Happy 4th!

God Bless America!

Have a happy and safe 4th!

Food For Thought Friday

Breakfast

What is the last movie you saw and how did you like it?

Hang on...let me ask Paul because I don't remember. He don't remember either, so he has to check his "folder." He keeps a list on the laptop...you know...he's the movie buff and all. Okay, the last DVD I saw as a movie called "The Uninvited." It was okay...kind of weird. The last theater movie I saw was Wolverine at the drive in. It was okay. I like the regular X-Men movies better.

Lunch

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

I don't think I can pick just one because it totally depends on my mood. Baskin Robbins has a chocolate peanut butter that I REALLY like (but I don't get it often because Paul prefers soft serve). I still like chocolate chip mint or butter pecan. I really like my ice cream loaded up with crunchy things like chocolate chips or nuts or something. Oh, there is always Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby. I think I've mentioned that on here before...vanilla malt ice cream swirled with fudge and peanut butter and then mixed with peanut-butter filled pretzel nuggets. OMG!

Dinner

What is one goal you want to achieve this summer?

Get the area that we just had tilled in the back yard ready to plant some bushes and covered with mulch.

Midnight Snack

What do you do to pamper yourself?

Take a bath and read a magazine.

Recipe of the Week (instead of your recipe for life, what is it just for this week?)

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes. ~Mahatma Gandhi

Food For Thought Friday

Breakfast

What is your favorite part of the summertime?

Grilling out. Longer days...so you don't feel like it's time to go to bed when you get home from work because it's so dark outside. The feeling of the cool air conditioning when you first step inside from the sweltering heat. Being able to go outside without having to bundle up. Watermelon. Fresh cucumbers and tomatoes. The smell of freshly cut grass. Painting my toenails so I can wear sandals. Less traffic in the mornings since school is out.

Lunch

How was this week different than others?

Well...there was no leaking water or exploding trains, so I guess that's different than the last few weeks have been.

Dinner

What did you think of Michael Jackson?

He was an icon and I'm shocked and saddened by his passing. It's tragic. I often felt sorry for him. He didn't have a childhood and no privacy in later years and look what it turned him into. He'll never again have to hear the things people say about him.

Midnight Snack

What do you have planned for this weekend?

I'm working Saturday, but besides that we hope to get done we didn't get to do last weekend...work out in the yard...power-wash the siding, work on painting the porch railing, etc. Oh, and give Ms. Abigail a bath and a haircut so she looks purty and smells sweet for her visits with her favorite peeps.

Recipe for the Week (instead of your recipe for life, what is it just for this week?)

If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with. ~ Michael Jackson

God Was Teaching Me A Lesson

I don't know how many times in the last couple of weeks that I said, "I hate this house." All the different home-related issues we have been having were really getting me down. As Paul said...it's all about perspective. After being evacuated, all I wanted to do was get back home to our house even with all it's problems. This has to be God's way of telling me to be happy with what I have because it can easily be taken away.

They finally started letting people back to their homes at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon. We drove all the way over here only to find a police car blocking our road. Our road and the road behind us were still considered to be too close to the tracks and weren't cleared yet. The cop told Paul she would let us through to pick up some necessities. She said at that point it wasn't a mandatory evacuation but it was suggested that we not stay. Once we got home we debated about staying. There were a couple of families on the street who were home, but we thought it was better to be safe than sorry, so we drove all the back over to mom's. They finally cleared the entire area for all residents to return to their homes at about 5:30 p.m. Below is a map of the area to give you an idea of how close we are to the tracks. The X is our house approximately...the circle is the site of the derailment and explosions.


It was so good to be back home. I was totally exhausted. I only got about 2-3 hours of sleep Friday night with all the stress of leaving and reading the news and all that.

The investigation into the derailment is underway and could take months according to the news. They are still thinking it was from the tracks being washed out from the heavy rains. Apparently the crew of the train was calling to report high water on the tracks at the moment the train derailed. Today they discovered that one of the train wheels hit a gas line upon derailment. There was a protective covering on the gas line which did what it was meant to do...otherwise things could have been much, much worse.

I feel sorry for the clean up crew and investigators out there because boy was it hot today. The heat index was reported to get up to 95 but the humidity was unbearable!

What's Next????

First it was Paul's tooth extraction that didn't go well. Then it was the leak in the kitchen from the overflowing toilet in the bathroom upstairs. Last Sunday our sump pump decided to burn out. We're talking sparks flying out of the breaker box. Today it rained so hard that water is seeping through the walls of our basement (thank God Paul replaced the sump pump). To top it all off...and this is the biggest one of all...we were watching a DVD tonight when at about 11:30 there was a loud knock on our front door. That alone is enough to freak you out, but when you see that it's a cop...well, that just makes it all worse. While I was trying to keep Abby away from the door and trying to turn off the security alarm, the cop informed Paul that there had been a derailment of a train carrying hazardous material and there was a mandatory evacuation of the neighborhood. WHAT THE HELL!!!!!

Photo courtesy of Rockford Register Star

I'm sure by now if you've watched the news you already know about this...114 cars...all carrying ethanol...as of right now 12 cars on fire and they can't control it. Click on the picture to read the story. Everyone within 1/2 mile is being evacuated. The train tracks are approximately 2-3 blocks from our house. There is one road behind us and after that is the trees and the tracks. As of right now, they still don't know the cause of the derailment. The initial speculation is the rain washed out the tracks. That I can believe. We were out to dinner tonight and while we were eating there was a torrential downpour. As we were walking out to the car, the water was up to our knees in the parking lot. We could barely get through the intersection of Sandy Hollow and Alpine to get home, and we crossed those tracks...about 1-1/2 hours before the derailment...and the amount of water was outrageous. We were both saying how we've never seen anything like it.

There were some civilian injuries with some people in critical condition. We don't know for sure, but we're thinking it was the people in the cars waiting at the railroad crossing when the train derailed. The two people on the train are okay. I have heard that there was one death, but that isn't verified.

We're at mom's for the night. We have no idea how long the evacuation is going to last. I guess it depends on how long the fire burns. This is just so weird. It's something you read about on the news but you're not involved in. Below is an eyewitness video.

I'm going to go watch the news a little more then try to get some sleep. I'm supposed to work tomorrow morning, but considering how I didn't bring any change of clothes, I don't think that's going to happen. I'm sitting here in sweat pants and a T-shirt. God, I hope it's not too long before we can go home. I just tonight read an article in one of my magazines about preparing for a disaster and having an emergency kit. We even talked about that we need to do that because you never when when you're going to need to evacuate. How weird is that!!

Can't Wait To See Her Buddy

She doesn't care where Papa is at. She just wants to show off her eyebrows. Just don't mention singing along with the guitar.

TGIF

Man, has this been a long week. Paul is still having tooth issues. I'm eating crow for teasing him about the amount of "pain" he is in because it turns out he has dry socket, which I guess is extremely painful. It's not where one of his wisdom teeth was, but in the area of the extra tooth. The dentist hard a really hard time pulling that one, having to break it up into pieces and even remove some of the bone to get it out. He told Paul it wasn't anything he did that caused the dry socket (apparently there are things that can cause dry socket that you are supposed to avoid doing, like drinking from a straw...which he hasn't been). I guess the tougher the extraction, the more of a chance of dry socket. Anyway, I feel bad. It's a good thing Vicodin isn't expensive.

On top of all that, in the middle of the week we had some plumbing problems. Paul was in the shower Tuesday morning and I was making my lunch. I thought the water from the shower sounded strange but I figured it was from the new shower head Paul installed not that long ago. It is the kind you can take down, and it has a tendency to turn because of the tubing. I thought maybe it had turned and the water was hitting the wall. Then I started to wonder why it sounded like it was raining on the ceiling. That quickly progressed to me watching it rain on the kitchen floor. I hightailed it upstairs to yell to Paul to shut off the shower, and just as I got to the top of the stairs he finished and shut it off...then realized that the whole time he was in the shower the toilet had been overflowing. It had leaked down between the tile and the tub and seeped into the laundry room/kitchen below. Oh my GOD!



The above pictures are of the laundry room ceiling. Thank God he's not like me and his shower lasted less than 5 minutes. We put a call into the insurance company to see if something like this is covered. Our next step, as directed by them, is to call a local restoration specialist and have them do a moisture level test and see about drying the space between the floor and the ceiling. What a pain in the a**!

Did I ever tell you about my recurring nightmare going back as long as I can remember about an overflowing toilet? I am totally serious! I have a recurring dream that a toilet overflows.

All this happened during the week that Krista had talked me into starting the Biggest Loser 30-day Jump Start diet with her. We spent hours on Sunday going over the menu and shopping for all the ingredients we would need for the week so we could split the cost. That lasted me a total of two days. Sorry, but I just don't have time to make myself egg fu yung for breakfast. Ugh! Bad timing!

I'm so glad this week is over!

What's New?

Not much. Nothing blog-worthy going on here. Since spring has arrived and the weather has been halfway descent, we've spent a lot of time trying to get things done around here. Paul's been working hard on the yard trying to get it looking a little better. I've done a lot of weeding and hosing down of the front of the house. Our next step there is repainting the peeling porch rails. I've already started the prep work for that. Besides working and watching all the season finales on TV, that's about all that is going on. I have had no desire whatsoever to do any kind of crafting, card-making, or whatever since I finished that last Mother's Day card project. I only wound up selling one card during mom's jewelry show. See...that's exactly why I don't like to do that for money. It totally turns me off. I knew better than to even try.

We went to a drive-in movie last Saturday night. There is a theater about an hour south of here that Paul has been really wanting to check out. He just loves the nostalgia of it all. Since they were playing Night At The Museum 2 and Wolverine, two movies I wanted to see, I let him twist my arm into finally going. There are people who keep trying to open one up in town, but even if they could finally get it approved, I don't know if I would go. It just wouldn't the same in a big city with the type of people that live here. It's a whole different feel in a small town.

Like my cartoon version of happy Paul reaching for his soda?

Speaking of happy Paul...he's not going to be so happy tomorrow morning. He's having three teeth pulled. It has taken him a long time to get to the point where he'll actually do this. The last time our dentist said the word "surgery" he pretty much ran the other way and never looked back. I finally got him to agree to go back. He had a long talk with the dentist regarding his concerns. See, the last time he had any teeth pulled was in the Navy. Apparently the US military in the early 90's didn't care too much about pain control. They just pretty much yank your mouth open, yank out the teeth, and send you back to work. Not a pleasant experience I can only imagine. Our dentist assured him that things will not be like that this time. After their talk, he felt comfortable enough to go through with it. Poor guy. He has been promised as much KFC mashed potatoes and gravy as he wants (his favorite)! I hope it goes well for him. I keep teasing him about this "surgery," but I shouldn't do that. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes tomorrow morning!

Oh My Gosh!

Remember my last post about signing the beam that is going to be part of the new addition at work. Well, apparently there was a bit on the news showing the "topping off" ceremony when they placed that final beam. They zoomed in on one signature...mine! Holy cow! I didn't see it when it aired, but one of our extra help girls told me today that my name is famous...that it was on the news. She happened to see the clip on the nightly news. I went and found the clip online. Out of all the signatures from the students, faculty, and staff, they showed mine. I'm so embarrassed!

I included the clip below...just click on it. Hope you can see it. I guess this is my 2 seconds of fame.

Beam Me Up, Scotty

The construction of the new addition at work is moving right along. We're in the midst of cement trucks, cranes, semis, beams, and lots and lots of steel. You don't walk outside without looking up to make sure a big piece of something heavy isn't about to drop on your head...it feels that way anyway. The construction crew set up one of the primary beams outside for all the students, faculty, and staff to sign if we wanted. Short messages were allowed. Some people just signed their name. Some people wrote something profound. I just decided to go with something snarky.


The topping out ceremony will be sometime next week, which I believe is when the beam will be placed to signify the end of that phase of the construction. It's neat to be able to leave our mark like that. The new addition will eventually be the new home of the National Center for Rural Health.

Why Do The Weekends Go By So Fast?

We're back from our weekend get-away to Door County. We had a nice time while we were there and actually kept pretty busy, but now that we're back to the daily grind, it just seems like the weekend flew by. I hardly took any pictures this time. It was our third time there, and we stayed in the exact same room we always stay in. We request it every time because of the beautiful view.



We did a lot of the same things we always do...eating, shopping, Pirate's Cove mini golf, drive-in movie. Playing this time was 17 Again and He's Just Not That Into You. Not exactly what Paul would pick to see. 17 Again was cute. The other one was b-o-r-i-n-g. I actually stayed awake through it all though. Usually I fall asleep at the beginning of the second movie.

I was really hoping the cherry trees would be in bloom this time. That's one reason we went a couple of weeks later than our anniversary. No such luck. A few of the trees had a few blooms, but it's going to be another week or so before they are in full bloom. The weather was half-way descent. It rained a bit on Friday night during the movie. Saturday was sunny but VERY windy...which along the water means COLD!! Sunday was beautiful, so we hung around until about 4:30 doing some more shopping and fitting in another lunch...and a sundae at Wilsons. Neither one of us wanted to leave, although I was missing Miss Abby...who stayed with mom and Mr. Sheldon.

Well, I've got to get to work.

Mother's Day Brunch

We had mom over this morning for brunch. Paul made waffles and we topped them with cherries or blueberries and Cool Whip. I made Grandma Brown's bread pudding recipe to surprise mom. It needed a little more sugar, but it seemed to be good otherwise. I'm not a big fan of bread pudding myself, as I have to pick around the raisins, but Paul and mom seemed to like it.

I hope all you moms out there had a wonderful day!

Food For Thought Friday

Breakfast

Beach or mountains?

Both. Actually, I've never actually been to the mountains...only the beach, so I feel I really can't answer this honestly. I do love the beach, though. There is just something about looking out over the water and feeling the pull of the ocean. There is no other feeling like it. I love walking along the shore looking for shells.

Edited to add: What the heck was I thinking?! I have too been to the mountains! Thanks, Barry, for reminding me of that fact! When I wrote the above, I had a distinct picture in my head of the snow-capped mountains of the West...a place where I would love to visit but haven't yet had the opportunity to. I have, however, been to the mountains of the East. Heck, we stayed in a chalet in the middle of the Allegheny Mountains, and we still both consider it one of the best vacations we have ever had! It was so beautiful. We were there in October just as the leaves were starting to change...gorgeous and so peaceful! I'm a total idiot! Not only that, but we drove through the beautiful mountains of West Virginia on our way home from North Carolina. I can't believe I didn't even think in that direction. I just haven't been "with it" lately. Ask Paul...he'll agree with that.

So now I really can honestly say I don't know which I love more...the mountains or the beach. I'll take either of them!!

Lunch
Online shopping or store shopping?

I'm not a fan of shopping in stores unless they're not busy. I don't like...make that hate... crowds. However, I don't wind up shopping a lot online either. How then did I end up with so much stuff?!!

Dinner

If you live in America, do you enjoy Mother's Day? If not, does your country celebrate Motherhood in any way?

Since I'm not a mom, this question really doesn't pertain to me. It's kind of a weird question anyway. I do believe that with as tough of a job as being a mother is, they deserve more than one day out of the year. I enjoy having mom over and cooking brunch for her, which is what I have planned.

Midnight Snack

What would be your best gift for Mother's Day?

One again...doesn't really pertain to me. Maybe Abby could stop shedding for the day. That would be nice.

Recipe of the Week (instead of your recipe for life what is it just for the week?)

How things look on the outside of us depends on how things are on the inside of us.

Watercolor Happiness

Here are the last of the Mother's Day cards I made for mom's craft show. I would have liked to have made more, but it's just not going to happen. I had to hurry tonight to get the insides done because I need to get them all over to mom tomorrow night. I used the same image for all of these but different colors. I love this set (Summer By The Sea)...perfect for watercolor. They're painted using Stampin' Up ink pads and a water brush. I'm way too tired to list the details for all these, so if you have any questions, feel free to comment or send me an email.

Sorry for my lack of posting in the last week or so. I don't see it getting any better in the immediate future. Things have been crazy busy...and I do mean CRAZY....at work. We are so overloaded that it's not even funny. Actually...all we can do is laugh about it, so I guess it is funny. I worked all last week plus Saturday and will be doing the same this week. I feel like my boss and I are the only ones in the entire state working any overtime right now. Don't get me wrong...I'm thankful for the extra hours. I will be when I get my paycheck anyway. I'm thankful to have a job period, but I have been exhausted when I get home. It has been taking a toll on my eyes and my hands/wrists/elbows. My boss is starting to have shoulder pain. If the two of us fall apart, I don't know what they're going to do. Seriously. The sad thing is that we are busting our butts now in an attempt to keep up (which is impossible) only to have it all taken away from us down the road with the implementation of the electronic health record. Well, maybe not all taken away, but who knows. We're hanging on to a tiny shred of hope that a few of us will still be needed. "They" make promises, but you know how that is.

We need to start playing the lottery.

I am so much looking forward to our trip to Door County in a couple of weeks. It will be so nice to get away for the weekend. Please keep your fingers crossed for good weather for us! I'm going to try really hard not to feel guilty for taking a Friday off in the midst of stacks of work.

Food For Thought Friday

Breakfast

If you owned a CB radio what would your "handle" be?

Since dad's was "Big Chief," maybe Pocahontas. I don't know...maybe Golden Girl, but then that makes me sound either old or self-righteous.

Lunch
What are you looking forward to this weekend?

It's our anniversary weekend (Monday), so we'll probably go to dinner somewhere out of the ordinary. We're going back up to Door County but not this weekend. Sunday Sheila and I are having lunch and shopping at a stamp/scrapbook store out of town, so that's always fun. I'm working Saturday, so I know I'm not looking forward to that.

Dinner
If you could snap your fingers and appear somewhere else, where would you be?

On vacation somewhere far away...like maybe Hawaii.

Midnight Snack

What magazine(s) do you subscribe to?

Women's Day, Family Circle, More, Paper Crafts, Prevention, Better Homes & Gardens, Shape, and TV Guide. Seems like I'm forgetting one. I'm thinking about subscribing to one of the Taste Of Home magazines...either Healthy Cooking or Cooking for 2. I love magazines, although it seems that anymore I don't have time to read them and they just pile up.

Recipe of the Week (instead of your recipe for life what is it just for the week?)

Learn to... be what you are, and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not. ~Henri Frederic Amiel

Mojo Monday - Look...No Pink!

I did it...I actually made a Mother's Day card without using any pink! I really wanted to reach for that pink, though. You would think after all the pink cards I made this weekend, I would be burnt out on pink.

For this card I used the Mojo Monday sketch.



My mojo was majorly enhanced by the package waiting for me when I got home from work. It was my goodie box from Stampin' Up for being on their survey panel! Yea! This is just about the coolest thing ever! I used some of the supplies to make the above card!

______________________________
Details:
Card 1:
Stamp: Playful Petals (SU), Happy Mother's Day (Hero Arts)
Ink: Palatte Noir; markers - So Saffron (SU)
Paper: Patterned - Tea Party (SU); Cardstock - So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Brocade Blue (SU).
Accessories: Gems, So Saffron polytwill ribbon (SU), pop dots.

Am I Stuck On Pink, Or What?

Here are three more Mother's Day cards I have done to put with mom's jewelry in her show next month. I must have it in my mind somewhere that all Mother's Day cards should be pink. I seriously should hide all my pinks and start using some other colors.


______________________________
Details:
Card 1:
Stamp: Blossoms Abound (SU), Happy Mother's Day (Paper Inspirations)
Ink: Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, Close To Cocoa, Wild Wasabi (SU)
Paper: Patterned - CTMH; Cardstock - Pretty In Pink and Regal Rose (SU).
Accessories: None.
Card 2:
Stamp: Digital Images by Fred She Said, Happy Mother's Day (Paper Inspirations)
Ink: Blush Rose (Colorbox).
Paper: Patterned - Digital paper by Fred She Said; Cardstock - Regal Rose (SU).
Accessories: Fruit Punch Stickles
Card 3:
Stamp: Butterfly (TAC), Wind Beneath My Wings (word art ...my own design).
Ink: Versamark
Paper: Patterned - Basic Gray; Cardstock - Pretty In Pink and Regal Rose (SU).
Accessories: Butterfly punch (Fiskars), ribbon, gold embossing powder.

Food For Thought Friday

Breakfast

When was the last time you did something for the first time? What was it?

Last night we ate at the new Italian restaurant down the street for the first time (dine-in anyway...we have ordered pizza from there a couple of times). Exciting, huh?


Lunch
What's your middle name? Why?

Lynn. I have no idea why. I guess it just goes with Monica.

Dinner
What was the first car you drove?

Whatever mom and dad were driving when I took driver's ed. It had to be either the Mustang or the Cougar.

Midnight Snack What is the strangest/weirdest gift you have ever received?

Paul's mom once "moved" (more like took off with some weird guy) to Arizona. When she returned a few months later, she had some gifts for us. Her gift for me was a "Mexican pepper man." A weird paper mache figure that stood about 12 inches tall of a little old Mexican man holding a basket full of hot peppers. I still can't figure that one out.

Recipe of the Week (instead of your recipe for life what is it just for the week?)

He who angers you conquers you. ~Elizabeth Kenny

Trying for Simple

I'm trying to come up with a simple design that I can make multiples of for mom's show. I'm not too sure about this one. Boy, do I need better lighting in here...or I need to stick to taking my pictures in the daylight.

__________________________
Stamp: Hand of Friendship (Stampendous), Happy Mother's Day (Paper Inspiration)
Ink: Palette Noir; Lovely Lilac (SU); markers - Almost Amethyst , Gable Green, and Certainly Celery (SU).
Paper: Patterned plus green and dark purple solid - CTMH; Cardstock - Almost Amethyst (SU).
Accessories: Marvy Mega circle and Giga scalloped circle punches

Mother's Day Mayhem

The "mayhem" part would be the top of my desk. If you could only see it. I can't even see the surface. Okay, here's the deal...mom is going to be putting her jewelry in a craft show at the Women's Club the day before Mother's Day. She asked me to make a dozen or so cards to put with her jewelry. This is against my better judgment because of my belief that getting paid for something totally sucks every last bit of fun out of whatever it is you're doing. I'm trying to tell myself, "But why not get paid doing what you enjoy?" Anyhow, since mom asked, I'm going to give it a try. So...happy Mother's Day. LOL. This is for you, mom.

For these cards I decided to go with Lauren's (My Time) Saturday Sketch. Lo and behold she had three sketches to choose from this week. Perfect! Since I'm trying to reach my quota of Mother's Day cards, I decided to try my hand at all three.




In the details below, some of the information on the different papers is unknown, as I'm really trying to use up my scraps.
______________________________
Details:
Card 1:
Stamp: Hand of Friendship (Stampendous)
Ink: Palette Noir; markers - Pretty In Pink, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke(SU), Cool Gray and Skin White (Copic).
Paper: Patterned - unknown (sorry!!); Cardstock - Pretty In Pink and Close To Cocoa (SU).
Accessories: Marvy Mega circle and Giga scalloped circle punches, dew drops, flowers, gem.
Card 2:
Stamp: Hand of Friendship (Stampendous)
Ink: Palette Noir; markers - Pretty In Pink, Certainly Celery, Barely Banana(SU).
Paper: Patterned - Text Prints (DCWV); Cardstock - Pretty In Pink (SU), green is unknown (sorry!).
Accessories: Fiskars scalloped punch, butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), gems.
Card 3:
Stamp: Elegant Script (CTMH), , Werdz (Biblical Impressions)
Ink: Blush Rose (Colorbox).
Paper: Patterned - Basic Gray; Cardstock - Sahara Sand (SU), red is unknown (sorry!).
Accessories: Butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), gems.

Bloom With Happiness

I combined two challenges for this card...the Mojo Monday sketch challenge and the Papertake Weekly Challenge. I borrowed this Stampin' Up set from mom a while back. It's kind of a fun set and lends itself well to pastel colors, which is what this week's challenge is...using pastel colors. Here's the sketch and my card.

That's it for me for tonight. Time to go watch 24 before Paul starts watching it without me. I've had a headache since about 3 p.m. Time to break out the Advil. I think it's just a Monday thing.
______________
Details:
Stamp: Blooming with Happiness (Stampin' Up)
Ink: Palette Noir; markers - Pretty In Pink, Lovely Lilac, Gable Green, Appricot Appeal, Barely Banana, Bashful Blue, & Only Orange (SU)
Paper: Patterned - Euphoria (Basic Gray), Cardstock - Lovely Lilac, Certainly Celery, Whisper White (SU)
Accessories: Celery ribbon (SU), scallop punch (Fiskars), flowers, gem

Happy Easter Everyone!

All I need to know

I learned from the Easter Bunny!

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.

There's no such thing as too much candy.

All work and no play can make you a basket case.

A cute tail attracts a lot of attention.

Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.

Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.

Some body parts should be floppy.

Keep your paws off of other people's jelly beans.

Good things come in small, sugar coated packages.

The grass is always greener in someone else's basket.

To show your true colors, you have to come out of the shell.

The best things in life are still sweet and gooey.

May the joy of the season fill your heart.

Happy Easter!

Talk To The Paw!

I caught Sheldon in one of his favorite positions.

The greyhound pose.
How in the world can he sleep like that?
What a goofball.

Better Put On Your Sunglasses!

'Cause this is a bright one! I must make a point to find myself an orange marker that's not so bright. After ending up with such a bright orange, I felt I had to go with some brighter colors for the rest of the card. Is it too much?? Well, it is almost Easter after all, and if there is one time of year when you can get away with all these colors, I guess this is it. For this card I used Lauren's weekly sketch challenge.

Instead of using the two small squares I changed it up and put the flower and the butterfly, still using two things in that spot.

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Details:
Stamp: Flowers For You (Whipper Snapper)
Ink: Palette Noir; markers - Lemon Yellow and Tangerine (Impress), Pretty In Pink and Almost Amethyst (SU), black (Zig), Cool Gray (Copic).
Paper: Patterned - Butterflies from The Spring Matstack (DCWV) Cardstock - Rose Red, Regal Rose, and Whisper White (SU).
Accessories: Butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), scallop punch (Fiskars), flowers, ribbon

Another Color Challenge

I'm telling you...I'm getting so inspired by the color challenges. This one is by Kristina Werner of kwernerdesign.com. I admire her color challenges every week, but this is the first time I've played along. I was on a roll, so I couldn't help myself. Here are the colors...



These colors were difficult for me too, and here's why...I don't like Kiwi Kiss. To me it's like puke green. Sorry. (That sounds a little Simonish, doesn't it (i.e. American Idol)...just add the British accent and the matter-of-fact tone that tells you he doesn't really mean it. Sorry.) Anyway, moving on...I had a hard time finding anything in my collection that even came close to this color. If it would have been Certainly Celery...no problem (we all know I love that color). I also don't have Baja Breeze, so I had to settle for Cool Carribean. Here's my card...I'll just leave it at that.

The outside says, "A wise man once said..." The inside says, "Follow your dreams, except the one where you're at work in your underwear."

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Details:
Stamp: It's a $1 stamp I found somewhere...I have no idea where or the company name. Sorry.
Ink: Palette Noir; markers - Chocolate Chip, Only Orange, Always Artichoke (SU), Cool Gray (Copic).
Paper: Patterned - Daisies (Sandylion), Cardstock - Chocolate (CTMH), Cool Carribean and Whisper White (SU).
Accessories: Fiskars border punch.

Raspberry Suite Challenge Week 3

Emphasis on the word "challenge." Five colors this week. These colors were difficult for me, but I loved it! I was inspired...so much so that I did another color challenge which I'll post tomorrow.

Here are the colors we had to work with. Beautiful colors but, wow...I had a hard time putting them together.

After going through all my papers and going back and forth on what to use, this is what I settled on. It was actually finding the right "berry" color that got me...that and fitting pink in there somewhere!

Well, that's it for me for today. We're spending the day working around the house on projects that we've been putting off for too long....fixing a pipe, fixing a toilet, putting up shelves, etc. I was hoping to get an earlier start, but Paul is still sleeping. At about 12:30 a.m., the power went out on our whole block followed by a loud bang somewhere. We still have no idea what it was, but Paul couldn't sleep until the power came back on, which I think was about 2:30 a.m. I fell asleep, but when the power comes back on, our security system makes this loud screeching noise, so that woke me up. And then Paul has to come upstairs and announce that the power is back on. Yeah...I think I figured that one out. Anyway, I'm going to be nice and let him sleep for a little while before making him get up and work.

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Details:
Stamp: Hand of Friendship (Stampendous)
Ink: Palette Noir; markers - Tutti Frutti, Pure Red, and black (Zig), Always Artichoke (SU), Cool Gray and Skin White (Copic).
Paper: Patterned - 1st layer Kraft Designer Paper (SU), 2nd layer Bittersweet Vanilla Fudge (Basic Gray), 3rd layer red (KMA); vanilla and coral (unknown).
Accessories: Fiskars daisy punch, Cricut (flowers...thanks mom!), red square brad.