april blog header

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

I am on a streak!

For stealing other's people's things!!! I stole a magazine from the doctor's office today!! Ok, I didnt technically steal it, I asked if I could have it. The secretary laughed and said I could take as many as I wanted but she stopped me when I tried to take them all. lol Kidding. I only took the one. Living by Martha Stewart. I like Martha but seriously isnt she rich enough? She charges a bloody fortune for EVERYTHING that has her name on it. You would think she would be a little nicer after the whole jail stint. ;) So what else is new? Hmmmmm....OH, ya know what I did today? I joined a group at Flickr called Project 365 where you take one photo a day for a year. Last year I attempted the 365 Days project where you take one self portrait a day for a year but I didnt last. If I remember correctly I made it 121 days. Everyone was upset with me when I quit but COME ON PEOPLE how many photos of me can people really handle? I think this will be much better because I can have more creative freedoms. For instance, today, I took a picture of a cookie. OMG did it ever taste good too. Molasses, freshly baked today at the local bakery. Connor I picked them up on the way home from the doctor's...in the rain. Ick. It was warm-ish out though so it wasnt too bad. You want to see my cookie, dont you? I know you do!
.one
It's almost National Scrapbooking Day!! WHOOT WHOOT! Lots of fun challenges, chats and sales are going to be taking place this weekend. Grab some frozen dinners for the family and a giant bag of M&Ms for yourself. ;) Over at NDSIB.COM we will be having a storewide 50% off sale!! How awesome is THAT! Over at the Guild I will be having a challenge or two where you can win some product and/or coupons.
Its STILL raining here so I still havent been able to work on my window. Its getting annoying. I guess I will just have to focus on other things. Like housework. Or may be I will just scrap? hehehe Hope everyone has a great day! DONT FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE GUILD ON THURSDAY! Its the first of the month and that means a NEW GUILD KIT! This one (like all of them) is sure to inspire! It fun, its bold, its funky, its just plain awesome! I already have a few layouts completed with it. OH and the Artisan Notebook will be coming out. Check that out for LOTS of great inspiration, tips, challenges and goodies!

Monday, April 28, 2008

LOTS of little jobs Bill, LOTS of little jobs.

Yesterday I was at Nan's house helping Bill and Judy with the removal of wall paper from yet another room. This is the second room and I fear there may be more to come. Ick. I love Sean's family but they seriously need to find another hobby. lol Kidding. While we were working on the room Judy left to go cook supper leaving Bill and myself alone. Bill said to me that one of his friends had told him a quote that helped him get through jobs like this one. He said, there are no big jobs, just a lot of little ones. For instance, redoing these rooms. First you make the decision, then you strip the paper, then you scrap off the glue, then you fill the holes (really old house), then you sand, then you clean, then you wallpaper. Lots of little jobs. Right. SO while I was thinking about this, a PAINTING came to mind. I love mixed media fun. I grabbed a piece of wallpaper, Bill's quote and got to work. Here is my tribute to two weeks of scrapping, sanding, and other generally messy work.

I really enjoyed taking the frustrations out on my canvas though. :) When Sean saw it he said that it looked just like the past few weeks. lol He didnt notice that the wallpaper was from the most recent room. He just it just looked familiar. Men.
At MICHAELS! I also purchased some scrapbooking paper and created this card.

I have been also creating a lot of layouts that I cannot show you yet!! They were created using the May Guild kit and let me tell you IT ROCKS! Everyone is going to FLIP when they see it. Its fun, unique, bold and just plain awesome. :) Last night I finished a page that is truly dear to my heart. A layout in honor of the incredible group of women I have had the honor of creating with this past year, The Guild Gigis.

This layout was creating with April's Guild kit, Freestyle Frolic and Holley Vandenburg's A Shabby White Alpha.
PHOTOS, PHOTOS, PHOTOS and MORE PHOTOS!
I have been taking a lot of them lately. Sean's Uncle Bill has been really wanting me to take a lot of pictures of the shoreline around the house for him to take back to Ontario with him. Here are a few...
(Please click on them to see full size)
As the sun was setting...
Far off in the distance, electricity filled the air...
The ice is in! Again...
My niece Emma came for Sunday morning family coffee again this week. Generally we dont allow kids, its grown up time, but occasionally we let one sneak in. lol (I know we are my parents' children but we are all grown up now so we are allowed. ;))
She ate the sprinkles off of her donut one at a time. She also offered them to everyone at the table, one at a time. lol
One sprinkle at a time Sweet Emma...

ITS MONDAY! That means that tonight is my chat at the Guild. Come be inspired at 10PM EST. Last week we wanted to rounded corners and if you wanted, to use this quote by Picasso, "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life"
Here are some of the layouts the ladies created:
Marly (totally love her spin on this)

and Girliealonzo!

All credits can be found for these layouts with their original posts at DSAGuild.com
Have a great day everyone!

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

but I am so delightful. :) Michaels opened this morning. How excited was I!! I have been planning this trip for MONTHS and am so happy that the day had finally arrived. I was a bit late getting there BUT I got there in time. No, not before closing, before the coupons expired. I could hear everyone talking about coupons so I cornered at lady at the cash and asked. Apparently if you checked out before 2pm you would get 25% off your ENTIRE order. AWESOME! I saved lots of money by doing that. Thats a good thing too because holy mother of pearl most of that stuff is expensive. I knew that the prices were going to be up there but not nearly as high as they were. There were some good deals though. Of course by now you are wondering, well, what did you BUY!
I bought:
scrapbook paper (surprise)
a whole bunch of brushes/sponges
five bottles of paint (acrylic) in super pretty colors
watercolor pencils and paper
plastic tray for my paints
canvas tote bag
set of floral/swirly stencils
MM cheeky jigsaw shapes
a journal
notepad with pen for my purse
graphite paper (Sean actually bought this for me)
tin (I only bought it because it was cute and have no actual use for it)
and a little wooden train kit for Connor.
Sean bought himself some 'nibs' for sketching (???) and a set of calligraphy pens. (EXPENSIVE!!!)

I also grabbed myself some Gesso (sp?) and some canvas boards to paint. There is this wonderfully cheerful lady on the net who is going to be the death of my bank account. Her name is Donna Downey. I recently 'discovered' her and her blog. I LOVE HER! My wallet doesnt. I bought all this stuff because she has just inspired me SO MUCH! I have to try to paint. I will most likely fail miserably because I am not good in that dept but I HAD to try.

My garbage window is coming along nicely. SO far. I have scrapped all the putty (??) off of the frame, taken out the glass and sanded it down. All of the dirty work is pretty much done so I can start having fun! :) I am hoping to have it all completed within the week. Fingers crossed. Only problem is that the weather is HORRIBLE and I cannot get outside to finish the painting. I dont generally like to paint large things in my apartment. Ah well....other addictions to tackle anyway.

CONNOR! My poor baby has gone through so much in the last week. We took him to the hospital yesterday and they believe that he is suffering from migraines. This is horrible, esp since he is only five. Poor thing. So now he has to watch his diet and see what the triggers are. Also going to see a neurologist so hopefully they will be able to come up with a good plan for us to follow. We were at the hospital for just around 4 hours, give or take a few minutes, so we had LOTS of time to talk. We played I Spy, interviewed each other, made friends and of course, played with the camera. Though he couldnt even walk, he was in great spirits.

Credit, Grainy Day Photo PS Action in Sepia, available at NDSIB.COM.
I am going to play now. :)

**updated**

I finished my first ever painting! :) I know its not super hot or anything but its my FIRST ONE! lol More to come, I am positive. ;)


**another update**

I just did a SUPER quick watercolor. Never did that before either. I used those cute water color pencils. Anyway, the photo would lead one to believe that my painting is way cooler then it really is. lol ;) I did this for Sean.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Bangin' Sister!

I find that I am going through a lot of changes in my life recently and along with them I decided to change my hair as well. I generally had the tendency to go for a nice clean cut, nothing special. Over the years I also avoided bangs because they always made me look so young. I am now at the ripe old age of 27 and that 'young thing' no longer bothers me. As Sean was ripping grays out of my head yesterday I decided to cut my bangs! So far the jury is still out as to whether or not I like them. Sean LOVES my hair. Its fun, its young, its edgy. My mother DISLIKES my hair. My father LIKES my hair. He had a smile on. He didnt ask who vandalized my head, thats a great clue to his feelings. I tried to take a self portrait this morning to show everyone my hair but things were not working out for me. Honestly, I just couldnt be bothered to fool around with it. SO here is a not in focus but still oh so artsy photograph that I took. Add some drama with my Black and White Photography PS Action, again addicted to this action!
Bangs!
Another great thing, a young man that was in Tim Horton's told me that I was 25. Gee! I know its only two years but when I am 30, that will be a good thing. lol I know everyone out there is telling me to shut up because I am so darn young! What is it that they say? Still wet behind the ears? I know that comes from somewhere but I am not sure where. I dont like it though. Its an ugly saying.
I created a layout for a challenge by Sayo at the Guild this week. The challenge was to create a layout using the word begin. Here is my layout of my handsome man.

Credits, Unlock Your Dreams and Torn Print Alpha by the Guild Designers, Frayed Template by Lie Fhung, Discover and Vintage Type Alpha by Lisa Dozier and of course, Black and White Photography Action by my, Amy Head.
GREY'S IS BACK!!! Tonight is the night and I am oh so thrilled! I cannot WAIT to see what happens. :) Its a glorious day.
Does anyone else HATE that stupid Monistat commercial on TV these days? Those angry/happy talk bubbles coming out of the women's vaginas? I mean COME ON how horrible is that? Dumb. Of course, someone got rich off of that idea and it amazes me. Goes along the same line as HAVE A HAPPY PERIOD on my pad liner. Seriously, that annoys me every month. Is that sad? lol
I think today I am going to start on my garbage window. I have a game plan. Whoot whoot. MICHAELS is coming!! YAY! Its opening on SATURDAY! Therefore, no one will see me the entire weekend. :D I have a list a mile long of goodies I want to buy. I wont. I want too though. Its like heaven on Earth, baby. Heaven on Earth.
Today's blog post is a lot like having a conversation with me. Crazy, unorganized, rambling, weird nonsense. :) If only my blog had one of these weird Eastern accents like I do. ;)

Monday, April 21, 2008

I find it hard to believe myself.

Anyone who knows my family knows that my brother has NO PROBLEM whatsoever going through other people's trash to find his so-called treasures. It's actually amazing what he can find. I, on the other hand, have spent my years mocking him and yelling loudly for all to hear that I would NEVER go through someone else's trash. So ya know what I did today? I went through someone else's trash. *hangs head low* lol Connor and I were walking home from my brother's house today (another brother) and I saw this big window that someone had tossed out. Just a simple, old square window and I thought, WOW, wouldnt that make an excellent show piece above the TV? All I would have to do is sand it down, paint it up, add some embellishments and I could have quite the conversation piece. I then walked away. Then later on I asked Sean to swing by and see if it was still there and still in one piece. You know how kids love to break glass. IT WAS! I made him stop and put it in the trunk. It was right across from my brother's house and he caught me!! He asked me what I was doing. I told him and he laughed at me. I am now one of 'those people.' Just think how cool my art will be though!! HAHA! I shall have the last laugh. ;) Speaking of art. I created a layout last night that has gotten quite a bit of attention. I was SUPER excited to see that it made the Gallery Stand-Outs at DST and within MINUTES of me posting it. How happy was I about that! *grinning*

It's a fairly simple design but I love it.
Photo treatment, first I opened my photo and ran my Colorful Soul PS action on it, then I ran my Black and White Photography PS action on that one, then using a layer mask I removed the section of the eye to bring the color through. Both of these actions are available through NDSIB.com. I also used Debb Cozzi's gorgeous papers from her Mediterranean Memories Combo Pack. I wanted the layout to be very simple, using only papers and fonts to really show off the photo.

It's Monday! That means that tonight we have our regular Inspired by Art chat at the Guild. Every week we have a new inspiration to create a layout. It could be a quote, a technique or even a sketch like last week. This was the sketch I provided for the ladies.

And here are some of their terrific creations!
Carol


Carolyn


Sayo


Maggie


All credits can be found with the original layouts uploaded at the Guild.

So if you would like to join us, we would love to have you. The chat is every Monday at 10PM EST.

*update*

Tonight we discussed creating layouts with rounded corners. Also, if you want an extra challenge to go with that one, try using this quote by Picasso on your page.
Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
Here is my layout.
You are my Greatest Art

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by. Oh and if you decided to play along, please upload your layout to the Guild gallery and post a link in the thread so we can leave you some love.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

What a BUSY BUSY week!

Whew! This afternoon I am taking a breather from all the work I have been doing at Nan's house. She should be coming home from the hospital on Tuesday and there is still so much left to do before her arrival. I have spent the last week cleaning the whole house, rearranging furniture, stripping those SEVEN layers of wallpaper, filling in the cracks and holes with compound and cleaning up the mess. Today I was suppose to paint as well but things prevented that from going well, so I came home. :) I am SUPPOSE to be 'working' but instead have done little but play. My house does somewhat resemble a home again though. A touch of cleaning HAS been done. ;) Other then that though, I have been playing! Had family coffee this morning and was pleasantly surprised to find my cute niece Emma there! I had my camera but my battery died just when I went to take the first picture! How rude! (Anyone want Full House as a child?) I did take some fun photos on Friday though!
Connor
Real Smile
S-Eye
Sean
C-Eye
Cheerful message

The last photo was the PERFECT idea for the Digi Dare this week. Well, I thought so anyway. lol We were at the mall having a bite to eat and whatnot when I noticed that the light coming in was rather lovely. I of course grabbed the camera and started snapping. These are the photos. This last one I took was funny. Sean had purchased us some fortune cookies and we were reading them. I thought it would be fun to take some pictures of them. When I took this Connor looked SO annoyed with me. I thought it was so fitting with that happy message. lol NOT! Here is my layout for this week's dare.

The alpha is one of mine, Glitterganza available at NDISB.COM. Everything else is by Gina Miller Designs. I was thinking it was Miller Time! ;)
I have worked on a few more items for my new combo pack, Funky Dayz, which will hopefully be ready and in the store in the next day or so. :D
Hope everyone is having a fun, adventure filled weekend!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Beautiful Day!

Wow, Spring might actually arrive on the East coast! :) Such a gorgeous day outside today. Connor and I had a wonderful time playing in the back yard. We went for a nice walk to town. I bought myself a new pair of sneakers, they FIT. I have wide feet and its hard to find shoes. Also, great thing for me, the lady took TWENTY dollars off of the price for me! How awesome is THAT! I will definitely shop there again. We came home and played in the yard. There was a very cute little bird singing in the tree so I went to take his picture. Connor came up behind me though and yelled, THERE HE IS MOMMY! lol Well, surprisingly he flew away. Connor was so sad. This was the face he had on.


We played with some chalk which ended up ALL over Connor. We played on the swings. He wrote me a special note at school today. I welled up at it. Such a huge moment for me. He read:
I am Connor.
I am five years.
I like dogs.
I like playing with my dinosaurs.
I like playing with my mom.

Awwwww!! Thats so sweet!! Just love that. :) While he was running around the yard and playing with his cars, I thought I would do some embroidery. Finally a hobby I can tote around with me. Its wonderful. I am currently working on some hoops to hang up around the house. Some kitchy creations. I started on an owl today.


I have decided that each day I will take a photo without a layout in mind! lol It doesnt have to be perfect, it doesnt even really have to look good, just as long as I take it. :) I think it will really help inspire myself and help me learn as well! I am currently working on a layout of one of the photos I took yesterday. It was coming along so well and then the creativity just flew out the window. :( I suppose that tomorrow I will be able to finish that one. Sometimes you just need to step away and come back with a fresh mind.

The April Issue of Bella Scraps has been released! Check it out, its loaded with wonderful articles, one by yours truly, inspirational layouts and fantastic ideas. That is all for now. I must be heading to bed because I have a long day ahead of me. We have to finish scrapping off the SEVEN layers of wallpaper tomorrow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my eldest brother Earl, he turned 34 yrs today! I hope he had a MARVELOUS day!

I Dare You NOT To Laugh!

What a long day! First I dropped my ENERGETIC child off at school. We headed to Nan's to finish some cleaning. Then I dropped Sean off to work and picked his aunt up at the airport. Took her to the hospital. Since it was literally 2 minutes until Connor's bell rang I stopped to say hi and give him a hug. Would you give up the chance to see that cute face? I didnt think so. He went with his stepmother and father for the night. I went into Fabricville with my mother to buy some linen for my embroidery obsession. Picked Sean up at work and drove to the hospital. Went about town to run some errands. Headed back to the hospital, picked up Judy and headed to Nan's. Moved LOTS of HEAVY furniture around to get the house ready for Nan to come home. Started to peel off SEVEN layers of wallpaper from her bedroom walls. SEVEN LAYERS PEOPLE! Didnt get home until after midnight. Took a bath. Checked my emails. I will get back to everyone tomorrow because I am just not capable of replying tonight. Sorry. Blogged. ;) Now I need to sleep. Did I mention that there were SEVEN layers of wallpaper? S-E-V-E-N! I took some pictures today too! Here is my fave.
There is beauty in every situation.

Isn't my kid the cutest kid EVER!!

Layout coming soon!!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Aren't Mondays Wonderful?

No? They arent? Well, to tell you the truth, I like Mondays. Why? Because Connor spends the weekends with his Dad so come 2pm on Monday when he gets out of school I am being hugged by the cutest little bugger in the world! Yesterday Connor and his Dad stopped by for a short visit but he didnt want to leave. I was so happy that he wanted to stay with me. Normally he would pick his Dad, hands down, because they spoil him so much. He is 5 and its hard to understand that love and commitment are better then toys and chicken nuggets. Not saying that they dont treat him with love and commitment, just saying that they are more prone to showing love through objects. I am very proud of his Dad for stepping up though and really taking hold of discipling Connor and talking to him about things that are going on. I honestly think that is why Connor wanted to stay home yesterday. Daddy wasnt all fun loving this weekend. lol I feel better now. Before I felt it was always Good Guy/Bad Guy, with me being the Bad Guy. :( Connor might not like it but I sure do. They will always give him more material goods then I can but some day Connor will see that everything I do is for him.
This weekend was not as productive as I had hoped it would be. Yesterday, for some odd reason, I felt horribly ill. I am going to blame it on that NASTY Chinese food that Sean bought for supper the night before. We shall never eat there again. Yuck. However, I did complete the card for my brother. Have to mail that out today. It honestly ended up taking a lot longer then I expected it too. Thought it would be quick but I ended up spending a few hours on it. First I used an iron on tattoo, then I embroidered certain parts, then I did the inside free hand, thats why its messy. lol Then I sewed it all together with some thin batting inside. My first fabric card.

I did work more on my curtains for the kitchen. We did get the heavy duty garbage out to the curb for Wednesday. The materials that I bought for my tank top project just isnt going to cut it so I am waiting until Michael's opens on the 27th to check and see if they have something better! So all and all my weekend was okay.
I couldnt seem to scrap yesterday. No matter how long I sat at the computer, nothing was coming out of me. Today however is a different story. I completed a mini kit for charity, details another day. I also completed a layout!! WAHOO! Over at NDISB my dear friend Fran has a great new challenge running. It's your basic scraplift but every week she throws us a little twist. I did forget the twist this time though. :( Oops. Next time I will remember. My darling niece, Emma. Here is my creation, inspired by a layout by Debb Cozzi.

Credits, Playful Nature, Colorful Soul PS Action (has been tested and will work in PSE6) by my, Amy Head, Freestyle Frolic, this month's Guild kit, quote by Katie Pertiet over at DD.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

It okay, you can say it!

By golly you are creative Amy. There now that we have THAT out of our systems. lol ;) You want to know why I think I am creative, dont you? Well, remember yesterday when I said I bought a $5 dollar lamp from Walmart to jazz up? I certainly did jazz it up. Not so long ago I wrote a tutorial on Digital Art after some people inquired about one for the Guild. I had originally created some artwork for a focal point for my bedroom. In creating the tutorial, I created another piece that would also tie into my room. However, I did not know what I was going to use it for. I have more then enough pictures in my room so I didnt want to just frame it. Today when I went to decorate my lamp it hit me, I should use the digital art piece because it was roughly the same size! I was so excited I jumped right to it. I printed out the design on some fabric. Cut it to fit the shade and then hot glued it on. Remember that hot glue can be your best friend AND your worst enemy so keep a bowl of cold water next to you. ;) After I glued the design on I trimmed the lamp on both the top and the bottom with some thin black satin ribbon. Voila! A unique and creative lamp that no one else on Earth has but me. :)

I also made that little bowl you see there. That was super cute and easy as well. I took some yarn, dipped it on Elmer's school glue. Took a bowl, covered it with plastic wrap, draped the yarn around it. Wait for the glue to dry, peel it off, spray it with clear coat and then you are done. I think they would be great for keeping little girl's hair bows and whatnot.
Out of my GIANT list from yesterday I have accomplished very little. Most likely because I am just sitting here at the computer blogging and creating a new kit for the store. Somewhat ambitious I suppose. I worked on the hat rack but have to wait for a drill to complete it. I have my curtains half done. I bought glue sticks!! Amazingly most of the stores I went to were out! Was there some sort of mad rush for glue sticks in my town or what?
I should get busy with some of my projects....OR may be I will read some blogs. ;)

Friday, April 11, 2008

Fantastic Friday!

THE WEEKEND IS HERE!! WAHOO!! I have never been so happy to see a week end. I am hoping all my personal drama will end now. :) I know this weekend is going to FLY by because we have a TON of work to get done. Heavy duty garbage pick up is this week so we have to make sure we clean out any unwanted items. I know we are very lucky to have this, I am sure not all towns provide help with Spring cleaning. lol I am also very excited because I thought I would release my new Photoshop Actions today instead of Monday! Get the weekend started right! :) Check them out here and here in the store!


Special thanks to my two models, my son Connor and my best friend EVER, Jennifer.

With everything that has been going on in my real life, I have been doing everything possible to avoid being idle. This means that I have started a zillion and two projects. I am hoping that I will actually complete all of them. Or at least half of them. ;) Want to hear my list?
I am going to embroider my new pillow cases.
Making a new purse for Spring/Summer days. (I have it cut out but need to sew it together)
New curtains for my kitchen, along with a possible set of pot holders. (Again cut out but not sewed)
Still need to finish the curtains for my room. (need to surger (sp) for this one)
Spicing up $5 dollar lamp I found at Walmart for my room. (the paint was chipped)
That reminds me to buy glue sticks.
Finish hat hanger that I started. (like coat hanger but for hats ;))
Paint my room and hang up my new art.
Embroider new place mats to match new kitchen items.
Finish tank top project. This one is cool and I cant wait to show you when its done.
Do something for a friend who has a special day coming up. ;)
Sand dresser drawers.
Card for brother's birthday.
Do taxes. Ick.

I have been scrapping a lot more lately as well! I had the joy of working with Debb Cozzi's new kit Stroll in the Park for this layout of my niece.

I created a new avatar for the Spring this week.


For my challenge this week I dared everyone to create a layout using a TV title! Here is what I created. My darling son had a horrible habit of wearing underwear on his head when he was smaller. I have one where he is playing the Harmonica as well but I cant seem to find it. Currently surrounded by photo albums that need to be put away.


Do you ever wonder if you really do inspire people? I wonder that. I sure hope I do. :D I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Herringbone is a Neutral!

I do not go shopping with my mother. I dont. After years of trying, I decided that is best for our relationship if we do not enter into clothing stores together. Yesterday I was feeling rather chipper and decided 'oh what the heck I will go with her.' MISTAKE PEOPLE! She said, and I quote, "Amy, will you come to *store* with me and help me pick out a new outfit. I want to get something different then I would normally pick out and I thought you could help." So we head into store and start looking. I start by showing her pieces and finally say, well why dont I just put together an outfit for you to try on. Alrighty then! I picked out a nice beige/peach/brown/olive small print floral blouse, a pair of brown herringbone dress pants and a nice taupe colored fitted blazer/jacket. She put it on and it looked FABULOUS on her. Man, my Mom's butt never looked so good. ;) I know my Dad would have LOVED those pants. However! My Mom says to me, I cant wear this. You cant mix patterns. Mix patterns? Sure you can! However, I say, herringbone is such a subtle pattern that it is considered a neutral. You only have pattern on the blouse. She calls over the MANAGER of store and says, what do you think? Manager says, Oh no, you CANNOT MIX PATTERNS! Seriously, if you WORK in fashion you should at least know that YOU CAN MIX PATTERNS BUT HERRINGBONE IS A NEUTRAL. So I say politely, ACTUALLY you CAN mix patterns under certain conditions but she only has one pattern on. Herringbone is a neutral. No, its not. Yes, it is. No, its not. YES IT IS!! Ok, I say, we will find some nice pin striped pants then since we are getting nowhere with the herringbone pants. OH NO! YOU CANNOT MIX PIN STRIPPED PANTS WITH A FLORAL BLOUSE! Quick, grab a solid shirt. Has NO ONE listened to me the entire time? I hate to say it people but pin strips are NEUTRAL as well and CAN be worn with patterns. I should Google this and email it to my Mom and the Manager. It really does frustrate me. So you know what my Mom bought? PLAIN BLACK DRESS PANTS! I spent HOURS in that store with her and she came out with ANOTHER pair of plain black dress pants. DO NOT SHOP WITH MOM!
There my rant is over. :) Today it was misty out. Connor decided that not only would be wear his new boots but he would also take his umbrella to school with him. He looks SO CUTE and horribly mismatched but I HAD to take some pictures along the way. He was so proud of himself.

He gets his fashion sense from my Mom. ;) On our way we also ran into my future SIL and my niece Emma. She looked so cute! It was a bit chilly out and she had just woken up not long before. She was waving and yelling 'Namy.' Love her!

WE HAVE WATER! At Nan's that is. Since Nan has been in the hospital the house has been without water. On the night she broke her hip the lid of the coal bin blew off and the pipes froze. Of course then they burst. The water meter was split and one pipe had a hole in it. A friend of my Dad's works for the town so he came over yesterday and installed a new meter for us. YAY! That was one less job for the plumber. It took almost THREE WEEKS to get the plumber to the house. He kept saying he was coming but he wouldnt show up. It was ridiculous. I wanted Sean to find someone else to do it but Nan is so fussy about things. She likes to make the decisions and that was her choice. Anyway, FINALLY today Sean went down to their office and complained. Someone showed up at the house less then an hour later and fixed the pipe. We now have water! Tonight I will be spending most of my time cleaning since nothing has been done without water. Nan's daughter will be home on Wednesday for three weeks and her son the week after. Then after that her nephew and his wife will be down for a few months. We are so happy that we will have lots of help once Nan gets home, which should be within two weeks. Glad things are FINALLY going to be getting back on track around here.
Want to know what made me really happy yesterday? Its silly. I went to Home Depot and purchased two Rubbermaid totes for THREE DOLLARS each! Whoot whoot! I wanted them for my Christmas decor which was in ripped cardboard boxes and driving me batty. I am really doing my best to become more organized. OH and I got new burner covers for my stove. Sean burned mine, even though he said it MUST have been me. ;) lol Men. So I bought some fabric for some new curtains to match my new covers. I am so weird. I shouldnt have said anything, now people will expect me to make the curtains!! ;) My bedroom should be complete this weekend! Finally. I hope.
Well, I am off to get some more stuff done. Hope everyone has a great Wednesday!

Monday, April 7, 2008

A Bittersweet Life

Its amazing how one day you can be on Cloud 9 and then next you are plump on your rear looking up at it! I find that with life these days there are extreme highs for me and extreme lows. I just need to sit back and breath my way through it all. On the high side of life this week, I have a new mini kit in the store at NDISB! Its called Playful Nature and for only $2.99, it can be YOURS! The kit contains 4 papers and 10 unique elements! Check it out here!
My wonderful friends and I have been playing and here are some of the layouts we created with it this past weekend.
Me

Debb

and Sayo (aka bunnynose)

All other credits can be found with their original uploads in the Guild gallery.

Oh and dont forget to stop by the Guild tonight for my Inspired By Art chat at 10pm EST! Last week's inspiration was creating layouts using brushwork, what will tonight be? Well, you will have to stop by and find out! ;) Here is one layout that was created this week!
Sayo


I am now off to feed my blog reading addiction! I hope everyone had a magical weekend!

Friday, April 4, 2008

What a week!

Thank goodness this week is almost over!! Crazy things have been happening in the last few days. Here are some of the highlights.

On Wednesday I went into the city with Sean while he worked. I spend the afternoon sitting in the restaurant embroidering. I had a nice lady come over to talk to me. I would say she was in her late 50s and she mentioned how happy she was to see what I was doing. People dont do that any more, she said, its good to see someone is. That was nice of her! Afterwards we were heading out and I said I wanted to stop and donate blood. We headed over to the clinic and that is when the weirdness started!! I dont have any issues giving blood. This time though was a different story. They had to check my iron TWICE! Then I was dumb and filled out the sheet wrong and had to do that again. Then after the RN put the needle in the blood stopped flowing. They had to jiggle the needle around to get it going and I kept moving my fingers to help the flow. None of this bothered me. What did bother me was that when they took the needle out, my blood would not STOP! It took them FIFTEEN minutes to stop the blood. They actually had to put a block of ice on my arm to stop it. My whole arm was sore and red and well...frozen! I left feeling so drained, literally. lol I will give again though.

THEN yesterday I went to a health fair at the local community college to get my blood sugar and cholesterol checked. When they stuck me with the needle NO BLOOD CAME OUT! She had to massage my hand and finger for two minutes to get the blood to come out. How freaky is all this!! I laughed and made a joke about how the blood bank took everything I had to give.

When we picked Connor up at school he told me that he had been bitten by a spider. I told him not to be lying. He said he had! I told him to show me. He took off his glove and sure enough, his hand was red and swollen. I ran back into the school, livid that my son had been bitten and I hadnt been told. He hadnt TOLD the teacher. The kids were getting ready to leave when they saw the spider. They were told not to touch it while the teacher went to get a bug jar so they could all look at it. Connor picked it up, it bit him. We spend the next 4 hours at the hospital where Connor was the talk of the town. We had the spider with us and he made his rounds with the nurses. Everyone had to see the little boy who had been bitten and his spider. We apparently dont have too many spider bite cases in this neck of the woods. lol Everything worked out fine though. Except for the spider, he died. :( Apparently being thrown around so much is a bad thing. We did have every intention on letting him go.

So those are a few of my events this week! Today I finished up a new mini kit that will be in the store on Monday. Super excited. Its so cute! I will have lots of inspiration to show you on Monday! I also have a lot to show you today!!! Its the beginning of the month which means the Guild is booming! The Artisan Notebook was released and of course the monthly Guild kit, Freestyle Frolic! Amazing deals happening this weekend with a get to know you special! Check it out!
And to help get you inspired, here are a few of the layouts made by some of the wonderful Guild ladies!
Debb

Stacey

Fran

Mary

Maggie

Me


Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!!!