One Down, 7 to go

Pictures, we have pictures of my first completed project! I finished Tracy's folder, inside and out: I know two girls who will be very proud of me! Last year after CE I attended CKU Houston and stuff sat around for months and even a year without getting done. I vowed to complete all 8 projects by Nov 11th... 1 down, 7 to go! I've almost finished the purse but I can't find the dang first page!

Last month when it was blazing hot, we, okay I had the grand idea of trapsing around Canton in 90+ degree heat. It was worth it, though, because we spotted this neat bench made from old bedposts and I thought/lied and said it fit in a Tahoe. It didn't fit. It had to be taken apart and then it barely fit. But we got it home and DeWayne was kind enough to re-enforce it was some l-brackets so it would be really sturdy. I also found a pretty white chenille bedspread that had a rust stain on it... today I recovered the bench and I think it looks perfect. I can't decide between a long bolster or two pillows... look at me, talking like I am a sewing-type person or something... As if. Anyway, it won't stay there, next to the front door but for now it is there. I love the architecture of it. And you can't see the top posts which are cool. It's so unique. Lurve it.

I went with DeWayne to the gun range today and shot a 38 and 380. S&W and Browning, I think. It was pretty good - I am trying to get over my fear of pulling the trigger. I've never been around guns and my hubby collects them so it was nice to do something together today. He's very patient and a very good teacher. I would like to practice my aim - it was just so hot out there. This morning, we woke to a beautiful nice breeze with just a hint of fall. It makes me so happy inside on mornings like this. We had coffee on the front porch. But man, later on it was 90 again and hot at that range. It'll be more fun in a month or so.

I have a root canal to look forward to this week... let's hope he has an appointment soon because this suckers been so painful! Good night.

Escaping with an Arizona Vacation

Yeah, I know, I've been gone but its for all good stuff. I had to cross the FIFTY finish line which involved lots of lunches and partys and gifts. I had to stretch it out the week before and full 10 days or so after... I'm here to tell you that fifty is indeed Fabulous. There is a calm and ease that doesn't arrive until you cross the threshold. I am absolutely loving it. A stillness and a peace. And thanks to Creative Escape and this great addiction called scrapbooking, a pure joy has been with me for the past two weeks. Pure. Joy.
It was a weeks vacation and I originally regretted scheduling so much time but now I'm so grateful. It was the best thing to do. Hooked up with my peeps, Jeanne and Tanya on Tuesday and we started The AZ Shop dance. We ran into Megan and her luxury tour at Happy Sisters and then stopped at the best box scrapbook store ever, Recollections. Man, I just don't get why Tom Bazzone won't put one of these in Houston. I am back on my letter writing campaign. That store was packed full of scrapbooking ecoutremonts - just the best. I loved the Go West etched acrylic albums, both compass and Christmas themes.
On Wednesday we completed an assignment by my brilliant roomie, Jeanne: photography session with the awesome and fabulous Allison Tyler Jones. In.Her.Very.Own.Studio. We were ROCKSTARS - with a wind machine and lighting and music. It was so amazing. We did combo shots with all 3 of us and then individually. I can't wait to see the proofs - we should be able to view them in a week. It was one of the best things I've ever done - getting good photos at 50 was a brilliant idea. We went onto shop at the Bazzill warehouse, Scrapbooks etc., Mystic Paper, Devine Memories and Melrose Vintage. And yes, all of those were great, each and of themselves but the high from Allisons prevailed. Melrose was an amazing store with a complete line of Anna Griffin merchandise. Oh my. Afterwards we had our circle journal dinner which was great. I miss my Favorite Canadians - all of them. Charleen and Heather each brought a friend, who turned out to be great just like them. We make a good group.
Everyone else has reviewed CE but here are my thoughts (after all it is my blog here). I admire Heidi Swapp for being so open and real. For all the negativity and hype about her, she is one very talented woman who opens her heart to us. I remain a big fan - she has great ideas and I will continue to take classes, even if it is in Chinese, i.e. Scrap etc 2008.
PS - I learned that my friend, Tanya is really a rocket scientist with a Phd and so now we have to call her Doctor Princess. :)
I was in awe of Tracy Niehaus' project - the see-through folder and I want tomake more. My goal is to complete all circle journals next 2 weeks and then all projects in the next 60 days. I'm happy to be home with no commitments this weekend. Lots of free scrapping time.
During Allison's keynote address, she showed one of our session photos and it was if time stood still when I watched the photo. She had us stand up in front of the crowd of 600. Way cool.
Sunday we drove up to Sedona for the day and looked around. Very cool. Heather finished her Carol Wingert journal from last year for her Sedona trip and did an amazing job. Canadians are very creative and resourceful.
PB delivered the replacement armoire and its now packed full of PTD (albums and projects to do). That'll keep me out of the stores for a while plus the bill from Arizona Vacation. And I'm going to have a root canal sometime soon.
And I'll close on a solemn note. My sister, Judi's father-in-law, Rudi Roemlein passed away on Thursday after battling prostate cancer. He was a good man and father and will be missed deeply by his family. I am sad for his wife, Kathleen who is an amazing Irish grandmother and my brother in law, Dennis. My sister and kids are on their way to NY for the funeral on Monday. I hope my Dad was at the gate to meet him. Den is now in The Club.

Loving Where You Are

It looks like this outside today. I love the sunlight and the shadows. We're coming into Texas August, and that's hot stuff. But I've decided hot is alot better than the storming July rains every day. Now that was brutal. And downright depressing. I don't see how Seattle people do it.

Have you ever thought about all the people that are affected when it rains? Like storm rain, really rain, Houston rain. Golfers, yard guys, everybody in construction, pool cleaners, fishing, little leaguers, really any kid sports, moving any furniture in the back of a pickup. Okay - so you get my point.

Next year if I get the idea to go to Canton during August - just slap me. Because that would feel alot better than being there. There's just no use in trying to shop because you can only move about 30 steps. I did score a major find - a bench made from bedposts. Never mind that it didn't fit in the Tahoe so we had to take it apart. Now my hubby is reinforcing it so it will be sturdy. Its very very cool. I also picked up a white chenille bed throw to cover the seat - great match. Plus theres enough left over for pillows. Now the tricky part is where to put the bench - I didn't really think it through - it was just a - I gotta have that - purchase. It will look nice in the living room. I'll take a pic when I'm done.

I'm working hard on Loving Where You Are. Not to be confused with Being In the Moment. It seems that all our lives we spend wishing we were... married, or 16 so we can drive, or having kids, curly hair, or not working or whatever. I have been working on being grateful, writing down 5 things every morning. But stepping beyond that to stop wishing I was somewhere else, whether its with my hair or my marriage or my job. Appreciating exactly where I am and quit wishing it was different. It's a big one.

Off for physical therapy on my shoulder. Be real.

Craigslist and Debby Schuh

I finished Eat, Pray, Love this afternoon during our daily rainstorm. Man, it is an amazing book - I hated finishing it. Such an interesting story - I hope she writes another book and soon! Makes me want to go to Bali and that's plain crazy! Yesterday was busy ... starting at By Design Scrapbook for a class with Debby Schuh. This book is absolutely gorgeous - it's a 7 Gypsies envelope album covered in Anna Griffin papers. I loved it - lots of pockets. We finished it in 3 hours. It was a fun class too - lots of a good chatter and interesting people. Debby is such a nice person and relaxed - great teacher too. Sandy who is also going to CE came and then Anita from Maridawn's - nice to be amongst familiar faces. I hated to leave but we had a family birthday party last night and I still had two cakes to make! I made a white cake with whipped cream frosting - I think that is going to be my favorite cake now. I used heavy whipping cream for the frosting and it was divine. The other cake was a German Chocolate with traditional coconut pecan icing. Does anyone know why a german chocolate cake crumbles? Made me sort of crazy - I guess I beat it too much. We have spaghetti pie and lots of yummy munchies. Our family spends a good hour at the hor devours table - my hubby never understood that but he was right up there with the best of 'em last night. Lots of presents and cake and everyone was happy - it was a fun night. But alot of work... I was tired today. I finally got busy around 3 and listed 4 different items on Craigslist. I've SOLD two of them already! Yippee - me likes craigslist. It's such a great way to get rid of stuff and make some cash. And no fees - that's the best part. I also ran a load of car load of donations to the local shelter called Turning Point for homeless over 55. Feels good to help those folks. Now the back of my car is empty and ready to be loaded up next weekend when we go to Canton! Yipee for First Monday and then on Saturday to Shreveport for a little bit of gambling. My kind of weekend! Now, I've just got to make it through the week.

A Good Read

I don’t recall who it was or what blog I was reading that recommended this book, but I am in the middle of it and it is fascinating … Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I don’t know if it is the 50 thing or what, but I am open to all sorts of things that I may not have considered in the past. Learning to speak Italian sounds possible… after reading this book – and interesting. I love it when you stumble upon some real talent - it is so intoxicating. Pure joy.

I’ve also been searching for the past several months for the appropriate container for my scrapbook projects and have vacillated between a china cabinet, armoire, and just about everything in between. Glass doors or no glass doors… Antique or new. I knew it had to be white. I’ve looked at Gallery Auction’s pictures every week, seeking a painted piece from England, to no avail. I finally found this… in all places but Pottery Barn Kids. I love what they have in that catalogue albeit part of me can’t believe that there are children in this world that actually live in those kinds of bedrooms, but whatever… I love the classic lines of this piece and opted for no glass. I keep all these supplies in bins – its time now to elevate them to the proper place. My house furnishings remodel has been in full swing for the past six months. I’ve cleaned out the sunroom, given away tons of stuff and now I have to take pics and post a handful of items on craigslist. Two weekends ago I hired two helpers from a mission – it was my single best proactive move this year. Honestly. $10 an hour for heavy lifting and we did it all in 2 hours. They worked hard. It was kind of scary to hire strangers but I did it and I am so glad I did. Sometimes it feels overwhelming – all the projects, chores, deeds to be done around the house. This was just a great way of getting it done.

I'm going to By Design on Saturday for a class with Debby Schuh. Should be great fun. Saturday night we have birthday celebration at my house for my niece, Megan and brother. Spaghetti Pie, oh my! If you've never tasted this - you are missing out! It's an old family recipe (from Family Circle, I think) with sausage and spinach and cream cheese and cottage cheese! Sounds terrible, huh! Well, it is AMAZING! It's our birthday treat.

I'm getting excited about Creative Escape, which is fast approaching. We have a pre-CE crop last weekend at Archivers for four of us - Karen Clauson, Sandy Horton and Gigi Chapman and myself. What a great group! I enjoyed meeting all of them and getting to know them - nice nice women. Sandy is taking the Debby Schuh class this weekend. We're having a second crop in August at By Design - on the 18th.

Which reminds me... I think I want to go to Round Top this year... when is it? I'm going to Canton for First Monday in two weeks. Yipee!

Crillon Stamp

Oh, if this isn't too freaky ... remember the stamp I saw at Archiver's that was embossed - from Lil Davis. Well, I've been looking here and there for it on line and its always out of stock. I look in my library of stamps and there it is, along with Crillon I. Is that too weird! I knew I loved the design - I just didn't remember buying it. Bad Bad. But good good.

Guess I should go play with it now...

I did pick up some Ranger dabbers in copper and gold. I'm not too crazy about the copper - it seems more orangy but I'll play with it. I'm also hooked on a new aqua they have called "pool". Lurve it. Okay, I'm off to play ~ just had to share.

Making up for Lost Weekends

Last weekend I missed 3 trips for scrapbook shopping - Friday night I made sure we didn't repeat history! After the storms passed, I headed out to Archiver's and saw a beautiful card made with this stamp by Lil Davis, embossed in copper. It was stunning! Apparently the stamp is new and not out yet but I'll be tracking it down. They had masked the middle and put 50th for an anniversary card. It reminded me what a dramatic and classic statement embossing makes. I need to do it more often.

I started out this morning with a pocket full of cash - I sold Rachel's car to a co-worker and they picked it up this morning! Yes! I headed down south to the new scrapbook store, By Design to check it out. Well, it's everything it seems in the pictures - great attention to details and so much HKS & Anna Griffin product! This is my favorite room. These chairs were from a garage sale and the ottoman has 2 rows of bling bling trim. Look at that clock! I was amazed at all the little extras, everywhere you looked. I visited with Tracy and Pixie, who confirmed that Debby Schuh will be teaching on the 27th and 28th. I love Debby's albums and style plus she's just so nice. I'll definitely sign up for the classes - should be fun. The crop room looks great with 20 spaces.

Afterwards, I figured out a short-cut to Scrapbook Junkie and picked up a few goodies at Beth's. She's got the best, updated product and alot of it. I always manage to find a few tidbits that need to go home with me. Today I picked up the chocolate Making Memories funky vintage letters. These acetate alphabets have swirls and flowers on them - so cool! Can't wait to use them. You know what I thought was so cool - Tracy at By Design said that all the other local stores sent flowers - I saw the ones from Just4Fun and they were gorgeous. What a cool industry - that your competitors welcome you. Now that's class for you.

I came home and made fruit salad and headed over to Michelle's, my Creative Memories consultant and former neighbor - she is such a hoot. We cropped until 9 - and ate some great food. She made Hearty Tostada Soup - yum-o! You know the kind of laughing that your eyes water - well, the stories were flowing until the tears came. So much fun, that group. It was a good day.