!

Saturday was scrapping time and cooking time and doing nothing time. And Sunday was pretty much the same except for the awesome dinner I made last night. Oh and I made lasagne too but that is for tonight. Anyway, today I took the day off to recuperate from this past scrapping, birthday, hair cutting, swimming, eating too much weekend! Now to just sit back and enjoy the day before I go back to work tomorrow. Have a wonderful week everyone!!!

May Mayham!!

2009-05-01T22:52:00.006-04:00

Serendipity Scrapbooks - MAY MAYHEM!!!!!!!
Serendipity Scrapbooks is pleased to announce their first ever month long CROP! There will be challenges, loads of games, Deals of the DAY, secret hiding places in the store, and best of all Blue Light Specials. This will be a non stop event starting May 1 - May 31st! Check in everyday because you never know when points will be handed out by the DT and who knows, you may collect enough to become the May Mayhem Queen!

2009-04-29T07:59:00.004-04:00

And how great is this???
Thanks to Jill (Is this my life anyway?) for sending me the pink ladybug award!!! How cute is that? The rules for this award are as follows:
1. The winner may put the logo onto their blog
2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.
3. Nominate 10 blogs
4. Put links to their blogs.
5. Leave a message for the nominees.

And without further ado, here are the 10 blogs I have chosen ....

Hump Day!!

2009-04-29T07:10:00.003-04:00

Well, it's Wednesday and tomorrow is my Friday - yeah!!! Looking forward to a long 4-day weekend this weekend. Lots going on this weekend - getting my hair highlighted which is WAY overdue!!! Then out to an early movie (chick flick) Friday night with a group of women. Scrapping. Swimming Saturday morning. Scrapping. Derby watching. Dinner at a friends Saturday night. Scrapping some more. Scrapping even more Sunday. Did I mention that I would be scrapping this weekend? LOL

Here is the Weekly Layout Challenge #4 for this month at Vintage Flaire. I used two pics from the Airshow I went to last weekend and then added a picture of a pin-up girl pulled from the web. This was a recipe challenge to use 3 buttons, 3 rub-ons, 3 flowers, and 3 pictures. Have you tried vintage yet???

Where will you be this weekend?

2009-04-27T09:35:00.008-04:00

Okay so May 1-3 is National Scrapbooking Day (weekend). It's also the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby and it's also my best friend's, Cheryl's, birthday! So what will you be doing this weekend?

Wings Over Wayne!! Awesome and HOT!

2009-04-26T08:52:00.004-04:00

Well, we had a great time yesterday except for the walking, walking and more walking. Oh my gosh - there were thousands of people at the Air Show yesterday at Johnson Seymour AFB. It was an awesome show though and we sat out in the morning sun from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Even though I soaked myself down with sunscreen, my left arm got blistered, lips are scorched somewhat and my left ear is a little hot today. :-) My best friends hubby went early and got us great spots dead center on the flight line. I took over 300 photos but here are just a couple. We were exhausted when we got home last night, and still HOT! I think it went up to 93 yesterday and there wasn't a cloud in the sky which was great for the Air Show.

HOT HOT HOT !!!

2009-04-24T11:45:00.003-04:00

Loving it! It's going up to 84 today and 90 tomorrow and no rain until mid-week next week. We're off to the Air Show this weekend - lots and lots of planes, jets, helis, and loud loud loud noises!!! Also on the agenda this weekend is the Southern Living Women's show - a place to graze the food and spend the bucks. Should I or shouldn't I? That's enough to fill this weekend. Next weekend is already booked with National Scrapbooking Day online crops and contests and of course, The Kentucky Derby. Here's hoping you have a wonderful, warm weekend!!

2009-04-19T08:44:00.002-04:00

I used the Page Maps Apr 09 12x12 sketch to create this layout of a recent trip to Moore's Creek Battlefield in North Carolina. The bridge in the picture is, of course, not the original bridge of the battle. The park created a boardwalk that you cross and look back toward the bridge. I love the reflections in the water which was so still that day. I would imagine when summer gets here, the canopy of trees will be full and a reflection picture may be difficult to get. The papers and alphas are from the K&Co Ancestry line. The card is from Prima as well as the gorgeous flower made of fabric. I did this layout for the Weekly Challenge #3 at Vintage Flaire.

Pebbles Chalk Giveaway!!!

2009-04-17T06:44:00.001-04:00

Pebbles just came out with some new 'gooopy' chalks - not like their regular ones. Check it out on their blog and sign up for a giveaway they are doing right now!

Let's go vintage ....

2009-04-16T13:23:00.006-04:00

So I've been having some fun on a new ning site called Vintage Flaire. It's a new site where you do vintage layouts, cards, altered projects, etc. So here are a couple of vintage layouts ... I keep looking for more vintage items but they are hard to locate. I used to have a bunch of nostalgique items but they are hidden from me somewhere in this scrap room. :-) If you know of some neat places to download or buy vintage scrapbook 'stuff', leave me a comment please. Thanks!

On a weather note, wish it would get warm - still a little chilly at night (in the 30s) and in the day time, I really do want those 80F and 90F degree days!!! The days are pretty though.

Back to the beach ...

2009-04-14T05:36:00.004-04:00

We took a one-day trip down to Wilmington, NC this Easter to visit Jeremy. He and his buddies were having a stickball game that day and a cookout. It's hilarious! They play with a stick no wider than 1.26 inches and a tennis ball!! We had a wonderful time visiting and it was a beautiful day. We stopped at Moore's Creek Battlefield on the way there and while in Wilmington, we drove around town looking at the remnants of the azaleas which had bloomed the weekend before (Azalea Festival weekend) and walked around the beach. Here are a few pictures from that visit ...

2009-04-07T16:32:00.001-04:00

Been a while since I posted because I've been so busy with work and was feeling icky for a couple of days. Started scrapping again after taking a couple of weeks off. So here are a couple of layouts from the last day or two ... hope to be able to scrap some more this week. Things are definitely looking up!

Gettin' Sketchy!!! March Sketch .....

2009-03-17T21:58:00.005-04:00

I love this sketch this month at Gettin' Sketchy! You can get six pictures on your layout which is great for those surprise birthday parties such as the one in my layout below. I used Daily Grind papers from Fancy Pants and some Prima bling over there on the left. Down in the corner is a little bag of birthday confetti from Jolee's. Thanks for visiting my blog!

Photo Shoot!

2009-03-08T10:43:00.003-04:00

So Billy and I got out of the house yesterday and took a mini Road Trip! Such a weird week - snowed on Monday, melted Tuesday and Wednesday and today it was 80!!! Pretty blue skies, the sun heating my face - my babe next to me, what more could a girl ask for I tell you! So here are a couple of pics from yesterday - look for them very soon in a layout near you. :-)

Our first stop on the agenda was the Bentonville Battlefield in NC, just 30-40 minutes from our house and we'd never been there. This is where the last battle of the Civil War took place in 1865, after Lee had already surrendered at Appommatox Courthouse in Virginia.

This is on the road tour at Bentonville Battlefield, the earthenworks that the soldiers built.

Our next stop was in Kinston, NC. This is the memorial for NC's first governor, Caswell. It also is the temporary resting place for the ironclad boat, the CSS Neuse, which was scuttled (sunk on purpose) during the Civil War. It was finally raised from the bottom of the Neuse River starting in 1963 and now funds are being raised to move it to a nearby museum where it will be placed in an enviromentally safe room.

Our next stop was the NC Aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores (on the outer banks of NC, Emerald Isle). After the aquarium, we drove up the island to Fort Macon, another Civil War fort but in lieu of walking around the fort, we opted to hang out on the beach a while.

And we were back home at 7 pm last night. It was a fun day driving around eastern NC.

Happy Birthday, Joshua!!!

2009-03-08T10:40:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday to my son today! We miss you Josh, we think of you daily, we wish you were still here with us. We love you!!

Gettin Sketchy: WOW! March Sketch

2009-03-04T12:32:00.001-05:00

Gettin Sketchy: WOW! March Sketch

And they have ScrapAttackScrapbooking as the sponsor this month (kit + $10 GC). WOW!

Ok, some more layouts .... with New Product!

2009-03-02T22:53:00.005-05:00

I think we're going to go to the outer banks this weekend since it will be so warm unlike today where I think the high today was 36? Anyway, we're going to start at the top of the outer banks and start with the first lighthouse, Currituck, and then end up at Hatteras and then take the ferry across the Pimlico Sound. That should be a wonderful Photo Shoot opportunity and lots of wonderful layouts to make when I return. Plus it will get me out of the house - boy do I need to get out of the house. :-) In the meantime, here are a few more layouts and cards I've done over the past couple of days:

Sometimes you just need to add the picture and leave the rest alone. :-) I love the new branch from Prima. Isn't that kewl?

For my friend, Wendy's, birthday. We had a surprise birthday party for her this past Saturday and it was a huge success. I love making cards for my friends. And I used the Prima pearl swirl - I love it!!

Ah, Josh and Major, friends for life.

Come on Jeremy, smile dang it!! :-) You know they do that on purpose, don't you? Check out that huge black Prima swirl there on the right - all one piece! Gorgeous. Not sure if the paper/transparency is new from Pink Paislee but I just found it the other day at the LSS so I'm assuming it's new or I would have found it before.

OMGOSH - It Snowed Again!!!

2009-03-02T22:29:00.005-05:00

How lucky can a southern girl get I ask you? Not only did we get a couple of inches of snow this morning but my hubby took me to McD's for a cup of java and we slushed around the roads getting there. :-) Our second snowfall this year - WOW!! I was thinking of changing my banner but shoot fire, it looks that way again today! I wish I had a sled to slide down a hill. But I don't have a hill either. When you were a kid, did you go sledding with your high school friends? I did at a local school and at the bottom of the hill was a creek (or crick as some would call it). We all tried to make it to the crick. At the top of the hill there was a big metal drum where we had a fire. I always wondered how it was they had that big metal drum everytime we went sledding. I mean, who put it there? Anyway, our toes would be frozen and our tooshies would be sore from bouncing up and down on that sled. But we had a great time and there was always someone who lived close by - close enough for us converge in his or her house and have their mom fix us something hot to drink. Back then kids drank hot chocolate unlike kids today who are into the coffee thing ...

So now I'm going to post some pictures from today and then some layouts ... can you believe I have made 82 layouts/cards since the start of 2009. I really do need to get out more - perhaps play in that snow. Or let's go to the beach next weekend - it's going to be 75 degrees on Saturday - can you say PHOTO SHOOT!!! WOO HOO!!!

My Sadie-dor, she's a blessing!

It looks like a reflection in the water but actually it's the plants in the water and they are moving with the current. Just beautiful!

What fun to have a friend that lives in England. Irene took me to the airport and I flew over to Ireland (all by myself) for a fun-filled week-end driving around southern Ireland. What a wonderful country and so friendly!

In Memory ...

2009-02-24T23:08:00.003-05:00

of my Josh ... I know others have had their children taken away from them suddenly and some not so suddenly. I don't like being a part of that elite group of people but they are a force to be reckoned with. We are a strong group of people who put one foot in front of the other each day we get out of bed. For me, it's been seven years, seven years that feel like yesterday. My son passed away two weeks before his 26th birthday. It was sudden. It was awful. I relive it each day. But scrapping is my medicine; it takes me back in time to those 25 years and 50 weeks that Josh was with me. And one day I'll see Josh again and he'll say "hey momma, what's up?" And we'll both laugh again. :-)

52sketches52weeks #6

2009-02-13T21:46:00.007-05:00

Here is this week's sketch from 52sketches52weeks. I tilted the picture and poem a little and changed up the journaling. This was a fun sketch!

Sketch by Julie Bonner:

Gettin' Sketchy!!! February Sketch ....

2009-02-09T15:27:00.008-05:00

Gettin' Sketchy has a great sketch for this month. I flipped it, twisted it, or whatever I did to it. :-) I'm sure I'll reuse this sketch again because you can change it so many ways. Thanks for the sketch and thanks for looking.

2Sketches4You #19

2009-02-03T08:27:00.005-05:00

K & L have another great sketch posted at 2S4Y! Here is my take on that sketch: A little valentine card using Little Yellow Bicycle papers and flourish, Sassafras Lass 'love' letters and Petaloo flowers.

2009-02-01T21:03:00.004-05:00

Just some layouts ... hope you had a restful weekend.

2S4Y Card Sketch #18

2009-01-21T21:54:00.007-05:00

Laura and Kazan have a wonderful sketch posted for this week - sketch #18. So here is my take on that sketch using Heidi Swapp papers, pearls, ribbons and flowers. TFL!
Here is the sketch .... And here is my take on the sketch ...

Queen & Co Giveaway !!! WOO HOO!!!

2009-01-21T10:23:00.003-05:00

Woo hoo - Queen & Co is having a giveaway - 7 lucky winners - I hope I win. Check out their new bulk packaging - they have gone GREEN!!! I love the little buckets of embellies. How cute are those???

The Queen goes Green - CHA releases... YAY!!!
The Queen Goes Green.
http://queenandcompany.typepad.com/queen_co_indulge_your_cre/2009/01/the-queen-goes-green-cha-releases-yay.html

It's Snowing in NC!

2009-01-20T09:42:00.004-05:00

The snow started about 2:30 a.m. this morning. It's still falling and expected to continue through the afternoon. I'd say there's about 2-3 inches on the ground already but it's over a top of ice since we had rain before the snow fell. Lots of accidents around the Raleigh area so I'm thankful I work at home and can just sit here and gaze out the window and admire the beauty of it all. Here are some pics from this morning. And you know I'll be scrapping tonight!

Lots of things going on these days .....

2009-01-17T18:09:00.003-05:00

It's my birthday weekend!!! Woo hoo!! Actually my birthday isn't until Monday but who cares, I'm going out with the girls tonight to celebrate. Yeah, baby!!

Lots of other things going on this weekend. Lots of giveaways going on with various blogs around town. Paper Popsicles is giving away some Little Yellow Bicycle clear cuts from their new Love Letters line. WOO HOO! I love Little Yellow Bicycle papers and embellishments. I think the first line of theirs I bought was Zack's Life. Anyway, go over to their blog Paper Popsicles and look under the 1/13/09 post and you'll see how you too can enter their blog contest.

Well, I'm off to get ready for tonight. It's GIRL'S NIGHT OUT!!!! Let the fun begin even though it's only 12 degrees outside. Come on Spring!!!

Monday blues ...

2009-01-05T12:47:00.005-05:00

Oh, I wish the weather would change here in NC. A grey and dismal sky here lately - where has the sun gone! Wake up, sun!!! Shine down on me please. I want to feel your warm rays!!! I think I'll have to paint over the window I look out all day and make it a sunny, scenic view of maybe the beach or something. Something to help me warm up.

Well Laura and Kazan at 2Sketches4You have posted #17 of their card challenge this week. Here is the sketch plus the bonus sketch. Cute, as usual. I'll give it a go. The winner of #16, Bardien I think is her name, oh it was so beautiful with pinks, whites and black if I recall correctly. They have MANY wonderful card-makers over there. So play along if you like and go make a card or two. :-)

Have a great day!

Sharing some layouts with you ...

2009-01-04T22:27:00.005-05:00

Ok, I finally did some scrapping over the past two weeks. Here are a couple of layouts and altered items that I've done recently so you can take a peek if you like.

This layout was for a challenge I did this week. Lots of "white space" which I'm not used to doing. I love the bling. I was trying to mirror the layout with the Roadrunner comic strip down there in the corner (sort of like an Ad Challenge). This is my youngest nephew of all nephews.

And finally, here is a layout I did last week of my nephew playing lacrosse or at least I think that's the name of the game. He was in a tournament. I used Prima papers (Dude) for this layout. Another manufacturer I just love.

Back to work I go ...

2009-01-04T10:47:00.005-05:00

Well, it's been an interesting past two weeks - the first recuperating from a sinus infection that started the week before and the second week getting over the holidays and removing the decorations and getting things back to normal. Just today remains before I hop off to work tomorrow. A new year and I'm sure exciting things about to happen. I'm shopped out, cooked out, and holiday'd out. :-) How about you?

The next thing to look forward to is Spring - come on Spring!!! January and February can be chilling times in North Carolina but then again, last January it was in the 70s/80s all month. Go figure. I wonder if we'll get snow this year? There's nothing like fresh fallen snow - notice how when you go outside it's so silent - I guess the snow muffles it all or maybe it's everyone staying indoors instead of making noise outside. :-)

Well, the scrap area was cleaned this weekend and it's ready to be disturbed again. So I'm going to search the web and see what challenges there are out there and start scrapping. How about you?

2Sketches4You - #16

2009-01-01T16:58:00.004-05:00

Ok, here is the last card sketch of 2008 from 2S4Y. And here is my take on the sketch. Can't wait to see what they have in store for 2009!!! Can you tell I'm wishing for Summer to get here fast!!

Here Comes 2009 !!!

2009-01-01T15:01:00.003-05:00

Hi all and welcome to 2009. I was thinking, I don't think I ever thought about what the world would be like in 2009 when I was young in the 1970s. I mean, who thinks about stuff like that when you're young? Golly - 2009!! Who would have thought? The days of wondering who the new rock group was and what songs they were singing have now turned into wondering how I'm ever going to retire and will my country be the same 20 years from now. I tend to worry about those kind of things now even though I have many years to go - or at least I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I do. I remember my mom used to say the old adage "no used crying over spilt milk" or was it "no use complaining about things you can't change". I don't remember.

My point though is that I worry about my country and what it may become. Now you can say anything you want, anywhere you want, anyhow you want. Makes no difference who you hurt. Now look where it's gotten us. Being a country of free speech, religion, etc. wasn't an invitation for all of us to come here and just create a chaotic country. We still have to have guiding principles, morals, rules, obligations, heritage, folklore, commonality, truth and justice. The US is a melting pot but that melting pot was based on certain principles. If you take those away, all you have is a big old pot of nothing!

So, learn about your country this year - stand up and be counted. Look for ways to express yourself and your ideals this year. There is something to be said about "crying over spilt milk" and "complaining about things you want to have changed". That's how we got to where we are today - people doing.

Happy New Year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

2008-12-24T16:51:00.003-05:00

From our home to yours, a very merry Christmas to you and your families. It's been a year of ups and downs but somehow we managed to pull it off and end up healthy and be together here at the end. We have our jobs and our health and our family and although we have one son who we haven't had with us for seven Christmases now we are still blessed to have Jeremy and he was able to come and visit us this week to celebrate an early Christmas.

For my four brothers, their wives and their children, my parents (all of them) and my friends and neighbors, bloggers and message board friends, here is hoping that you ALL have a safe, warm and happy Christmastime and that 2009 brings you peace, happiness and many friendships.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I need time off to recuperate - how about you?

2008-12-01T18:56:00.005-05:00

Thanksgiving was much fun with our friends and dinner, I must say, was delicious! My best friend and I shopped on Black Friday for 13 hours!!! WOW! We found some great deals especially on DVDs for like $2!!! We had a fabulous lunch at Maggiano's with our regular yearly order of four-cheese ravioli and caesar salads! There were lots of people out and about but not as many as in previous years in my opinion. The newspapers though say the crowds were big!
But it wore me out!!! My back and feet were some kind of hurting Friday night and all day Saturday. I don't even remember my head hitting the pillow Friday night - I was exhausted.

I didn't get to scrap most of the five days I was off for Thanksgiving except for last night where I did one layout and some cards. And now, there are so many crops going on - what's a scrapper to do? I

Ok, so I'm off to scrap. Hey, don't forget to peep out the window tonight and look at the crescent moon, Venus and Jupiter all sitting next to each other. It's an AWESOME site. Get out your camera, click, and scrap the moment! Ciao!

!!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!!

2008-11-25T21:04:00.002-05:00

Well, Thanksgiving will be here in just 36 more hours. This year we are changing it up a bit. Have a couple from the neighborhood coming over for an afternoon sup of steaks, salad and whatever else I feel like cooking. Katja is going to bring a cake or brownies or something sweet to eat. That's going to be the extent of my cooking for the day!!! YIPEE!!! In the morning, we'll go over to another neighbor's home for an 8-10 drop by Thanksgiving morning coffee. This is like the third or fourth year Cathie has done that and I love it. Makes me get up early and get the day going. Unfortunately, Jeremy is unable to come home and spend the holiday with us. So in honor of his being absent this year, I have opted to go shopping on Black Friday. LOL I'd go anyway. Out Cheryl and I go on our yearly trek to all the shopping malls in our area. As long as we end up at Maggiano's for drinks and salads in the afternoon, we pretty much don't care where we go. Usually just window shop anyway. We love watching all the people scrambling about and messing with them and their parking spaces. ROFL!!!!

Well, I have plenty of time on my hands over the next five days - FIVE DAYS OFF - WOOHOO!!!! Lots of scrappy time for me. What a fun time I'll be having while you all gorge yourself on an average of 4500 calories in one day. Excuse me, might I have another piece of pie and double up on that whipped cream this time. LOL

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and thanks for visiting my blog this year. I've enjoyed having you stop by.

2008-11-25T20:26:00.003-05:00

Blogging up A storm!

My friend Pat gave me this great award. Thank you, Pat!!! The rules of the Kreativ Blogger award:

1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.
2. Then put a link to the person who sent you the award.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Provide links to those 5 blogs.
5. Then, leave a message for your nominees.

So my nominees are: Jewlz, Sherrie, Letters to Scrap By, and Pam.

Yeah for 3-day weekends!!

2008-11-20T22:48:00.005-05:00

Although I'll work a little at home, I am officially at the beginning of my 3-day weekend. Woo Hoo!! I started out with a challenge from 2Sketches4You.blogspot.com for week #13 card. Here is my response to this week's sketch using Yellow Bicycle papers and my new Slice (cut the xmas tree with it). Tomorrow if I can face the cold morning I'm going to go swimming at the Y. I've missed my two classes this week due to work but I did walk instead so I don't feel too guilty.

So here is my card for the 2Sketches4You Week #13 challenge ...

And a close-up of the butterfly. I cut out the same butterfly and attached it on top (an idea from one of my fellow scrappers).

I really like this card I did with the rich colors of the Roka papers. It was by sheer luck that the butterflies and the rub ons matched everything so well - they are from K&Co. & another company. And I think the fabric is from Websters Pages.

My sweet son who had a birthday last week on election day - or was it two weeks ago? Time flies. I love the bingo card and I believe these are Close to My Heart papers I bought in 2007. Great 'boy' colors.

2008-11-15T20:18:00.003-05:00

You know when it rains how all you want to do is nap. Well, that's what today has been - a nap day for me and Billy and our pooch, Sadie. But ....Bella Blvd is having a little contest with their papers so I decided to give it a go. Check out their blog http://bellablvd.typepad.com/ and try your luck entering your layout too. It's been raining here the past couple of days - we're under tornado warnings right now. The wind has been whipping all day long!! There were tornados last night in Wilson. Not too much sunshine to take this phot0 so this will have to do for now.

It was a long week at work with lots to do. I feel so lazy this weekend!

Sketch #12 - 2Sketches4You

2008-10-28T22:03:00.010-04:00

Well, another week and another sketch. I really love 2Sketches4You card sketches. So here is mine for this week. I love the red/black/white combo and I really enjoy layering. I'll probably use this card for my son's birthday next week. Think he'll like the bling?? LOL He keeps all the cards I make and send to him. I told him he would one day want to look back on them. Here is the sketch also.

2S4Y - Lisette's Sketch

2008-10-23T15:29:00.003-04:00

Here is the challenge sketch for this week at 2Sketches4You. Thanks to Lisette for a great sketch. I sort of improvised a little with the sketch.

2S4Y - Card Sketch 11

2008-10-21T11:21:00.007-04:00

Here's my card for Sketch 11 at 2 Sketches 4 You! Their sketches ROCK!!!

NC State Fair - I Won Two Ribbons!! ::too funny::

2008-10-19T10:03:00.004-04:00

So Billy and I went to the NC State Fair on Friday to check out the Crafts/Hobbies. I submitted two layouts for the Scrapbooking category and two cards for the Rubberstamping/Cards category. This was my first time entering at the State Fair. I had always thought about entering my strawberry jam or something else I had made. You gotta love the movie State Fair. Remember with Pat Boone and Ann-Margaret? I know, I'm showing my age. Well, anyway, I got a red ribbon (2nd place) for my "military" layout and a white ribbon (3rd place) for my "pet" layout. Since the layouts are behind railings so people can't get to them, it was hard to take a picture of them. I can't pick them up until after the fair is closed. So here are pictures I took!!

It's My Anniversary!!!

2008-10-16T14:15:00.002-04:00

DH and I are celebrating our anniversary today!! WOO HOO!!! And tomorrow, we'll be celebrating his birthday!! YEAH!! We plan on going to the North Carolina State Fair tomorrow. We haven't been to it in years but this year I entered some scrappy layouts to the Craft contest so I must go and see if maybe I won a ribbon. ::fingers crossed:: So I'm taking the day off tomorrow so off we go to the Fair!!

LetterstoScrapby Blog Challenge - Black

2008-10-12T21:00:00.005-04:00

Kelly and Ginger have a challenge up this week on their blog. This week's challenge had to have a black base with popping colors. I think the blue from Amanda's dress and the flower make it pop. What do you think? My niece's junior prom was in 2007 - she is standing next to her older brother, my nephew, who is now in med school. Aren't they gorgeous!

Two days in a row - Oh my!!

2008-10-11T01:32:00.004-04:00

Dang - two posts in a row - can you believe it. I just finished a card for 2Sketches4You (#10) weekly sketch. Such pretty cards they have over there. Actually most are gorgeous! So here is the card I posted there tonight ... I love the brown Hambly Screen Print rub-ons. They go on so easy. And this Black Magic paper is to die for. Thanks Lauri from {SAS}sy. I received a bunch of these papers for a prize from last week's National Card crop.

It's Friday!!!

2008-10-10T13:19:00.007-04:00

Long week this week. But a beautiful week at that. Except for the financial markets. Ok so like half of my 401K is now down the tubes. But at least I have my health and my scrappy supplies. This weekend I guess I will have to make it three weekends in a row and scrap. YEAH!

We made a ton of cards. Christmas cards and "HI" cards and fancy cards and clear cards and all sorts of cards. And prizes galore for the lucky winners of the drawings. And the games were a hoot, as usual. Definitely one of the better places to scrap, chat and crop. You really should come and join us. You'd have a ball!!! Here are a couple of cards I did last weekend!!

I've Been Tagged ....

2008-09-26T01:43:00.005-04:00

I've been tagged by Pam from her blog My Scrappy World. Thank ya, Pam!

New Challenge Blog is Up and Running!!

2008-09-24T07:38:00.002-04:00

Take a look at this new Blog - Ginger and Kelly will start posting challenges October 2. Can't wait!! http://letterstoscrapby.blogspot.com/

Colorado!!!

2008-09-23T21:17:00.004-04:00

What a great time I had in Colorado last week. Took a couple of days before business and went up to the mountains from Denver and played around with a friend in Breckinridge (it was Octoberfest)!!! Then we went on to Buena Vista and then on to Aspen for the night. If you haven't stayed at the Jerome Hotel - you must!!! A wonderful Rock Resort - pure heaven. The next day we took off and went to a couple of small towns in the mountains and then on to Vail. From there back to "Breck" as the locals call it. We stayed in "Breck" at my friends house which was gorgeous and then drove back into Denver on Monday to work for the next couple of days. I'm printing out pics now and doing some layouts of last week's trip. Beautiful scenary / country. But I can only imagine how cold it gets there in the winter. Not for me - sorry. I'm a southern lady. LOL

A New Product Review - Alecia's Sheetload Short Cuts blog

2008-09-11T14:45:00.002-04:00

Take a look at this product review over on Alecia's blog ... Sheetload Short Cuts. These are ShortCuts Clear & Frosted Card Blanks! So neat - no fingerprints on your cards girls!! Take a look. Thanks Alecia!
http://sheetloadshortcuts.blogspot.com/2008/09/new-product-previews-day-3-and-blog.html

Dog Days of Summer

2008-08-24T10:48:00.003-04:00

A day trip down to Charleston, SC to help Jeremy move back to Wilmington, NC. He drove the Uhaul back - we stayed in Charleston and had lunch before returning back home. I love these houses on the Battery. The porches always face the water so the breeze would cool the house (before a/c of course). They are gorgeous and so colorful. You'd never guess that Tropical Storm Fay was blowing through. The water was choppy but the day was beautiful - warm, sunny and humid. It felt so good! We had lunch at Poogan's Porch - shrimp of course.

Carrie's Blog Challenge

2008-08-10T03:12:00.003-04:00

Here is a layout I did tonight (this morning) for Carrie's Blog Challenge. Thanks Carrie!

Carrie's Corner

More National Battlefield Layouts

2008-08-10T02:55:00.011-04:00

I've been scrapping all night and watching the Olympics - trying to put a dent in my vacation album from July 4th. Here are some more layouts ....

HOT August

2008-08-03T01:04:00.003-04:00

Here is a layout I entered in the Prima Build-a-page contest for July using their sketch. I used the Dude papers - love those papers.

Nothing to do these days but stay indoors in the cool air conditioning and scrap. Thank goodness for USPS and UPS and Fedex - they can bring me supplies!!! Last night, I cleaned out some scrapbooking stuff and figured that if it was 5 years old, it must not be any good. But I was wrong. Some KEWL embellishments were discovered and textured papers that I'll play around with. I also sorted through the rest of my vacation pictures - the infamous 7-day trip to National Battlefields. Yes, payback to my hubby who has so tenderly taken care of me since my surgery four months ago. That's a story I won't get into right now. Anyway, here are a couple of 'historical' layouts that I've been doing for the Civil War album I'm making - all those National Battlefields. Geez!

My Roses

2008-05-28T12:28:00.003-04:00

Billy has been taking care of the roses and I was able to go out and take some pictures. The cool nights and warm days have produced some wonderful scents and large flowers.

2008-05-19T23:28:00.002-04:00

Finally!! I was released from the hospital on 5/2. I'm a very weak puppy though and I'm sure it will take some time to rest up and get my strength back. I'm just happy to be alive! I'm finally getting strength back in my hands and can type and I've also started scrapping again. That helps build up my strength. I'm trying to walk daily and Billy pushes me but not too hard.

I missed my mom's birthday in April so happy belated mom! Was saddened to watch the Kentucky Derby and see Eight Belles go down with broken ankles. I think Big Brown could go the distance though and win the triple crown this year.

Missed seeing Dean and Janine at the beach last week but I was not able to travel. Sorry bro/sis.

March 2008

2008-03-25T09:01:00.011-04:00

I've been so busy working and scrapping and having fun on some new sites that I haven't paid attention to my blog lately. Winter has passed although it wasn't much of a winter this year in NC. Spring has been here for a while and this week I think it is supposed to be 80 degrees later in the week. I was trying to put all the layouts I've done this year in an album and realized I was going to need several albums. Filled up one 12x12 with 40 layouts and then filled up two 6x12 each with 20 layouts. I still have a stack of 12x12s at least 6 inches deep. So I'm going to have to get at least two more albums. I'm also into scrapping Rolodex cards now. I had a blast participating in the ScrapAttackScrapbooking Crop March 14-16 and won a fantastic box of prizes. I finished ALL their challenges - there were 17. Such a great place to scrap. So here are some of my layouts I've done this past month or two.

This is one of the Rolo Challenges on SAS - Use one word on your Rolo. My word was Wish! I used the Yellow Bicycle papers.

This layout uses one of Tamara's Sketch http://sketchesbytamara.blogspot.com/ Tamara has loads of sketches to use. I used the Pop Culture Coloring Book paper and colored in some of the flowers. Also used the Bazzill strips and Fancy overlay.

This is a layout I did this past weekend for a SAS Challenge (use word bubbles). I took several pictures of Billy and Sadie on the back deck. It was a beautiful day and I love Billy in his pink polo shirts! The paper is Dream Street Birdie Bits. The tiles in the middle I've had for years from K&CO and they just worked! Fun page. The second layout is a 6x12 using MME papers and lots of flowers.

Wow, a whole week ....

2008-02-04T22:17:00.000-05:00

has gone by and I can't believe I haven't updated my blog. I did insert Dad's list of universities and colleges over there on the left side. He loves keeping track of all the schools all of us have gone to through our lives. Well, January has passed and the weather hasn't been all that bad. Just two more months and the worse will be over and spring will return. Yeah! Been working hard the past week and swapping out swaps and scrapping. Had a great time this weekend with friends both Friday and Saturday night but I sure was tired when Sunday got here. At least the house was clean by Saturday which left me Sunday to scrap and watch the Super Bowl. How about those Giants? I personally didn't care who won - not much into football these days - but liked the fact that the underdog won. I didn't win any of the football pools I was in. Bummer.

Cropped the Weekend Away

2008-01-28T22:34:00.000-05:00

Well, I managed to crop online all weekend and ended up with twenty-one new layouts that I finished. That's a whole lotta scrapping. Tonight as I watched the State of the Union address, I did another page. I think I'm about scrapped out for the night though.

I'm just scrappin' along ...

2008-01-24T18:22:00.000-05:00

It's nice that I've had time in the evenings lately to do some scrapping - I'm usually working most nights so I'm taking advantage early this year to get some 'personal' things done before things pick up. Here another layout from this past weekend's trip to SC ...

And here is a layout I did of hubby with our dog, Sadie-dor, taken at the town's Christmas parade last month. It was her first parade and she was nervous with the sounds and sights.

And today I received a nice surprise - flowers and a rosemary plant from my friends back in KY, A & P. They are beautiful! They also sent some to J. They are always thinking of me and I can't thank them enough. Thanks you guys - I love ya!!

Some more layouts ...

2008-01-21T21:28:00.000-05:00

Just some pics taken this past weekend in Charleston, SC. Yes, I already put them in a layout after printing the pics out at home. A great way to celebrate my birthday ... with my son!

Here is another layout of my friends over the years. I did this a couple of weeks ago.

This is a double-page layout showing things we did in 2007. I was tickled to be chosen to taken the flag down at Ft. McHenry and fold it. Also posted is Sadie's first trip to the beach, our trip to Valley Forge, PA for the CKC Scrapbook Convention. While I was at the CKC convention, hubby was visiting Longwood Gardens. We also took a side trip to New Bern with our good friends. And our trip to Savannah in January 2007 which was not planned (we were supposed to go see my brother but my nephew took a nose dive into the door jamb and was rushed to get stitched up).

Happy Birthday J & J ...

2008-01-21T04:06:00.000-05:00

Happy Belated Birthday to my nephew J - J's birthday was 1/17. Check is in the mail darling. :-) No check for my brother J though whose birthday is today 1/22 but the card is on the way and I'm thinking sweet thoughts of you. :-) There are only 9 J names in our family. LOL What were we thinking!!! Updated 1/30/08 - My dad read my blog and has corrected me on the birthdates and also the fact that we have 9, not 7, J names in our family. HA! Thanks Daddy!

I Missed the Snow ....

2008-01-21T03:44:00.000-05:00

We're back from Charleston - left after we toured around the city and made a trip to Publix for my son. What is it with mom's? We always stock our kid's refrigerators, no matter how old they are. LOL Zipped on back home in 4.5 hours (took the same amount to get there). In NC we started to see patches of light snow here and there on the side of the road in the grass and when we arrived home, there was some snow on some of the roofs in the neighborhood but that was about it. But it was cold - I think it was 30 degrees.

Anyway, we had a great time in Charleston although it rained all the way there and while we were there. J took us to a place called the Crab Shack and we had a great lunch. Then we got to see UNC get beat in basketball by Maryland. Yeah!! Then we went to the movies and saw National Treasure: Book of Secrets. I loved it. I don't care if it was the same as the first movie - I love all the mystery and the clues and the intrigue. And the history even though some of it isn't true. It at least introduces movie-goers to some history - something the younger crowd lacks in my opinion.

Lunch with tip = $100, a movie for 4 people, popcorn and drinks = $59.10; being with my son = PRICELESS.

Happy Birthday to me ...

2008-01-19T00:36:00.000-05:00

Whee, I made it to another birthday. Yeah! Just catching up on mail right now and doing laundry to get ready to visit my son in a few hours. It's suppose to snow here in the south tomorrow - and I'll probably miss it but that's fine with me. Here is another recent layout of my niece. I'm waiting on "The Brothers" to send me more pictures of my extended family so I can scrap them. Hurry up you guys!!!

Update 1/21/08: Thanks for the Beth Moore book JM and the card and tell C I love his hand-made note/drawing. Thanks to everyone for their birthday cards, emails, and email cards. I love you all!

Just ...

2008-01-18T02:27:00.001-05:00

CUTIE ... JUST ME ... GIRLS NIGHT OUT ...

You gotta have friends ...

2008-01-18T01:24:00.001-05:00

Here's a layout I did tonight. The 'friends' in the middle is hand-stitched and I dropped paint droplets in a circle in the lower left-hand section (that's another sheet of paper that I cut round. The two flowers are crumbled up and then put togeher. This was a challenge for Cut-the-Crop to use these three techniques. I'm looking forward to Saturday when we leave for SC to see my son. It will be a great birthday day for me. I love Charleston and him!

Doodlebugs ...

2008-01-12T09:17:00.000-05:00

Hi all,
Today I'm sorting a swap of frills. Separating piece by piece into sets of 12 with 8 different frills in each stack and there are then 12 colors for a total of 96 pieces. I'm going crazy cause they turn over and then they are all white. Also dropping on the floor and picking up and dropping and picking up. I'm supposed to be at a neighbor's Silpada party but I'm late 'cause I'm setting up this blog and doing frills. So I'll finish this later and run and get ready to go. See ya - T