I'm baa ack

I bet you didn't think you would hear from me again today! I didn't think so either. I am sitting here while the kids are taking their piano lesson. I always take my laptop with me, at least I have something to do. Tonight I actually organized a bunch of stuff in ACDSee, I am so proud of myself. Then I started working on another page, but I don't have my mouse with me and the laptop mouse is driving me crazy. Every time I click on a layer, the layer disappears. When I look in the history, it says move, I have no idea why. It's a good thing we can go back in time, wouldn't it be nice if we could do that with life? Anytime something happens that we don't like, just go into the History file and undo the moment..... anyway, since that was driving me crazy, I decided to wait til I get home. In the meantime I could start a new post.

Boy, today was a gorgeous day, beautiful sunshine, but chilly. You can tell spring is coming though. The sunshine is warmer and there are robins all over the place!

Okay, so now it's Saturday again, I should have known I  wouldn't be able to finish the post last night. I finished a page while sitting though, here it is

We were using Overlays and learned how to recolor them. I had a lot of fun with this one. I also used the clone tool to transfer the picture, which is from lesson one. Great fun, lots of little tricks I didn't know or couldn't remember from Jessica's. I just posted this one a little while ago. It was for the Saturday Scraplift at DD

I am spooky looking!

Here is one I did for Vinnie

Her elements are so cool, everything is already together, it's so easy to make something artistic looking. That's it for the pages for now

I went to Karate this morning and you know who was all sweet and thankful for my help. I just wish he didn't have to flip like he tends to, he is turning everybody off, well, at least those of us who take the brunt of it. I don't remember a single time he yelled at any of the guys....what does that tell you? I brought that up once and man, did he flip at me, which really tells me that I hit a nerve. Oh well, it's this whole martial arts mentality, I am not really buying into that so much. I mean, I pay my dues, I just want to come to class, learn what I can, get some exercise and have fun. It's not like I joined the Army or something where I have to take somebody's crap all the time. I won't even let hubby talk to me like that. The guy really has to mellow some. If he weren't so good ......Well, enough of that!

Nothing much happened the rest of the day, Gab was at a sleepover and didn't come home til 3 or so. Rachel went to a friend's house, so I had to take her and pick her up later. Other than that I just sat and scrapped, how fun is that? Maybe more tomorrow. signing off

A Day off

I skipped Karate this morning and went to see my GF about 1 hour away. We had a really nice time, went to the Olive Garden for lunch (their soup and salad is fabulous and you get free refills until you explode), met another friend and had a great girl time. That place was packed! We couldn't even park there, had to walk a little, what is it, the last day before Friday, so they all take advantage of being able to eat meat? It was good though and we had a few great laughs at our own expense, talking about hot flashes and declining hearing and eyesight. How more depressing could it get if you didn't laugh about it! Then we ran over to Sam's and I added a little more to the economy rescue plan. I do love that place though, there is so much temptation... I mean, how can you go past an enormous apple pie for a good price, considering they piled 3 lbs of apples on there.. I get my large bag of Pakistani rice (of course when I got home I realized I still had a whole one), large bag of pancake mix and so on. Of course we need all that stuff, don't we? Like the 3 pack pound cake and the yummy strawberries. We had a nice desert tonight at least.

The class at Debbie's has started. Pattie Knox is teaching about different uses of embellishments. The first lesson was on brushes and I am so glad I am taking this class, I already learned stuff I didn't know. How fun! Today we got the second class material, this one is on Overlays. I didn't read it yet, but I love OV to begin with. That should be fun too. Here are 2 pages I made for the brushes class, they were both a lot of fun to create. Hopefully tomorrow I can start on the next one.

Speaking of Hot Flashes, here is a page I did the other day after another restless night, waking up continously with, guess what? sweat!

Like I said, when you get older, you really need a good sense of humor! Here is the next 365 page and another one i did for a lift.

And lastly a page I did for Vinnie as a scraplift challenge. Her stuff is so playful and fun to work with.

Okay, high time for me to hit the bed, maybe I will write some more tomorrow, of course I don't have any pages then, so maybe we'll just chat and I might find a picture or two...

Another Saturday

this seems to be a theme, of course, Saturday is a good day for me to sit down and write a little, I have more time. I don't know how Terry does, she blogs almost every day and she works out of the house. Kudos to you girl. Of course, I don't really have that much to say either, life is the same day in and day out.

Today I took G and M to the Mall just to pick something up that they were holding for me at Boscov's. Of course we had to see what they had on sale at Aeropostale and came back with $ 105 less in my wallet. Good grief! Talk about stimulating the economy, I am doing it all by myself.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, talking about spending money just reminded me that I just bought CS4, I am so happy. Of course now my DVD player in my laptop isn't working! I don't know what's wrong, something about the driver not being recognized or unable to load or some other weird message. Now I'll have to call my guru on Monday and see if he can't figure it out. I wouldn't even know who to contact, HP or who? There is just always something that breaks. The icemaker isn't running either. Good grief! So what do I do? I sit and scrap! Good thing I have peeps for everything :)

Today was such a glorious day, sunny and warm, it actually went up to 65. Considering that we were in deep freeze just a couple of days ago, that is really remarkable. We went to the pancake breakfast at Church today, their pancakes are always so good, really fluffy! Of course that is not exactly what I need but who cares. My online friend Tammy is always posting these really yummy recipes and last week I asked her for one for lent, since we can't eat meat. She was sweet enough to dig one up for me and will do so every Thursday during Lent. Isn't she the sweetest? Check her blog, she has really good stuff there with great pictures. I told her she should write a book.

Today I finally started my project 365 up again. I did 2 pages and I am done with January. Only 5 more weeks to go to catch up :) Here they are

I really like this format with the rounded corners. Looking at those pictures I wish I could go back!

Here are some other pages I did this week

These are all pages made for Designer Digitals. Find the credits here

The following are for PixelCanvas (Vinnie Pearce) I do like working with her supplies, she is so very talented!

There are 2 more pages I did for PaperbagStudios, but that new kit isn't coming out for a couple of days yet, so I am supposed to wait til then. Maybe I will actually have to post again before the next weekend, imagine that! Okay, now that you are all up-to-date, I can sign off and scrap some more, rofl!

It's the weekend!

And thank goodness for that! We have been lounging, doing nothing, not even going to Karate this morning. I am pretty ticked off at my Sabomnim, so I thought it would be better if I don't go today, 'cause I might just say something I would regret later. They act and think as though we were still in feudal Japan and you are supposed to take all kinds of verbal abuse. Well, I have news for them, I pay for the darn classes, I help out and I did not join the Military with them in charge. See, that's why I didn't go today :)

I have been busy scrapping (what else?) DH is beginning to complain that I spend too much time on the computer. Actually it is because of him that I started playing with the compy. He used to play his wargames all the time, so I had to find something to do with myself. Now that he doesn't spend hours and hours playing anymore he wonders why I don't want to hang with him and watch TV. Too late Dude. Well, I try actually, at least at night, because I do feel guilty. I do spend a  L.O.T. of time on the computer. There is so much to do though. Aside from making pages, I follow blogs, I have 2 galleries I follow, so that takes a lot of time leaving comments. then there are the forums and emails and so on. This is almost like a full-time job! Now with Facebook on top of it all....I don't know. Not that I spend a lot of time on there, it can really get away from you....

I started reading "The Host". It's written by Stephenie Meyer, the same person who wrote Twilight. I really like it, it's written in the "I" form, I think that is part of the appeal. I just really like her writing style, even if it is fiction.

Okay, here are some pages

    All of these pages are at Designer Digitals, you can click on my gallery link on the right to see the credits. I think I did four of those pages last Saturday during the Chat, so that was speed scrapping at it's best. The "Hang on" page is a Scraplift of Kristy's page, shamelessly reproduced by orders of the higher-ups during the chat. "Manual Pre-Wash" was a 30 minute challenge, with some given restrictions and supplies. That was really fun, I am usually pretty slow, but I made it, it just fell together for once.

The next two I did for Vinnie at PixelCanvas. She has some really cute new things in her shop, those little soft stickers with matching papers, I love them. And that new kit called Time Out. That one is only available at Catscrap, it's a collab kit and they have it on sale for the weekend. It's really pretty, I love those frames that come with it. You can find those credits at my gallery at PixelCanvas, also on the right hand side. She just updated her forum, it's so nice now.Well, I guess today is just going to be a lazy day, we might head out to the Mall once everybody is up and about. It is really nice for a change to not have to go anywhere, no running, no stress. (maybe I'll get some more scrapping done :)) By the way, I got some warnings in regard to virus attacks coming from 4share and Facebook, so please be careful out there. Run your scans and keep your programs up-to-date.

I hope you will all have a great weekend!

New stuff

Well, I am behind again with everything, but that seems to be the story of my life lately (grins) The other day I forgot to call my sister for her birthday, what is going to be next? Will I forget to pick the kids up from school? Geez oh man, it is bad anymore.

Anywho, I have a few more pages to share, I know, I know you couldn't wait to see them (smile), I probably bore everybody to tears with all these pages. Here is the one I did for PaperbagStudios

I just loved that picture of the two of us and her new kit Hearts and Love was perfect for it (I thought). Plus it's on sale and very inexpensive.

Vinnie came out with her new kit. It's called He's Royalty and it's just plain adorable. It can be fantasy or just regular, there is a lot of stuff in it. Here is my version, a little of a push for me, but I thought I'd give it a try. He looked so cute with that cap on his head. He doesn't like his hair sticking up, so he flattens it at night with the cap. Boys! Check out her site, she has cool challenges going on, one has to do with a mini album and the prizes are totally awesome. Really!

The rest is all Designer Digitals, I am still creating for the CT challenge, even if it's just for fun. At least I am getting a lot of pages done.

Xel-Ha was really an amazing place to visit. My middle DD and I went on this daytrip to go snorkeling and inner tubing. It was gorgeous. The weather was perfect. I saw a barracuda right in front of me which really freaked her out. She refused to do any snorkeling after that. I walked around and took pictures. Some people had paid a fortune to swim with the dolphins which was amazing to watch. The dolphins swam under a person and pushed them across the water, totally cool. Then they jumped over the row of participants in unison. Well, that's where that picture came from. While I was there DD was lounging in the hammock. That was such a beautiful place, very peaceful and shaded. The palmtree was the view from where I joined her. She took this picture with the tree in the foreground, isn't it gorgeous? I have some more pictures coming.....

I just checked out Debbie Hodge's site again and noticed that she will have a class with Katrina from Designer Digitals in the spring. This one is going to be on photography and I am telling you, she is good. Her pictures are just plain awesome!!!! Check out the link I put up, that is just one of her pics, scroll through her gallery, it's amazing! I will definitely take that class, after Pattie's! (And no, I am not getting any kickbacks :))

Oh yes, don't forget! Tomorrow is chat day at Designer Digitals. It's all day and a freebie every hour with different hosts. They really are always great. Sometimes a little fast and chatty, but good (plus the freebies!)

Man, it's freezing here! I turned my heat down, but it is really cold. DH is complaining that my Hot Flashes are keeping me hot while the rest of the family is freezing, how rude!!!! He may have a point, but only to a degree, they don't last long enough to keep me warm during the day (grin).

Well, life is calling. I have a couple of runs to make and then the kids are coming out of school already. The whole morning is gone.....

Still playing catch-up

I finally went through all the lovely blogs I follow, there were some 300 posts, but of course I couldn't read all of them. It's just nice to be getting back into everything. I have been working on pages for the Designer Digitals Guest CT contest, but there is no way I'll make it. I mean I can get the pages done, but there are so many nice ones out there.....oh well.

Here are some things I have been working on

These are for the contest so far, I have to do 2 more, one with the focus on journaling. I have to think about that one.

Vinnie came out with her Drama Queen Fantasy Kit and here are 2 pages I did with that

She is coming out with a kit for boys which is going to be just as cute! She really is talented and I am so fortunate to be on her team!

I haven't been able to work on my 365 pages since we came back, I really have to get those done, or I will be hopelessly behind! I have been in a funky mood lately, it's hard to get motivated to even take pictures anymore. I better snap out of it soon. We had a couple of really nice days here, it was almost like spring, all the snow that fell while we were gone has melted. Now it is cold again and we had some flurries. Get this winter over already, I am sick of it! We had 2 tons of pellets delivered today, that is 100 bags of 40 lbs each. We helped stack them on the porch, now we need to get them through a little window into the basement, my back will be so happy :) Even with all that our gas bill was still over 800$, can you believe that? Nothing like big old homes :) I did turn the thermostat down a little more now, so that the heat hardly comes on anymore. We'll see if that is going to make a difference.

I can't believe we have been home a whole week already, these days just flew by! I took the kids to see Twilight today, it was a good movie, but I like the books better. I envisioned Edward a little different, but it was still good.

Debbie has some cool classes going on, next month Pattie Knox is teaching a digi class, I am so going to take that! This month she has a class on art journaling, that is actually #2 and looks really good too. A girl at DD does the whole thing digitally and it really looks very cool! I am tempted.......

Signing back on

We are back! Actually we got back Saturday, flew in on Friday but stayed overnight and drove back the next day. Good thing too, cause our plane was delayed and we didn't get in til almost 11PM. This way we could drive home refreshed. All the mail that was waiting and the laundry..... Well, I am all caught up with that, paid all the bills and I am good.

Vacation was great, too short and a little too cold for my taste, but still great. Some days it was so chilly, we were sitting there with sweaters on wrapped in towels, brrrr. Other days it was really hot. Last Sunday Rachel and I got sick, we stayed in bed all night and it took me 3 days to get back to normal. I have no idea what did it. I gained almost 6 pounds in 2 weeks LOL. Now I have to go back to eating less, of course that is not hard here. With the all-inclusive it is so hard to resist all that good food. The fish was outstanding, I could have eaten that every day, the desserts were wonderful and plentiful. Man if I lived there, I would look like a tub for sure.

I did 2 pages while there

and this one I did just before we left

Credits here

Vinnie asked for a new AAM page, so I just did that this morning, I just changed it a little from the one I had before. I don't like the picture, but I don't have anything decent, so this will have to do for now. There is a lot of new stuff in the store, I haven't done anything with it yet, I have to catch my breath first. There is a new kit coming out on the 13th, which is totally awesome too, you'll love it.

DesignerDigitals is running a contest called "capture the love" where you can win an Ipod, I did this page for it this morning:

It was kind of sad to make it, but I have been wanting to do that for a long time. It's about our best friends' teenage son who died of cancer a few years back. This is very special to me!

The Guest CT contest is going on too, they changed it a little. I have to start on that too, they want 6 pages completed by the end of the month, 3 out of which are assignments. That shouldn't be a problem, I do at least that many anyway.

We are all moping around, wanting to go back on vacation. I keep checking the temperature on my iphone, just to rub in the misery a little more. Now that we are gone, it's back up to 81 and sunnier. At least the weather here is not too bad, it's actually in the forties, we missed the big snowstorm last week, thank goodness. I wouldn't mind if it stayed like this until spring comes.

All right, this was just a short update, back to making dinner (what a pain to have to do that again)

Oh I forgot to mention that I read the whole Twilight series while there, what a great story! I really thought I would hate it. I told my girls I would read it first to make sure it would be appropriate and then I got addicted. I couldn't put the books down, I read all 4 of them in about 10 days. Love it! Now I know it is about Vampires which I thought would be really stupid too, I am usually not into teenage stuff, but it is really good! Oh well, just thought I'd mention it