Baker Company

I had two basal cell spots extracted from my face on Wednesday by Dr. Lilyette Wright. (she rocks!) I thought it wouldn't be a big deal. It ended up being a little bit more painful that I thought but I think I'm through the worst of it.

I got this email earlier this week and felt like sharing. I checked it out on snopes and its true. Instead of focusing on my minor stuff, I want to remember these guys - somebody important. Pretty cool.

The proud warriors of Baker Company wanted to do something to pay tribute to our fallen comrades. So since we are part of the only Marine Infantry Battalion left in Iraq the one way that we could think of doing that is By taking a picture of Baker Company saying the way we feel. It would be awesome if you could find a way to share this with our fellow countrymen. I was wondering if there was any way to get this into your papers to let the world know that "WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN" and are proud to serve our country.

Semper Fi

1stSgt Dave Jobe

I'm remembering today.

Suziblu

Oh me. I'm getting that weary, tired feeling again. I just hate it but there is nothing I can do but lay down and chill. His name is Grief and it just wears me out. I was fine up until today. I've been making some embossed cards for Christmas - embossing is definitely my favorite. Here, I'll take a pic. I was thinking the silver looked better but really the black is pretty nice. The jingle one is made with a brass stencil and paste. I really got into paste last year and haven't done any since. But I LOVE embossing.

I mentioned a few days ago missing a bid on Tracy Niehues clown on ebay. I'm fascinated with doing a project with a little round head and ruffled collar made from crate paper. I still haven't figured out how to do it but I will. Anyhoo, she mentioned this blog and so I took a peek. WOW. Suziblu. I don't know how to describe it other than inspiring and amazing. Look at her vlogs about starting an art journal. She is really adorable and it inspired me to start my very own art journal. You start off by writing all the reasons you can't or won't have one and then you cover it with gesso. I had to laugh because about 18 months ago I kept asking everybody - what is gesso, what do you do with it, what is it for... well, now I'm a gesso, matte medium kinda girl. Crazy. Back to Suziblu - this girl has definitely got "it" in charisma or spirit or - I don't know what but I am spending my time looking at her videos.

Nannie came back from New Orleans just now - I made some yummy turkey soup. It is good that she is home. Its funny because I'm not used to living in a quiet house - I'm glad she's home.

Joy is not in things it is in us.

Cats and Dogs

This morning the heavens opened up and down came the cats and dogs. It was great because I had nowhere to go and could stay home the entire day and stay out of the nasty weather. It was a wonderful day to be home. I spent the entire day organizing my scrap room and several other things around the house. I start on one project and go to get a screw driver or scissors or something and then start another project. By the end of the day, they all get done but I get side tracked easily. I have 2006 Creating Keepsakes magazines that I need to give away - if you want them, let me know. I'll check with our local Yahoo group, Houston and Beyond. I made some yummy Turkey soup from the turkey carcas, perfect day for soup. I enjoy cooking but I am not one to slave away on Thanksgiving so we ordered our dinner from Boston Market for the second year in a row. It was excellent. I also served a ham. We had a nice relaxing day and I am so thankful that life is going back to normal. Everyone talks about all the things they are thankful for and I have to agree - its the little things. I am thankful that we have dependable garbage pick up - (am I crazy or what... but I really am). I put the stuff out Fri and by 9 am it was all gone - recycling too. Now, that is pretty cool - they could have skipped it and told us to wait a week. I'm thankful for hard working garbage men.

I ventured out yesterday for a few hours and it went so smoothly. I HAD to check out Scrapbook Junkie's new location and I'm soooo loving it. Great location, nice wide open space and a terrific crop room. I never have taken a class there or cropped but that will definitely change in 2008. I stopped in at Hobby Lobby and bought a bunch of Christmas wrapping and a gold star ornament that I altered with some Christmas paper. I've been wanting to do that since I saw Heather's metal ornament last week at the Scrap Etc crop. Then I stopped in at Target for the 1000 count sheets that were $19. A sales clerk went into the back and found the king flat sheet. Yipee! It was a great shopping excursion. I had thought about going out today but nixed it with the weather. That's about it - going to read my Creating Keepsakes magazine that came in the mail today. Good night.

Always remember the problems we have are first world problems.

Scrap TV

Right now I am only taping two shows a day - Oprah and Scrapbook Memories, which comes on at 4 am. I think I taped every DIY Sandy Genovese show so I had to move on... I really wish someone like Cathy Zielske would do a TV show because the two perky women on SM grate on my last nerve. But, I'm left with no other options and I do enjoy seeing Stacy Julian and have picked up a few ideas here and there. I wasted alot of time yesterday looking for a mini-album or card they did where she sewed flaps on 3 sides with a wide zig zag stitch. It was pretty ingenious. Never found it. And I looooookkkked.

Today I watched a couple episodes of Fiskars TV and I LIKED it. Look at the Hodge Podge album - very cute idea - what about adding a transparency to it and maybe a slice of a board book... The second show with Leah Fung and the clipboard calendar is a great Christmas gift - I will do the larger board and maybe landscape with a different font (I'm picky about my calendars). I really liked both of the punches that she used, that allows you to tuck in the corners. Now how can I NOT go out and buy those two punches? With a 50% coupon maybe? Watched the metal card also - I have a bunch of that stuff and the Scrapboss so I will have to try it - the audio is terrible plus the camera angle sucks but you get the idea.

Okay, here's my own personal challenge. I need to get either the calendar or album made by the end of the Thanksgiving holiday... How's that?

I also received the kits from Kimberly Kwan today - yipee! They both are wonderful... I can't wait to make them. They even smell vintage and musty - how cool is that! She included dictionary pages of C and D including a picture of a Dachshund! How COOL is that! My Killer-Boy is everywhere! Ooops, thats a photo-op... Kind of hard to see the red-boy on the red couch. He's my shadow.

Remember the photos I mentioned yesterday about my brothers and sister? Well, this was my absolute favorite one evah. She looks so beautiful there - like a little doll.

Arrggggghhhhh. I screwed up, big time! I've been waiting all night to bid on Tracy Niehues' birthday clown for Becca's Sutton's juvenile diabetes fund raiser and I totally missed it. As I was uploading the photo, I heard CLICK and I thought damn, that's the email telling me I didn't win. Damn. I'm so mad at myself. Damn.

Back in the Saddle

It rained most of the night... what a great way to wake up on Sunday morning! We really needed the rain so I'm enjoying it plus I have plenty to keep me busy at home today.

I had a great time at the Scrap etc. crop at By Design yesterday - met some new people, and saw some friends from CE and MIT. Creative Cafe is in the house - which was fun to see. Lots of great Hambly too. There was a birthday party going on, along with our SE crop and it was a great combination - fun to see everyone's projects. I really enjoyed visiting with Kristin F and Heather from Geismar - even though they were across the room. We had lots of laughs about BFFs and BFTs with Cindy and Laurel (it was Laurel's birthday). It was such a relief to be out and about and playing with my stuff. It has been so hard lately to get dressed so more than anything I enjoyed just being out of the house and being with scrappers was a total bonus!

I couldn't sleep last night so I watched Oprah on tape - the second show about hoarders. It was really interesting because I think its intrinsic to store your stuff (like the cavemen) -it's human nature. Of course, the couple they showed was over the top but it made me think about my buying habits of scrapbook stuff. My first inclination was to go cold turkey and yet after reading ScrapScene I realized that was a bit unrealistic. I'm going to think about it further and put some limits down because I have more than I'll ever use and I think it is preventing me from finishing projects. I have tons of good ideas but I get bogged down by the buying so we'll see what happens. And then I'm off to thinking about another project. I'll give a think about it over the T-giving holidays.

Last weekend was the Nutcracker Market, which is my favorite event in Houston and though it wasn't a typical year for me this year, it was still fun and I enjoyed the shopping. I found this vintage hankerchief hanger from a local store, Embellishments that's probably 3 miles from my house. Crazy, huh. They are holding my Glimmer Mists for now, I'll add more to the top and bottom pockets. Isn't it a beautiful, vintage look! I'm lurving it. I love the possibilities of having such a beautiful piece and yet storage too! Win-win for me.

Silver Bella - wow. I have enjoyed the eye candy from various blogs about the event. It will definitely be on my "to do" list for 2008. I'll have to work out an arrangement with Nutcracker (their 2008 dates are Nov 13-17) but I want to be a Bella in 2008 - that is for sure! I was fortunate enough to order (I know what you're thinking!) the kits from Kimberly Kwan that should arrive this week. Can't wait! It looks like such a great event and I am moving more towards vintage creating so it especially speaks to me.

Hey, did I mention that I'm in assisted living? Yep. I'm getting assistance with the yard and housework, with car cleaning, nail polishing and dry cleaning... you name it, I'm going to get some assistance if it keeps me from enjoying my life and creating! (I heard that from some comediane and thought it was just hilarious and have now made a marked effort to get as much assistance as I can afford. )

The new banner photo is of my sweet mother holding the prettiest baby evah (moi) and my older brothers and sister. You can see there was a run on pea coats at K-mart that year and all the Nelson kids were stylin. Some of my most favorite photos in the world are of my brothers and sister when they were children. So adorable. My sister passed away two weeks ago. I appreciate everyone's kind words. I'm not much for PDG so trust you'll understand the silence.