Convention Shopping

My family headed to Orlando this past weekend to hang out and for me to attend the Scrapbook Expo convention being held at the Gaylord Palms Resort. I arrived on Friday (early) and shopped until the late afternoon. Although I heard mixed reviews about the Expo I had a good time, even with going by myself. There were lots of ladies to talk with and I even made a few new (fast) friends.  The show floor was crowded, the demo lines were long and the checkout areas very slow, so you really had to bring your patience to the arena.

I thought I would share a few of my favorite finds. I really didn't buy that much, I mainly went for the experience and just to spend the day in the crafting environment.

Here are a few of my goodies:

This pennant die was the first thing I saw that I knew, instantly, that I wanted to purchase. It is made by Lifestyle Crafts which I think is designed very similar to the QuicKutz dies because they look identical. I haven't used it yet, but intend to get it cranking this weekend.

Next up are some stamps from Jenni Bowlin. These were sold in a booth from Scrap Yard.

The last stamp is a "receipt" stamp which I thought would make a great background stamp. I used it on this card yesterday:

I also hit a booth called the "Dollar Depot" at the end of the day. I browsed around and found these great assortment of stickers by Creative Imaginations. Their booth was sooooo crowded, I think I stood in line for about 30 minutes just to check out, but we always love having cute stickers around to attach to tags and such.

I think I'll be using those Easter stickers tomorrow to make a few crafty things for the holiday.

Take care and I'll see you later!!

A Look at My Tuesday

Here's what I've been looking at today....pretty stuff for this time of year.

First up is a picture of the prettiest ice crystal my oldest found on the ground this morning. I was glad this brought a smile to her face after a disappointing trip to the bird bath revealed a leak in our miniature ice skating pond.

Next is a package that came in the mail from a Scrapbook Trends giveaway I won last week. I opened the box to find this fabulous nested tower of treats with a gorgeous red and green felted bow. 

And last is a picture of one of my krafty wrapped gifts that I am giving away this year. When I am doing something in multiples I like to keep things simple but I also like to add a few touches of sparkle.  I thought this color combo of brown, gold and green was just what I was looking for.  The ribbon is from Michael's and the glittered snowflake tag is from Target.

I hope you are having a fun Tuesday!

Did you see her?

Two of my favorite ladies together on one show today!!! Martha was on Oprah!

It was a delightful hour, although I wish we could have seen more peeks into Martha's life.  We've all heard the scoop on her time in prison and frankly, I think we've all moved on.

Don't forget to print out your coupon. I'm off to Michael's tomorrow to see what I can find.

Stacks & Stacks

Do you have stacks at your house? By "stacks" I mean, stacks of stuff? Come on, admit me....we ALL do!! Right now these are two stacks I'm looking at:

This is what my nightstand looks like.  As much reading as I've done this summer you would think that my "reading stack" would be a little smaller, but I'm a self-admitted magazine junkie and I love picking up new books here and there.  One day I'll get through them all.

And, this is what my desktop looks like.  Actually, I took this stack and widened it so you could see all of my lovelies.  We found an awesome fabric store this summer while we were on vacation and it wasn't until I was ready to leave that I found out they had a bargain room.....bargain room??? Well, I had to check it out and I was so glad I did.  I ended up finding some cool stuff. 

That's it....I'm actually in the process of finding designated "homes" for my stacks. Feeling the need to de-clutter for some reason.

No More Vanilla

I found this sweet print today and just had to share it.....

The sentiment made me smile and I immediately thought, "this will be my new motto," as I end my 40th year and head into the big 4-1.

I'm going to check this etsy shop out a little longer...she's got some really cute stuff.

Have a good one!

Spending a Little Time...

in here today....yahoo!!

I've been a busy little beaver these past few days with school jobs and volunteering, so I've declared some time to myself with my sewing machine today and whatever else strikes my fancy...maybe even clearing a little dust (ignore the dust-topped Dell laptop in the photo - my hubby brought that one in yesterday to dissect it - one of his favorite things to do).

A Couple of Snags

I'm getting ready to get down to business in my craft room...working on a couple of different things right now (in between the ever-piling laundry loads) but I thought I would take a quick minute to share a couple of "snags" I got yesterday. By "snags" I mean great bargains that I "snagged" right up....makes my little life so exciting!!!

Here's the first one, totally un-craft related:

I'm assuming you've heard of Havianas? (Two people I spoke with yesterday had never heard of them.) Well, I've always admired them but never owned a pair because they can be a bit expensive....well, yesterday while peeking into my favorite clothing consignment store I found this pair at 50% off!!  Technically they were $4.00 but because I had a store credit they ended up being free for me!!!

Next up is a purchase I made at a local scrapbook store that is, sadly, going out of business:

Isn't she a beatuy?  I love clear acrylic organizing pieces.  This one will actually be making a home in my friend's awesome craft space.  She has a plentiful collection of SU markers and Copics so I thought she "needed" it.

And lastly......can I just pretend I'm in my early 20's again???? Just for a moment?  I am so, so happy to hear that this cutie patootie is going to be in the finals on American Idol:

I'm not a bettin' gal, but I would put money on this one! I can't wait for next week and you can count on me to be in line when his first CD is released!! Love to listen!!

A Few New Things

So remember in this post when I mentioned that I was going to share with you my new "solar powered" clothes dryer....(a direct quote given by my sister) well here's my new $2.00 Garage Sale find:

And now I'm just loving spending a few minutes in the mornings hanging my laundry out to dry.  It's a funny thing, one of my girls actually said, "What's that smell on my clothes?" And I realized they have never had their clothes hung on the line to dry (because we've always used the clothes dryer since moving into this new home 10+ years ago)....so I responded, "that's fresh air & sunshine!"

By the way, I didn't get a picture of it in the shot, but we decided that because this line is collapsible, we wouldn't mount it in the ground, but rather in a white bakery bucket filled with cement and a large PVC pipe. I wanted to be able to store the line if we needed more space on the patio.

Next, I wanted to show you the new shelf we bought on a recent trip to Ikea....it's a CD shelf and was a steal at $5.99:

I was looking for a way to store all of my Papertrey Ink CD cases together, but without taking up room on my countertop. My countertop space is saved for top priority items that I use every time I put something together and I didn't want to move anything....here's a closer shot:

I believe this shelf will hold a total of 76 cases, so that should hold me over for at least a little while. :) (Sorry about not getting the full-length shot, I was being a little bit lazy and didn't want to remove my zoom lens.)

Working on some spring cleaning, so I'll see you later!

What's New?

What's new? Yeah....what's new with you?  Not much new with me....I've just been enjoying some time at home getting all those daily "chores" done...and a few other things.

I just finished reading this nifty book:

This little doozy had lots of little tips and information on different things from sewing, homemaking, saving money, and much more.  I found it on the "new" shelf at my library and really enjoyed it.

Next up, is this one:

I prefer reading non-fiction and saw Nick Schuyler on Oprah a while back, so I thought this might be a good read.  So far so good.  It's a sad story and I couldn't imagine being in their particular predicament.

That's it for me....I'll be back tomorrow.

A Cool Concept - Learn at Home

I signed up for my first on-line class and I can't wait to see what's in store. Today is the first day and I'm excited to view my very first .pdf file from the amazing Kelly Purkey. I love her design work and what an amazing talent and opportunity to work for American Crafts. Dream job!!

A Christmas Thank You & New Stuff

I wanted to make some personal thank you cards for some very special gifts we received this Christmas season. So, I sat down this morning, in my pjs, and "played" until noon! Don't you just love it when there's no schedule???

I blended several of my favorite stamp sets, along with some of my favorite supplies and colors and came up with this:
Here's the full view:

I went to my kraft paper stash and cut them down to an A2 sized card (4.25 x 5.5"), next I grabbed my SU Very Vanilla paper, a sheet of red Bitty Dots paper from Papertrey Ink and a smidgen of Old Olive SU paper for the tag. I also used my Fiskars Apron Lace border punch and my tag die from Spellbinders. The stamp sets I grabbed were "Signature Christmas" and "Turning a New Leaf" from PTI and one of my absolute favorites, "Berry Christmas" from Stampin' Up. The ink colors I used included, Old Olive and Real Red (SU), along with Vintage Cream (PTI). I also raised the tag up a bit using some dimensionals.

I needed to keep it simple and not so bulky because I had several to make.

Next, I wanted to share something I bought a week or so ago and it has made a WORLD of difference in my stamping....have you seen these foamy pads (or craft mats as they are called) that are made specifically for rubber stamping? It reminds me of my Bazzill stitching pad, but the size is great for card making or even scrapbooking.

I didn't take a picture of the packaging, but mine is made by the Darice company and was a steal for only $5.99 at my local scrapbook store.

I tried to get a source for you to check one out on your own, but so far, no luck. Be on the lookout next time you visit your craft store and ask to try one out. My local store had these on their make-n-take table. See you later!

Got to See it....Finally!

Nothing crafty about this post....but I just had to share....I finally got to see Sandra Bullock's "The Blind Side" movie. I've wanted to see it ever since I saw the previews on TV and as soon as it came out (over Thanksgiving I believe) I was sure everyone in my family (especially my hubby) would be as anxious as I was to stand in line to check it out. Well, unfortunately, it didn't work out that way....no one wanted to see it, not even my hubby.

So, this past Saturday, I d-r-u-g my 7-year old and my sister to see it. And, believe it or not, the theatre was packed!!!
And, better than that.....it was soooo good! It was a really awesome feel-good movie and it was funny too, and let's not even mention the really handsome country music star in all his glory ready to gaze at on the big screen. I was so inspired by the story I thought about it for the next two days. I'm ready to see it again and invite all my friends!

Shopping from the List

I've been in the market for quite some time for a new sewing machine. I decided I wanted to invest in a machine that would last, hopefully, for quite a number of years. Since my interest in sewing has increased (how could it not with all those great projects out there!!) I wanted to get past the cheapy $89 deals from the big box stores.

A few days ago I went looking on my local Craig's List and found an ad for this machine: a Janome DC3018.

Well, yesterday I met a really nice lady named Carole who bought this beauty 2 years ago and had only used it once. She didn't even know how to thread it properly. She was so sweet. She explained to me the fact that she had two artificial wrists and could no longer push herself to do needlecrafts or even think about sewing. After I "played" with it in her kitchen for a short bit of time I decided to purchase it for myself.

Isn't "she" pretty?? I can't wait to experiment with some ideas in my sewing journal. Thanks Carole for the great deal!!

I'm Registered

I registered today for this fantastic event happening in July!!
I found out about it months ago from an announcement on Nichole Heady's blog and couldn't believe that the CHA group was going to hold a CraftSuperShow for plain ole' folks like me! I can't wait!

We have a small caravan planned and I'm sure it will be a fun day!

Cuttlebug - CHA Shout Out

Many of you know how much I love my Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder (it's one of my all-time favorite tools) and now Cuttlebug has announced they are coming out with some new folders designed for Christmas. Be sure to check out their page here to see the new designs and join in on the CHA countdown which will begin on June 29th. I can't wait to go to the CHA show in Orlando on July 31st....we've already booked the day as a girls day out!

This Week's Roll Call

Somehow this week I managed to book myself busy, I'm talking crazy busy... there will NOT be any lazy days of summer happening this week in my house.

Here's a sampling of my schedule:

Monday- lunch with a special 7-year old birthday girl - can't miss that & gymnastics in the afternoon
Tuesday- Huge birthday celebration (somebody's turning 4-0) which includes a shopping trip to Orlando for the day
Wednesday- Substitute Teacher Workshop and designing a bulletin board at school for next year's 3rd graders
Thursday- All day "get ready for a garage sale marathon" + dentist appointment + Stampin' Up workshop with friends
Friday- More "get ready" marathon
Saturday- Semi-annual garage sale & leaving for a week-long trip to the beach

Also, somewhere in there I need to design and put together an awesome idea I had for the girls' Father's Day gift as well as pack for our family vacation next week.

Is anybody else out there enjoying the "lazy days?"

Wristlet Mania

No pictures today guys, but I'll have some tomorrow....I've been making Wristlet purses ALL DAY. My sister took hers to work and came back with an order for 5 different purses, so that's where I've been today, in front of the sewing machine. It's not that bad...we've had another unbelievably rainy day in Florida which makes for definite indoor time!