Round Robin #9

It's that time of month again! Time to post my scrappy lift of my Swirly Sisters' great work. School is really keeping me busy so this will probably be the only scrapping I do again for the entire month. That just really stinks! I am really looking forward to December because I will have some time off from classes.

Anyway, the twist for the RR this month was to scrap something you are thankful for. My brother-in-law took this picture at Thanksgiving and it was perfect for the Lavender Escape kit from Swirlydoos. This is what I am thankful for: a relationship with my bff that has lasted for 12 years and turned into something more. I am thankful that he has been around all these years for me and that he loves me like he does. It is a wonderful thing to be treasured every day by a strong Christian man.

The resist paper was inked with various TH distress inks. The Pink Paislee ring was painted with TA Glam. The flowers are from the Lavender Escape kit and past Sdoos kits. The chipboard letters were painted with TH Rock Candy then dipped in diamond dust. All other embellies are from Sdoos kits.

Round Robin #8

Wow! School and work are just too much right now! I am not getting in my scrap room near enough. Thank goodness for the Round Robin challenge this month which forced me to scrap a page. My lo was due this morning but I did not even start working on it until two hours ago! I had two papers to write before I could even think about scrapping. Anyway, here is my submission for October.

I was lucky to follow Tina and Sherri for this awesome RR. Thank you for the great work! I used the Lavender Escape kit from Swirlydoos and some Prima and bling from past kits to put this one together. The leaves are from my stash. I used Robin's water distressing technique to put this one together. This is my dd's freshmen school picture. tfl!

Steampunk

Here's my first project using the Steampunk kit from Swirlydoos. I altered an 8x8 canvas that I received in a past kit. All the papers are from the G45 Steampunk paper pack. I added some ZVA bling, a Prima flower, and tulle from past kits. The 7G bling gears were a RAK from Robin. I altered the DA dress form by using Smooch Spritz in gold then embossing with TH black embossing powder. The body was then covered in one of the papers. Modge Podge was used to adhere all papers to the canvas.

The saying is, "Woman was taken out of man; not out of his head to top him, nor out of his feet to be trampled underfoot; but out of his side to be equal to him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be loved.”

Altered Canvas

I picked up this 12x12 canvas in the clearance aisle at Michaels. It was calling my name last night so I altered it for a challenge over at Swirlydoos. The canvas was pretty loose on the frame and I was worried that I would have to pull the staples and stretch it. ugh! But, some of my Swirly sisters were talking about using Gesso to prime canvas so I used it on my canvas. It actually pulled the canvas tight around the frame and made a perfect background for stamping and inking.

One of the challenges this month is to use at least two pieces of Dusty Attic (DA) on your layout. I used the lamppost and the word "inspire" to complete this challenge. The lamppost was painted with metallic gold paint and then embossed with black embossing powder. Some of the embossed powder was rubbed off for a distressed look. Then I added vellum underneath the lamps and filled the lamps with Glossy Accents (GA) to make them look like glass. The "inspire" was painted with Tim Holtz (TH) crackle paint.

All of the papers and TH bookplate were from Robin as a prize for winning the Round Robin (RR) Challenge last month. Thank you again, Robin. The RAK was gorgeous! I added some lace and ribbon from my stash as well as past Swirlydoos kits. The Prima flowers and bling were from my stash and Robin as well as past Sdoos kits. The Prima leaves were from my stash. The key is a Tattered Angels (TA) embellie from a Sdoos kit. The canvas was inked with various TH distress inks and then stamped with a Prima stamp. I added the fence from Joanne's after painting it with TH crackle paint. So, here ya go!

I had been saving this canvas knowing I wanted to use a Bible verse on it but I was having a hard time deciding which verse to use. There were just too many that I liked! Anyway, this verse has been popping up a lot in my life lately so it only seemed fitting to use it. I hope it inspires you!

oops! I just noticed I cropped the poor bird's head off in the upper left corner of the picture.

Just because...

I haven't posted to my blog as often since classes started here's a sneak peek at my entry for the Round Robin in September. heehee.

You can visit the Swirlydoos gallery to see the full lo. The papers you see are from the Mon Amour kit. This is a beautiful kit! Thank you, Krissy!

Wow!

I am so surprised and excited! Over Labor Day weekend I went to the Lake and really enjoyed relaxing. When I got back home on Monday I logged into the Swirlydoos forums to find that I had won the Round Robin Challenge for August! Thank you, Swirly Sisters! Here's the lo again:

 Thanks to Lisa aka StarSailor for the inspiration for this one!

Well, then I started tooling around the forums to see what I had missed only to find that the DT voted my "Boys of Fall" lo as the grungiest lo for the grunge contest! Yippee!  Here's the lo:

 And, the prize for this one is $80 worth of Yellow Bicycle products from the Generation Z line. In fact, it's every product from that line. Wow! Thank you, Swirlydoos!

Embrace

Here's another lo created from the Shabby Ambition  kit from Swirlydoos. This is an adorable picture of my dn and dn while they were in NM this summer.

A blast from the past

Well, it has been awhile since I have posted so here's another one for today. My sister came out again last weekend and you know what that means-we scrap. Here's one that I finished while I was waiting for her to show up.

I used Shabby Ambition from Swirlydoos to complete this lo. The lo is based on Beggahuna's August sketch. I used the Tattered Florals TH die for the large flower. Yes, you heard me right. I got my grubby little hands on that hard to find TH die. The other flowers are all Prima from a current or past Swirlydoos kit.

These pictures were taken back in 2000 when "The Three Musketeers" were together. Dauvida, Roger, and I had some wonderful times together with and without our kids. This Easter I invited everyone to come to an early Easter egg hunt before we headed off to church. My dd is wearing a dress that I made for her. Check out the hair! I did not realize how much our hairstyles and clothing had changed in just the last ten years.

Round Robin #7

I can't believe we have been doing this Swirlydoos challenge for seven months now! It is still my favorite challenge and I thank Meg and Robin for hosting this one every month. Here's my entry for August. I followed our talented DT member, Lisa.

This lo was created with pp, chipboard, and Prima from the current Swirlydoos kit. The cb was inked and stamped with a script background stamp. There is some sewing and distressing on this lo to add to the vintage flair. The MS punch adds a decorative edge below the photo of me. I used a Stampin' Up! stamp and fussy cut around it to create the frame behind "Beloved." Some leaves, pearls, Prima flowers, and a metal trinket are from my stash. I copied Lisa's idea to add handwriting around the outer edge of the large photo mat. tfl!

SGC August Challenge

Here's my entry for the Swirly Girls Challenge for the month of August. I used the Zutter to distress all the edges, then I used Robin's wet distressing technique but I used GM as suggested by another Swirly sister (Angelica, I think), then I used Lisa's rusted chipboard technique on the chipboard butterfly. I followed her technique and painted the chipboard first, then embossed with Puffs rather than distress embossing powder for my twist. Then I used my finger to rub off some of the Puffs to let the paint show through. All papers, bling and flower are from the latest Swirlydoos kit.

This is a photo of my Dad and me while we lived in the Philippines.

Another Grunge Challenge

There is another grunge contest at Swirlydoos. This contest is open to anyone so go check it out here. For this contest I scrapped one of my ds's football pictures. That is him, #14, diving for a tackle during last season. I used the Fragmented Frames to highlight this photo. The background is a 12 x 12 piece of cardboard that has been painted, GM'ed, and embossed with bronze embossing powder.

I took the title from a country music song about high school football and used it as my title, "The Boys of Fall." I added some TH grungeboard (the skull), TH linen tape, TH fragments, TH distress stickles, and some eyelets mounted backwards to finish the grunge look. tfl!

Long Distance Scrap Challenge #2

Ok, we had fun with the first challenge so we decided to do it again! I think we said, "Now what?" at the same time! lol! So, my challenge this time was to use ribbon and an embossing folder. I hope the lace counts. I used it to frame the picture. Then, I used the CB butterfly die and embossing folder.

The pp and floral vine are from the latest Swirly kit. One of our very own Swirly sisters made the floral vine. You can check out her etsy shop here. I added some other Prima's to the vine and then Prima's SIIP. That's about it since my one hour was about over and it was time to post! This is a picture of me on Easter way back in 2000! Don't miss the hair but would like to be that thin again (workin' on it).

In such a hurry to post I forgot to reveal my challenge to Sheri. She had to use alcohol inks and three things from her Clip It Up. See what she did here.

Let Us Love One Another

Quick! We had one hour and two challenges to include on a new 12 x 12 lo. Sheri and I couldn't scrap together in the same room so we scrapped long distance. She gave me two challenges and I gave her two challenges. Then we had one hour to complete a lo. Well, the pizza delivery guy came and then Cody ran out the door. My dd and her friend caught Cody and we ate pizza. THEN, I got to finish the challenge (a little late). Ok, my challenge was to use my Cricut and one of my 12" Quikutz strips.

I used the latest Swirlydoos kit for this pic of my niece and nephew. The crackle paint is not quite dry on the cb bird yet! The other bird was cut with the Cricut and the swirly was cut with the E6 using a QK strip.

Now, I challenged her to use a stamp that she hadn't used in awhile and she had to make her own flowers. Go check out her challenge lo here.

Jan-Jan

Here's another lo created with Summer Serenity from Swirlydoos. It was for a challenge being hosted by Robin and is called "I'm a little bit vintage." The idea of the challenge is to scrap a baby picture of yourself and include what you were called as a baby.

When I was little people apparently thought my name was too short. My name is Jan. But people would call me Janet, Jane, or Janice when I first introduced myself. yuk! I was called Jan-Jan or Miss Jan by my family. Those names stuck and I liked them because that's what my Dad would call me. I am still a Daddy's girl; so Jan-Jan it is.

So, here's my take on it. I used pp from the kit and the Kaiser flowers. I layered the flat Kaiser flowers to make the pink buds. I used the TH pen to alter the color of bling so it matched the lo. Then I used TH crackle paint to alter the picket fence that I picked up at Joanne's. The Prima butterfly vine (minus the butterflies) was from a past kit. The doilie, vintage tag, and TH bookplate were from my stash.

It's official, I am now a "city girl"

To do List:

Housecleaning.....done

Laundry.....done

Walk dogs.....done

Pay bills.....done

So, then it's time to scrap! Yay! I was working on my third lo when the neighbor rang my doorbell. I thought little Brenner must have gotten out but she didn't have him when I answered the door. hmmmm.... She was a little upset and shaking. What is up? She told me "my boys" (a 9 lb. Bichon and 5 lb. Yorkie) were in the back yard killing a bunny. I pretty much shut the door in her face to run out the back door.

Sure enough! They were playing with a tiny bunny. The poor thing was squeaking. I grabbed him up and half the fur on his back was gone. My boys were trying to remove his squeaker, which is what they do to all of their toys. I wrapped the poor guy in a towel and ran over to another neighbor's house because she volunteers at the Wildlife Rescue Center. We took the little guy to the Rescue Center and I hoped he would be alright.

I got a tour of the place and by the time we were ready to leave I found out they were putting the poor little guy to sleep. Too much of his skin was missing and they said he wouldn't make it. ***sniff, sniff*** Poor guy. I guess I am no longer a country girl because growing up in the country we would never have considered rushing a bunny to the Rescue Center. He would have been put out of his misery on the spot curtesy of one of my brother's rifles. I am still sorry the little guy didn't make it.

Another heritage layout

Here's another lo using pictures from my Grandma's scrapbook.

I used papers from the July Swirlydoos kit for this. The doily that was included in the kit was used as a mask around the outer edge of the cardstock. I added a 7G card from a past kit as well as some Prima buds and other flowers. The large flower is made from the tissue paper of a shirt pattern. I added some Prima leaves from my stash. The BG journaling block was included in the kit. This is Graham Bishop playing with Grandpa and Grandpa Bishop's dog, Butch.

Wedding Day - 1914

This is a total lift of MandaK's lo in the Round Robin Challenge for this month. Her "Egghead" layout was a great design so I used it for this lo as well. This is the wedding day photo of my great-grandparents, Harry and Alvia Bishop. The photo was taken on January 27, 1914.

All papers are from the Summer Serenity Swirlydoos kit. The DA was spritzed with Smooch Spritz. The large Prima flowers and ZVA were from the kit as well. I added some smaller Prima flowers, leaves, and pearls from my stash. tfl!

Round Robin #6

It was my turn to post my lo for the Round Robin challenge at Swirlydoos. This is still my favorite challenge. This time I followed Tammy and she gave me a great lo to "lift"! I have had these pictures of my "littles" for over ten years now. Grandma Ali gave them these teddy bears and took these pictures of them because she thought they were so cute just sitting there cuddling with their new teddies.

The busy background has always made me put these pictures back in the stack. Nothing ever seemed to really look good with that background. Kwim? And, to make matters worse, I used my Creative Memories oval cutter to cut these pictures in oval shapes. ***gasp*** Yes, at one time I thought that would be really cool. Now? Not so much. Luckily I was able to "re-crop" them back to squares and use them on this lo.

All the paper is from the July Swirlydoos kit as well as the largest Prima flowers. The bling and stamp are Prima. The flowers are from my stash. I altered the DA with paint and TH distressed embossing powder. I used the TH alcohol ink pens that were included in the July kit to alter the color of the pearls added to the flowers and stamped image. And, of course, used my Zutter Distrezz It All to distress the edges of everything.

The chipboard letters were inked, smeared with TH Rocky Candy and then dipped in Diamond Dust to get the "sugared" effect. This is a technique that my Swirly sister, Lisa, shared on her blog. Go check it out.

Project 365: Weeks 7, 8, 9

We just got done painting Allison's room. While we wait for the first coat to dry I will post some more pages from the Project 365 album.

journaling: I got bored this weekend and gave Brenner a haircut. It turned out okay. More snow...but the kids still had school. I made the Dean's List again. Used mainly Swirlydoos pp and embellies for this two-pager.

journaling: This was an awesome week for me because my latest Swirlydoos kit came! I also went to a make-n-take at Archivers. Then, I got to buy some nice jeans for myself. LOVE 'em. Brandon is finally done taking Accutane so I snapped him tossing it up for the last pill. Allison went to Smoothie King to celebrate her good grades. Her friends had her all tricked out after school one day so I took some pics. The pics were great for the "grunge" challenge hosted over at Swirlydoos. Used pp and flowers from Swirlydoos kit for this one.

journaling: Sheri came up for the weekend so we could scrap together. Her kids like to come up so they can play with my dogs. Allison broke her skateboard. I started preparing for our Spring Break trip to the Grand Canyon. The new tent came this week! I was so busy that I didn't even change the calendar to March until the third or fourth of the month!

Basic Grey pp here, PageMap sketch, and used my melting pot to coat the punched pp flowers (based on a tutorial found on the web.)

Project 365: Weeks 4, 5, and 6

I finally worked on my Project 365. You know, that album that I started on January 1st. A picture a day throughout the year. One double page layout per week to capture our lives throughout the year. I was really behind on it.

disclaimer: These are not "Swirly worthy" by any means.

Week #4 was the start of my classes at StLCoP, an all day crop at Jonesburg Elementary, the kids getting

 back in the groove of school, Snickerdoodles, cold temperatures, studying for classes, and free hoodies from the StLCoP bookstore. (They were just giving away all the smalls and extra-smalls!)

And, on to Week #5:

I am sporting my new haircolor (back to my natural color), we celebrated my dn's birthday, even Cody got a new do, Brenner found a way to get up in the dining room chairs, Brandon doing homework as I bribe him with hot sandwiches. And, let's not forget the laundry!

And, then...

Week #6 brought lots of snow. We lost power one evening. Luckily it was only out for several hours. I was worried that the electricity might be out over night. If that happened my fish would not make it very long. We could always put on extra layers but not my poor fishies! Ok, I was worried that we would get cold, too! Sunday was Super Bowl XLIV. We rooted for the Saints because the city of New Orleans deserved to bring home a win after Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane hit in 2005 but it was one of the five deadliest hurricanes in America and the most costly American natural disaster. The Saints triumphed over the Colts. The final score was 31-17. I was able to do a little scrapping this week. Brandon ended up with some of my cardstock rings. He wore them around the house for two days like necklaces. Ah well, I guess any type of appreciation of my scrapping is alright with me!

Ok, there are quite a few more pages but that is all for now.

I am missing...

my Swirlydoos forums. Some @%#* hacked into the website and removed everything. All the forums are gone. All the challenges are gone. All the galleries are gone. So, now poor Krissy has to rebuild everything. Many of us are missing the forums where we would go every morning to catch up with one another, share news, post our layouts, and just encourage one another. The Swirly Sisters are all amazingly talented and very sweet. I miss talking with everyone. After going to Denver at the end of April and scrapping with eleven of these awesome women I can say that this is a group of genuine women. What you see in the forums is what you get in person: great scrappin' ladies willing to share their talents and encourage one another. I hope Krissy gets things up and running again soon. Until then I guess I will just keep on scrappin'.

Without further ado here is another layout using one of the past kits. I was not able to do much with some of the past kits due to classes and exams. Here is the sketch challenge from a few months ago. I knew what pictures I was going to use but never had the time to finish it. Then, along came the June kit which was just amazing so I never finished this one. This is a layout commemorating my grandfather's 90th birthday. Just think how many changes he has seen throughout his years. All the technology that has been introduced during his lifetime is just amazing. He grew up during the Great Depression, fought in World War II, watched the Cold War. Then came The Sixties and the assasination of President Kennedy, Martin Luther King's famous speech, and Woodstock. The list goes on.

I love you Grandpa!

Grand Canyon Album 2010

Ok, here's a hybrid photo/scrap album that I put together in only a day and a half. It contains 267 photos, all the funny stories, and memorabilia from our trip in March. We went to the Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, and Grand Canyon. It was quite a trip from beginning to end.

The entire album is in a slide show to the left. I will just post the pages with the stories here. Keep in mind that many of the pages are in page protectors so there is some glare. I apologize for that but I can not photograph some of the pages outside the page protectors. Check out the slide show if you don't understand what I mean.

So, here's the beginning:

Journaling: We packed the truck so we could take off on Friday, March 12th. We didn’t get everything done until evening. Brandon warned me the truck wouldn’t shift or go over 50 mph. We loaded it up anyway then had to buy a tarp because it started raining. We put the tarp on and left the Wal-Mart parking lot. We had to stop four or five times to adjust the tarp. Obviously we are not pros at this! Sure enough, the truck is messed up. Two hours later and only 15 miles down the road we turned around and headed for home. Rental in the morning!

Journaling: Well, here’s the story of the Toot ‘n Totem. It was Saturday March 13th and we had been driving twelve or thirteen hours when we decided it was time for another pit stop. I used the trusty GPS to locate a gas station. I was looking for something I thought would be safe. You know- a Shell, Phillips 66 or even a BP. Well, that silly GPS came up with the Toot ‘n Totem. What the heck is that?! We were NOT going to the Toot ‘n Totem! I mean, it had to be some sleazy little hole in the wall, right? So, I chose one of those well-known gas stations and punched the button to add it to our trip. Easey, Peasey. Oh no! The GPS took us to the Toot ‘n Totem! Brandon was asleep in the back seat so we didn’t wake him. Allison and I both hit the restroom (no tootin’ for us, thank you very much!) and filled up the tank. Not five minutes later we noticed this awful smell in the vehicle. It was a nasty poo smell. Ok, we are just driving by a cow pasture. No problem, the smell will pass. Nope! It was still there ten minutes later. Okaaay, are we following a livestock truck? Nope. See any cows on the side of the road? Nope. All right, Allison did you step in poop back at the Toot ‘n Totem? Nope. Then I handed her my shoes to check them. She actually sniffed them to see if they stunk! Still no source for the nasty poo smell. Then, I suggested Allison check Brandon’s pulse. Maybe he isn’t alive and he messed his breeches! I was just joking but she really did crawl back and make sure he was breathing. By this time we are laughing hysterically and have resorted to “shirtkerchiefs.” We never did figure out where that awful smell was coming from. It lasted for over thirty minutes. Good thing it was dark because we were both riding along with our noses stuck in our shirts for the entire time. Somebody sure was a tootin’! That darn Toot ‘n Totem!

Allison reminded me that I forgot to mention that Sheri called during this part of the trip and asked where we were. We responded with Poopville and Turd Town.

Journaling: I was able to get this picture because there was a huge tractor-trailer accident that shut down the highway up ahead. We sat here for about an hour and really wished we could have made a pit stop. Brandon and I enjoyed listening to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" repeatedly. Allison can't stand her, so it was unfortunate for her that every radio station seemed to be playing that song every half hour. Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah! Roma-roma-ma-ah! Ga-ga-ooh-la-la!

Journaling: Are you kidding me? Is that really frost on the propane tank for that sorry heater that did not keep us warm at night? Yep. Can I just say that we froze our butts off in that tent? Oh my! It was chilly when we crawled into the tent to watch a DVD together. I had hoped the little ProCat heater would keep us warm but it failed miserably. I don't think we got more than two hours of sleep. I had finally fallen asleep only to be frantically poked in the back by Brandon because he thought someone was creeping around our tent. Just some animal though. Later I heard on the radio that the temperature dropped to 23 degrees-a record low for March in Arizona! Nice to know we were there for that!

Journaling: I paid for 2 nights at the KOA campground but we packed up & left after hiking the Painted Desert & Petrified Forest. No way were we spending another night in the cold! I had reserved 3 nights at the Mather Campground near the Grand Canyon. I told the kids if we saw snow on the ground there was no way we were camping. I would just find a hotel room!

Sure enough, there was snow on the ground near Mather Campground so we got a room. We started unloading all of our stuff. I left the driver’s side door open with my purse sitting on the seat. Brandon was being helpful & shut the door; inadvertently locking the keys in the car. Sooooo, I spent the next 45 minutes trying to find someone to come unlock it. By this time it’s dark & apparently we are staying in some out of the way place. Lovely! Finally found someone that could come over. It took him an hour to get the door unlocked. Brandon & I stood outside in the freezing weather the entire time. Isn’t this Spring Break?

With keys in hand we decide to find McDonald’s. I told the kids I would take them out to eat since they never complained about the freezing night in the tent, the cold or even the keys getting locked in the car. I had gone on line to find the Mickey D’s but MapQuest kept taking me on a 45 mile trip despite the fact that the hotel information stated there was one nearby. Whatever! We decided to hop in the car and just drive out on the main street-surely we would see it soon. As soon as we pulled out of the parking spot there was the Mickey D’s! Right across the street! Are you kidding me?! So, we parked the car and just walked across the street. All that research and all I had to do was turn around while we were freezing our butts off waiting for the locksmith to do his job! Such fun! Grand Canyon here we come!

Journaling: Hiking the Grand Canyon

We enjoyed hiking the trails once we got out of the snow at the higher altitudes. As we traveled down to the Arizona River the snow disappeared and the temperatures rose. We wore layers so we were comfortable. We packed a lot of water with us. The trail guides recommended allowing twice as long to hike back up the Canyon. But, we were able to hike back up as fast as we hiked down. If we had known that to begin with we might have hiked down farther to catch a glimpse of the river. We did pass some people that hiked all the way to the river and spent the night. Now, that is hard-core.

The picture on the left is the agave plant. Agave nectar is used to make sugar. The flower shoot is cut out and the sap collected and subsequently fermented. By distillation, a spirit called mezcal is prepared; one of the best-known forms of mezcal is tequila.

Journaling: Brandon? Angel Wings?

I know, right? Well, I felt he deserves the distinction because he offered to carry my heavy backpack up the trail. I was doing pretty good but I had to stop more often than the kids due to the back-pack. I think the altitude had something to do with it, too. I was just out of breath but my legs weren’t tired. What a good son to just carry it for me! It sure made a difference.

Journaling: Ok, you remember that we decided not to camp despite the fact that we brought the tent, bbq grill, pots, pans, and a cooler full of food, right? Even though it was spring break we were so far above sea level that the temperatures really dropped at night. And, there was still snow on the ground. The website for Mather Campground was advising everyone to bring shovels so they could clear their own camp sites. Forget that noise! So, we checked into the Red Feather Inn just outside the entrance to the Grand Canyon. What I didn’t tell you is that the same night that the keys got locked in the car the toilet clogged. I called housekeeping and they fixed it. Well, it clogged again the next morning so we had to call again. Then, it happened again that night. This time I made Brandon call since he used it last. Then I left. I was too embarrassed to stick around for the third time! Housekeeping decided there was a problem with the toilet. Well, duh! So, they moved us to another room. The new room smelled nice-guess we had gotten used to the slight odor of poo in the old room. The kids enjoyed relaxing and reading after our day hikes.

I cooked most of our meals in the room since we had packed a lot of food with the assumption that we would be camping. We only ate out twice. The second time was over at the Wendy’s. You know we had to eat there since we can no longer get Wendy’s back in St. Louis. I didn’t want to take my purse so I just put $25 in my pocket. Certainly that would be enough money to buy meals for three people. We all ordered burgers, fries, and drinks. *gasp* The total was a few dollars over $25! I told them to make my meal a small so that we had enough money to pay. That didn’t work. So, then I told them to just nix my drink. That still didn’t work. By this time my face is red and the kids are embarrassed. The poor cashier was having a hard time redoing my order so he called a manager over twice. Finally, the manager just gave us his employee discount to get rid of us. (I ended up with change from my $25) Per Brandon: always carry your purse, Mom.

 

Journaling: On Thursday I wanted to go back to the Grand Canyon but the kids were done. We hiked one day through the trails at the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. Then we hiked two days at the Grand Canyon. The hikes at the Grand Canyon were more challenging. So, they talked me into just relaxing in our room. We read books and Facebooked all day. Very relaxing.

Then Friday morning we packed everything and headed for home. I was prepared for fourteen hours of driving but Brandon kept bugging me to stop once it started getting dark. He couldn’t read his book anymore so he wanted a hotel room. I kept going until I got tired of his complaining. We stopped in Yukon, Oklahoma, the hometown of Garth Brooks. It was a very nice hotel but around 10 pm I started hearing sleet hitting the roof. My first inclination was to immediately check-out of the hotel and hit the road. We needed to get home for Grandpa Art’s 90th birthday party on Sunday.

But, I decided to wait and see what morning would bring. I turned on the news in the morning to find that Oklahoma was in the middle of a blizzard! wth! Is this not our Spring Break? What is up with the sleet and snow? Crap! Well, the hotel had a free, hot breakfast so we all showered and chowed. Then we packed our bags and headed outside. It was very windy and very cold. The sleet was still coming down and the locals said it was not a good idea to be out driving now. But, we had to get home so all I could do is be alert and drive verrry slow.

As soon as we entered the highway there was a jack-knifed tractor-trailer. No traffic jam yet as it had just happened. We inched past and continued on our way only to be about run over by another tractor-trailer that was sliding over into our lane. All in all we counted 49 accidents traveling through the sleet and snow, many involved tractor-trailers and some involved multiple vehicles. Of course we had to make a pit stop along the way. We were able to make it to the Tulsa exit with the Hard Rock. Yay! I collect shirts from the Hard Rock so Allison and I braved the elements to buy souvenir shirts. It took eight hours to get through that storm because I never went over 30 mph. It was very scary. By the time we hit the Missouri state line the sleet had turned to a light drizzle.

Now, I was under a time crunch. The dogs were being boarded at PetSmart which closed at 9 p.m. I had to be there by 8:45 or pay another night for them. I really wanted Cody home with me and not in the kennel for another night. I know. I am a sap. Somehow we made it to the kennel by 8:30 even though we had to stop for gas one last time. What a relief! We made it through the blizzard without a scratch and we picked up the dogs on time. It was good to get back home again but the trip was amazing! The next day was Grandpa Art’s party so we were able to make it on time.

Strike a Pose

I did another lo of my grandparents! Used the latest Swirlydoos kit for this one, too.

Inked and distressed the edges on everthing, added some GM. Used another old stamp that I haven't played with in awhile. Made some more carnations using the Stampin' Up scallop punch then added some Prima leaves and hydrangeas. Added some bling. Small mulberry buds, silver buttons, and silver jewelry to fill in the spaces.

Family Portrait

Here's another page using the Antebellum Beauty kit from Swirlydoos. An old family portrait that I received from my mom. The papers are all from the kit. I added my own Prima hydrangeas, leaves, bling, Dusty Attic cb, and Smooch Spritz.

The three large flowers were made using the Stamping Up scallop punch. Here's the tutorial. Super easy to make so I am sure I will be making more of them really soon! An Artisan Elements frame by Pink Paislee was spritzed and inked then placed under the flower cluster. I used TH alcohol ink to change the color of the crystal haning from the chandelier. I used an old stamp that used to be a fave. You know-you love it so you use it all the time. Then you realize you use it all the time so you stop. And, then you just forget you even have it. Well, I am trying to use some of those "loved but forgotten" tools and techniques.

Highly Respected Citizen Dies of Strychnine Poisoning

Did I get your attention? Here's the newspaper article that explains:

September 5, 1901

Mr. John M. Lemasters, an aged and highly respected citizen living 3 miles north of Middletown, the edge of Pike County, died at 9 o'clock last Friday morning, from the effects of a dose of strychnine. Whether the drug was taken with suicidal intent or was the work of some other persons is not known and perhaps never will be.

It had been Mr. Lemasters' custom to keep whiskey in the house, and to take a dram each morning before breakfast. This custom was inaugurated as a cure for a stomach trouble, and his liquor was bought in the gallon quantities, put up in quart bottles. On last Friday morning he took his usual dram, but remarked after swallowing it, that the whiskey was as bitter as quinine. He took his seat on the front porch to await breakfast, and started to read a paper. A few minutes afterwards, however, he was seen to fall forward in a convulsion, and these continued from that time until his death some two or three hours afterward. Doctor's Hollingsworth and Regg were both summoned, and at the suggestion that he be given whiskey, he said not to get it out of the old bottle, as he was poisoned from that bottle. That was near as he ever came to whether it had been taken on purpose or otherwise, and it is to be regretted that he failed to leave no doubt about it.

After his death his 'old' whiskey bottle - the one from which he did not wish to drink - was found, empty, but with many grains of undissolved strychnine sticking to the sides of the bottle, from the very bottom there of to the mouth.

John is the older gentleman seated in the front row with his wife to the right. He is surrounded by his children. This picture was taken in 1900 which is the year prior to his death.

I used the current Swirlydoos kit to complete this lo. The circle in the background is the one I made to demonstrate how to use your edge punches around a circle. All the flowers are from the current kit except the hand-made tissue flower. The bling, tag, and cb numbers are from my stash.

Love is...

Well, these are all starting to look the same to me! I used one of the sketches from TCR for this one. Another pic of my grandparents. This one just reminds me of mobster days--I guess it is the car in the background and how Grandpa is dressed. lol! He definitely was not in the mob.

I added some Prima flowers from my stash. All the pp and the rub on are from this month's kit. The Prima pearls are from a past kit (I think), the stick pin is from my stash, and I added another tissue flower. They just go so well with these papers and pictures! tfl!

A new way to use your edge punches

Wanna use your edge punches to create a border around a circle or oval like this?

Well, here's a trick I learned at the 2010 CKC. It works best with the punches that have a lot of paper "missing." I have found the best punch is the Apron Lace punch by Fiskars. The Threading Water by Fiskars works almost as well. Martha Stewart's Double Ring punch works great, too. You need an edge punch that allows for some overlap when placing it on your desired shape. So, let's get started!

Gather up your desired papers for the edge punching and your shape, adhesive, scissors, inks, and distressing tools (if desired).

First, cut your strips of paper that you will be using to edge the shape. I cut my strips 7/8 inch wide and needed three 12 inch strips to complete the edge around this 9 inch circle. Then, edge punch your strips.

Now, ink the punched edges if you like. Ink the edges of the circle.

I ran my circle through the Zutter after I inked it. I think it makes the whole process a lot more forgiving. No one will notice if you were off a little here or there because the edges are all distressed and uneven to begin with. kwim?

Now, here's the secret. Are you ready for this? If you have ever sewn you will be kicking yourself for not thinking of this sooner! You need to use your scissors to snip up to the edge of the punched design in between the scallops.

Do this for all of your strips so they look like this.

Now, run your adhesive along the back of your circle right along the very edge of the paper.

Now, you can begin attaching the punched strip of paper to the circle. The snipped paper allows you to overlap the cut edges in the back so the strip will fit around your desired shape (just like when you are sewing). It should look like this on the back.

Just keeping going with it.

Just add on another strip and keep going. Here's the finished product.

Hope you enjoyed my first tutorial! Show me what you come up with! Thanks for stopping by!