TGIF!

Thank goodness it's Friday! And is it 5 o'clock yet??? This has been a long week for some reason, plus I have a monster horrible headache today. So I am ready for work to be over and the weekend to begin.
I've done very little scrapping this week, however i did manage to get a few mini journals made, a couple of altered wooden frames done and started a new clipboard. I plan to scrap away the weekend, as it is my last one before my show next weekend!
Errands and season premires kept me away from my scrappin' corner after work this week. Leah and I had to do a dog food run and then on to pick up groceries one evening. Then my college kid son called yesterday asking me to return a mushroom chair to Target before his receipt expired. (The chair broke) I was NOT impressed as he has known about this for over a month and should have handled it. I COULD have allowed him to loose $$$ on it but with money so tight right now I swallowed my pride (and my 'I want to teach him a lesson' feeling) and returned the chair.
I watched the season premire of Alias last night. I am a die hard Alias fan since it's first show. I LOVE Alias - it was my show that could not be missed, plan your schedule around show. LOL
I was SO VERY disappointed last night. I am figuring this has to be the last season, which is sad. But I also don't want to keep watching something the writers are just ripping up into shreds either. It may be the 1st season I miss a show here and there. I'd rather watch Lost or House and I'm not THAT big of a tv watcher anymore.
My college son is home again this weekend. It's homecoming at the hometown high school and his gf is on the court. He will be escorting her. He just called to ask which tie would look the best. At least I am still good for clothing information and errand 'boy'! Of course the tie I suggested he wasn't sure he could find. Hmmm, I think it would help it he would tidy his room a bit. I just keep the door closed! I had major plans of cleaning it from top to bottom, putting on a fresh coat of paint and moving the computer into his room until I started 'Saks of Memories'. Now I am making scrapbook goodies in all my spare time.
Since I haven't posted much this week ~ that is a glimpse of it. Nothing exciting, just life.
I will try to think of something interesting or profound to post sometime over the weekend! *grin*

Rainy Monday....

"Rainy days and Mondays always get me down." Remember the song? or is it I just remember this line because it is one of those things that just stick it your mind? I don't actually remember the artist. Just like the 'lines' of wisdom that your Mother passes along. Every time I was leaving for a date in my teen years she would say the same exact words before I left the house, "Behave yourself and don't talk too much". Once I even beat her to the punch. She had just called my name as I was heading towards the door. I turned and in that teenager sarcastic tone rattled that line off to her. NOT a really smart idea! It granted me the 'look'. You know the one - the stare with a set jaw, eyes cutting you into tiny shreds. The 'look' would be what was flashed during the Sunday morning Sermon from the choir loft to me, while I was sitting on or near the back row chatting or passing notes to friends. The melt you dead on the spot into a puddle that would make you desire to slide UNDER the church pew. The 'look' that would let you know that when I get ahold of you, it will not be pretty. I have a teenage girl and I think I have developed the 'look' very well. The artist of my life looks and lines I remember very well and took lessons from those apparently, as I hear my Mother in some of the same words I repeat to my own children over the past years and still daily. Today was one of those want to stay in bed and rest days. Especially since I feel like I "poured the coal to it" this weekend. Did you catch the 'line' ? *wink*

Scrappin' Weekend

I've been scrappin' away the weekend getting ready for my upcoming show. Missed getting to attend a HUGE PowWow here locally this weekend. A friend attended and said it was really nice. Lots of booths and many performances.

Have to make this short and sweet as I need to get back to work in my lil scrapbook nook (corner of my bedroom).

I will post again tomorrow from work while it's slow! LOL Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

ETA: Finally, got a picture to upload. Here is one of the paper bag albums (just a cover pic) that I completed this weekend. It's my new favorite of all, even though my only son is almost 19 years old!

Lost & Found ...

No I don't mean I am collecting lost items, holding on to them and trying to get them back to their rightful owner. Although, my job sometimes feels like that working with students at a University. They are young adults ready to conquer the world; they just haven't quite figured out all the 'rules' to life yet. It amazes me on a daily basis the many mature one's I come in contact with versus the others that almost still need help in tying their shoes. (OK, so maybe not that extreme! LOL)

My blog got 'lost' yesterday. The sweetest html 2peas Queen - Dawn tried to help me add a couple of side bars on here. Yes, they are there now. However, when I copied and pasted the new template over, somehow my yahoo mail account had messed them up. So trying to fix it, I deleted pretty much everything. Dawn is the sweetest and told me how to copy the template directly from her test. When I pasted it over - everything was FOUND! Back! She is a genius.

Lost - the TV show. I am so very hooked on this show. I love all the suspense and turns it tosses out at us. Makes you think, makes you wonder, makes you watch VERY close for those hidden numbers. So I enjoyed the season premier this week. Glad to have it back! Now on to Alias - yes I am a fan of that one too!

Let's hope I find some creative energy this weekend (a few extra hours in the weekend wouldn't hurt either! LOL) as I am trying to work on tons of projects for my upcoming arts & crafts show.

It's OFFICIAL !!!

I made it into the local Arts & Crafts Show next month!!!! I got my acceptance letter today, along with my location placement - near the entrance/ticket booth!! Whoo hoo! This is a first for me. Can you tell I am a little bit excited ????? Even though it's only a small show, it's one of the oldest shows in my area and this is billed as their 'last' year. The lady that does it all says she is tired and ready to 'retire'. Of course, someone else may take on the job. I'm hoping for good publicity in the local paper since they are saying it could be the last year of the show. Hopefully the weather will be nice and there will be LOTS of customers. The booth fee is cheap, so I should at least sell enough to cover that. I'm also excited about making contacts for future sales. I've taught classes at the local scrapbook store and for church groups, so this is a next major step for me. First 'show' and the first time I have sold my work. I am sure I will post plenty about it all between now and then. Plus will take pictures at the show to share.
Wish me luck!

My son, Derek & his 'home' away from home....

This was taken on move in day last month. Can you tell he didn't want to have his picture taken? He is use to it by now though and is just like 'hurry up'! Yes I miss him. However, I am also very proud when I listen to him talk about how he is handling things that come up at college; how he is being frugal and keeping up with his funds plus so much more. I cherish those phone calls where is is still asking advice.

Unexpected 'visitor' ....

Last night I sat scanning in a scrapbook item to post over at 2peas. The house was pretty quiet except the background noise of the tv on low volume. Leah had slipped out for "just a few minutes Mom" to the neighbors house for girl talk with their daughter. I hear a car pull up. For the record 13 year olds don't drive - well not legally! I knew I wasn't expecting someone and no one ever just 'drops in'. I decide to have a look realizing that Leah left the carport door unlocked. I peek out the curtain - no vehicle. I crack the door open and peek out, when I notice a figure standing against the house just past the doorway. I SCREAM and slam the door shut - locking it. Then slowly my mind registers. I open the door back up with a grin to find my son laughing to bust a gut. I laugh, then panic - "What is wrong, why are you here?" (I moved him off to college last month and he doesn't come home during the week - he should be at his dorm). He comes in telling me he had attended a local church youth rally this evening. What an unexpected surprise. I ask him if he wants something to eat and re-heat some of the supper leftovers for him. We chat about traffic woes, classes and such while he munches on a sloppy joe and drinks 2 glasses of sweet tea (they serve no sweet tea on campus). He hangs out for a bit and then says he has to get back (he has a 9am class). I package up 2 extra sandwiches and tell him to drive safe.

I thought it would be neat to tell that story last night on here, so I signed in to my blog, even added some pictures of Derek and his new 'home' (dorm room). I was typing away when out of nowhere I got a blue screen with some warning - ya know the kind - computer crash type screen. This has happened before - so next time I will be writing down the information and calling Dell. My home computer is only a few months old! So I turned off the computer, lost my post and decided to head to bed. I will have to post the pictures tonight from home.

A daughter's point of view

I read my blog to my daughter.
Leah says, my blog entries are too long. *Laugh*
She referred me to her blog where most of her posts are just about 6 lines long. I told her because I am so much older that I have more to say! So just for you, Leah, here is a short one.

Happy Birthday Chyann !

Do you have the kind of family where when you all get together you wonder what might happen next? Well, I have THAT kind of family. Today's birthday celebration for my niece, Chyann, went smoothly. Chyann is the middle daughter of my youngest sister, Stacey. We all met at my sister, Sonya's, house after church. Sonya has 2 daughters, Stacey has 3 daughters. I am the only one of the bunch that had a boy. Mom made a huge lunch of chicken dressing, peas, okra, corn, potato salad, deviled eggs - you get the idea - a southern lunch spread. Derek was home from college this weekend and Granny wanted to make sure he was well fed! After lunch, we did birthday cake and ice cream, which I passed on eating as my lunch plate was heaped up and piled on. We opened gifts and I snapped this picture of Chyann in her 'Cinderella' outfit complete with the crown and wand, which was our gift to her. She plans to be Cinderella for Halloween this year.
Since getting home, Derek has packed up his stuff and headed back to the big city university. Leah and I have played with my new camera. She made some great pictures of 2 altered clipboards I have made to sell at the upcoming Arts & Crafts show. They are posted over at 2peas http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?gallery=1&cmd=display&layout_id=658713
http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?gallery=1&cmd=display&layout_id=658706
I have no clue how to name the links here something different, so there are the links to check out if you so desire. I think the clipboards turned out ok, but the pictures are great! Leah took the pictures and she is REALLY good with a camera. She gets that after her Dad. He loves photography and she plays around with his camera all the time.
I haven't gotten near as much done on my 'projects' for the show that I had planned for this weekend. Being a Mom, I am also the 'laundry mat' for my son when he comes home on the weekends. So I've done several loads of laundry and still have my work clothes to finish up before tomorrow. I am going to toss in a load and head to my scrapbook corner to work on another album. Finished up a Halloween one last night LATE, while my son sat on my bed yakkin' about college, classes and one of his nutty professors. Those are the precious moments to hold dear in my memories.

Good Times .... Good Friends .... Sticker Shock

Last night I attended the local high school football game, like I have done for the past 4 years. Only this year was suppose to be my year OFF! My son, Derek, was in the drumline of the marching band for the last 4 years. He graduated in May and is now attending college. However, my 13 year old (8th grade) daughter, Leah, is still in Jr. High band. I forgot that every year the Jr. High band gets invited to play the National Anthem on the field during one of the home games. Last night was that game. So of course I lugged along my stadium blanket and camera (gotta turn it into a scrapping adventure!) to sit in the stands and watch. It turned out to be a beautiful evening, not too hot, not yet those too cool football weather nights. One of my best friends, Jane came to the game. Jane and I have known each other since I was a pre-teen. We grew up in church together, taught Acteens (teen girls) together and just hung out together. Her sister, JoAnna came too. I used to work with JoAnna at the local Electric Co-op. So it ended up I had someone to chat with while they played the first half of the football game. LOL Leah thought I should stay to see this year's halftime show. So I chatted and waited, while 2 teams battled it out on the grassy field down in front of me.
Lucky for me, I saw another childhood friend, Melanie, there to attend her 25 year highschool class reunion. We engaged in a short conversation exchanging the tidbits about our children and our lives.
After the halftime show, I hugged my daughter and left with 'our' team way ahead in points. Leah stayed to enjoy the rest of the game with her father.

Today Jane and I got up WAY too early for the weekend and headed off to Atlanta to visit Archiver's and Circuit City. I have been to 3 local scrapbook stores buying up paper for my mini albums however, I still wanted a wider selection. After a few traffic woes we arrived at the mother of all scrapbook stores. I grabbed a shopping basket and began filling it with this paper and that paper. I ooooooo'd and ahhhhhhh'd over it all. Jane, a non-scrapper, followed me around amazed by all the 'stuff' and carried the increasingly heavy shopping basket, so I could 2 hand snatch the paper from it's display. Now would probably be a good time to say that I NEVER spend more than about $20 at one time in a scrapbook store. I am a divorced mom, raising two wonderful children and a budget watcher. I am ever the frugal shopper with everything.
Of course, I knew my stack was adding up, still I was shoving more paper into the little basket. I told Jane that I might have sticker SHOCK when I saw the total. Indeed I did! Jane, every the wonderful and wise friend, convinced me that I was making an "investment". LOL And even though she didn't admit it, I know she was also in shock over the amount I spent today.

After I signed over my life to the cashier IN blood, I decided that I need nourishment to just be able to make that hour plus drive home. So we headed over to Macaroni Grill. My very first visit to the restaurant. It was a good meal. Our lunch conversation revolved around 'budgets; With me telling Jane that I had blown my budget and that I really didn't think we should stop at Circuit City to look at the digital camera I had been trying to figure out how to purchase without having to eat black eyed peas and corn bread for the next 6 months. Of course, we laughed a lot about it all too. But I do think that Jane felt so bad that I had paled over the spending spree that she sprung for lunch! And what did we do after lunch but decide that I could at LEAST go 'look' and touch the camera. So off to the store we went...it was right next door to there anyway.

Yep, you guessed it. I ended up getting the camera too! Plus the extra memory AND a new camera case. It's a Fugifilm A350. Not an 'upscale' digi, but I hope at least a good one. It's a 5.2 megapixel. I am so NOT an expert at cameras. I just wanted one that worked...that I could print pictures from and usually nothing larger than a 5x7, so I was told this one will be fine. My regular 'film' camera is a Fugifilm and I've been happy with it. Yeah, I would have liked a rebel, but they would have taken my 1st born child for that amount of money! And I am kinda fond of him. So Christmas came in September for me. I'm stocked with a HUGE paper supply and a new digi camera. I enjoyed a night and most of today with a dear (and yes old, but we are really not THAT old) friend. I spent too much money, ate too much food (it might be my last 'good' meal for a while!) and I will re-work the budget tomorrow. *grin*

Now I am heading back to my scrapbook corner to work on one of those mini albums I hope to sell really soon!

A new Adventure ...



Isn't life about starting new adventures and experiences every day? I think so! I have at least 5 different routes I could drive to my office on any given day, depending on what the morning has in store.

This is a new 'route' that I've decided to explore in my life. A blog! Of course, I don't know how great of a writer I really am, or how interesting my words might be (or not be) to read, so just overlook the typos and misspelled words, pour yourself a cup of joe (or a glass of tea, grab a coke ...whatever) and read on into this thing I call 'life'.

Both of my children have their own blogs (gosh Mom is behind the times! LOL), several of my scrappin' buddies have a blog ~ it's just a thing everyone seems to be doing these days. So why not take a shot at it and see how it goes!

This is not the only new adventure I have taken on in my life recently. I've also started to scrapbook for the public. Not pages, but mini-albums. I made one of the hottest 'rage' mini paper bag albums for my niece, for her birthday. I was in the beauty salon getting a much needed trim showing my hairdresser the gift. Well, she had a fit over it and wanted to buy one for her granddaughter's birthday. Hmmmmmm, I don't really scrap for the public. I work full time, at the time was trying to get my oldest child ready to move off to college and have a teenage daughter still at home with me which adds up to having my plate full. Then my hairdresser showed off the lil album to the other gals in the salon and soon everyone was wanting one. I decided what the heck, I would give it a go. I have made about a dozen of them, so far by orders, given at least a half dozen of them away as gifts and am now working on an inventory of them. I just submitted my application yesterday for a local Arts & Crafts Show in October. I am going to sell paper bag albums and other altered items. Showing in an Arts & Crafts show was actually one of the things on my "100 things to do" list. 20 years ago, pre-children, I actually chaired a HUGE local Arts & Crafts show for my Junior Women's Club. It was tons of work, but great fun. We would have 150-200 exhibitors in the only indoor show around! For a talkative people person like myself that was right up my alley.

The name of my blog came from my other new adventure ~ selling scrapbook items. I wanted something to go on my business cards for the show besides JUST my name and information. It's not really a 'business' name; I look at it more like a description or a 'title'. *giggle* Since I don't have a business license. I can always dream BIG though. So the 'title' on my personal cards for the show is "Saks of Memories". Now you know how I came up with my blog title and a tiny bit about me. And the clipart here is from Publisher and is on my personal cards (does that sound better than business cards? LOL!)

Also isn't life about our Memories? Now that I'm 'older' I'd rather NOT be called the old bag lady so I decided 'Saks' sounded and looked a little more sophisticated ~ the way I would LIKE to look & feel; although most days that just doesn't happen!

On to the next adventure ...