My week-end's work...

Hi All! It's been quite a productive week-end. First Theresa and I got together on Friday and made a card we've been trying to get together and try for at least 3 months if not more! It was FUN and there's a class (hopefully) coming out of it! Stay tuned! Here's what we were up to Saturday morning and then I finished this afternoon: just about everyone who sees the layout on page 25 of the new Close to My Heart Ideal Book---wants do it! So, knowing a class is coming out of that, too, I wanted to have a sample done. Besides, CTMH didn't consult with me but I gotta tell you---the colors of the new WINGS papers--match my step-son and daughter-in-law's wedding colors PERFECTLY! I was so excited when I saw them! This is my husband and I dancing at the reception...then the companion page has the bride and groom, the bride and her dad, the groom and his (biological) mother. I used the the new BOHEMIAN ALPHABET (you can $ave $10.00 if you order from the Inspirations flyer before tomorrow night!) Just go to http://okistampqueen@myctmh.com, order the Workshop on the Go and start racking up the savings! This offer expires TOMORROW so don't miss it! I love that the closer close up of the bride and groom dancing has a photographer in the background! Just makes for an interesting shot! One other interesting thing about the Close to My Heart Catalog you may (or may not-until now!) know...if you look at page 25 of the catty, you will see that underneath the sample page it says Reflections: Title Topper-Pieced Together. HUH? Let me explain! In CTMH's book Reflections (see pg. 4 of the new catty)--If you go to the section called Title Topper and then look up the page called "Pieced Together"--you have the instructions to make this page! And--as if that isn't a "YA-HOO!" enough...for those of you who don't like the idea of

just one photo per page...there are OPTIONS...it also gives you the photo sizes and cutting diagrams for a page with 3 or 5 photos! Do I hear a "YIPPEEE YA-HOO?!" The Magic Book and Reflections are my new best friends, let me tell ya! Well, right after Theresa! I have to go put stamp pads away before I have kitties walking through them. We tried playing Scrabble last night...see the last photo to see how that went! Lol! Until next time--check out INSPIRATIONS before the clock runs out--http://okistampqueen@myctmh.com and happy stamping and scrapping! Blessings, Sharon

Another "don't fall for it" warning...

Good morning all. Things have been crazy here-and I know Sat. I will get back to some scrapping and stamping with things to post, so stay tuned. In the meantime, the Stamp Queen was perusing the Archiver's e-mail and drooling and wishing we had one closer than 4 hrs+ away! Sigh. Saw several things I would like, several classes I would like to take---if only. There was one thing I saw, however, that made my hair stand on end. They are advertising the new Vagabond cutting machine. It looks like a tattered suitcase (ugly to me--but oh well!) and from what I read, is similar to the Cricut or other such machines. It also has a name attached to to it-Tim Holtz. Yeah, anybody who does anything with stamping and scrapping recognizes that name even if they don't know quite what he does. Well, Theresa and I know-he makes junk! Literally. And Tim is right up there with Martha Stewart and her punches but that's another post!) Ok-so some of his new die cuts are cute and, I have to confess, we have bought some. But I would NEVER EVER spend the kind of money I am sure they are asking for for the Vagabond with his name on it. Why? Well, some years back his name was on some adorable little canvas storage bags! Polka dots, pretty plaid-I bought two. Theresa bought some. In a very short period of time, the zipper pulls broke, the zippers themselves broke---and I was quite disappointed. They weren't cheap (in fact one bag was at least double of the Close to my Heart Accessory bags-p. 123 Spring/Summer catalog; $ 12.95 with removable dividers--granted, they are plain black--but I just tie a pretty ribbon to the handle and it dresses it up just fine! They hold A LOT and are quite durable-I've used (and abused!) mine for two + years now and they are still going strong! Check it out (Item # z4200) at http://okistampqueen@myctmh,com.) When I contacted Tim his reply was "The company that made those have gone out of business-sorry." That was it. End of story! He could have cared less! If you're good, got something good-the Stamp Queen will shout it from the rooftops. But---if you are bad, poor product, poor service---I am just as quick to share that as well! Word of mouth advertising says a lot! So---I flat out refuse to endorse his products. They are junk. Unlike Fiskars--and, in case you didn't know this-now you will! ANYTHING that Fiskers makes, if it breaks, you simply contact the company, send an e-mail photo of the product (or you can snail mail the damaged product to them)---and they will replace it--free of charge, no questions asked, in a timely manner. Now THAT'S the way to do business! So-save your money-get a Big Shot from Theresa or check the stores for deals on REPUTABLE products such as the Cricut---but stay away from JUNK (aka Tim Holtz' products!) That's my advice for today!

Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping! Blessings, Sharon

Oh, Baby!

Good morning all! First and foremost, THANK YOU for the good thoughts and prayers! More on that later! First up-the little baby boy brag book I whipped up yesterday for the new grandma at the OKI Library...this little embellishment on the front is too cute in that, if you push that little red button on the left...the lights on the mobile light up! Tried to capture that in the photo but it didn't work. The cover is out of some chipboard cards that I purchased. The perfect size and weight for mini books! Bound it of course with the Bind It All. The inside pages are white cardstock cut to size, some pages embellished a wee bit with some baby stickers that have been in my stash for forever (as was the cover embellishment! Somewhat surprised it still worked!)

Think she will like it? Hope so! Off to deliver it soon! Wanted to use the Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder but it's MIA in the magic disaster-eh, craft-room. Theresa, when I find it-make sure it gets stuck, somehow, to my person! I cannot seem to keep track of that one and it's always a "go-to" for me. I used my *new* "Spots and Dots" folder instead. Going to try a new way of storing the folders-my little notebooks worked well but my collection is outgrowing them!

We have two feral cats....and, it seems, a baby opossum as well...we call him (or her?) Simon/Simone...(ever read Rita Mae Brown Sneaky Pie series?)

The feral cats don't seem to mind sharing their food-they know Momma will take care of all the critters--"Moe" is actually sitting just outside the picture watching! And I couldn't help but take this photo of Inky and Poppa Cat yesterday...

The baby (on the left) was still feeling puny. The diagnosis was...he ate the Christmas tree. Funny-because I kept telling the vet that, after he eats, he gets this "I can't believe I ate the whole thing" look (if you're old enough to remember the Alka Seltzer commercial...). Yep, cats may have tough tummies but they cannot digest (artificial) Christmas tree spines. I'll spare you the details of treatment. He was just laying around all day and wanted Momma. When I wasn't available, he "reached out" to his buddy! As long as he was touching PC he was ok without me! The good news is, thanks to our awesome vet and staff, prayers, and some healing time, today he was eating, playing and acting NORMAL! The sun is out, it is not snowing (was yesterday!), and even though it's cold--with the sun, it's much more tolerable. Ok. So now I need to go do the flylady thing. I have to confess-the Christmas decorations are taking over the guest bedroom! Still. Time to get them back to the attic! Mt. Washmore needs some attention, too. I hope that this week I can get back to my normal Flylady routine(s). This week was just crazy. Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping! Blessings, Sharon ps/Only a week left on the January Inspirations sale and deals-so check it out and take advantage of it http://okistampqueen@myctmh.com

Where oh where have I been...

What a week! Not a single post since last Sunday! So sorry! There's been absolutely no craft time this past week, either so there's the second disappointment of the day! The wee hours of Monday found me in the throes of another gall bladder attack. Stress, cheating on the diet and running out of pear juice were three "whammies" against me. A sick kitten (aka Inky who is actually 3 -or 4?) didn't help. Thursday found me needing to be in three places at once: vet's office, work, and on my acupuncturist's table. Somehow-it all worked out and we are both recouperating slowly. If anyone has any ideas on how to keep the cat from eating the Christmas tree (artificial at that!), PLEASE share them! Constipated kitties are not happy kitties!

Today...it is very, very cold at the beach-my husband even said there were some snow flurries. Good excuse to stay inside and make the card and the baby brag book I need to make. The housework can wait!
On another note...we got a new laptop and although my stepson was gracious enough to send instructions to help import/export my favorites (aka the blogs I follow...) I couldn't get it. I was behind in checking them out anyway so I got cup of coffee and got comforatable. I went through my "active" list. 2 hours later and I have a list of ----drumroll please--55 blogs that I look at um, haveta confess-almost daily! Oops-wait, no-make that 57--forgot two I already have on the new computer! Guess I know where a chunk of my time goes! In all fairness, it took me longer today as I was writing down the names and links as I went!

Well, need a coffee refill-and better get craftin'! Hopefully tomorrow I will have some goodies to post. Until next time, KEEP WARM, stay positive (hard to do in the gloam of winter), and happy stampin' and scrapping! Blessings, Sharon

Men In Black...

How about 4 good-looking guys (at least I think so! May be just a wee bit biased...!) for some INSPIRATION?! If you haven't checked out the Close to my Heart Inspiration's flyer...time is running out! The bargains end January 31st. And believe you me, there are A LOT of bargains! The flyer features the new WINGS papers along with some awesome stamp sets-including the Bohemian Alphabet you see here. I had this photo from my step-son's wedding this past June. Their wedding colors match the paper colors PERFECTLY---so that alone was some inspiration to get them scrapped! Can't do anything "too girly" so I thought (what I call) a "break-out" frame would be ideal--that and the dark paper! I color dusted the edges of the green side, folded out the dark side to frame the photo...This is a pic of where I left my page last night....it needed something--I dreamed about the page all night! After church and a little housework, I went back, removed the border pieces, color dusted, added the black mats along with the two photos of my husband and NOW I am happy with it. Done tweaking! My photography does not do the papers or the photos justice. I am sorry. Gotta go back to early morning photos in my bathroom of all places! That just seems to be the only lighting that works! lol!

Now, it's Sunday--so I have to do a little bit of preaching here. This wedding was back in June of last year (although the photo in the bottom left was taken at our wedding in June 2008). The wedding this year was an extremely difficult time for my husband and I and, in all honesty, we weren't sure our marriage was going to make it! We were really struggling. Not sure the boys or the rest of the family knew that at the time. We put on smiles and got through it. We came home and struggled some more. We talked about the tough stuff, we sought counsel from other couples we trust and respect from our church. We asked for prayer. My "groupies", Theresa in particular, did a lot of listening and praying for me (and us) as well. I was at wits end and about to give up when one of my gals, Mary Cobb, said "You don't want to quit 5 minutes before the miracle." I remember getting angry and thinking she just didn't know how bad it was. But I went home and kept on keeping on. Fast forward a few more months and a trip to the ER turned things around (Christian speaker and author Howard Hendricks once said, "sometimes it takes a crisis to precipitate a change.") God decided to show us the miracle he had in store for us. Our marriage is better and stronger today than it has ever been. And we are committed to making it even better. It's not easy-life sometimes isn't. But reach out. Get help. Find someone to listen, to pray, to walk with you through whatever valley. Hang on, and hang in-after all, as MC said, you don't want to give up 5 minutes before your miracle...! Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping! Blessings, Sharon

http://okistampqueen@myctmh.com

The rest of the W-M Photo Saga...

Last night...we stopped to pick up the problem photos (read yesterday's post for "part one" of the photo saga...). The customer service guy, standing around with his hands in his pockets, no customer in sight besides me--walked away. So I had to wait until the gal at the REAL customer service desk got done issuing a money order to check out. I got the photos home and started to organize them for today's crop. Every single picture...has a white streak down the right-hand side. 57 photos will now have to be trimmed (they also look like they were cut with the dullest paper cutter in the world)-well, at least the ones that are usable out of those...which is maybe 1/2 to 2/3--for some unknown reason, looks like the "photographees" had a major case of smallpox or something-their skin and photo is all mottled and distorted. Trash those. Several of them...had heads cut off (didn't in my uploads...or I wouldn't have ordered them). The paper is flimsy and the finish is crappy. All said and done, I wasted a entire afternoon and evening -not to mention about $20.00. Oh-and stress aggravates the gall bladder which = uncomfortable pain. Wonderful. Just what I need. Wal-Mart is so not worth it! http://shutterfly.com/. Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping-and stay away from Wal-Mart Photo Dept.! Blessings, Sharon