A Couple More Cards and Another Sleep Study

As I mentioned before, we went up to Wisconsin on Saturday, and the stamp store had 30% off of everything because they were having an inventory liquidation sale. Apparently they're getting a ton of new stuff in and need to move out the old inventory. Anyway, I was able to get a couple of the scalloped punches that are so popular right now for a pretty decent price! I also picked up this cute little drooling pooch by Whipper Snapper Designs. Looks like Abby when you're eating something she would really like to have!



Tomorrow night I go for my second overnight sleep study. This is when they'll evaluate the mask and adjust the air pressure. My machine still says I'm having a few episodes of apnea. I also just can't get out of the habit of taking it off in the middle of the night. I either take it completely off or it ends up pushed up above my nose and blowing air into my eyes! I'm thinking they will probably take me off the nasal pillow and put me on a full-fledged nasal mask. Whatever they do, I'm all for it because I can definitely tell a difference. My sleep has been a lot more restful. I am not, however, looking forward to getting hooked up to all those electrodes again and then trying to sleep when I know I'm being watched! Ugh!

Card Details:

Card 1
Stamps: Oopsie Daisy by TAC
Paper: Cardstock - SU Cool Caribbean & Whisper White. Patterned - DCWV plaid, Paper Studio (I think) paisly
Ink: Palate Noir Black
Accessories: Prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits, Giga scalloped oval punch, Cricut ovals, stickles, ribbon, prima flower, white gel pen, pop dots, glue dot

Card 2
Stamps: Whipper Snapper
Paper: Cardstock - TAC black, SU Cool Caribbean, Whisper White; patterned paper - DCWV plaid, unknown paw prints (bought at Archivers)
Ink: Palate Noir Black
Accessories: Prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits, ribbon, white gel pen, glaze pen

Is it Lame That I Made Myself a Card?

I received my order of Bellas this past weekend from Stamping Bella. I ordered three...Flowhabella, PMSabella, and barbella. Don't ask what made me pick these three because I have no idea! Anyway, I only got a chance to play around a little with them this weekend, and since I'm on this whole Weight Watcher's thing, I chose Barbella first. I used the weekly sketch challenge on SCS for the layout.




Notice the vertical stripes on the first one...makes the card look slimmer, don't you think?

I didn't really make these for myself. However, since I don't know of anyone to send these to, I'm just keeping them for myself!

Fat, Fat Go Away...

Well, I did it. A week ago Thursday, I joined Weight Watchers. I get off work at 4:00 on Thursdays, and there is a meeting not too far from there at 4:30, so I thought, why not. I need the accountability of having to weigh in every single week. So far, so good. At my first weigh-in last Thursday, I had lost a little over 3 pounds. Big whoop, right? It doesn't even put a dent in how far I have to go, but hey, at least it's something. Paul is following the program too, just not going to the meetings. Everything is going fine so far. This weekend was a little difficult...mainly today for me. Yesterday was Paul's uncle's birthday and we were invited over there today...which meant snacks like little cocktail meatballs, macaroni salad, chips, and cake and ice cream. It's the snack stuff that gets me. Saturday afternoon we headed up to Scrapping & Stampin' Memories in Janesville, WI, with Paul's cousin's family (30% off entire store until 06-30-06 - WOW) and stopped to eat at a place we had never been...Texas Roadhouse (which, by the way, be both HIGHLY recommend). We did fine there. Paul had a harder time than me, because that restaurant is just totally his style. It's a throw the peanut shells on the floor kind of place. He loved it! (Not the throwing of the peanut shells, but you know...the steak and all). I can do okay with restaurants. I try and choose wisely, place my order, and that is that. Stuff like today is what is hard for me. Snack stuff that is sitting there in front of you. Ugh. I hate diets. Damn fat cells.

Anyway, I thought I would share a recipe with you. I saw this a few months ago in a copy of Simple & Delicious magazine and thought it sounded really good. I tried it out on Paul's family, his aunt just raved about it. She asked me to bring it today, and I was happy to oblige because at least it's something healthy!

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

Salsa:
1 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries
1 medium navel orange, peeled and finely chopped
3 medium kiwi, peeled and finely chopped
1 can (8 ounces) unsweetened crushed pineapple, drained
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1-1/2 teaspoons sugar

Cinnamon Chips:
10 flour tortillas
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a small bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until serving.
For chips, brush tortillas with butter. Cut each into eight wedges. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over tortillas. Place on uncreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 5-10 minutes or just until crisp. Serve with fruit salsa. Yield: 2-1/2 cups salsa and 80 chips.

I didn't make the cinnamon chips with it today because Aunt Carol found some cinnamon multigrain mini rice cakes that taste just like the cinnamon chips and are soooo much easier and are actually healthier! Also, with today's batch the grocery store didn't have any ripe kiwi so I had to improvise and used blueberries instead. Just as yummy...so it's totally versatile!

Anyway, enjoy the recipe and wish us luck on this little endeavor...we need all the help we can get!

Father's Day

God took the strength of a mountain,

The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,

The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,

The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,

Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it ... Dad
Author unknown

Dad's Army picture is one of my favorites of him. He was so handsome. It's hard for me to imagine what his life was like at this time...young, innocent, leaving his parents' home and setting out to see the world for the first time, proud to serve his country. The life that he lived, the struggles that he endured, helped shape him into the father that I knew...that father that I loved. Mom tells me often that I'm my father's daughter. The older that get, the more I definitely see that in myself...and nothing makes me more proud.

Happy Father's Day dad...until we're together again.

Goodby Boomer

Remember back in October of last year when I dog-sat my friend Jill's goldens, Dakota and Boomer, for the weekend.? Here's the post about it. I got an email a couple weeks ago that Boomer was acting weird all of a sudden, walking around in circles to the left and acting confused. They rushed him to the emergency vet and then to his vet the next day. They were told he either has an ear infection or a brain lesion. Wouldn't you think they would be able to tell the difference?

Well, I talked to Jill this week. Boomer woke up one morning paralyzed from the neck down. It was a brain lesion after all. There was nothing that the vets could do, and the family had to put him to sleep.

I'm just heartbroken over this. I JUST saw him about a month ago when I went out to visit Jill during her garage sale. He was fine at that time, just the same big ol' goofy lug of a dog that he's always been. Still obsessed with that dang ball. He was a good boy, super friendly and well behaved. You knew if Boomer liked you because when he wagged his tail, his whole butt would wag! He wasn't that old either. If I'm doing my math right, I think he was around 7 or so. Jill has two girls around the ages of 9 and 14 and they took it pretty hard...so did Dakota, who is lost without Boomer.

He brought me a lot of laughs that weekend, and I'll never forget him. Rest in peace, Boomer. We'll miss you.

More Ladybugs???

Are you sick of this Little Lady yet? I'm not...obviously. I was just playing around again today and this is what I came up with. I'm really not obsessed with ladybugs...really.

I was in Hobby Lobby on Friday and found this pink and black ribbon, which made me think of someone, so I went over and found some matching paper to make this certain someone a card.

Sketch Challenge

This is my card for Beate's weekend sketch challenge over at her blog, Fresh & Fun. It's for a gate-fold card. I haven't done one of these in a while and thought it would be fun. Her sketch can be seen here and her tutorial here. Check out her card, it's gorgeous...plus you get a peak at some of SU's new stamps and In Colors that will be in the new catalog!

A Couple of Pics and a Few Cards

Paul and I went down to the park/gardens by the river Sunday after breakfast because I wanted to play around with the camera some more. I think I'm getting the hang of it. Here are some pictures that I took...

This little guy looks pretty proud of his stripes don't you think? I think I would be too if I had stripes like that!


Paul spotted Kermit here relaxing in the edge of the lagoon. Actually, he spotted quite a few Kermits. Look at his back...as Paul pointed out, he looks like a pickle. (Ewwwww!)


We actually went because I wanted some pictures of the roses in the rose garden. However, by the time we got past the turtles, ducks, and frogs, it started POURING! We were only able to get a few pictures of the roses . Here is my favorite.


Below are a few of the cards I've been working on over the last couple of evenings. I usually don't make sympathy cards, but I thought I would give it a try this time. Why does it seem like I never need just one sympathy card at a time? I wanted to keep these simple and understated. One is for a coworker who recently lost her cousin, and the other is for a friend who recently lost her brother. I picked up this sentiment at a garage sale this past Saturday. It's two stamps in one with the one for the inside reading, "Our hearts, our prayers, and our love are with you."


This one I made for a friend of mine who has had a lot going on recently...just to let her know I'm thinking about her. Did I mention that I love this set? Of course, being orange like this, it looks more like the Asian beetle than a ladybug, which I would rather not think about. I hate those little boogers!


Well, I better get to bed. All the stuff that's going on at work with the supervisor position that I was telling you about before is really stressing me out. Something that should be so simple is turning into quite an ordeal that I feel I'm stuck in the middle of. Is it Friday yet??

Just Playin' Around

I was just playing around with the camera in the front yard Saturday afternoon to see what I could capture.

More Little Lady

I've been saving this Folger's 13-ounce coffee can forever because I just couldn't bring myself to throw it away. It has to be good for something else, right? Well, check it out! It just happens to be red...a red that just happens to match SU's Real Red ink exactly! You know what looks good stamped in Real Red ink?? Little Lady, of course!


My supply of Prismacolors keeps growing and I needed somewhere else to store them, preferably something that makes it easy to grab the ones I need. Well, here ya go!

Speaking of coffee...oh my gosh! I stopped off at McDonald's Friday morning on my way to work because I saw that they now have iced coffee. I'm looking for a replacement for my now extinct I.C. Cappuchino Chip, so I thought I would give this a try. They have three flavors: Vanilla, hazelnut, and regular. I ordered a large vanilla. You know how when you order a large orange juice at a restaurant and you get like a 2-ounce glass, which really makes you wonder how small the small is? I figured that would be the case here. I at least figured that the large would be the same size as their large coffee. Um...no. It was about the size of a their "super size" cups. That is a lot of coffee! By the time I left work at noon, I was flying from the caffeine...and only drank probably half of it!

Saturday morning I was out early to a garage sale and thought I would stop and try the hazelnut flavor. I made sure to order a "small" this time! Here's a pic of my Saturday morning breakfast with my "small" iced coffee. I know...real healthy, huh?


Don't ask me why I'm taking a picture of my food. Is that weird? I was just playing around with the camera trying to get it figured out!

Testing 1-2-3

I'm just playing around tonight and am testing my new watermark to see how it looks when posted. I took this pic of little Miss Abby today. Isn't she a cutie?!


Hey! It worked! Neato! I'm also posting this as a .png file instead of a .jpg, so if anyone has trouble seeing this, please let me know...because I really have no idea what I'm doing! Thanks!

Have a great night!

Little Lady

I'm finally getting to play around with my Little Lady set from Papertrey Ink, and I just love her! What is it about ladybugs that are so endearing? I made this card for a friend of mine who I turned to when looking for tips on places to go in Door County. She has been going up there every summer since she was a little girl and had one time even talked about retiring up there. She gave us the best advice, and in turn we had a great trip, so I just wanted to show my appreciation.



This is my second square card ever . I could get used to this size real easy! The strip of ladybugs along the side can actually be seen with the card closed, and that was not planned. I really wanted a 6 x 6 square for this card, but the only red paper that I have is 8-1/2 x 11. I went ahead and used it anyway, but since the paper was 1-inch shorter than what I needed, I had a strip along the side that I needed to do something with. You can't tell in the pic, but the black part of the main ladybug image is embossed.

Oh, and isn't that little box the cutest? I just learned how to do that last weekend from Nichole Heady's blog. Her tutorial can be seen here. This was so incredibly easy, and I was so impressed with myself that I could actually do it. (Hey...it doesn't take much, okay.) I was so excited about it, in fact, that I gave mom and Jackie a box-making lesson after our cookout on Memorial Day and now mom is making little boxes like crazy!

Details:
Paper: Cardstock--SU Real Red, US White, TAC black. Patterned--I think it's from a ProvoCraft Christmas Slab.
Stamps: Little Lady from Papertrey Ink
Ink: Palette Noir Black, SU Real Red, Versamark
Accessories: Black embossing powder, brads, ribbon, black marker