RED ALERT!

RED ALERT!!!!!

Jane has some ATCs published in this book which is hot off the presses!!! Please see page 135 for her totally great art work!! I have not really looked through the book yet, but Mike and I flipped through it and he found Jane's name!!! How cool!!!! So, run, don't walk, to your nearest store or go to the website to order one of your own! I predict this will bring on a resurgence of ATC trading!

Congratulations Jane!!!!!

Saturday Night

- Reading Entertainment Weekly
-Reading my current book
-Watching TV with Mike
-Listening to my Ipod on my fabulous Klipsh speakers (Rod Stewart, Ramones, Paul McCartney, Flatt and Scruggs, Celia Cruz, REM)
-Working on the Faux Family Album project to send into Somerset Memories magazine
-Petting cats
-Taking a nap

I LOVE SATURDAY NIGHTS!!!!!!!

Club!

This past Saturday we had Club!! Above pictured are me, John, Bertha, Patti, Stan, Joyce, and Trish in the front. 20 years ago (that is an obscene amount of time!) we all worked together at Ingalls Hospital in the Psychiatric Unit!!!! Oh, the fond memories we have!!!! Anyway, we started meeting once a month or so and called it club. Now we are lucky to get together two to three times a year, but it is always such a joy when we do. Together we have been through the deepest tragedies that life has to offer and we have also celebrated all of life's joys. I would be lost in a world without these people!
On the work front my new job is going very well. It is only the end of day #2, but I am enjoying it so far. Jane is a great teacher, and it is so wonderful to work in an office with a bunch of nice people and no Crabby/Debbie Downer types!!!!

What Am I Going to Be When I Grow Up?

Well, I am back in the ranks of the employed. It has been three weeks, and I kind of hoped I would have several months off, but that was quite unrealistic! My dear friend Jane (of Stop, Drop, and Crop fame) got me a job in the law office where she works! I shall be her Gal Friday! Helping, assisting, and learning legalese! We are going to be working side by side, and for those of you who know us personally, that is going to be quite a hoot! Seriously, though we plan to run that office like a tight ship!!! There will be no ringing of the dysfunction junction bell! I will have a ton to learn but I am very excited and grateful for this opportunity! I am even going to have to wear "dress up"clothes! At least that is what I am calling clothing other than the scrubs I got away with wearing to the hospital.

I felt like a total "career woman" today as I wore my fancy pants and shoes and clicked around those wooden floors! Click, click, click....hear me roar, I am a professional career woman people!" This might lead to daily mascara wearing!!!! Yikes! Not to mention under eye cover up!

This all got me to thinking of what I wanted to be when I was growing up:

Ballerina
Stewardess (there were no flight attendents then!)
Barbra Streisand
Nurse
Police Woman (ala Angie Dickinson, remember her cool pantsuits??)
and more recently...
Librarian
Reading Specialist

Since those last two require more schooling, I have opted to jump into the law office gig!!

I start next Monday.

Pray for Jane..........

CREDIT INFORMATION: The first two images were found in Google and are from Soule Mama's blog.

Double Dose of Happy

This is a card I made at Stamp Camp last week. I sent it to my Mom! The stamp I used is from Stamping Up and is owned by Lorie. I think I need it!

My scanner is broken and in the shop! So, no scanning for about two months....I will have to become more proficient at picture taking! I would have loved to scan something I got in the mail today from Nan of Letters from a Hill Farm! She sent me the coolest stickers from Cavallini and Company. They are the Bird and Nest Stickers! Absolutely gorgeous and the coolest thing is that they have been on my "want it" radar for some time!!!

AND IN ADDITION TO THAT, Nan listed my blog for the Thinking Blogger Award!!! Okay, I am not sure of all that this entails, but the most important thing for me is that she listed my blog and what she said about it.......oh, it made me so happy! She described me in ways that I don't usually think of myself.

When someone lists your blog, you are to list five of the blogs that make you think and bring you joy for the same award. Five blogs that have not previously been chosen for this award.

The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote.

Here are five of the many blogs that I love that make me think:

LOTUS READS: Oh, how I love this blog! It is so exciting to find a new entry by Anjali! She is so smart and well-read. She is so well-versed in so many areas. She is a great reader and gives excellent book reviews. She sees interesting movies and talks about those. And really smart people leave great comments on her blog. Plus, she is a peach of a person!!

STUDIO STUFF: This is a blog by a very talented artist!!! I love her artwork and I love reading about her children/grandchildren. This blog never fails to inspire me and get me dreaming about things I could make.

WEE WONDERFULS: This blog makes me want to learn to embroider right this instant! Always full of eye candy and great ideas, and such a lovely feeling of comfort found right here!

PRAIRIE PAPER AND INK: Here is total inspiration for the card maker!!! Everytime I visit I am so excited by the great combinations of colors, stamps, and paper that Amy puts together!!!!!! She also has a lot of tutorials on her blog that are so helpful! Smart cookie!!

BLUHM STUDIOS: Here is the blog that really got me going! Heather helped me figure out some blog stuff and she also makes my totally cool banners for me! She puts out a zine, Portals, that is so smart and chock full of ideas and inspiration. Always inspiring, and always ready to lend a helping hand, such a sweetie!

There are many more blogs that I could list, really all the blogs on my blog roll fit the bill! Please visit as many as you can!

Viva la inspiration!!!!

Stamp Camp- March 10, 2007

Yesterday we had a very special Stamp Camp which included some very special people!!! Above pictured are Trish (the lone adult in this picture), James, Christopher, and Kathryn. Trish is teaching her project in this shot.

See, once a month we have Stamp Camp. We get to go to Lorie's house where we relax, laugh, eat, and create!!! It is a blast! Lorie is a Stamping Up demonstrator, but more imporantly she is one of my very best friends! Oh, she also happens to be Mike's aunt. That is how I first met her, but through the years we have become friends more than anything else. Lorie is the person who introduced me to stamping and got me hooked!!! At first I told her I did not need another craft, boy was I wrong!!! I need to stamp!!

Our stamp camps are usually adults only, but yesterday we had a treat because Lorie's grandkids and their lovely Moms came over too!! So we each "taught" a project. The kids had us make something that they made up and visa versa. It was a total blast and so darn cute!
Here is Christopher working on Trish's card!
DANCE BREAK!!!!! Here are Lorie and James dancing to the Arthur Godfrey Orchestra's Slowpoke!! That is one of Lorie's Dad's favorite songs!
Miss Kathryn is an accomplished dancer and here she is delighting us with one of her routines to Born to be Wild!!!! Action shot!
Darling kids with cool finished projects!!!
Miss Trish and Miss Laura had to horn in on this cute picture!!!! Please note that the very cute Mr. Sam (aged 2) could not be pinned down for any pictures (nor could Susan or Jaime the very lovely mothers of these kids!) . Great day people!!!!

Tootfest 2007!!!!

We had a fabulous time this weekend at Tootfest 2007!!! We all beat the weather odds and made it to the hotel.......which was fabulous mostly for the big table in our room. We were all able to gather around and create! Pictured above is Beth working on a journal cover. She showed a really cool way to cover the journal with precisely measured scraps of paper. Totally great!
Jane made this wonderful collage and then covered it with beeswax per the wonderful Kim!
Here are some of the most wonderful projects done by Trish (AKA Trixie). These are gorgeous!
Here is a picture of our table in use!!
Here Kim and I are going through our many vintage pictures that give us inspiration!

We had a perfect weekend of bonding, eating good food, drinking good drinks, making cool art, shopping for antiques and supplies, and just generally girlfriending!!!! Perfect weekend!!! I am ready to do it again!!!!!!

March 1st!!!!!! New month, new life!

Artwork by Kim of Art Dog's Life This is SO gorgeous!!! Thank you Kim!!!!

Thank you everyone for your invaluable and supportive comments! You all helped me so much. I am not clear on what my new path will be yet. I am slowly working on it, but also taking in a healthy dose of relaxation. The cool thing is that Mike is between jobs too, so he is home for a couple of weeks. We are finally getting some much needed time to do house repairs and generally getting our life in order.

However, first order of business is TOOTFEST 2007! Okay, this is the scoop, Julie and Kim were going to be in Chicago this weekend......so we decided to hang out....then Beth could also come down, and of course, Trish and Jane live here....so we decided to rent a suite with a conference room table in the room so that we could have a pajama party and our own little art retreat!!! So the plan is on Saturday we are going antique shopping and then back to our room to hang out and create!!! Do you all remember that a toot is the coin phrased by Mike and I to describe a day of doing all the stuff you love the best (mainly for us it referred to going to multiple bookstores!)?

Oh, I forgot to tell about the opera!!! Well, it was fantastic! I started out my solo trip to the opera with a two block walk from the opera house to Starbucks!! As you may remember, I have recently found the joy in drinking a latte!!! Then back to the opera house to sip my latte and people watch prior to finding my seat, which was perfect! Dress Circle, right above the box seats, clear view..........the house lights dimmed and we were off! The music was amazing! (Poulenc). The story (as most opera stories are) was convoluted and strange, but the singing and the staging were amazing!!!! If you ever get a chance to see an opera, try it......Here is a list of some of my favorite operas:

The Magic Flute
La Traviata
Gotterdamerung
Cosi Fan Tutte
Rusalka
The Ghosts of Versailles
Aida
Don Giovanni

Today my Mom is coming over so we can stamp and work on our art journals!!! That will be lots of fun!!!!

Yesterday we had to run errands and we ended up at Barnes and Noble. In our new frugal era we each were alloted one book.....this is the one I ended up with. It looks so totally interesting, it is a memoir about a family from Vietnam who came to live in America in 1975.

A Time For Quiet Reflection

Painting by Swedish artist - Carl Larsson (1853-1919) In The Studio After the Ball

Well, in the last post where I said I had nothing to talk about, that was not entirely true. I had a lot going on, but it was all very unpleasant. So, if I have been absent from your blog or your email, please forgive me as I have been living through a nightmarish period of time in my work life. Suffice it to say that the bad guys won, and I resigned from my position at work, along with two of my friends. It should seem obvious to any workplace that when you have three employees resign on one day that there is something seriously wrong with a situation and the way they have handled it. Lastly, it seems to me that mean and vindictive people are way too omnipresent in this world, and that is why I choose to surround myself with all the good and true friends I have........and, again, I am so thankful for each and everyone of you. So, I am on a job search, and am so happy and relieved to be out of situation that was literally draining my life force away.

I will be taking a mini-blogging break. Possibly only over the weekend. Tonight, I am going to the opera!! The Lyric Opera of Chicago is presenting Dialouges of the Carmelites by Poulenc. This is an opera that was written in 1957 and has such beautiful music. Poulenc is a French composer and his organ concerto is one of my soul pieces. That is a term my Dad started, soul piece, and as you can imagine it is a piece of music that moves your soul and defines your very life. Another one of my soul pieces is A Midsummer Nights Dream by Mendelssohn. Anyway, I am so looking forward to going this evening. My Dad and Mary bought me the ticket for Christmas. It came in the form of a gift certificate and I used the whole amount to get myself a very good seat. So, I am going solo! Which is fine, I can think my own thoughts and people watch and look at a book during intermission. I will be the one with the Mysterior Air about me (and hopefully that will not be a reflection on the perfume I choose, har har).

Then Saturday my friend Trish is coming over to help me finish up some art projects. She could tell that I needed a helping hand and offered to lend it. True friend and soul mate that she is!

Sunday is Oscar day!!!!!! Lots of red carpet watching and fashion talk.......one of my favorite days of the year!

So, I will be back to Maude and Mozart next week dear friends! Although I am a bit nervous about job searching, I am confident that I made the right move for my mental health and can only be made stronger by this whole experience!

I got Nothing!!!!! (in terms of blog material!)

Gorgeous collage by the lovely Heather Simpson-Bluhm! Wasn't she sweet to send this to me because of my love for vintage wedding images!!! This is so gorgeous!


Hey, I have not blogged for awhile! Guess what? I got nothing!! Nothing is going on, except well....we got a new car! That is pretty exciting! Mike got a new job and he now has to drive to work instead of taking the train, so we had to get another car. I finally got my wish of driving "up in the air" and we got a Mercury Mariner. It is pretty luxurious, and the best part is we are going to get a special hook-up so I can listen to my Ipod in the car! How 2007!!! and you know what is sweet? Mike made me come out to the car this evening so he could give me a tutorial on all the buttons on the dashboard. It was cute.

Now, the other thing I am dealing with is the fact that I am behind on every project I am associated with...which causes some panic for me..so if you are in the FFA, or your name is Dorothy or Jill and you are waiting for your stamp, or if you are Nan waiting for a CD, or if you are Beth or Karen waiting for a CD or if you are Dorothy, Carolyn or my Mom waiting for a journal......I am working on it!!!! Slowly, but surely, it will be winging its way to you!!!

Lastly, as nothing is really going on and I believe the winter doldrums hold me in their sway, I will tell you that tonight is all about watching TV with Mike. In fact, this last year has been the best for TV...here are the shows that we watch without fail:

24
Lost
Heroes
Gilmore Girls
American Idol
Survivor
The Office
30 Rock
Scrubs
My Name is Earl
Amazing Race

Beautiful card made by my friend Lorie!

"Friendship is the only cement that will hold the world together." Woodrow Wilson

Hello Friends!!! Isn't this card just aces???? Totally!!!

I am so blessed in my friendships! So many good, dear friends! I would never make it without your girls! Thanks for all you do for me!

Also, please note, I figured out a new feature on my blog.....Currently Reading..... I can post a picture of the cover of the book I am currently reading!! This is so much fun! It is below my about me section!!!

Under the Weather

Here's the scoop, I have been felled by a super duper head cold and sore throat! What a pip! All weekend I was only able to sleep and read, which are two of my favorite things, but I would like to have a choice in the matter. Plus, I was in pain........anyway, today it has all turned into a raging head cold so that is improvement, right?

Anyway, it gave me time to finish The Hero's Walk by Anita Rau Badami. Very excellent book! If you like books set in a foreign culture and a story about a family, then this one is for you.

Next up is this very quick read, Girl with Glasses. I started it today while waiting in the doctor's office and it seems like it will be lots of fun!!!
Okay, I know this is a cheezy entry, but what can I say, I am all fogged up over here. The card above was made during one of our marathon stamping sessions. I would like to point out that the whole background is done with a Tim Holtz stamp from Stamper's Anonymous! Is it not just gorgeous! Also the ink used is Tim Holtz' Aged Mahogany. Get some people!! It is so cool!

STOP, CROP, AND ROLL!!!!

Well, we had to make a Bee Line straight over to Archivers tonight because Beth told us the new Basic Grey paper was in!!!!!!! There is Jane being bowled over by the thrill of it all!!!

We were in a scrapbook store a while ago, and as we were leaving the salesperson said, "Happy Cropping!" Well, that was all it took for us to burst out laughing and making endless jokes about how lame that statement was!!!! It was not a big leap for Jane to take the old fire safety addage and change it to Stop,Crop, and Roll!!! Well, she is a Fire Chief you know!
Above is a piece from one of the four new lines of paper from Basic Grey. I am a big fan of their products, but I must say I did not go ape over the new stuff. I prefer the Blush line over the new stuff. Just one gal's opinion though! It certainly is not ugly that is for sure. Anyway, regardless of what it looked like, we had to see it hot off the presses and we did!

Here is Jane with a deer stamp that I look at everytime I go to Archivers. I don't know what it is about this stamp, I just like it, but obviously not enough to buy it!
Here is Jane with our circle stamps! We saw these used on a sample card and had to have them STAT!!!!!! We ordered them about a month ago. We waited with baited breath until they came in...now they are all over the place, but we had them first people so we win!
Here is a lovely shot of all the Basic Grey new line paper.
Stamps!!!!!!! and Ribbon!!!! Don't you just want to dive in????????

Reading

Beautiful card made by my friend Liz!!!!!
Currently reading: The Hero's Walk by Anita Rau Badami.

Well, actually I just started the first few pages last night, but I think this is going to be a very good book! It comes highly recommended by my friend Anjali! Actually the book itself comes from Anjali who sent it to me all the way from Canada!! This is the Canadian edition too! Cool! Anjali writes the most perfect book reviews! They are very detailed and really give you a feel for the book. Her blog is totally intriguing! Check it out~

Ever since my best friend Noreen gave me Memoirs of a Geisha to read I have loved reading novels about people from different cultures. I find it fascinating to read books set in India or Africa for example. Some of my favorite out of America books are The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahri (although this is really about people assimilating into American culture), The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan, Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakurini, Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros, and my all-time favorite book in the world, A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry.

However, the book I just finished yesterday is a total immersion into American pop culture. It is titled Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield. Great book!!! Such heart! So readable! The most amazing thing is, I did not realize it was a memoir until I finished the book and read the acknowledgements. I thought it was a novel. Wrong! There are tons of pop culture references in the book, many of which I did not understand, but that did not stop me from identifying with the characters and becoming totally engrossed in the story. In brief, the author traces his life and loves and heartbreaks through mix tapes he has made through the years. Highly recommended!

I was the victim of a Truncated Template!!!!!

Oh for crying out loud!!! Ever since yesterday my blog has been OOP (out of operation!!) I finally got some information from a blogger person that I had a truncated template!!!! Whatever! How insulting and rude!!! Right during my big giveaway!!! Then to add insult to injury the Bears lost the Super Bowl! I confess I am a fairweather fan, I went up to bed after halftime to read my book, which is Very Good and will probably be on my Top Ten list this year.

AND NOW WITHOUT FURTHER ADO.......The winners of the stamps are:

DOROTHY!!!!!!!!

and

JILL!!!!!!

I will contact the winners tomorrow to get mailing information. It is almost 11 p.m., way past my bedtime, so I must get upstairs to get my ZZZZZZ'ssss!

Again, this has been such a wonderful time of meeting so many new people and visiting so many great blogs!!! Thank you to everyone who entered, and I hope we will have lots more interaction in the future!!!

Since I had the truncated template, I have to add my links again, and I am sure there will be lots of new ones now!

Lastly, thank you to the loveliest of lovelies, Sandy at Art Tea Life for starting this whole giving of the heart!!!! Sandy is such a bright spot for so many of us!! A big wahooo of a cheer is sent up from this house to your house dear!

Valentine Fairy Giveaway

In keeping with the lovely tradition started by Sandy of Art Tea Life I would like to sponsor a Valentine giveaway! I will draw names of participants who leave a comment for me on my blog. To make my day, would you leave the name of one of your favorite books in the comment section? There will be two winners, one stamp to each winner. The first one is a charming little fairy from Stamp Francicso and the second one is a cool word stamp from Inkadinkadoo. Last entry taken at 12 noon central time this Sunday, February 4th.
I will write all the names down on slips of paper and then Mike will pick the winners during half-time of the Super Bowl this Sunday! I hope the Bears are winning at half-time and at the end of the game!

Bella

It is a miracle! I made a card after work! Usually I am reading and TV watching during the week, but today my first two Bella stamps came and I had to try them out so I whipped up this card! Used Prismacolor and Gamsol to do the coloring. Also, the new ribbon that I got at Michael's last night. Jane and I have a bit of a ribbon problem and we were there oohing and ahhing over the new stock! We bought about ten rolls and decided to split them! Smart thinking!

Anyway, I think I have mentioned these Bella stamps before, but you might want to take a lookg at the website. These are a new line of stamps from a woman in Canada. Small business owner....and she designs her own stamps!! Very cool! They are lots of fun! Also, if you want to see examples of beautiful Bella cards, please visit Little Pink Flowers or Prairie Paper & Ink.
Those gals know their way around a Bella. Also, Little Pink Flowers has a new card making program that sounds divine! So, check that out if you are so inclined.

Other than that, not much happening around here as it is in the teen's with a zero wind chill! I am one of the huddling masses, glad to be able to go upstairs and start a new book. So far I have read four of the books from my TBR list.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Blankets by Craig Thompson
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
King Dork by Frank Portman.

Sadly, this is the only thing in my life that I am caught up on or ahead of schedule on!!! Oh well, one must be true to themself! or something like that!

21 cards!

Yesterday was such a blast!!! We had an impromptou stamp-a-thon! You see, Jane's friend Liz was in from Florida! and at the last minute Jane was able to put together a stamping get together! We started early too! Trish came to pick me up at 8 and we went out to get the Starbucks!
Then over to Jane's house where she had set up a stellar stamping area! Trish and I unloaded our goods onto two tables and called them Trish's store and Laura's store. Contained therein were supplies, stamps, images, ribbon for all to use. Over on the other side of the room where all of Jane's stuff was we called Jane's outlet mall! It is jam-packed with great stamps, etc.
We ended up stamping for about ten hours! I made 21 cards in all and some of them are featured here! It was so great to have such a large output! and I like almost all of the cards I made!
Sorry about the poor scanning on these last three. I could not figure out how to fix that.
I realized that my style of stamping is very simple. I enjoy putting together the basics and do not enjoy working with store bought embellishments other than rub on's and ribbons. I like to use rubber stamps, old pages from books or sheet music, card stock from SU, rub-ons, copies of photos and postcards that I have found at antique shops, ribbons, and patterned paper. And that is it. I now know what I like and I am sticking with this style for awhile. I will embrace my simplicity and hope others like it.

We sure had fun yesterday. Of course the creativity was great, but it was just so much fun to spend the day with others who are crazy about stamping. We had Thai food for lunch, laughed a lot, ate "Reesie" peanut butter cups, and even had a fire in the fireplace. GOOD TIMES! I said it was as good as Christmas Day!

Today I am obsessed with.........

Today I am obsessed with.......

Art by Diane Duda. This woman is a genius!!!!!! This is her work above and the newest addition to my growing Duda collection.

Seeing all five movies that were nominated for Best Picture today! (so far have only seen The Queen)

Retired Stamping Up set, Sugar and Spice (thanks Karen! said with sarcasm!)

Finding out about music that is tinged with the sounds of India and George Harrison! Thanks Anjali! By the way, please visit Anjali's blog, Lotus Reads, for the best book reviews around!! I love her blog!

Daydreaming about being a famous classical musician and having this as my album cover!!! How Rhonna Farrar!! (if you know what I mean!)

Broadway show tune CDs!!!!! Chicago, 42nd Street, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and my current favorite, The Drowsy Chaperone!!!!

Self-exile to a magical cabin in a forest located next door to the world's best bookstore and stamp store!!! I could read this book, The Top Ten, and order all the books that sound interesting and stamp and read to my heart's content.

What are you obsessed with lately?