HAPPY NEW YEAR

I read this in the paper the other day and thought it would be the perfect post to start the New Year. Great lessons for us all and so much easier to learn as we get older. LOL

Have a wonderful 2009, friends!

45 Life Lessons
by Regina Brett
The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio

“To celebrate growing older, I one wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I’ve ever written. My odometer rolls over to 70 soon, so here goes.”

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don’t take yourself too seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don’t have to win an argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. It’s okay to be angry with God. He can take it.
9. Safe for retirement with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past, so it won’t screw up your present.
12. It’s okay to let your children see you cry.
13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye, but don’t worry, God doesn’t blink.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful, or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn’t kill you, really does make you stronger.
19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood, but the second one is up to you and nobody else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take “no” for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion…today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: “In five years, will this matter?”
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won’t take care of your when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative – dying young.
37. Your children only get one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems into a pile, we grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

31 years in the making!

Yippee! I actually scrapped my own first born daughter's first year baby book. After doing 8 baby albums for all the grandkids, I'm finally scrapping my own kids' books. It feels great to have this one done and I can't wait now to get going on Sally's book. With over 30 years worth of photos in the closet, I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere. LOL

So, without further ado, here is (most of) Cyndi's First Year. (There are a few more pages to the album that I haven't included in the slideshow.)

9x9 size album; cover embellished with ribbons and rubons. Pattern papers from Die Cuts With a View, Nana's Nursery (girl) Stack; and tons of QuicKutz throughout. TFL!


BubbleShare: Share photos - Easy Photo Sharing

I hope Santa was good to you and you had a wonderful Christmas. We woke up to lots of gorgeous white stuff, but then we've been waking up to it for a few weeks now. LOL I hope I never take it for granted that we almost always have a white Christmas here. As much as I don't like to be out in the snow, I do love to look at it from the warmth of my cozy little house, and what could be more beautiful on Christmas morning, really.

Did you get what you had hoped for?? I do hope so! My 'big' present is the Cricut Expression, which I picked up on Black Friday. I felt a little guilty using it until now (silly, I know!) but I now have other fun goodies to go with it and there is no reason not to play! Besides the two cartridges that came with it (Home Decor and Plantin Schoolbook) I also got Graphically Speaking, Walk in my Garden, and Doodlecharms. In addition, I have a rebate on the way in the form of two more cartidges (Printing 101 and My Community). Which more than fills up my Jukebox, oh yes! Plus -- yes, there's more! -- I got the Cricut Design Studio! Wowza. Fun toys! Thank you Santa Randy. ;)

We had our favorite traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings, and pumpkin pie for dessert. I remembered to "install" the turkey timer this time too, so no guessing if/when the turkey was done. LOL Everything was delicious (well, except the sweet potatoes if you ask Randy -- he won't eat them but I love them!) and we both ate more than we should have, which is unusual for us! LOL All in all, it was a really nice, stress-free day and we enjoyed just being us at home. We are very blessed and very thankful. :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

http://www.glenn.tapley.us/MC.swf

Are you ready?

Well, peeps, you have only 3 days left to get ready for Christmas. Are you there yet? I would be if it were not for the weather. We've been socked in with snow, which in itself, isn't the major problem, but on top of that, Randy has been working on the truck for weeks now as it hasn't been running right. He replaces one thing and then it's something else that goes out, and it just keeps going like this. Argh! With this much snow, we can't get out in the car - it's as deep as the car is to the ground, so my packages have yet to be mailed, which means they will not arrive by Wednesday, short of a miracle. I'm sure the kids won't mind though. That will just give them another day of Christmas. :)

My welcoming Santa is up to his beard in snow! This is just left of my front porch showing the snow to be over a foot deep in this spot.

(gift tags: QK Rev0068; Fiesta alphabet)

I've been busy baking and making the usual Christmas goodies, which have come to be expected by many on my gift list. Here are just a few of this year's Kitchen Kreations.

(tag: QK KS0586; computer generated text)

Today I will put away all the baking materials, wrapping paper and clutter so I can spend the next few days enjoying the festive decorations and pretty Christmas lights.....until Wednesday when I will clutter it all up again getting a start on all the goodies for Christmas dinner! LOL

And one more picture. :) Joey loves the snow! She rolls around in it on her back and flings snow all over herself with her paws like a little kid making a snow angel. She loves digging trenches in the snow...can you see the snow on her nose in this pic? She's so funny.

I won the "Cut It, Stick It, Win It" Quickutz contest!

Congratulations on winning the "Cut it, Stick it, Win it" contest on the Quickutz website! Here is your...$50.00...winnings!

Thank you again for participating in the contest...

Andrea Smith
Quickutz Inc.


Wow, lucky me!! One of five winners, I was awarded $50 in QuicKutz Silhouette downloads! Awesome! Click here to see my winning project. Thank you, QK. :)

Just for fun

Milk seems rather boring, but the description is pretty accurate, I think. :) What's yours?

You Are Milk

Your holiday personality is innocent. The holidays make you feel like a kid all over again. You love every part of the holidays, and you anticipate Christmas morning. You enjoy getting presents as much as you did when you were young!

What Holiday Drink Are You?

Christmas Blessings

November 24, 1997

The Peninsula Gateway
Gig Harbor, WA 98335

To The Editor:

This is the story of my most cherished Christmas memory. I still can’t tell this story without tears in my eyes. Perhaps you will publish this letter sometime during the holidays as an inspiration to those who are in need, and as a thank you to those who give more than they realize. Thank you.

Sharron M. Hoff

****************


The Key Peninsula/Gig Harbor area has been home to me and my family for 34 of my 43 years. During those years, I have donated clothing, household items, and food to local food banks as much as I can throughout the year, never expecting, of course, that I would one day be in need myself.

Several years ago, my daughters and I fell on hard times and the holidays seemed bleak. By Thanksgiving, I still had not found employment. The girls had just entered high school, and though they had never asked much for Christmas even in good times, I felt despair in knowing I would not be able to give them much of anything that year. We did our best while I continued looking for work, but finally had to seek help from a local food bank to make ends meet. A short while later, we received a call from the food bank telling us a local family wished to “adopt” us for Christmas. About that same time, my job search finally paid off and my first day of work was to be December 20. That day, we woke to several inches of snow on the ground and no power. I had no way to get to my new job and no number to call them. We were not the only ones snowed in, however. The food bank was unable to deliver Christmas to many adopted families. Though the families and the adoptees generally remain anonymous to each other, our “family” decided that if it meant the difference between our having or not having a Christmas, they would make the delivery personally. Not only did our family bring gifts in abundance, they also delivered a van full of groceries, including laundry and cleaning supplies, and everything imaginable for Christmas dinner. As if that wasn’t enough, this wonderful man drove me to my new job and later called to find out what time I finished so he could drive me back home!

This true story of the spirit of Christmas always brings tears to my eyes. We never heard from our adoptive family again. We understand they left the area some time ago, but their gift of love and generosity will never be forgotten. That Christmas, which looked so dismal, remains one of our most cherished and treasured holiday memories.

Isaiah 58:7a
...Share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless into your house.

Busy, busy, busy!!!!

I can't believe it's been a week since I posted last. I've been super busy but didn't realize I hadn't been here all that time. This week isn't going to be any less busy, so if I don't post, you'll know why.

Holiday season always finds me flittering hither and yon, but this year I have even more on my plate than usual. Oh, I'm not at all complaining. I love it. And it was my idea to add these extra projects. The timing just wasn't exactly right as it turned out. LOL Randy was supposed to be gone either the weekend before or after Thanksgiving and my plan was to repaint the living room and have the tree and decorations up while he was gone. Or at least get the painting done. Then he got sick. For two full weeks!! Man, what a crimp that put in my plans!! Kinda hard to paint around him sitting in his chair either sleeping or watching tv all day. LOL He finally got some antibiotics and is doing much better this week, so I've been able to get going on my project...s - plural! However, it doesn't look like he'll be making the out of town trip now.

Every year I do a newsletter for those we don't have a lot of contact with throughout the year. So between moving furniture to the middle of the room, painting, moving it back, moving again for another coat....etc etc etc, I got the newsletter written, printed out and signed, Christmas cards all signed, lables printed, envelopes decorated and ready to mail. The ceiling and all the trim are painted a cream color called Saratoga Sand, "the green wall" is done [my accent wall] in sort of a pea soup green--sounds disgusting but, trust me, it looks really nice ;) I had it color matched to one of my favorite shades of Bazzill cardstock (wouldn't you know I don't remember the color name right now--sorry)! LOL Now I'm ready to begin the BIG part of the project tomorrow....the walls. They'll be a taupe shade called Saddlebury. I've already got new rugs, furniture covers in chocolate and taupe with burgandy and striped accent pillows, and when the room is finished I'll get new lamps.

I haven't started on the Christmas baking yet, which I usually begin Thanksgiving weekend. The house is a pit from end to end, including my scraproom, and I have birthday cards to make, an advent calendar to finish (I know, I know!!!), and soon I need to get all the kids' presents wrapped and in the mail.

It's going to be another busy week.... if you have any elves who need something to do, please send them my way, would you?! :)

First Cricut project

For this layout of my daughter's first birthday, I used the Graphically Speaking cartridge for the "One" and the "little". The rest of the title is done in rubons, QK Storybook, and the "P" is from the Fiesta alphabet, slightly modified. Balloons and tiny crown are QK. "One" embellished with rubons, doodling, and bling; stickles also used on other embellishments.



On page two of the layout, the crown was cut from the Cricut cartridge, Home Decor, presents are QK and the little shoes that match those Cyndi wore, are from the QK cookie cutter baby shapes; doodling, stickles, and bling.

Black Friday Rocks!

Did you go out Black Friday shopping today??? Holly and I hit Walmart about 8:30 this morning and believe it or not, we were through the checkout by 9:30! I got some awesome bargains and the best part -- ALL the Christmas shopping for the grandkids is DONE! Woohoo!! Of course, you have to live in a town of 5,000 for this to happen. LOL!! It's great on days like today, but every other day it's not always so great when it's the ONLY store (literally) in town.

So, my big bargain of the day--I bought the Cricut Expression for $199 PLUS, it came with TWO cartridges! Now don't go dissin' me -- I'm not being disloyal to my beloved QuicKutz ;) and I will never give up my QK tools and dies. I love all my QK alphabets and there isn't a single one of the Cricut alphas that I like (sorry Cricut alpha lovers LOL), but I do like some of the shapes and features that are not available in QK. Happy Christmas to me!! Thank you, honey. ;)

What bargains did you snag today, either in-store or online?

Caramel Apple Cheesecake

Oh my gosh! This is sooooo good. :) Even Randy said it's good enough to make again and he doesn't like cheesecake....well, he says he doesn't. I didn't tell him this was cheesecake, I told it was Caramel Apple "Pie". Shhhh....don't tell him, k? ;)

Caramel Apple Cheesecake
1 20-oz can apple pie filling
1 9-in. graham cracker crust
16 oz. (2 8-oz. pkg) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup caramel topping
12 pecan halves
2 tablespoons chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Remove 1/2 cup pie filling and set aside. Spoon remaining filling into pie crust.

In medium bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla, till smooth. Add eggs and beat well. Pour over apple filling. Bake for 35 minutes, or until center is set. Cool on wire rack.

Combine reserved pie filling and caramel topping in small saucepan. Heat over moderate heat until soft, but not hot. Spoon over cooled cheesecake and spread evenly. Garnish edge with pecan halves and sprinkle top with chopped pecans. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

ENJOY! We sure did. :)
recipe pictured below

They picked me again! :)

Notice this week's new header photo.....this scrapbook page has been chosen as the featured Thanksgiving layout for the Scrapbooks Etc. online newsletter this week! What a thrill to open my email and find this page in the featured layout. It's one of my favorites. :)

How are your plans coming along for your Thanksgiving? I had a very productive day yesterday, getting the dinner rolls made, pumpkin pie is done and this year the new dessert recipe I tried is Caramel Apple Cheesecake. Doesn't it sound -- and look -- delish?

In addition to the baking and preparing for tomorrow's big dinner -- mind you, it will be just the two of us this year, which is fine, but I still enjoy doing up the whole turkey dinner with all the trimmings! -- I'm also redoing the living room. I got the ceiling and trim taped off yesterday in between pies and rolls, and will get to painting today....I hope. I would love to have it all done before I put up the tree, so that may have to wait for another week, but we'll see how I do and if I can make quick work of this redo. ;)

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!

Butterflies

Quickutz really outdid themselves with the new butterfly dies this release. The border is fab, and the large die and QK Club die match back to the border so they are all must haves, if you ask me. :) The large die is doubly cool because you can use the inner wing cutouts as a completely separate butterfly in itself. Very nice! In addition to these new dies, I also used the nesting squares for the journal block and Blossom mini and Rollerskate mini for the title. Embellished with stickles and markers, the border comes alive right there on my page! Papers are from the Off Beat Quickitz available from Scrapbuggy, which also includes the new birds die (not used on this page). TFL

Altered magnets

These magnets came attached to the front of our new phone book as advertisements for businesses I will never use. I love getting little freebies like this and always save them "just in case". These immediately made it to my scrap room and became much cuter fridge magnets using the November QuicKitz, Off Beat, and the new Storybook alphabet. ;) Also used Biography, Diesel Classic and Diesel Classic Shadows; and for the smaller magnet, the ribbon slot heart QK Club die.

The top one is 4x4, the smaller one is 2 1/2x 3 1/2

When the girls were kids I would open all the cans and food packaging from the bottom then put the clean cans in their play kitchen. This is a pop-top can (from mandarin oranges) that I opened from the bottom using a safety-opener (no sharp edges), a scraplift from Gina/Scrapalina. I love her spin on my old idea. The baby stamp, isn't it cute!!, was a RAK from Gail. Thank you, Gail! I used the Scrapbuggy November Quickitz, Pop Fashion, to make a new label, filled it with wrapped candies then reattached the bottom with super glue.

Funky new QK owl

For this page of fat little baby Gracie ;) I used the Pop Fashion papers by Pink Paislee. It is one of this month's kits by Scrapbuggy. The new releases by QuicKutz include THREE owls! I really had no idea I would be that interested in owls, but they are popular now for whatever reason and I couldn't say no. This funky little guy is almost an ugly-cute, but I just love him. Title font is Diesel Grand.

The hedgehog was too cute to pass up. I really had no idea how I'd use him, but here he is the perfect touch for my "I miss you" card. The baby owl inside is made from the B - O and 4 from the Aquarius 4x8 alphabet, a scraplift from the ScrapMart blog. Isn't it adorable? This card will go to my scrapping buddy, Grace. The profile butterfly is this month's QuicKutz Club die, the font is the new Storybook (cute as can be!) and inside I used the tree border and the new Rev branches die.

Loving the new QK releases!!!

Here are just a few of them. These dies are so much fun. I love all of them! (and I can't always say that LOL)

For this page of my granddaughter, Olivia, I used the beautiful new Rev butterfly. The title was cut with the Silhouette using the computer font called Storybook. It is the computer match to the new 4x8 QuicKutz alphabet, also called Storybook. (Except for the "O" - which is a different font.) I also used the cc baby shapes crown, and stickles.

This is my daughter, Sally, with baby Olivia.....screaming baby Olivia. LOL She could be happy as all get out and the second someone got out a camera, she would begin to scream. EVERY SINGLE TIME! LOL Which is why Sally is laughing. It was uncanny how the appearance of a camera would change Olivia's mood in the blink of an eye!

On this layout I've used the new Rev birds, branches and tree border. I love these! The birds' wings make perfect leaves. Title is done in Diesel and Dragonfly.

Sneak Peek!

Here's a little peek at the current project I'm working on. This is the first page of my oldest daughter's baby book, which isn't quite finished and which is why I haven't posted in a bit. I have just a couple more pages to do and will post a slideshow when it's done. After all the baby books I've done for the grandkids, it feels good to be scrapping pics of my own babies now. :)

I'm using the Nana's Nursery, Baby Girl stack for this one. So cute, and just retro enough to fit the pictures from the 70s of my little girls. For this page I trimmed down the 12x12 paper and cut the "sparkle" shapes from the scraps and put them back onto the page. With the x-acto knife, I cut into the curvy design of the paper and tucked the photo behind it. QuicKutz used on this page are Maddie Anne for the title with matching computer font for the journaling, 2x2 birds, and the journaling tag from vellum is a Nestabilities die by Spellbinders.

SRW Friends....

Have you been able to access the board today? I've been getting the 'cannot display page' message all morning. Is it just me or is it the board???

ETA: Finally it's letting me in. Wonder what that was about.

My newest toy

REVIEW: GLUE GLIDER PRO

I had been debating for a good long while about getting an ATG but had yet to be impressed by any of the ones on the market. I was leaning heavily toward the Glue Glider Max, by Glue Arts, but it was still not quite what I wanted, so I kept putting off ordering it. Most all of them out there are too big and clunky, not cute (and we all know cuteness is a factor in scrapping toys....er....I mean tools ;)) they all use 1/2" tapes, unless you get an adapter or some such nonsense, and the tape cartridges had to be threaded through the machine, not to mention I wasn't pleased with the price of them. The Glue Glider Max at least had pop in cartridges, so that was a big plus. However, I have small hands with carpal tunnel in both of them so the size was a negative, I had to have something cute, that's a given, and I use 1/4" tapes. Thus my dilemma!!!

Then a couple of months ago I got the Glue Arts newsletter with the most wonderful news! They LISTENED!!!! :) I was so excited about their new ATG I pre-ordered the bundle (gun with cartridge, plus 3 other cartridges) right away. I'm so happy with their new adhesive tape gun I want to share it with you. It's not at all top-heavy or clunky. I highly recommend it if you have been looking, like me, but unhappy with what you've found. This is the perfect solution to all those dilemmas! And the coolest thing about the pop in cartridges is that you can switch mid-cartridge if you choose to change the type of adhesive you're using. Yay!

Check it out at HappynScrappin. Her prices are great and her customer service can't be beat.

Small & comfortable to hold: check!
1/4" adhesive tape: check!
pop-in cartridges: check!
no threading: check!
Cuteness factor: double check! It's PINK & GREEN!!!
Price: VERY reasonable, and worth every penny!

Note: Blogger is still not fixed. It's been a couple of weeks now and I'm not the only one experiencing this problem. I've always used photobucket to upload my images but suddenly blogger chops them off. I discovered that uploading directly from my harddrive works without chopping them off, so until this gets fixed, I'll do it that way.

Tag - I'm it! Thanks Lea ;)

How well do you think you know me? Are you surprised by any of these ......

Seven Random Facts About Me

1 I worked as a transcriptionist for over 25 years -- in various positions and agencies

2 I can't stand to be touched by feet, but especially feet with socks

3 I don't know how to swim except maybe enough to save myself if I had to

4 I'm a Gemini

5 I HATE SNAKES!!!!!!!

6 I've never been farther east than Colorado

7 I love redecorating

Hope you haven't already been tagged for this one, guys. I'm tagging Jayne, Darla, Cindy, Karen, Gia, Michele, and Cynthia! Post 7 random facts on your blog then tag 7 other blogger buddies to post their facts!

Have fun!

A few cards

A few cards for some peeps who are in need of a hug and a good thought to get through some tough times. For the trees, I've used leftover circles from the centers of letters, triangles, and a cloud. Just playing around with some new ideas for the cute little HL exclusive tree, and the QK tree trunks.

Keep an eye out for monsters and have a safe and happy Halloween, everyone!





What's your ideal Halloween costume?

You Should Be a Cat for Halloween

According to our quiz, you'd make an ideal cat. Your runner up costume: Action Hero

The Halloween Costume Generator

PC Gourmet Blog Tour!

Pretty much anyone who knows me, knows how much I love PaperCrafts magazine. I have even had the honor of being published in one of the special issues. Well, you lucky peeps get to check out these sneak peeks by Alisa Bangerter from the upcoming November 4 issue of PC Gourmet, right here on my blog! Get the magazine.


See below for complete instructions and supply list to make Alisa's Halloween tag, and be sure to try her recipe for Cheesy Garlic Drop Biscuits. YUM!

Note: I apologize for posting these in slideshow format. As noted, I'm having problems posting images and wanted to be sure you are able to see them in full.

Enjoy tag - finished size: 3" x 4 1/2"
Designer: Alisa Bangerter

SUPPLIES:

Cardstock: (ivory) Dye ink: (Black) Stewart Superior Corp.; (Summer Sun) Stampin’ Up! Specialty ink: (Mango Lemonade color wash) Stewart Superior Corp. Color medium: (black chalk) Craf-T Products Accents: (black brads) Making Memories; (chipboard bat, moon) Melissa Frances Fibers: (black striped ribbon) Pebbles Inc. Font: (Black Family) http://www.dafont.com/ Adhesive: (foam tape)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1 Make tag from cardstock.

2 Crumple tag and smooth out. Spray edges with color wash; let dry. Apply chalk.

3 Ink chipboard moon; let dry. Chalk edges and adhere.

4 Ink chipboard bat; let dry. Adhere with foam tape.

5 Print sentiment on cardstock; trim and tear edges. Chalk edges and adhere with foam tape. Attach brads. Attach ribbon with brad.

****
Cheesy Garlic Drop Biscuits
Alisa Bangerter

This is a perfect recipe to pull out if you are short on time because there is no rolling or cutting. The cheese and garlic add extra kick to a plain biscuit, and kids love them. They are the perfect accompaniment to serve with soups or stews, and are great served with a salad.

INGREDIENTS
2 c. flour
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. butter or margarine
1 1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese
1 1/4 c. milk
Chives (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Mix together dry ingredients. Cut in butter with pastry cutter until mixture is fine. Add cheese and mix well. Add milk and stir until just moistened. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Sprinkle top with chopped dried or fresh chives if desired. Bake at 400 degrees for approx. 15 minutes.

Journal and bookmark

Started with a dollar store memo book and altered with these gorgeous papers by Basic Grey. Butterflies are cut from one of the papers, painted with glossy mod podge, allowed to dry then adhered to the cover and embellished with stickles. Bookmark made from scraps and embellished with more butterfly cutouts, rubons and stickles; machine sewn. Made with the October Quickitz by Scrapbuggy. (You can slow down or speed up the slide show by using the minus and plus buttons.)

October Quickitz by Scrapbuggy

This month's beautiful Quickitz consists of the Basic Grey Ambrosia line -- there's just no way to see how pretty these papers are in a photo or scan, but I've tried to show them off here as best I could. Check out the store link to see pics of the complete kit--this month you even get two bottles of Stickles! You'll love it!

This project was such fun. Also using the QuicKitz, I've taken those fake credit cards you get in junk mail and used my Bind it All to make a gratitude book. Each page has a letter spelling out gratitude (g on the cover). Here are just a few of the pages with some of the things I am thankful for.

Girl Scouts Slime Explorers Event, 2008

Gracie and a few of her Brownie troop members attended the Slime Explorers event this past summer. As you can see, she had a ball! Miss Cyndi is my daughter, Gracie's mom.

For this album I used a kit by Carolee's Creations,which I won in a scrapping contest a while back. It's actually a Friends kit but I altered the album covering up the "friends" with a strip of cardstock printed with the event info and added a splat to replicate the slime. TFL!

Lamp Re-Vamp!

Update a lamp with paint and vinyl. This lamp is so old, but I haven't been able to find one I like well enough to replace it yet. So whenever I want a change, I spray paint it. :) This time, I've used Suede paint (very cool) in bordeaux (burgandy) to go in my living room, which is undergoing a redo as we speak. For this project, I've used the brown vinyl and cut the design with the QK Silhouette using a dingbat/font image. For the "necklace" accent, I've used brown vinyl cord with silver and black metal beads.

I'm not sure why the image shows the design as "choppy" -- it's not that way IRL.

Vinyl for porch decorations

We're not really big on Halloween at our house, but I do like to put out a couple of things just for fun. This year Grace and I used the QK dies and vinyl to decorate our pumpkins. Well, her pumpkin and my squash. The dies and vinyl were so much more fun, and a lot faster, than carving the pumpkins for the Halloween porch decorations this year. We could also use much more intricate designs than if we had carved. Yay for vinyl. ;) Try it! It's not just for electronic cutters.

framed photo/vinyl project

Something about the first one just wasn't working for me. I hadn't even hung it on the wall yet. So this morning I changed it and now I really like it. :) It's on the wall in the newly redecorated bathroom and looks so pretty!! The new and improved vinyl project.

Magnetic folders

Once you start working with the vinyl you'll want to put it on everything! LOL I had been wondering how I would label the magnetic folders with all my QK cookie cutter alphas but I didn't want to alter them with paper or paint them and just wasn't sure what to do so I didn't do anything. Until I got the vinyl. Oh my. Here they are all labeled with the alphabet each one contains. Love this!

Closer view

Can't have red stars for the good ol' U.S.of A without sparkly stickles on them, you know. ;)