I Lost My Worm

Yes, my worm. My favorite little stamp. You will see him below hitching a ride on Hanna's coat tails. I have looked everywhere and cannot find him. He is not where I left him. And worse, I can't blame the kids for this one! Thank Goodness I have connections and can get another sent to me.

Above is a Riley Moose from Hanna Stamps. I used glossy accents on his pot of gold and hat, hence the shine. I made my own background with assorted clover stamps. I even had the shamrock brads on hand. Yep. it helps to have kids who go to a school system that uses Shamrocks as their mascot. I don't know why they do, but it grows on you over time and we are all Shamrock happy here.

I hope none of you are losing your tiny clear stamps today, it is such a bother. Not to mention the heartbreak I feel. I love my little wormie, Oh where could he be? I even went through my craft trash can piece by piece to see if he had hid in there. No luck.

For the Hanna card I paper pieced her rain coat and colored with copics. I used some stickles, but none of the usual bling droplets. I branched out to the floral bling this time.

Card of the Day

Several of the ladies on the Design Team for Hanna Stamps have given this moose (Riley) a polka dotted watering can and/or boots. I think I'll do that, too. It adds a bit of cuteness. Not that you need to add any. Riley is adorable all on his own! He is made with Basic Grey paper, some Bazzill for background a bit of bling.

Seth did not feel well today so he stayed home from school with me. He came home from school yesterday saying not only was his teacher absent, but so were four classmates. He was very tired yesterday, his face was red, and he did not complain about an early bed time. I let him sleep in this morning and we had an easy day. I ttok him out for lunch for some one on one time and got him a new pair of shoes, too. Funny how I think "Oh, lunch is a good idea, I'll let Seth pick what he wants." Of course, going out beats staying in for leftover chili anyday.

What are they drinkin' over there?

Over at Splitcoaststampers.com? The sketch challenge for Hanna Stamps is to use pink, teal, and grey. What? I can't do that! Oh yeah, that's why it's called a CHALLENGE. here is what I could do... pink is obvious, the ribbon, bling, cardstock, some inked edges. Teal? I the brad on the flower, in the ink, the dots on the paper, the flowers, even the broom base which has glossy accents on it, too. Gray? Uh....I colored the dustpan grey, and I hope it counts for something. Good thing I can't be voted out of the challenge.

I had a quiet day running errands in van that doesn't squeek with brad brakes and transmission issues. Now I need a manicure so I can perfect waving at the poor souls I pass on the road. LOL.

I Childproofed The House But They Still Get In

I threw a couple kids out yesterday for being loud and obnoxious. I tell ya what, I am just not taking it anymore. Act nice and respectful or you are out on your butt. I will kick you to the curb and you can go home and cry to your momma, 'cuz this own does not care. Not one bit.

I was making this card for my friend stephenie and they were throwing my creative energy off. It was becoming angry energy and there is no use in that. I used Cloud 9 Designs paper, a bit of bling, ribbon, and images from SU's Happy harmony. My fave SU set. The word happy is from the SU set Happy Everything.

This is the new Hanna Stamps set, soon to be released, Domestic Goddess. I used the soap bubbles, the cleaner and the brush and put them into this little montage. At this point only God knows where the paper is from. I have no idea. I colored with copics, added bling and called it a day. The SU oval punches were used around the words, which are from the Hanna Stamps sentiments set.

My new van , which we bought used is here. We own it and I am poor from a van payment again for the next five years. We feigned surprise when the guy at CarMax found all of the things that was wrong with the old van. I am sure they are used to everyone who pretends not to know the transmission is straining, the brakes are shot and the tires are bald.

I left it with Scott today when I went out so he could read the manual and figure it all out for me. To make me crazy, Honda no longer uses English words like "right" and "left" or "cold" and "heat". There are little picture symbols everywhere and you have to find out what they mean and remember them. (This is the part where I edit out all the four letter expletives that come to mind.) Noah got in last night and summed it all up when he said "Sweet Ride."

I am surrounded

By too many children. I do not know how or why my house became the neighborhood play zone, but I really don't like it. It is certainly not because I have a fondness for children. I love my own, but I don't actually like other people's. At least not most of them. There a few well behaved exceptions, but the don't live in the neighborhood. The kids in my hood? That's a post for another day.

Everday after school my ADHD son goes in search of playmates and they always come back to my house. Most of the time I can send them outside to play, but for about 3 months of the year it is too cold for that. Today it is about 10 degrees and, so, they are in my basement. There are a couple that are just too darn LOUD for me. I already yelled at one (for trying to smother another with a pillow while she sat on him) and scolded another (too rough with the dog) and they have been here less than 20 minutes. They are all a wild lot. They have decent parents, they just struggle with normalcy and none of them quite fit the mold.

At any rate, I am posting to showcase the new Hanna Stamps sneak peek, Domestic Goddess. I made a batch of wassail today and put some in a juice container to take to a neighbor. I am finding quite a lot to do with this set and am happy at how cute it really is. I'll have to add a tag to the juice bottle, it's too plain for my tastes, though it matches the card. I used brads, fabric and plastic flowers, Basic Grey and Bazzill paper. And some other paper that I used in the background, I forget who made it. I keep trying to put this Hanna in a light blue apron, like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I branched out here, beyond my comfortable norm with the purple. I swear, I gotta kick these peanut gallery rejects out of my house and go to the scrapbook store more often!

The Wassail Recipe:

2 quarts Apple Juice

2 cups Orange Juice

2 cups Pineapple Juice

1 cup Lemon Juice (like Real Lemon)

3 sticks of Cinnamon

1T whole cloves

Heat to boiling. Let simmer 15 minutes. Sweeten with about 1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar, strain and drink. I think it is best drunk warm. It should be stored in the refrigerator.

I Must Have Missed That Memo....

Yeah, the one that should have reminded me that Hanna Stamps is releasing a new set on Friday, Jan 25th. It is a set with Hanna as a Domestic Goddess. I stamped the broom and dust pan for a little humor. can you imagine what would happen to Scott if he gave me a broom as a gift?

The sentiment is from Hanna Stamps and the bow is from the "Perfect Package" set. I used Chatterbox paper, along with bazzill, some Dew Drops, and a star paperclip thing for an accessory. Study this carefully, it is a card without ribbon and without bling. It is a first in recent memory!

Rain and Cold

Just about the time we think we might need to look for a new car/van for me, the old one is dying faster than we can manage. We picked out something through Carmax and are awaiting its arrival in town. They say to give them 3 weeks for transport time. I am at day 12 of 21 and I want it NOW!

Scott was driving my van this weekend and was thinking that we might now have power steering pump problems. So, I am supposed to drive very little just in case the van does not make it until we can trade it in. I am staying home and living quietly.

This card is so cute in real life, but it looks crooked now that I posted it. Dagnabit! t really is a nice card. I swear to it! An umbrella may be my new transport if I need to go anywhere. Unfortunately, I don't live near a river. (The paper is from a big paper stack. Who makes those? I don't know, maybe it is DCWV.)

I brought home a couple of extra kids/friends from church on Sunday so they could spend the night and play with my kids. So, I have had kids on my computers for about 30 hours, except for the 6 in which they slept. I have not had access to the computer except sporadic access when the kids moved away from the computers for food and I moved in to check e mail. This also means they were in my craft area, so I could not craft, and could not post pictures anyway. They went home last night abot dinner time and my kids slept well last night.

Life is fairly normal here. I am getting the laundry done and avoiding the freezing cold temperatures by staying inside.

Card Day for My Momma

My mother generally wants everything I make. This can be a blessing or a curse. Mostly I think of it as a curse since I have to hide things when she comes over, or she'll ask for them. I should feel happy that she is interested in what I do, but I often feel that she is only interested in what she can get out of it. The whole "What's in it for me" mentality.

She is now often asking about cards, so for her birthday which isn't for 6 more weeks, I am trying to make her some cards. She does not have the ability to know the difference between simple cards and complex cards, so I do not feel bad making a lot of fairly easy cards for her.

I made the monograms from a Papertrey Ink set, Trajan Monograms. I bought 25 4.25x5.5 inch cards with a 50% off coupon from Joann's. That means I got 25 cards and envelopes for $3.00. I cannot decide which monogram set I like best so I made some of each. If you have a clear favorite or an opinion about the cards, let me know. The paper is from Cloud Nine and the scallop punch is from Marvy Uchida (yellow) and the scalloped paper is Bazzill Bling.

My husband's office employs about 15-20 people at any one time, depending on staffing. I used to make everyone a dozen cookies for Valentine's Day, but haven't for several years. I found cookie tins on sale at Wal Mart a while back for 75% off and they don't look overwhelmingly Christmasy. I bought them and plan to fill them with cookies again for everyone at the office.

The problem now is that so many are married and have 3-4 children, that I'll have to make enough cookies so the larger families can have more than a dozen to take home. This is Noah eating his favorite cookie, a Snickerdoodle. I baked about 13 dozen snickerdoodles this week and froze them for later. Well, I froze 11 dozen of them and let my family eat the ugly ones. Next up to bake will be Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter. I'll post the Snickerdoodle Recipe . It is originally from Crisco.

Snickerdoodles

2 cups Shortening (I use butter flavored Crisco)

3 cups Sugar

4 Eggs

5 cups Flour

4t Cream of Tartar

2t Baking Soda

1t Salt

Cinnamon Sugar (2 T sugar and 1-2 t cinnamon mixed together)

Mix shortening and sugar till combined. Add eggs into the mix, one at a time. Add rest of ingredients and mix well. Roll into golf ball sized balls and roll in cinnamon sugar to coat cookie balls, place onto a cookie sheet and bake at 400 F for aboout 12-14 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 2- 3 minutes before removing to countertop to finish cooling.

It's Hard Out Here For A Moose

Poor Riley Moose caught a bit of my bling addiction. Who knew it could be so contagious? I made him with paper from Chatterbox and Archivers. The leprechaun was a little treat I got in the mail from Kristi who owns Hanna Stamps. I used glossy accents on Riley's shamrock in his hat and on his drinking glass. I love Riey Moose from Hanna Stamps! He is my new love. No wonder he got the full box of bling. I love how it looks like he caught the little leprechaun, too. This is really a card that is so much better in person when it isn't shining too much from the light of the flash.

We are in the middle of a dark Indiana winter and outside photos in natural light just don't look good when there is no natural lght. Can you tell I have been up since "zero dark thirty"? I apparently need a bit more sleep so my chipper self can show through.

Riley Moose Clip Art

Stampyblock on SCS posted some of these clips last week and I just had to get on the bandwagon. These clips are found in a 2 pack in the Target dollar aisle. They are magnetic on the back and I put art on the front. I love Riley the Moose from Hanna Stamps and just love to play with him right now. This is a quick and easy project and when I make more I will coordinate them with post it note holders or something and can make a basket of office supplies as a gift.

I had a nice quiet day. Painting class in the morning and then on to Kroger to stock up on Diet Rite before the 5 packs for 10 bucks sale ends tonight. And, to no one surprise, they were out of Diet Rite. I got a rain check, but what does it matter if you can never find the stuff?

I had brunch with Tony Dungy

Well, okay, my friend Jenny called and wanted to meet for brunch today. We decided on a nice little Northside spot and who comes in but the man himself! Tony Dungy! The staff politely sat him in a room off to the side that was empty and he was with another person, believed to be a Colts player. They ate and chat and hung out, and no one bothered them as far as I could tell. So, if eating in the same restaraunt at the same time counts, I had brunch with Tony Dungy.

As I left the restaurant I noticed two nicer cars in the parking lot. One black Hummer and one black Escalade. I decided the hummer was too flashy for Coach Dungy so I think the Escalade was his vehicle.

I made a little card with Riley Moose for today. I love this new set and can't wait to have many more Riley moose stamps in my house. I used bazzill paper and some from Scrapbook Walls from the last year or so. I made a card that has a little pull up card inside it. Just something to shake up the ordinary.

We are having a cold spell here and I could do without it. Once the weather is in the 20's, it's too cold for me. I would not make a good Alaska girl at all. Well, I'd love to summer in Alaska, fish for salmon, catch crab, not break a sweat. But I would be a horrible cold depressed woman in the winter. I would wear long underwear all day and all night, too. Lately I have been sleeping in socks, which Scott thinks is crazy enough. One cold foot jab to his side while under the covers and I'd never hear another word about it, but I am not that mean.

Happy Day with new Stamps

My moose look a little dark, but they are lovely and ddelightful in real life. I swear it's the truth, I am not just saying it. These stamps are so me! I have had a lot of fun with Hanna from the the Hanna Stampsline as she is not anything I have ever played around with before. She has been fun to color and decorate and show, but the new line that is coming out, Riley Moose? I really love Riley like there is no tomorrow. To me, Riley is like comfort food. He is cute and can be quick and easy and adorable all at the same time. I am loving this new line from Hanna Stamps.

Riley Moose will be released in February at CHA Anaheim. So, if you love him to, you can have him in just a few short weeks.

I made the bookmarks for my boys, they are forever looking around for bookmarks. This won't help much, as it is an ongoing problem, but maybe it will cut down on the amount of toilet paper or kleenexes that we use for bookmarks just a bit.

I banished a neighbor child from my house. I grounded her for one week. She is one of those only child spoiled brats who thinks the world revolves around her and if you call her mom about her behavior she just sort of shrugs and says "oh, that sounds like Allie!" So I decided if her parents won't discipline her, I will. She got banned for breaking things in my house. This is an ongoing problem at other neighbors' homes as well. First she broke a little clay dinosaur that seth made, then she broke a magic wand ( a decorated paint stick) Noah made. And then she broke a box Noah keeps little treasures in. She was mad and just punched a hole in it.

It was just a little plastic school box, but still, these things are important to my children. I had a nice quiet weekend without her and all the other neighbor kids in my house. Thankfully all the neighbor kids wanted to play together, but since one of them has been banned from my home, they played elsewhere. It was nice and quiet here all weekend!

Conspiracy

To take my mind off the fact I still cannot locate Diet Rite, I post a little leftover Hanna for you. I made the microscope slide ornament before the holiday and forgot to put it away. It was hanging around in my craft area begging to stay out all year.
I used the "Tis the Season" set for the front and back, but the purse under the tree is from the first Hanna Stamps set. I trust it's easy enought o make that if you can locate the microscope slides you know how to stamp and cut your paper.

I thought that I was hot on the trail of Diet Rite today. You see, grocery stores in our area start their sales on Thursdays. Last nght when I finally got to the paper, Kroger had listed 6 packs of 7 Up bottles as being on sale at 5 for $10.00. I went straight to Kroger this morning! Right there on an end cap were all the 7 UP products: 7 Up, A & W Root Beer, Red Pop, Sunkist. But NO Diet Rite! I went to the Customer Care desk to be told that yes, they know they are out. They hope a truck will come with some tonight. What? I have not had a drink of ice cold Diet Rite from a bottle now since I ran out on Christmas Day. Two and a half weeks! I have been drinking this stuff for years and have never had this problem before. Maybe the factory in China that bottles it burned down? Maybe all the undocumented immigrants in our area have started drinking it? Maybe the Republicans are doing this just to make me unhappy? Whatever the cause, I have decided it is a conspiracy against me. It must be. There is no other logical reason I can think of.

I tried a new place for lunch today. It is called the Mudsocks Grill. I should have known to stay away by the name alone. It is a local place, and fancier than I expected. I ordered ice water and a club sandwhich. Sandwiches come with a choice of sides and I chose mac and cheese. A safe bet, right? Well, it wasn't yellow cheese, it was some sort of white cheese that tasted "different". I don't know why people mess with a good thing. Mac and Cheese is perfect, why add an oddball cheese to the mix? Maybe they wanted to do something different. They acheived that. Now someone needs to tell them that different is not always better. And I never got a refill on my ice water. I hate that.

I am on a Mission

Yes. A mission. To get my scrapbooking caught up. Some time ago I made some scrapbook pages and put pictures on them. I did not, however, do any journalling. None at all. So, I am now going through the pile to see where I left off. I guess I am in shape that isn't too bad, but it seems like an overwhelming task. My oldest pages are from April 2006, Spring Break in Gatlinburg.

Avctually it is a good thing that time has passed since I last wrote on the pages. I tend to write stuff like " We had a really good time at blah blah and the boys like such and such. We did this and that." Now I have to really think about what we might have done. Did theye at themselves sick at the Hershey Store at Niagara Falls? And Seth won a coloring contest at Boyd's Bear Factory and got to pick free teddy bear. I am really having to test my memory on this, and that makes my journalling either 1) Better. or 2) A Big Fat Lie. Then I have to sort out photos from the last year or so, which aren't even on pages.

I did clean off my desk and sort stuff and put things away today in order to have enough room to spread oit scrapbook pages. Cleaning counts for something, right? Not if there is no one home to see you do it.

And to answer the burning question...yes. I gave up Diet Rite. But not voluntarily. If I could find it anywhere I would chug it so fast carbonation might come out the other end. I may have hope though. A local grocery store is advertising select Pepsi products 5 for 10 dollars, in bottles. In the picture it showeed Sunkist and 7 Up, which is part of the same pop family. Maybe I'll get lucky tomorrow.

Another Day

Another failure to gather any Diet Rite. At this point I have passed withdrawal and have moved on to having given it up, Cold Turkey. Unwillingly. But that is what has happened. Oh well. I am enjoying Fresca from two liter bottles. seth and I share them, and man, he drinks too much pop. I gotta stay awake and watch that boy. To distract you from my problems, I post a cute Christmas Eve photo of the boys sitting cookies out for Santa. Seth made a card and we talked him into not leaving cash for the big man. He was sure Santa would like to shop at the North Pole at stores where the elves make their stuff.

And look, no Hanna today, but I almost have a complete pair of socks. I had painting class today and then a hair appointment, so maybe I'll work on the socks this week and get them finished. At least it gave me something to do during down time on vacation.

On a cute note, I got an invitation to a neighbor girls' 10th birthday party. Seth and Scott both looked ascance at me when they saw it, but it really is because I am using my van to help transport the kids back and forth to the movie theater and help the mom chaperone. It was a sweet invitation and it made my day.

The Agony of Defeat

I went out today, sure to find myself some Diet Rite. Wrong! There was none available to me. Well, none at the right price at any rate. Wal Mart had no bottles. I decided I could drink from a can. But there were no cans. I searched for a two liter. They were out! What?! A run on Diet Rite? I swear to you, if I saw a Diet Rite truck on the road, I would run it over! Well, chase it down and give the driver a good talking to about his poor distribution patterns.

I had a coupon for a free large Sweet Tea at McDonalds and I broke down and used it. All the way home from my trip I saw signs that advertised Sweet Tea for $1.00 at McDonald's. Yep. 32 ounces of the lovely goodness. So, I only saved a dollar, but it salvaged my need for a cool drink in the worst way. I do love some Sweet Tea. See how important it is to me? I refer to it in capital letters! The reason I don't ever drink it or buy it? It's sweet. Yep. Chock full of bad sugar calories which quickly turn to fat and sit on my hips. And no one needs to that. But I am currently full of the yummy goodness that Sweet Tea has offered to me for the day. And I trying to be thankful for it and not bitter about the lack of Diet Rite around here.

To distract you momentarily I posted a Hanna picture. See Hanna? She's so lovely. Made with some punches and colored with copics and she is ready for a hot date. No Sweet Tea on those hips.

Defeat

After much searching, I found only a two liter of Diet Rite. I claimed it as mine, brought it home, and am carefully allowing myself some, not drinking it straight from the botle or all at once, as I would really like.

First up today is a couple of little boxes I re purposed. I found ribbon in these little boxes in the Target Dollar Aisle. When I put the ribbon away, I realized I could do something with the cute little boxes. I put in some Nuggets, tied on ribbon, and used my new Hanna Stamps set, Sweet Celebrations to make the cute lid toppers! Voila! The perfect gift for a couple of girlfriends!

This is a photo of my poor boys. the second day we were at Williamsburg we rented costumes. You see, you rent costumes for the kids and they get jobs to do and a souvenier at the end. They have colonial style shirts on underneath their winter jackets, they have a hat, a wooden, gun, and a sack/bag they wear. they get a letter of introduction and they take it to four specific places to do their jobs.

First up was to join the militia. Only, at the artillery shed, they thought this program ended as it was, to them, a seasonal program that was over in Dec and would start again in March . Wrong! There was no militia to join, but there were new staff members going around learning about the buildings and history and such, and they were forcibly recruited to join the militia with my boys. Everyone had to learn miltary moves out in the cold and snow. As they were new employees, they grumbled not one bit, and seemed perfectly pleasant. I do think they cursed us under their breath, though.

Next up was to plant seeds in the garden. However, the garden was closed and the ground was frozen. The kids were assigned the task of getting water from the well and putting it in a bucket. Seth spilled water all over himself. Brrr.

We went to the post office next. It was closed. We moved on to the print shop, only to be told by the man working there that he had no idea what we were talking about. We went back to the visitor center to complain, but no one cared and no one in charge was there to complain to. Noah was near tears that he did not get his souveneir, whatever it was supposed to be. So, I bought a couple gift shop trinkets to pass off as souveneirs and you can bet your bippy Williamsburg will here about this one. Why? Costume rental was thirty bucks! If my tight ass comes up with thirty bucks per kid, there darn well better be a program, some souveineir, and some serious jobs for my kids to do! Can you see the snow whipping sideways while my kids toughed it out? They were troopers, I tell ya!

Sweet Hanna

Wowza! Here I am, back on track with daily postings. Shame that I don't have a thing to say. Maybe I can find something fun to do and let you know about it. Unfortunately, today is going to be all about restocking groceries and cleaning the house, putting away the tree.

Hanna today is made with the new set, Celebration Hanna. The paper is K and Co. and Bazzill. There is some bling and ribbon, I used a corner rounder punch and some oblong hole punch from SU that I cannot rememeber the name of. Dang, I hate when that happens.

I have a severe lack of my favorite drink in my house, Diet Rite. Or as my kids call it, Diet Riot. It has no sodium and no caffeine and is possibly just flavored water with bad stuff added, like artificial sweeteners and artificial colorings. But, it's my drink of choice, and my choice could be a lot worse. I ran out some time before Christmas and being a miser, refused to pay a high grocery store price for it. I like the Wal Mart price so much better. And I like it in a bottles, not cans. Though cans will do in a pinch. They apparently do not sell Diet Rite in the parts of the south that I have recently been to as we found it neither at the groceries nor the gas stations. So, I am off on my search.....let's pray I return victorious.

Sexy Creature

Here is Hanna all decked out and wrapped up for Valentines Day with her bow on top. The bow is from the Hanna set "Perfect Package" and Hanna is from the just released today set "Celebrations." This is how I would like to look when my husband comes home, but the kids get in the way of my looking this good.

We survived going to the funeral and coming home again. Man, I really want to sleep in tonight. I can't tell you how good my own bed felt last night after several days of hotel and condo beds that were less than comfy. I ended up sleeping with a kid on the sofa bed. You know it's bad when you CHOOSE the sofa bed, since it sagged in all the right places for my body to fit into it.

I'll have more Hanna tomorrow to post!

Celebration Hanna

I really do love the new Hanna Stamps set, Celebraton Hanna. I have made so many cards with this set I can't believe this is the first I have been able to post one. The paper is DCWV, there is some bazzill paper, some bling, ribbon, and SU punches used. Please don't ask me to name all the punches, I am much too tired from traveling 14 hours home today. I am going to bed so we can rise before dawn and be on the road again, this time for Scott's grandmother's funeral.

Good Grief

We booked a quick trip to Williamsburg and after driving for two full days to get here we got the news that night that Scott's grandmother had passed away. We are going to stay here a few days regardless before driving back and heading north for the funeral, which is 10 AM Friday morning.

I brought all my Hanna cards to unveil this week as it is a sneak peek week, with the release of the new set on Friday. Well, we don't have the cord we need to upload photos from the camera to the computer. Pooey!

And I have spotty e mail access, too. The e mail news from a friend in Kenya, where I was in April is that riots have broken out over election results and there is probably some votes being destroyed and/or not counted. 200 were attacked in church and burnt/beaten/hacked to death near where I was. Americans at the compound where I was, mostly doctors and students were evacuated out of the area, but my friend remains behind with her husband to care for those at the hospital. The compound also has taken in native Kenyans, in hopes of keeping them safe. My friend reports a full gas tank in their cars, but no fresh food available. Markets are not open, everyone is hiding. I hope this passes soon. It sounds dreadfully like a scene in Hotel Rwanda.

We had a good new years. Scott and Noah went to see fireworks and Seth and I stayed at the condo in front of the TV and in bed. I will post again, hopefully Friday night with Hanna cards and items. It is frustrating to be ready to post and unable to do so.