Oh Where Oh Where...

has my desire to create gone? Oh where, oh where can it be? I'm not sure why, but I can't seem to summon anything creative from my brain. I tried this afternoon while Michael was sleeping off the anesthesia from his oral surgery, but I don't like what I came up with, so you're not gonna see it.

You see, there's some pressure that comes with having a blog. I feel the need to post regularly, and that means I need to create something regularly. When that doesn't happen, I feel as though I'm disappointing you, my readers. I would be disappointed if I were you, since I subscribe to about 20 blogs and look forward daily to clicking on my Google Reader link to see what everyone's posted.

This round of creative block started last week. I was minding my own business, happily perusing House Beautiful magazine while at the hair salon. I came across some cool pictures and jotted down the color combinations I liked. Trouble is, I want to make something using those colors, and it's just not happening!

Today should've been such a great day for crafting. I was housebound, due to aforementioned boy's need for a nursemaid. That meant I had time abundant. Perhaps I didn't try hard enough, but I'm easily dissuaded (and discouraged?).

I think part of it has to do with the fact that I don't like the process of trial and error. I've long held that I'm not an artist for this very reason. I have an aversion to messes of all kinds, even creative ones. I like things to work out the first time. Life just isn't that way, is it?

So, now you know why there haven't been many posts here recently. There's a Stamp-A-Stack coming up in a few weeks, though, so something'll have to give. For now, I'm going to try not to think about it too much. Just thought you should know.

You Know You're a Hoosier When...

I was listening to NPR this morning on my way home from taking Michael to school, and there was a story about the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. For those of you not from the Midwest, the Indy 500, the premiere auto racing event, is this Sunday, so the age of the 2.5 mile oval is significant.

To enhance the story, the reporter incorporated clips from famous moments in the track's history with his facts. I heard the announcer say, "The first lady ever to qualify at Indianapolis..." and then the story segued right into another sound bite! I shouted at the reporter, "Tell me who it was! Don't leave me hanging like this!"

I picked up the phone to call my dad, who I knew would know the answer. As I was dialing, however, my Hoosier heritage kicked in, and a name came floating forth from my mental filing cabinet. Before I would speak it aloud, though, I wanted to confirm it with dad. You see, my father was the one who instilled the love for the race in his girls.

He went to Butler University in Indianapolis, and during his years as a student, he served as an usher at the race. Yes, he helped race fans to their seats. So, although he never was a slave to sports television, he followed the weeks leading up to the race each year to see who would qualify and what the fastest times would be, and we always listened to the race on the radio after church while we ate lunch.

Well, dad wasn't home and had left home without his cell phone. So I googled it and found out that the name that had popped into my head was correct: Janet Guthrie was the first woman ever to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, and this is a picture of the race car she drove. That was 1977, and Danica Patrick owes a lot to this pioneer and Lyn St. James, the first woman Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award winner. Danica's starting in 10th position this year, and there are 2 other women in the qualifying field of 33 cars. Helio Castroneves claimed the pole position.

I know this has nothing to do with stamping, but now you know a little more about me, and a little more about auto racing. Oh to be back home again in Indiana this weekend...NASCAR's just not the same.

Did You Know?

I do custom consignment work for individuals? I do! In this case, I created covered chipboard clipboards so that Meghan could use the 2009 Create-A-Calendar to ask her attendants to be in her wedding! It was so fun to be a small part of this once-in-a-lifetime occasion.

What kind of event/occasion do you have coming up this year that a one-of-a-kind invitation, 3D item, or gift set would make it just perfect? Contact me, and let's brainstorm what we can work together to create!

I'm Breaking my Blog Fast...Sort of

Welcome to 2009! Are you ready to embrace the new year? I'm on the fence. Part of me wants to have the vacation that I didn't get while I was off for a week, traveling to IN and IL to celebrate the holidays with our families. The other part of me wants to get all organized and back to the routines. The first part of me is winning right now. But since I'm not going to get a vacation, I'm going to make my peace with this fact by Sunday night and get on with life. I'll start putting more energy in my meal planning/making, get to the gym, and all that stuff that we do when we start every new year.

Another thing: I'm feeling VERY uncreative! I mean VERY, friends!! Stampin' Up!'s new catalog coming out in a few weeks, and I'm sure glad, because I need some inspiration to get back to card making. I've seen a sneak peek, and a few things are cool. I'm toying with doing a special class featuring a bundle of Valentine's Day products--a stamp set, coordinating designer paper, and a cool 3-heart punch--and participants would purchase the bundle and I'd design the cards. But, like I said, I'm feeling VERY uninspired, and that leads me to feeling indecisive.

I've been feeling this way for at least a few weeks...and I really don't know how to get out of my desire to just sit around, read, and eat bon bons all day! Can you help me?

Please don't give up on me, though. I will return to posting soon. Any suggestions to jumpstart this process of getting back into the swing of things would be most appreciated.

More Boxes...and Goodies!

Anyone else find this picture attractive? My name is Jenn and I'm a member of Containers Anonymous. My fetish started out as just one of the tasks I perform weekly as part of my job. I unload the paper order when it arrives on Thursdays. (BTW, this is time management at its best, because I don't have to feel like I need to go to the gym after all the boxes I schlep from the lobby of the cafe to various places in the back room. Imagine me on a stepstool, and you'll get the idea.)

As I unpacked things, I came across sturdy cardboard boxes. Harmless to you, but to someone who sees many mundane containers as possible altering opportunities, it was the beginning of the end. It was the packaging for the retail products that really got me in trouble. A beautiful blank canvas was what I saw, and since I knew their final destination is the recycling dumpster out back, it became my own little mission to repurpose some of these beauties for a better end.

Such is the case with three of these. They came stuffed with dark chocolate covered graham crackers in packs of 4. I loved the flap opening, and claimed them immediately. I have not felt all that much in the spirit of the season, but yesterday a wild hare of an idea snagged my creativity and my love of baking. Okay, that's just a fancy way of saying that I finally got my rear in gear and made cookies and altered the boxes to prettify them for the neighbors.

I employed the same simple fold as you go method that I used on the smaller Christmas Countdown boxes, and each box used a 6 5/8" x 12" piece. This didn't cover the bottom of the box, but I didn't care. Who looks at the bottom of a box of cookies anyway?

I used up some more of my stash of retired Dashing DSP, and pulled sentiments from Snowflake Spot, Sincere Salutations, Many Merry Messages, and Peaceful Wishes to create the card. I wanted to keep it simple, so I used Real Red and Baja Breeze and embellished them with Felt Flurries and some of that great non-SU! (Michael's) ribbon.

Now I just have to deliver them, and I want to do that after the mailman completes his rounds. A side note: the cookies are called cream cheese spritz cookies. They are the best little sinful things you'll put in your mouth, I promise! They're called "spritz" cookies because the shapes are made using a cookie press, which spritzes them out. (I don't know why really, I just made that up.) They can be made as cookies you roll into balls and bake, and they taste just as good!

Here's the recipe. Double it, or you'll be sorry!

1 stick butter (no substitutions), at room temp
3 oz. cream cheese (you can substitute lowfat or fat free here)
1 C. sugar
1 egg yolk
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. baking powder
2 1/4 C. flour

Combine the ingredients in the order listed and chill if desired for 30 min. Bake on UNGREASED cookie sheets for 13-15 min. at 350. Sprinkle with colored sugar BEFORE baking if desired.

Let me know if you try them, and what you think!

Thanksgiving in Review and Christmastime is Here

WARNING! LONG POST AHEAD! GET A CUP OF COCOA AND SETTLE IN FOR A SPELL...For some reason, I haven't felt all that much like blogging lately. I'm sure it has something to do with all the hubbub of the holiday that just passed and the season we are now being hurled into. My photos of our day are not all that great, and that was another hangup that was keeping me from posting. The picture of "my boys" is blurry, but it's the only one I snapped, so forgive the poor photography.

I worked Thanksgiving morning, and we were crazy busy. Lots of folks coming in and ordering for all the coffee drinkers back at the house. One person=5 drinks. It was nuts, but good at the same time. I like serving people, and to do so on a holiday was special, for some reason. I got home around 1, and the turkey had just started its time in the oven. The potatoes were peeled and cubed and in salted water. The jello salad had been made the night before, so all it needed was Cool Whip. A box of Stove Top and jarred gravy completed our "feast."

While I was working, Bob and Michael also brought up the artificial tree from the basement and Bob was in the process of getting it assembled and strung with lights. I'm happy to let him do that part, although I was very skeptical he'd need the 10 boxes of lights he'd bought to adequately light our 6' tree. EIGHT boxes later, the thing was TRANSFORMED and looking the best it had in years.

I need to digress and share with you how we came to have an artificial tree. We had been cutting down a fresh tree every year of our married life when, on our annual trip to a tree farm--a new one that was 45 min. from our house in the middle of farm country in IL--to find OUR tree for that year, I hit the button that locked not only my keys but my husband's in our Suburban! We called the friends who lived nearest to the farm, and they sent their son to fetch us. He drove us 45 min. back to Wheaton, where we got a spare key. We drove back to the tree farm, and then to our friends' house to return the car.

These friends had an extra artificial tree and offered to give it to us, since the odds of Bob being in the mood to go traipsing through ANY tree farm to procure a tree that year were slim to none. I was very opposed to this tree, and the joy of this Christmas decorating tradition died, to some degree, when he enthusiastically accepted their castoff. I know it sounds like I'm being dramatic, but it just didn't seem special to put out a box, fan out some plastic branches, and decorate this poor imitation of God's creation.

For some reason, though, this year--6 years after that fiasco--has been different. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that it has been "unseasonably" cool here--which means it has felt like this time of the year is SUPPOSED to feel! So here is a photo of our tree, replete with almost EVERY ornament Michael has (almost 6 boxes) and ours as well. I really like how it looks. There's an electric train that runs around it, which creates the soundtrack for our days. There are snowmen on my mantel, a single stocking hung there too, and colored lights strung in my son's room that he falls asleep staring at each night.

And so the season begins...I've had a project in mind for MONTHS, and have been collecting for at least a year toward this end, it was only after completing our decorating and reading of other families' traditions on some blogs I follow, that I was inspired to get my rear in gear and actually try to bring this project to fruition.

It starts with these little boxes that hold Starbucks gift cards in bulk. As we have finished up a box, I have snatched them up and brought them home. I've seen Christmas Countdown calendars in various forms, and I knew these boxes would fit the bill perfectly! Well, today was the day that I decided to stop hoarding and start transforming them into boxes fit for little Christmas goodies.

Here's how many I have done to date. They use a 3.75" x 10.25" strip of designer series paper, and I just folded them around the box and made a nice crease at each bend as I went around it. I secured the top flap with Sticky Strip, since I figured it would get the most wear and tear. I want to complete 9 more so that I'll have 24 total. I know they could be much fancier, but I have boys, and they don't care about ribbons and embellishments and all that stuff. Besides, have you looked at the calendar lately? Tomorrow is the 30th, so time is of the essence.

My goal is to hide one somewhere around the house each day between Dec. 1 and Dec. 24, and include in it some little goodie or something that has to do with Christmas in it. Our family hasn't had that much success with doing scheduled family Bible readings that would help focus our thoughts on Christ's coming to earth, so I'm open to suggestions for what I could put in these little boxes that might help us all think a little bit about the Reason for the Season and have fun along the way. If you have anything to share, speak up! I'm all ears!

I'm going to stop typing now and continue roasting by the roaring fire we have had going all day. Hope you enjoyed this diatribe. I also hope the rest of your holiday weekend is quiet and peaceful.

I Now Return You to Your Regularly Scheduled Craft Blog

Now that my time in Crazy Busy Land is done, I'm back and ready to post crafty photos again. I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about me. I had fun sharing it with you, and you'll probably read more along this line in the days ahead.

But I digress. I know you've been jonesin' for a picture of a CARD for awhile now, so I'll cut to the chase. No, this isn't one of my creations--been way too busy for that, remember!--but one from a blogging friend Amy of Gone INKognito. She used to live in GA and was one of the first bloggers in the area to welcome me, but now she lives in Canada. She sent me this great card stuffed with images that I'm going to make into cards at some point. I just had to share it, though, because it's so fallish! Love how she used the scalloped square punch and Pocket Silhouettes to make this little beauty. It's a 4" x 4" square card. I'm so CASEing this...why? Read on...

I have news. BIG NEWS! Several weeks ago, a friend of mine gave my name to a friend of hers and told her about my cards. Leah manages a PakMail store, and, long story short, she's partnering with me to get Just for You by Jenn greetings out to the public! She has ordered 30 cards, which are due Monday or Tuesday, and I'm stoked about the opportunity!!

Now I have to find the time to make said cards, but that's a minor detail...Get this; she went back through my ENTIRE blog and looked at EVERY CARD I posted and made notes of which ones she liked best! That was after I'd taken her 25 samples to whet her appetite. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship...

I'm off to count tips and clean baseboards at work. Just call me Cinderelly! Love that I get paid to clean, though. Hope you're havin' a good week...

Update # 2 from Crazy Busy Land: The Blog Party Report

This is the GREAT group of folks I spent several quality hours with last night!! Since I made all the nametags for the group, I could go through the picture and name everyone, but I won't. There were at least 40 of us, and at times the decibel level in the room so high it was difficult to hear!

If you're wondering how we got organized, let me explain. This was a gathering of people who have blogs and who all read 2 blogs--Ragamuffin soul by Carlos Whittaker and Whittakerwoman by Heather, his wife. Heather put the idea of a meetup out there a few months ago, and the response was much bigger than she expected! One thing I found interesting was that most of us couldn't remember how we found these blogs. One of the happy hazards of blurfing (blog+surfing=blurfing), I guess.

There were attendees from FL, SC, NC, and GA, with a contingent of friends of the Whittakers coming from CA. Two special twentysomethings who drove in from IN claimed the prize for coming the farthest by car. A little more about them later...

As soon as I arrived, I was sure this wasn't going to be like any other gathering I'd been to. You know what happens when a group of people who don't really know each other get together--say a work function. People are "fashionably late" so that they don't have to make small talk before things really get underway. Well, the parking lot was FULL when we arrived 10 minutes early (because I had the nametags). Nobody was shy; everyone just started introducing themselves and talking. Cyber relationships that had formed from reading the blogs of those who read Carlos and Heather's blogs were initiated in real life, and it was a cool thing to observe and be part of. Although it was a bit surreal, I also liked that the interactions didn't have any pretense. We weren't sharing "how's the weather" surface talk; we were asking questions about things that these writers had shared from their hearts on their blogs. It was so refreshing.

This is some of the people I ate dinner with. From the left is Ruth, Robin, Kayla, Maren, Kyle, Allison and me. Now a little more about the twentysomethings from IN.

Kyle and Allison were profiled at the blog party website where our profiles and blog addresses were shared in the weeks leading up to the event. Through this, I learned that they are fellow native Hoosiers, although they were hardly born before I moved out of the state in 1989! I felt an immediate connection with them because they live about 30 min. from where I went to college. I left a comment on each of their blogs and initiated contact. Then I got a little whispering in my head that prompted me to invite them to come stay at our house.

When Bob shared with a colleague that I had invited two total strangers to come stay at our house, his friend jokingly said, "I hope they're not axe murderers!" I knew they weren't--Kyle volunteers with a church startup and Allison lets her love of Jesus shine through her words on her blog. How could extending an invitation to let them stay be remotely dangerous?!

Turns out, they had family in the area, but the offer of 2 full sized beds and not imposing on his cousins' bedrooms made them decide to risk sleeping at the Hotel Nahrstadt for 2 nights. We had such a nice visit, and part of my heart is now on its way back to IN as I type this.

Evidently I wasn't the only one with motherly instincts when it came to these two. Shortly after things got underway last night, Cookie came up to me and told me how relieved she and her gal pals who came from SC were to hear that I'd invited Kyle and Allison to stay at our house. When I asked her how she knew that, and she said that she'd read about it on Kyle's blog earlier that day! Of course!

I know I've commented here in the past that I wasn't sure how "real" online community is. The party tonight showed me that it is very real...and a fabulous thing that really does bring people together and bond them to each other. I may never see many of these people again this side of Heaven, but the world is a little smaller, warmer place because of the time we shared together, and will continue to share via the world of blogs. I'm good with that...

Where Has the Time Gone?

Wow! It has been 4 days since I posted last?!? How did that happen? Well, I had Stamp-A-Stack on Saturday, church on Sunday, and I have worked like a crazy woman yesterday and today at Starbucks! Sorry for the silence. I am off tomorrow, so I plan on posting some things.

In the meantime, Lydia tagged me and here's what I have to do:

I have to share 7 random facts about myself and tag 7 people. Okay, I don't know if I know 7 people to tag, but I'll share 7 random facts bout myself.

1) I'm the oldest daughter of 2 oldest children. That sort of makes me warped, but all the perfectionistic, anal things we did growing up seemed normal to me. I perpetuated the cycle by marrying a firstborn and having only one child. Three firstborns in one household can make for some hilarious control-freak situations!

2) I'm from Indiana and I'm proud of it. When people ask me where I'm from, I assume they want to know where I grew up, not just where I've spent the adult years of my life. I grew up in Fort Wayne, and only lived in 2 houses from the time I could remember until the time I left home. My parents have moved 2 times since I left home, and I haven't had to help pack or unpack boxes either time.

3) I have a degree in journalism from Taylor University, a small Christian liberal arts college in Upland, Indiana. My first job out of college was as the lifestyle editor of a small weekly newspaper called the Glen Ellyn News. I love to hear people's stories and ask them questions!

4) I have one sister who is 2.5 years younger than I am. She is the perfectionist I never was, the valedictorian of her high school class, a fabulous pianist and organist, and one of my best friends. What stumps me is that she doesn't really like making cards!

5) I believe in God and know that He created me to have a personal relationship with Him. I believe in the power of prayer, Heaven, Hell, and forgiveness. Knowing God brings much peace to life for me.

6) I met my husband on the steps of a church, and he was the third "blind date" I had in the course of 3 months after I moved to Wheaton, Illinois. We dated 3 months before we got engaged--freaked my parents out--and were married 8 months after that. That was 18 years ago. I am very blessed.

7) I don't really like steak. If I do eat it, I like A-1 sauce on it, which makes my husband crazy.

Let's see, who can I tag? I tag YOU, my readers, especially you lurkers out there who never comment. Share something!

Birthday Gifts

I promised you another post last night, but I got too tired to do it. This isn't card related, but I thought you might be interested in what my boys got me for my birthday.

The first surprise waiting for me when I arrived home from a 7-hour shift at Starbucks was a mission style coffee table for our living room. My DH found it on Craig's List and went to pick it up while I was gone. Isn't it gorgeous? We love the clean simple lines of the arts and crafts movement, and this piece matches all our other good furniture.

The other gift they gave me was Adobe Photoshop Elements, a software package that will help me enhance my pictures on this blog and be able to add a watermark to my photos to identify them as mine. They were particularly impressed with themselves because they came up with this gift idea when they overheard a conversation I had with Lydia about sizing and watermarking my work. I'll have to sit down and really read the manual, but hopefully you'll see the changes soon!

The rest of the afternoon was filled with errands, and we decided to order in for dinner. I wanted sushi from the same restaurant we went to for our anniversary. I decided not to get the same thing I had before, but to branch out and try some of the other offerings. I had shrimp tempura roll and a unagi roll, which features BBQ eel. Bob chose a bagel roll, which has smoked salmon, cream cheese, and cucumber, topped with masago. Bob didn't like his at all, and picked out the salmon and heated up leftover pot roast for his dinner. I didn't find mine as wonderful as the one I had before, but I still joined the Clean Plate Club at the end of the meal!

Tonight we'll be getting together with some new friends we're in a group with. I'm taking chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for us to enjoy, and that'll be the day. Birthdays aren't what they once were, but this one was really nice.

Great Cards, Great Friends

Tomorrow is my 42nd birthday. Here are several cards that I received from friends! The first is from Connie, who lives in Wheaton, IL. We've known each other for about 14 years, and I was WAY into stamping before she discovered it! Now her collection surpasses mine. When we lived in the same town, Connie would freely share her sets so that we both didn't have to own the same ones. I miss that!

Her card features the new Party Hearty set, and her favorite color family, Bold Brights. I love how the background panels utilize the different elements--party hats, a large "b", a present, and a candle--from the set! Those cupcakes are so festive too, and are coordinated in such a cool way. The word window punch made quick work of the sentiment, I'm sure!

Connie makes cards for her church to use to send to shut-ins and those who are convalescing after illness or surgery. She has also made cards for a local crisis pregnancy center for several years. This shared hobby has kept us close across the miles. Thanks for your friendship, dearheart!

The second card is from fellow former Illinoian and SU! demonstrator Nadine Amy. Nadine moved to GA not long after I did--or was it before?--and she has used SU! as I have, to meet new friends and share what she loves with them! I really like the unique use of a classic, but retired set, Wonderful Words, as the stem for the flower from Embrace Life. I'm not exactly sure which Designer Series Paper this is, but it coordinates beautifully with the simple, elegant design of the card. I so love it! Thanks for remembering...we really do need to get together SOON!

The third card is from my convention roomie, Neelam Kulkarni. It uses Pocket Silhouettes, one of the first sets we both knew we HAD to have when we saw it in the catalog! The design is classic Neelam: clean, simple lines, and elegant always. The colors used are Baja Breeze and Sahara Sand, some really pretty but unknown to me DSP, cream satin ribbon, and our new collection of buttons. It's so beautiful in real life. Isn't amazing how God brings new people into your life to enrich it? It's hard for me to believe that I didn't know her this time last year. Thanks, girlfriend, for the lovely card.

My boys really went all out this year to make me feel special. Tomorrow I'll share what they did...complete with photos.

Urgent Need...and You Can Help!

Dear Friends,

I don't use my blog to make Public Service Announcements, but with what has happened in New Orleans from Gustav and could happen again this weekend with Hurricane Ike bearing down on the Gulf Coast, I thought this was appropriate. Ya'll are generous people; I know that.

Please follow this link to the blog of a pastor I know who's trying to help a fellow pastor in Baton Rouge get tarps to cover home roofs for folks in his town and region before the next wave of water hits this area.

This is not a hoax. And religion has nothing to do with this. There are folks who are facing WEEKS without electricity and their belongings are exposed to the elements. This is just the plea of someone who's on the ground, at ground zero, who can get help to them quickly.

We can band together and get things done faster than either the state or federal government can. So, if like I, you often feel helpless during situations like these, this is something tangible you can do to help. It isn't cheap, but wouldn't you want someone to do it for you, if you were in this situation?

If you choose to purchase some tarps, let me know, and I'll make it worth your while. Thanks for considering this...

Modern Friendship and Wonderful You

Our son has a friend named Tristan. They like to get together and hang out. This is what they do when they're together. They sit side by side and play an online computer game. They talk back and forth, sometimes verbally and sometimes using the online chat option. They did this for about 5 hours last night and had a great time. I really don't get it, but I'm not 14. I didn't grow up surrounded by technology that let me type messages to friends and send them through cyberspace, to be received moments later. I wrote letters and waited days and weeks for them to be delivered, read, and responded to.

I didn't grow up with an answering machine on any telephone, so the phone just rang and rang and rang if they weren't home. I had to wait to connect with them until they were home. Not so now; Michael received a cell phone with a texting keyboard so that he can communicate without speaking a word to the person he wants to connect with. While it's convenient, I think there's something sad that it's perpetuating. Communicating without connecting. But he doesn't see it that way. It's just his old Mom who's bothered by it. I'd love your thoughts about this.

Okay, enough of that. Here's the card I made last night. It showcases a technique of dry embossing that doesn't require a brass template, but vellum, stamps, and Versamark ink. I stamped the outline leaf branch image from Wonderful You with Versamark on the vellum, traced it lightly with my dry embossing tool, and had this cool design element to work into a card.

I pulled out the Urban Garden Designer Series Paper--again--and was drawn to the stripes. The color that the vellum was matted to had to be dark or the design wouldn't show. I incorporated some mulberry paper, along with a Going Gray card stock mat and the a Basic Black base. I attached the vellum with silver brads to the DSP. This is a very muted card and I think I'll use it if I need a sympathy card. This card was hard to photograph so that it didn't look washed out.

This was a very busy weekend. Lots of work at Starbucks, with more to come. Don't know how much I'll be able to post, but keep checking back!

When the Chocolate Speaks...

you have to listen, right? Then why am I having such a hard time unwinding tonight? What are your plans for the weekend?

Celebrating Again and a New Card

Fourteen years ago today I had a baby boy. He was named after his paternal great-grandfathers, "Mike" and Bill. That boy weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz. and was 21" long. Today, Michael William is 5' 6" tall, weighs over 100 lbs. and wears a men's small shirt and size 12 shoes! AAAAACKKK!! Where has the time gone?

He is absolutely fabulous, and a delight to have around--I'm not kidding! He even tolerated having his mug shot and the moments of his special day preserved for posterity. My day started early because I forgot that he wanted an ice cream dessert for his "cake" (not a big fan of the stuff for some reason), so I trotted off to Kroger before taking him to school to get the supplies I needed. Ice cream sandwiches with a fabulous "glue" or "frosting" of Cool Whip, hot fudge, and peanut butter. While I was there, I picked up powdered doughnuts, one of his favorites. He's not much of a breakfast guy, as you can see by the photo.

He went to school, but it was early release today--the perfect gift from the school system--so he was home by 2:15 instead of 5:00. For his birthday meal from Mom's Restaurant, he ordered parmesan chicken, rice orzo pilaf, and the aforementioned dessert. Note the glaring absence of a fruit or vegetable to balance the meal. He's a typical guy! The best meals contain meat and starch and end with sugar! I couldn't stand it; I steamed some broccoli for me and Bob.

He chatted on the phone with his friend and birthmate, Emily, and is enjoying some time online playing a computer game that he has been on a leave of absence from so as not to be distracted during this first month of school. The special dispensation to play brought a big smile to his face.

Okay, thanks for tolerating that bit of family news. Here's the card I made this evening while Michael's online and Bob's at a meeting. The design is called a pop up card, and I tried it because I saw Mary Jo Albright's tutorial at SCS today. I chose Sage Shadow, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, and Very Vanilla as the color scheme for this card because of a car seat pattern I saw at Target this afternoon. Inspiration is everywhere, so keep an eye out for it!

I know that in the first picture it doesn't look like a pop-up at all, but I wanted you to see what it looks like for mailing. It's great that it folds up and fits in a regular A2 envelope!

I'm really happy with how this turned out--the Always set never fails me--and I enjoyed adding little details, like the border and CTC 1/4" grosgrain ribbon around the base. It doesn't show in the photo, but it's on both sides. I like the idea of this card. It can sit around and serve as a reminder for someone in need of encouragement. It could even hold a photo, although it would have to be pretty tightly cropped. (Hmmmm...an idea for Christmas cards?) I'm going to write out a message on a separate piece of VV and attach it to the back before I send it.

Well, tomorrow's another day off for me, so I hope to make another card, this time featuring another new product from the SU! F-W Catalog--Power Flower Card Elements. Come on back and see me then!

Celebrating

As I shared earlier today, my anniversary was yesterday. Tonight we went out to dinner as a family, since our son's birthday is tomorrow. The restaurant choice was mine--Rice, a sushi bar with traditional Asian food as well.

We started off with an appetizer plate, and Michael enjoyed the chicken satay--thus the menacing spear--but he really enjoyed the crab rangoon most. I was proud of him for trying something new! Bob tried a smoked salmon sushi and liked it.

Then we moved on to the main course. The guys had traditional entrees, but I knew I wanted sushi, so I took the recommendation of our waiter and had the house's featured roll, aptly named the Yummy Roll. Raw salmon and tuna with a bit of cream cheese and blanched pencil-thin asparagus, wrapped the traditional way, then lightly battered with a tempura and quickly fried. It was soooooo good! I think what I like best about sushi is the texture. It just has great mouth feel, as well as tasting marvelous!

After dinner we went to the Verizon store and upgraded my phone and Michael's. We both chose the LG Voyager. Michael has been using my old phone for the past 2 years, and he wanted one that had a texting keyboard. He was very surprised and pleased with his present.

Tomorrow my boy will be 14. I can hardly believe it! Only 4 more years with him and then he'll be off to college. I've been told not to blink.

Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head--YAY!!

It's a beautiful day here in north GA because Fay is finally dropping a motherload of RAIN on our area! It started raining yesterday, off and on, and it has been raining steadily all day today. It's creating a large red dirt puddle and small stream just off our deck in our backyard (which conveniently slants away from the house!), but bring it on--we'll take it!

I don't have to work today, so I'm spending the day in the craft room or on the couch reading or in the bathroom cleaning (I'm avoiding the last task as long as possible!). The sound of rain pattering on the roof and pinging down the gutters is one of my favorite things. I just hope the ground can absorb it, or that all the runoff finds its way into our lake and returns it to full pool--we're about 12 FEET below normal!

In other news, yesterday was my 18th wedding anniversary! I made this card quite awhile ago, but had saved it for just the right occasion. Well, yesterday certainly was the right occasion.

Let me tell you about my wonderful husband. We met 19 years ago, dated 3 months before getting engaged, and were officially married before we'd known each other a full calendar year. When you know, you know, and we were certain about our love for each other, even when others weren't. I have been so blessed!

I have a husband whose unconditional love for me is steadfast, whose support of my abilities and talents is unwavering, whose wisdom and gentleness set the tone for our home, and whose friendship makes me feel so secure. I so love you, Bob! We have had, by the grace of God, a strong, stable, fun life together. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. Thanks for all of you that you give so generously to me, day after day, year after year.

Since our anniversary happened to fall on piano lesson night this year, we're going out to dinner tonight. We're bringing our son along because his 14th birthday is tomorrow! I'll post pictures tomorrow of our meal out, because I'm hoping to get "my boys" to try sushi!

There's a break in the rain--hey, the sun's peeking out!--so I have to run out and try to pick up some Velcro dots so that I can post a picture of this WAY CUTE project I found online this past weekend and made this morning. Before I go, though, I wanted to post two cards I received this week. I'm just like everyone else--I LOVE REAL MAIL!--and these two cards are beautiful, aren't they?

I hope you're not hoarding your cards. Get them in the mail! They really will make someone's day. They don't have to say much. Just sending a little message communicates more than you know. Thanks, Lydia!

Moooooooo La La La La Marvelous Mac!!!

WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS POST ON AN EMPTY STOMACH! If you're not a foodie as well as a stamper, skip down about halfway to see a new set of stamps that came in the mail today. The main content of this post, however, is the story of an AMAZING macaroni and cheese experience my family had this evening. Try not to drool on your keyboard as you read!

A few days ago, my friend Lydia posted this picture on her blog and taunted her readers with this caption: "Are you jealous? You should be. You should covet my mac & cheese." I was not the only one who responded to this by pleading with her for the recipe. Being that she's a good sharer and plays well with others, she obliged.

Armed with the ingredients list, I trotted off to the grocery Sunday afternoon. Imagine my sticker shock when I began adding items to my cart!! Yes, the sum total of JUST THE CHEESE was $26.67! But I wanted to KNOW if this macaroni & cheese was as near to a controlled substance as she said it was, so I put those thoughts about this meal costing as much as 8 gallons of gas out of my head. I loaded everything perishable into the fridge when I got home and waited for a reasonable amount of time to occur in my schedule so that I could enjoy the crafting of this dish.

This afternoon I could stand it no longer. I didn't have a leisurely amount of time I was wanting, though. I had 1 hour to get dinner on the table, and I decided it was time to see if this dish lived up to the hype.

I shredded cheese with abandon while the roux and whole milk simmered on the stovetop. My red tri Aussie Carly was right underfoot, very quietly licking up the cheese fragments that fell to the floor so that our other dog, Shadow, would not get in on these marvelous morsels. I had everything ready to go by 5:24 pm, so I stuck it into the oven for its 30 min. baking time and moved on to the rest of dinner.

Oh, and I also took a few minutes to mount these stamps that arrived today!! This is the set that was handed out to all demonstrators FREE at the last session of convention. They are a gift from UPS called Say it with Scallops. This set is our Ronald McDonald House charities set as well. More on that later...

Back to our story...this is what my macaroni & cheese looked like when I pulled it from the oven. Lydia's recipe calls for cubed bread to soak up any excess butter that comes to the surface during cooking, but my Dad's mom used saltine crumbs, so did the same.

OOOOOOHHHHHHH MMMYYYYYYYYY WWWWWOOOOOORRRRDDDDD!!! This macaroni & cheese should be a controlled substance! Our 13-year-old son called it Crack Macaroni. He had 3 helpings and I had to swat his fingers away from grabbing a few more nibbles. The only word that really describes this is WOW. The blend of the three cheeses is just right, and the mouth feel is velvety. Food memories are powerful things, but hard to recapture once the person who made the dish has passed away. This macaroni & cheese brought back wonderful memories of my Grandma Blum. She used to make it from scratch and paired it with fried liver. That may wreck the entire image for you, but it's my food memory, so deal!

Do whatever you have to do to give this dish a try. The only caveat to the recipe I'd make is that I made half a recipe of the sauce, and I still needed 1 lb. of noodles.

It's my turn to taunt you. What are you gonna do?

Monday, Monday

This day of the week is one I welcome, but dread at the same time. Why? Because it's a return to routine, which I really like (call me crazy, but I'm not a fan of weekends), but it's a really hectic day.

Since I don't have a card for you today, I thought you'd enjoy following this link to view one of the most creative cards I've seen in a LONG time! Enjoy!

I'm off work tomorrow, so I'll post a card then!

New Bedroom Colors

This is what my dear husband took his hard earned vacation time to do for us while I was enjoying convention. He took several days off work so that he could be at home with our son, and together they tackled painting our master bedroom.

The decision to paint was instigated by the purchase of new bedding. I finally found what I'd been looking for! I'm not a floral girl, nor am I a frilly girl, so this makes it a bit more challenging to find something that I'm going to like.

Well, you know how hot blue and brown are, and before I found the bedding, I had told Bob that I wanted blue on the walls with brown accents. He would not go for it, stating that it would look like a nursery with blue on the walls. So, we compromised when I found the bedding, because the bedspread added a significant punch of blue to the room. I also have curtains this color, but have to wait for him to get home from a business trip (now it's his turn to travel) for them to be installed.

What do you think of the deep dark chocolate brown on the wall? It was Bob's idea, and I really like it. We felt the room could take that much of a dark color, since it has an entire bank of windows just opposite it, and because the room is fairly large.

I can't wait for the curtains to go up, and Bob wants to make a headboard that will incorporate the rust that's in the throw pillows and the sheets. SU! has a new line of unique, non-permanent, vinyl, rub-on wall decorations called Decor Elements, and one of them might just make a great statement in this room. Stay tuned!