State Holiday!

Yippee! Enjoying the view of azaleas out my kitchen window and I've set some goals for today - have accomplished a few... had breakfast with Matt... doing laundry [on the 5th load!] ...cleaned and straightened the play room....have more than a couple of boxes for Goodwill...played a little a la CZ's type challenge at Simple today [used the June kit - all about celebrations]...chose the paint color for the porch...and during lunch [leftovers] I looked out the window and saw a fox sunning itself on a stack of old windows we have in the yard [originally obtained to build a little greenhouse]. Yep! A Fox:Now - for those that don't know - we live IN THE CITY. Right in the middle - houses and stores all around us! - but there's wildlife everywhere too - we see raccoons, possums, hawks, and even coyotes [usually running and hiding in the culverts or wooded areas.] [Except for the deer that ran along C's car a few summer's back - just like a dog chasing a car...] So this is the first time we've seen a fox BLATANTLY sunning itself in our yard.... looks a little rough and weary...when I opened the door it ran away... Who knew these things happened in my own yard when I'm away at work? Note to self - get cats' rabies shots updated!

Some more fun with picnik

creating...

a little summer fun for our hallway - - got the idea from Donna Downey's screen art in Simple [March - April 2008 'Beyond the Page' p. 75] I used an old frame [painted it my favorite green] , metal screen from Home Depot, Welcome and star fish from Target $1 section [btw - anyone else noticing that things might be $2- $2.50?] shells from our collection, 'sea glass' - Wal-Mart [I think-] and photos [paper clipped on] from our years at the beach. Fun!

Edited: I kept walking by this and thinking it needed a little something more... what do you think? I think I like it better, but may still not be finished with it...

Caught Up!! Weekly Scripture Cards -

I've completed: Trust - Prayer - Grace - Live - Listen - Protection - Comfort - and Joy! Yay!
I'm loving my fluffy roladex! And it feels good to be up-to-date with this year long project!
[and I think I'm feeling a little bit better today too!]

One More

and then it's back to the scripture / week cards [btw, I really AM almost completely caught up!] before Idol comes on...
before --
after--
THIS IS REALLY FUN! Go give it a try and play a little - it's free!

Playing around with photos

and found this neat little site: Picnik - so easy to use. Here's a couple I've played with this afternoon -
Before -
After -
Before -
After -
I also hope to take the digital FAST PHOTO FIXES class over at Scrap-a-Faire this week [I think it's available until the end of the month ]- while I enjoyed learning how to scrapbook digitally with the Jessica Sprague class - I want to learn all about photo editing using Photoshop ... time will tell -

Matt and Susie before the Prom this month...

c

So I must be feeling

a little better... haven't quite been able to shake off the bug I got while in California - so finally went to the doctor yesterday and I have a good little case of bronchitis and an ear infection - who knew? I've been on my meds for about 24 hours now and I really am feeling a little better... even got a little craftie this afternoon [sooooo simple- two sheets of double sided cardstock from Fancy Pants, some grommets, some buttons, and a photo in silhouette --- been reading Stacy J's books and she has a history of REALLY loving the silhouette, so here's to YOU Stacy!--- and a little inspiration...]

First the inspiration [two advs. one for silk soy milk and the other for dress barn]:
And my take on it [fun - and with the silhouette, I could make my arms a little thinner - ha-ha-ha] - so happy to find this paper with the doodles already all over it!:
I scanned the adv. and printed the title in reverse on the orange side of the paper so I could hand-cut it. The journal strips look a little crooked on here - but they're straight in real life...

Random thoughts

Been a while since I've posted on my web -log [blog! I've just learned this week how it got its name!] and I've had a lot going on - no big projects really [although I'm forming some in my head] but lots of little things...

*catching up with the scripture of the week [Rolodex] cards - I'm doing at least two [front and back - 4 scriptures] per word and am happy to report that I'm only three weeks behind at the moment. [yay] Haven't been behind in looking up the scriptures - just in getting them on the cards.
*prom was this week and Matt and Susie looked cute as can be! I'll try and remember to post photos later...
*starting to sort digital photos per the Library of Memories system - once sorted [by category per year] I'll burn them to a disk. Plan to go back and get all those 'early' digital photos off the floppy disks too.
*THEN it's on to scanning my favorite photos prior to 1999. [I'd thought of printing from negatives - but searching through those was NOT fun - and photos are SO MUCH easier to see...]
*still coughing - but feeling better.
*finished up our quick and easy California vacation book [ only printed 150 photos from over 400 - pretty good for me...and didn't use ALL of those in the book.]
*eating blueberries every morning & trying to add more brain healthy foods like fish, spinach, and almonds to my daily diet
*no Hall of Fame for me - it was fun to stretch myself for this contest though
*ordered and received two of Stacy Julian's old books - Core Composition [yes! I found a copy!] and (25) Simple Scrapbooks . Have enjoyed them both, and one of the things I've enjoyed most since I'm a 'long-term' scrapper [archivally since 1998] is seeing how some of her early pages LOOK JUST LIKE MINE! Hey! We had very few products to work with back then.
*still looking for a new episode of HOUSE - I'm past the withdrawal stage...
*sorted through and [re] organized some of the scrap space
*enjoying a couple of new [to me] magazines: Rachel Ray and Real Simple - trying new recipes too.
* have just realized that I've failed miserably with the monthly contest over on the Yahoo Group - no contest for April, but I have the folder set up for May already [Heritage]
*had a couple of fun lunches with friends
* walking the steps and hill every day I'm in the office here in town
*loving spring altho the pollen is about to get me
*finished up a little 6x6 'going away' album for my supervisor who has taken a new position
*been really burdened for Angie Smith and her family [have never met her - but her story is on the blog to the right] and have spent a good amount of time in prayer for them

So there you have it - looking forward to my sweetie being home soon...