FREE STUFF . . . .wooooo hoooooo!!

hey guys . . . kim teasdale . . . a totally awesome designer . . . is celebrating on her blog with blog candy! she has reached 100,000 hits on her blog . . . . woot woot . . . and is giving away some awesome stuff . . . clear stamps from whipper snapper, artful INKables, our daily bread designs, and clear dollar stamps. go check her out!!! Read more on "FREE STUFF . . . .wooooo hoooooo!!"!

Pay It Forward

i found this on kandis smith's blog . . . my creative treasury. i think this is really cool . . . who doesn't enjoy free handmade stuff!!! i can't wait to see what i get from kandis . . . and am already planning something awesome to send to you!!!

the rules

1. Be one of the first three (3) bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me. {be sure to tell me your fav color combo too!}

2. Winners, you must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first 3 bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your three Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it!! If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along. Post it on your blog; start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!I will need your address if you are one of the first three bloggers.
hurry and leave one of the first comments!
who doesn't want a rockin' handmade goodie?!

will be back this weekend to post some cards and some scrappin' layouts i made this week. had to go back to set up my classroom today and am back teaching the kids tomorrow . . . i'm exhausted . . . and bummed out! enjoy your evening!
Read more on "Pay It Forward"!

i'm impressed . . .

i managed to make two consecutive posts over a two day period . . . LOL!!! have some more cards to share with you. these were made for the virtual stamp night at splitcoaststampers. the first card was made for the "sketch a little love" challenge. janet created a sketch for us to use . . . and here is my take on the sketch.

with love
by {pam}

inspiration from janet's vsn challenge

stamps: CTMH with love; paper: bazzil cs, making memories dp; ink: versamagic jumbo java; other: cricut alphalicious and george cartridges

the next card was made for the "one true love" challenge hosted by katherine. the challenge was to make a card with monochromatic colors and one neutral. when i saw this card by monika, i was instantly impressed with the simplicity and elegance of the mostly white card. it was the first thing that came to mind when i saw this challenge. the card is also based on natasha's fall-to-layout #27. i sooooo love the sketches at clean & simple stamping!

in sympathy
by {pam}

inspiration from katherine's vsn challenge and ftl#27

stamps: ek success general card set; michael's dollar stamps; paper: bazzil cs; ink: versacolor black; other: cuttlebug swiss dot; cricut base camp

on the personal side . . . ryan is still sick with a fever and a horrible horrible cough. we took him to the doctor today and found out he has the flu that was getting ready to become bronchitis. he now has antibiotics . . . hopefully they kick in soon for him.

as for the flea issues . . . i wanna scream. we are soooooo losing that battle. both cats are sooooooo freaked out by the stuff we used on them and the way the fleas are reacting. my poor kitties are not acting normal and it breaks my heart. plus . . . every time they lick themsevles they start shaking their heads and drooling. looks like they are due for a trip to the groomer and then the vet for the good stuff!

hope you had a great tuesday!

Read more on "i'm impressed . . ."!

bad bad blogger

wow . . . i have been a very bad blogger. it has been 7 months since my last post. i have been busy making cards lately and thought it would be a good time to start posting again. let's see if i can keep it up. so without further ado . . . on to my cards . . .

my dad's birthday is today . . . so i made this card for him. i'm a little late . . . but better late than never . . . he should get it in the mail by tomorrow! :-P

dad's bday card
by {pam}

inspiration from ftl#26

sorry for the bad photo . . . it is very rainy, cloudy and dark here so i had to use the best light i had in the house. the card is based on fall-to-layout #26. ya gotta check out the clean & simple stamping blog . . . she has some awesome sketches that are so simple but look like you put a lot into them!! hehehehe

stamps: CTMH star struck, sassafrass lass stitched borders; ink: SU not quite navy, SU old olive; paper: scraps i had sittin' around . . . LOL

for valentine's day . . . i made a card for patrick's girlfriend. he really liked the card. well . . . this weekend he came to me and said it was his girlfriend's bday last friday and that he wanted me to make a card for her . . . awwwwwwww! i know i'm a dork . . . but it made me feel really good that he actually WANTED me to do it! YAY!! splitcoaststampers was having a virtual stamp night this weekend and one of the challenges was to make an acetate card. i have always wanted to make one and this pushed me to step outta my oh-so-comfy box! hehe

patrick's GF's bday card
by {pam}

inside of card from side
by {pam}

it's hard to tell from the photos . . . but the color combo is purple and lime green. those are the colors patrick wanted . . . i woulda never done them on my own. i was a little nervous making this card because all of the examples i saw used a white staz-on ink . . . and i only had black. i gotta say . . . i am awful danged proud of myself . . . i think this card turned out awesome . . . and so does patrick . . . a-hyuck . . . a-hyuck.

i found an awesome tutorial for acetate cards over at splitcoaststampers. gotta love their rockin' tutorials!!!

stamps: CTMH small pleasures, CTMH it's a party; ink: staz-on black; paper: transparency sheet and more scraps i had sittin' around; embellies: ribbon, clear jewels

k . . . that's it for today! gotta go fight the on-going flea battle that we have been putting up a brave front against all weekend . . . poor kitties!!! also time to give ryan some more meds . . . both boys have had a horrible flu bug since a week ago saturday. patrick is over it but ryan's is hanging on . . . poor guy! Read more on "bad bad blogger"!

what a roller coaster ride . . .

i can't believe how quickly things in our lives can change and send you and every being around you for a loop. friday started out like any other day. i subbed for a teacher at my school . . . it was the last day of school with students i had taught in the first grade. i had a fun day! i couldn't wait for the evening to start because i got to scrap at scrapbook station with linda, karen and jeri. hold on . . . make sure you are sitting down for this one . . . i finished three layouts . . . yes . . . i said 3! lol!!!

bo helping me get ready to go scrapping . . . hehehehe

the night ended well, and i headed home. everything went downhill from there!

ryan had friends staying the night . . . typical weekend . . . however, he was eating ice cream in the living room straight from the container. he has been talked to over and over about this. i sent him and his friends to bed and stayed up for a while to make sure they had gone to bed. this was around 12:30ish. at about 2:00, richard got up to see where i was and noticed that the door in our bedroom that leads to the backyard patio was open and both kittens were missing. i went on a frantic search for the kittens. richard found bo across the street in a neighbor's yard, but bella was nowhere to be found. i looked until about 3:30 in the morning.

i was up early the next day to look for bella again. i still couldn't find her. i had work that needed to be done for school, so i started that while periodically going outside to holler for bella. no aswer. at around 1:30 on saturday we got a voice mail message from animal care. they found bella! we were so relieved. i tried calling them twice but was unable to get in touch with an actual animal control officer. i didn't hear back from her until sunday morning at 8:00. by the time i woke up and realized it was the phone ringing and then ran to the kitchen, it had stopped ringing. i called back immediately . . . couldn't get in touch with her. called again at 10:00 and still couldn't get her. we didn't hear from them all day.

on monday, i drove richard to work and then stopped at school to get some teacher's manuals i needed to plan for the new school year. on the way to pick bella up, i called to make sure they still had her. hold on tight folks . . . were heading downhill again! they said that when they picked her up that her eyes were a little cloudy. they had not been like that when she left home on friday night. i talked them in to letting me come pick her up and take her straight to the vet. i broke all speed limit laws trying to get to marysville fast. when i got there, they said they had taken her to the vet and that i could go straight there . . . and they didn't charge me any fees . . . heading back up?

NO! i couldn't believe what i saw when i got to the vet. it was soooo heart-breaking. i immediately burst into tears and had to hold onto the table. my poor sweet bella . . . her eyes were completely white . . . no color whatsoever. here beautiful yellow eyes were gone . . . ooommmmggggg. there was dried blood on her nose and she was coughing. she looked so frail and helpless. my poor sweet baby! the vet said he had never seen anything like this. he thought that maybe she had been exposed to chlorine gas and that it had burnt her eyes and her respiratory system. she was completely blind. he said there could be other damage to other organs as well. she was sufferin so much and was soooo not the sweet feisty little kitten i knew and loved. i held her so close and cried. i kept telling her over and over that i loved her and that i was so very sorry she was suffering. after talking to richard and the vet, it was decided that the best thing for bella was to euthanize her. omg . . . i wanted to die right then and there. it was the hardest thing i ever had to do. i just couldn't let go of her. i knew that if i did i would never see her again. i finally handed her over to the nurse and left. i couldn't stay to watch them do it.

we love and miss you so very much miss bella!

i got in the car and screamed the whole way home. i felt so helpless. i know that she is no longer in pain and that she is in a much better place . . . but it hurt so terribly bad to see her that way and to know that she had been suffering for two days before i was able to help her. i was a complete wreck on monday.

and my poor bo kitty . . . omg . . . he is soooooo lonely. he did nothing but sleep or walk around meowing since friday night. he is sooo very depressed. richard and i talked about it and thought that the best thing to do was to get another kitten so that he had a companion. i go back to school in two weeks and didn't want him at home alone and depressed. animal care felt really bad about what had happened to bella and how the whole situation was handled. they told us that if we wanted another kitten that they would give us another one for free. heading up the slope now!

so i went to their offices and found the most adorable little kitten. ryan and i went back to pick her up at 4:00. we were so happy! richard called several times to see how things were going and to find out if we had a name for her yet. he came up with the perfect name . . . chai! if you know me well . . . you know that is perfect!!!

ladies and gentlemen . . . let me introduce . . . chai kitty . . .

our newest addition . . . chai

she had spent four days in a cage at animal care and was completely filthy . . . so the poor little kitten had to have a bath. richard was brave enough to do the honors. how pathetic does this little kitten look? lol!!

first bath . . . poor wet kitty

so things are on the uphill part of the roller coaster ride . . . . right?!?! . . . . WRONG!! bo has completely changed since we brought her home. he wants nothing to do with the kitten . . . which i understand . . . there is always an adjustment period. but . . . he wants nothing to do with me anymore either . . . and that breaks my heart. when i pick him up, he just meows at me and complains the whole time i am holding him and can't wait to get away. richard keeps telling me everything will be okay . . . just give it some time. i know this is true . . . but i feel so bad. i got the kitten for bo cuz he was hurting so much and that made me sad. now i worry that i have made a mistake and am only causing him further stress. man . . . why can't life be easy?!?!?!

so right now we are resting somewhere on the flat part of the ride . . . keeping my fingers crossed that we will head up again soon! Read more on "what a roller coaster ride . . ."!

winner . . . winner . . . chicken dinner . . .

who let the dogs out? the fresno state bulldogs did to become the 2008 ncaa national champions in baseball! go dogs!!! ::insert deep masculine sports victory voice:: lol!!!

seriously tho . . . i'm not a sports fan . . . never have been. i tolerate sports because the love of my life is a major sports fan. to top it off . . . richard is from fresno! it really wasn't so bad tho . . . the bulldogs were the cinderella team . . . the lowest seed in any sport to win an NCAA championship. it was totally awesome to watch them win the super regionals and keep going through to the last game of the college world series! the bulldogs were awesome! they made some amazing plays and always came back strong from a loss! those boys so totally deserve the title of national champions!!!

fresno state bulldogs
from underdogs to wonderdogs

oh . . . i'm a winner too!!! my victory isn't as huge as the bulldogs . . . but it's big for me. i won the ebay bidding war for the large bed scanner i want. it is a brand new scanner that you can normally buy for around $170! how much did i pay . . . you ask! are you sitting down??? i paid a whopping $46 (including shipping)! i know . . . rockin' huh?!?!?!?! no more stitching my layouts together. i sooooo can't wait!!!

well . . . i have no plans for the day . . . it is 10:33 AM . . . so i am off to my scrap room. will post later . . . if i manage to finish anything! hehehehe!!! ciao for now!

Read more on "winner . . . winner . . . chicken dinner . . ."!

what was i thinking . . . .

k . . . have you ever started a layout and then set it off to the side to finish? not such an uncommon thing . . . right? well . . . have you ever set it aside for over 3 years? i found one of these in a folder in my scrap room . . . YIKES . . . it was scary. here is a picture of what i found.

3 year old unfinished mess
by {pam}

all of the pictures and patterned paper had been cropped and corners rounded . . . but i have no idea what i was going to do with them . . . and how scary is that leaf paper. lol!!! here is the new improved version:

thankful
{new improved version}
by {pam}

i got rid of the background paper and the ugly leaf paper . . . added some flowers, buttons and some journaling blocks. not my all time best layout . . . but it is so much better than what i started out with. the flowers were originally white daisy-like flowers. i used my new ctmh "rustic flowers" background stamp and some tim holtz "tea dye" distressed ink pads to tone the flowers down. i love the mottled look from the background stamp (oh . . . again . . . did i say margo rocks?!?!?!) the journaling blocks and the swirly stamp on the photo tabs are from a set of michael's $1 stamps . . . . how rockin' is that?!?!?! and my most awesomest tool of all . . . my cricut . . . was used for the photo tabs and titles. {YIKES just saw the scan of this layout . . . title so does not look that crooked in real life!} again . . . not my bestest layout . . . but passable!

i got to scrap all day sunday . . . except when i had to do the family thing and make dinner . . . sheesh . . . can't they just go graze in the backyard or something? hehehehe! so i spent most of the day finishing layouts. i am surprised how many i had that just needed one or two things added to make them complete.

here is another thanksgiving layout that was with the "ugly" one . . . so it is about three years old as well . . . explains the style! i can't believe this one wasn't finished the whole layout was put together . . . only thing missing was . . . dundundunda . . . the journaling . . . which was already typed and printed out. guess i was too lazy to attach it to the layout after the hard work of printing and cutting it out! hehehehe!!! {i know, i know . . . hard to believe i left off the journaling . . . lol!}

giving thanks
by {pam}

back at the end of march, i started creating a wall decoration for my scraproom. once again . . . i got a portion of it done . . . set it off to the side to be finished . . . and forgot about it. i am happy to say . . . it is now complete. i am really happy with how this turned out. i want to mount it and then hang it above the closet in my scraproom. {the layout was created to be horizontal . . . the flowers on the "A" and "M" don't look so crowded that way.}

PAM wall decoration
by {pam}

this layout of patrick in his last season of baseball at sierra vista elementary school was started when we moved into our house in plumas lake . . . in december. all i had to do was finish cutting out the letters for the title . . . can you say procrastinator?!?!?! the letters were printed from the computer using reverse print. i hand cut the yellow and gold letters to make them look like varsity letters.

play ball
by {pam}

ok . . . i don't feel so bad about this layout . . . it was only started on the 9th of this month . . . all it needed was the journaling . . . but i ran out of time at the crop at the scrapbook store. this is a scraplift of a layout on twopeasinabucket. {i lost the paper i printed of the layout . . . sorry that i can't give proper credit to the original artist.}

V-Day
by {pam}

inspiration from twopeasinabucket

just to show i'm not 100% lazy . . . these last two layouts were complete! just too lazy to scan them . . . hehehehe! i love the left side of the golf layout . . . my two favorite shots of richard playing golf.

drive it chip it putt it
by {pam}

this layout was of national scrapbook day at scrapbook station in roseville from 2006. this is another scraplift from twopeasinabucket but . . . i can't remember the original artist. {sorry about the wonky scan . . . my embellies are too fat . . . oops!}

scrappin luau
by {pam}

inspiration from twopeasinabucket

enough blabbering from me for the day. i wanna go scrap some more . . . i love being a teacher . . . summers off are rockin! catch ya later! {this post actually ended up taking two stinkin' days to complete! can i just say . . . i hate my scanner! i had to rescan several of the layouts because my scanner was doing funky things. and i didn't get to scrap more . . . boo hoo! in the process of scanning and hating my scanner and not getting to scrap . . . i researched a scanner with a larger bed. i found one on ebay that i am bidding on . . . keep your fingers crossed for me!} Read more on "what was i thinking . . . ."!

party was soooo much fun!

today i hosted a close to my heart (ctmh) party at my house. it was the first time any of my friends had been out to my new house. it was sooo awesome to have all of them here . . . lisa, linda, carl, nadine, jeri, pollee, kathy, sue, cathy, teresa . . . and family too . . . jaycee and lori! we had so much fun!!! my ctmh consultant, margo, was awesome!!! {justmargo} she showed us how to make two cards and was oh-so-patient with us! you rock, margo!!!

the first card we made was a masculine birthday card. this is the first time i did multi-step stamping with clear stamps. i had used stampin' up rubber multi-step stamps and was frustrated because of not being able to accurately place the second stamp. (the perfectionist in me is not happy unless everything is lined up perfectly . . . LOL!!) the clear stamps make lining up the second, third . . . even fourth . . . stamps so much easier. with this card . . . we first stamped the base, then the solid cake color, then the wavy words across the cake, then the yellow candlesticks and flames, and finally the green candlesticks . . .whew . . . makes me tired just thinking about all the steps . . . hehehehe! anyway . . . i am sooo lovin' the clear multi-step stamps.

ctmh bday card
as demonstrated by margo

the second card we made was just toooooo stinkin' cute!! i love this card so much that i have to buy the stamps! there were a couple new techniques that i learned on this card. first . . . i learned to distress the edges of my paper with my scissors . . . lovin' the thick torn up look of the paper!!! i have a distressing tool to do this with . . . but the scissors are soooo much easier. margo also showed us how to mask one image so we could stamp a second image without ruining the first image. the technique i thought was really cool tho was stamping an image on two different pieces of paper in order to layer them. makes the image look so much more 3D. i have cut stamped images out before but never woulda thought to layer another image on the base of the card and then place the second image on pop dots directly over the first image. we did this with the flower, the vase, and the leaf. tooo stinkin' cool!!! oh . . . another thing i woulda never thunk to do is build the base of my card on a separate sheet of cardstock and then tape that to a pre-made card base . . . so simple and a huge duh . . . don't ya think?

happy everything card
as demonstrated by margo

oh . . . i could never figure out why i sometimes had partial images when i stamped with clear stamps on acrylic blocks. problem solved now! margo taught us to stamp on a thin foam pad . . . made the image soooo much crisper! (found this out the hard way when i accidentally forgot to use the foam and my image came out all tweek'd . . . thank god for the back of paper . . . LOL!!!)

margo was sooo awesome . . . not only did she teach us how to make two rockin' cards . . . she also gave me two stamps sets. and as if that wasn't enough . . . she also had prize drawings for us. i won some toooo cute flower shaped bling! ok . . . have i already told you how awesome margo is . . . hehe!

flower bling
{toooo cute . . . huh}

ctmh wishes stamps
thank you margo!

ctmh rustic flower stamps
margo rocks!!

k . . . wanna hear how much of a complete dork i am. i was looking at the rustic flower stamps thinking . . . if you stamp the large square shape . . . how are you going to see anything that you stamp on top of it! (it doesn't stamp in black ya dork!!!)

it's been a really long day . . . couldn't sleep last night . . . was like a kid at christmas too excited about the next day . . . what a dork huh! i'm gonna go be a lounge lizard now . . . so i'll catch ya later! oh . . . huge thanks and love to richard and ryan for spending the day away from the house in blistering hot heat so i could have a house full of women scrappin'! love ya guys!!! and thank you to all of my wonderful friends who drove all the way out to bfe just to hang out and scrap!! i have such rockin' friends!! Read more on "party was soooo much fun!"!

my apologies . . .

for all of the little white boxes with "x" in them. apparently photobucket is having a problem right now. hopefully they will have the problem fixed soon. i can't even begin to imagine trying to find all of my photos and uploading them to another photo hosting sight . . . UGH!!!

haven't scrapped all week because i am in the process of trying to figure out how to create a blog for my classroom. i want to be able to keep parents informed of everything that is going on . . . homework, projects, etc. i have been doing a lot of research but can't find any sights to use as an example . . . so i guess i will just wing it!

i am getting soooo excited about my CTMH party this weekend. oh . . . sometimes i am such a dork . . . i invited 17 people and had already made arrangements to borrow tables so i had enough space for everyone to create their cards. silly me. . . suddenly realized yesterday i had the tables . . . but no chairs . . . LOL!!!! luckily, my school has a ton of folding metal chairs, so i will borrow 17 from there. ::slapping forehead::

k . . . . today is my only day off this week . . . will be subbing for the rest of the week so i can have spending money when i go to see stace in so cal . . . and i desperately need to get this house cleaned up before my party . . . especially my scrap room! (hehehehe) bye for now! Read more on "my apologies . . ."!

WOW . . ..

has it really been over 3 months since my last post?!?!?!?!? guess i'm not too good at this blogging stuff.

i started my blog when i was off track back in february. once school started again, i didn't have much time or energy to get back on here. i promise that once school starts again next month that i will be a little better at this.

i will play a little catch up on my life the past 3 months . . . i went to scrap camp in april at a rockin' camp in weimar, ca that is hosted by rose of scrap it in cameron park. this is the 3rd year that linda and i have gone . . . and i won't be the last. this year, stace drove up from socal. we had a blast. got a lot of pages done . . . thank god for sketches!!!!! :-) oh . . . i almost forgot . . . when i was there, i won the coolest prize!! it is a rolling tote by mackinac moon. i already had rolling tote for my scrap supplies . . . so i wasn't too excited. but then i remembered something . . . i don't have anything to store my cricut in. guess what . . . my circut fits in there perfect!!!! there is even room for me to put my cartridge storage case on top. the tote came with a shoulder tote and a zippered pen and emellie binder too! SCORE!!!

mackinac moon rolling tote

thanx rose!!!

have cropped a few times at scrapbook station in roseville. also took a class there for an acrylic album. it was fun! i haven't finished it yet, but will post picks when i do!.

school ended on may 30 . . . just in time . . . dunno if i could have handled that class much longer. right now . . . i am just enjoying my summer . . . scrapping, reading, subbing a few days, and being lazy.

my sweet friend, carl, had open heart surgery two weeks ago. it was sooooo scary. i don't know anyone who is in better shape than he was. he is recovering well and back to his old self. the doctor told him that once he was completely healed he would have a lot more energy . . . god help us! LOL!!

i am hosting my first close to my heart party on the 21st at my house. this will be the first time any of my friends have been out to my house in plumas lake. i am really excited! i got to meet the CTMH consultant on friday and see her craft room. i am sooooooooooooo jealous!!

patrick is here visiting for the past week. he has to head back to fresno tomorrow, so we celebrated father's day today with richard's dad. the boys had a blast swimming and eating. it was nice to relax and have some adults to interact with! here are the cards i made for richard and his dad. richard's is the one with the golf bag on it. the golf embellies are made by just jinger. the epoxy stickers are ek sticko. these aren't originals . . . inspiration came from another blog . . . but i can't remember which one and can't find it again. thanx for the inspiration whoever you are! {if for some really strange reason you created the originals for these cards and you happen to find my blog . . . please let me know so i can give you the proper credit!}

father's day cards
by {pam}

inspiration from an unknown blog

this morning . . . for some unknown reason . . . i got a wild hair and decided that it was time to convert all of my rubber stamps to unmounted stamps so i can store them in CD cases. i am about half way through removing them from the blocks. need to get some goo gone to remove some of the remaining stickness. also need aleene's tack it over and over so i can use them with my acrylic block. i can't wait to see how much more room i have when i am finished. i will post before and after pics once i have finished.

well . . . i don't want to ramble on . . . and i could since it has been forever! off to clean my scrap room and finish my rubber stamp project. have a happy father's day everyone! Read more on "WOW . . .."!

omg . . . too much fun!!!

i scrapped tonight and had soooo much fun! didn't finish anything. . . but hey . . . that's just me!!!

i scrapped tonight with two awesome ladies that live in my new neighborhood!!! this was the first time i had met either one of them . . . but i was immediately comfortable . . . and they scrap like me . . . pokey!!!! i look forward to scrapping with them more!!!

am going to scrap again tomorrow at elliot's in marysville. will hopefully have something finished to post before i leave for the weekend! off too bed now! Read more on "omg . . . too much fun!!!"!

is it thursday already?!?!?!?!?

UPDATED AT 6:00PM!!!

what a busy week it has been! the only scrappin' i've had a chance to do was making a card for ryan's 15th birthday. i did manage to spend a lot of time trying to further perfect my blog. let me know if you like the changes! oh . . . and i got to fill up my new organizer!!!!!

i've made a few changes to my blog. earlier in the week i figured out how to add captions to my pictures. still need to go back and caption previous posts . . . but that will have to be on another day! i have also added a comment form directly to the bottom of my posts. soo many people have been looking at my blog . . .but no one's talkin' to me ::pouting in corner:: so i have made it much easier for you to talk to me and let me know what you think! feel free to leave me a comment . . . i don't bite! i have also changed my main page so that only a small pararaph shows on the main page with a read more link if you are interested in reading more or seeing the photos i have attached. finally . . . i moved some of my links . . . pasts posts, to die for, and labels, are all under the post now instead of to the right. it works perfect on the main page but you have to scroll down past the comment form on the post pages. no worries . . . if you don't want to scroll that far once in the post, just close the window that popped up with the post and it will take you back to the main page!

yesterday was ryan's 15th birthday. we had a few of his friends over for pizza and cake. he wants a guitar for his birthday cuz he and his friends want to start a band! YIKES!!! luckily they will have to play at the drummer's house . . . hehehehehe!! he is going down to fresno for the weekend to see his mom and brother, so we will get his guitar for him sometime next week. he has been messing around on one of his friend's guitars and sounds pretty good . . . so i can't wait to for him to take lessons! oh . . . new scrappin' opportunities too. . . ooooooooooooooooh . . . now i have a reason to buy the rock star paper by dcwv!!! LOL!!! here's the card i made for ryan. i got the inspiration from a card i saw on twopeasinabucket but i don't remember who did the original and can't find it . . . sorry!

bday card for ryan
by {pam}
inspiration from twopeas

so . . . earlier in the week richard brought home this awesome storage container with 18 drawers in it. don't rush out and try to find one. it's original use is to store coffee packets in offices. one of his customers was going to throw it out so he snagged it for me. (i know . . . i know . . . what a catch!!!) it is perfect for holding my ribbon and paints. i have spent all week organizing this and am soooooo happy with the results.

ribbon and paint storage

fits perfect on my expedit shelf

ribbon drawer

paint drawer

tonight i am going to meet some more new friends in my neighbor who scrap. i am sooooo excited. so . . . i guess that means i better get my act together and figure out what i'm going to work on! off to plan my layouts (and pay bills . . . ugh) . . . so go create something!!! :-x

got home from paying bills and my new ott-lite had come in!!! wooooo hoooooo! it is soooo bright! can't wait to scrap with it!

and here's a little humor at my expense . . . my online name on another forum is pirish. if you know me . . . you know how i got that name. anyway . . . someone on that forum sent me a link to a t-shirt that says "kiss me i'm pirish". i thought to myself . . . why would that be on a t-shirt?!?!?! so i did some research . . OMG!!!! tooo freakin' funny!!! here are the definitions for pirish:

1. the language of pirates!

2. a group of irish individuals who roam the high seas in search of plunder.

3. A pikey whom is also irish. Also known as the worst kind of pikey. usually drunk on irish whisky and tends to smell of cow fart.

in case you don't know what a pikey is:

used to describe anyone who lives in a caravan or shares the same values and "culture" of "the travelling community", and whose main sources of income are as follows:

stealing cars, flogging roses in pubs for "childrens' charities", nicking lead off roofs, burgling garden sheds, blagging entry to old peoples house to rob them, doing dodgy tarmac jobs ("we've got some black stuff left over from a job up the road"), sometimes with mint imperials used as a substitute for white chippings, or, reportedly, using snow to lay slabs on when the sand ran out, stealing your bollocks if they weren't in a bag and anything else that's not nailed down and anything that is nailed down but will fit in the back of an untaxed transit when nobody's looking.

that last definition of pirish is a hoot . . . richard always wondered where that smell came from! LOL!!! Read more on "is it thursday already?!?!?!?!?"!

productive weekend . . .

well, the scrappin' urge continued all weekend. i was able to finish all of the layouts for the challenges i wanted to do . . . except for the method playground challenge. i am still struggling with how to do this one. it was a challenge to create a layout with no photos. i actually came up with the journaling already (i know . . . i know . . . don't faint) but haven't figured out the design yet. i have spent literally all day today scanning and uploading my layouts. need to start doing this after each layout cuz this made for a really boring day!


the first layout is one i did for twopeas' inspiration challenge #59. the challenge was to use a quote from a famous black american in recognition of black history month. i chose the quote, "turn your wounds into wisdom," by oprah winfrey. this is a layout that has been in the works for over two years now. if you know me, you know how horrible my marriage was. this layout started the night i came back from my first WEAVE meeting. it was in april or may of 2005. (for some stupid reason i didn't write down the date.) immediately upon getting home i wrote out the journaling for this layout. i tried several different techniques to make my picture look like i was broken, but my face would come up really distorted each time. i found the perfect overlay at scrapbook expo in 2006 but never finished the layout. when i saw this quote from oprah, i was inspired to finish the layout. i also used sketch this: 42 for the design of the layout. i must say that i am VERY happy with the way this layout turned out . . . especially for being such a hard subject! (clarification: the journaling on this layout is about a time prior to my rockin' bf entering my life!)

i am a battered woman
by {pam}

inspiration challenge 59

sketch this: 42

this layout was for twopeas' BOS challenge #102. BOS stands for book of scraps (a place that you can bookmark layouts you like). this is a scraplifting challenge . . . another thing i love cuz someone has already done all of the hard work . . . you just have copy and pesonalize! how easy is that! :) i used a layout called "growing up"created by 2BG. her layout (the second one below) is a digital layout. i had fun with this layout cuz i got to use some of my favorite paper and girly colors . . . even tho they are golf pictures. the fun circle and journaling on the side was created using my new crafter's workshop template . . . circle circle dot dot. i love it! i want more! (check out some of their other templates in my "to die for" list to the left.) on easter 2007, richard played a round of golf at woodcreek golf course. on the 16th hole he asked if i wanted to play a hole. i had never swung a club on a golf course before so i gave it a shot. my journaling tells the tale of an awesome drive, an okay 2nd shot and a series of horrible shots trying to sink the stupid little white ball!

par 10
by {pam}

bos challenge #102

growing up by 2BG
at twopeasinabucket

this is a layout of richard golfing at woodcreek golf course on that same easter sunday. he said some really funny things that day, so i saved them in a draft text message in my cell phone since i knew i would be scrappin' the pictures i took. the title comes from one of his quotes that day. the left side of the layout was created using sketch this: 44. the right side is from a sketch #7 on 52 sketches . . . 52 weeks. did i say i love using sketches?!?!?!? i really like how this turned out. the paper and the quirkiness of the layout matches richard's humor.

meet sir crush alot
by {pam}

sketch this: 44

52 sketches #7

and here's another layout from woodcreek golf course on the same day. for the left side, i used pencil lines sketch #72. on the right, my inspiration was from got sketch? #45. can i just say i adore the picture of him picking his butt! LOL!!! the vellum quote came from quick quotes. i picked it up at scrapbook expo this year! the photo corners on the vellum quote were created using a method i provided a link for in "cool techniques" to the left. check it out . . . so simple!

{passion}
by {pam}

pencile lines #72

got sketch? #45

i need to mention that i had a lot of help scanning my layouts today. thank you so very much bo and bella! :)







to further prove that he is the rockinest bf ever . . . richard brought me home another cool thing for me to organize my ribbon and paints in. my goal tonight is to plan my layouts for challenges for this week, clean my scrap room and fill my new organizational bins! so . . . i'm off . . . stop readin' this and go create something! :-x

[special note: i would like to thank tom at tom and spavel and sparerep for all of his patience in helping me create captions for my photos. u rock tom!!!]

Read more on "productive weekend . . ."!

tons of fun . . .

i had so much fun last night scrapping. i thought it was just going to be me and linda and one of her friends. turned out that lisa and carl came as well! i hadn't seen either of them in a long while. kb worked the crop . . . so i got to spend time with her too! i forgot how much fun all of us have. need to make it a point to do this at least once a month!

as usual . . . the pokey scrapper only finished one layout last night. it is the final layout for foxtail golf club. i used pencil lines sketch # 69 for inspiration! (gotta love them sketches!) notice how i left the journaling part out . . . hehehehe! the score card for this course was an obnoxious green that didn't match my layout. cricut to the rescue! the fabulous finds cartridge has a library pocket. it was big enough to not only hold the score card but also to put a picture on the front! WOOHOO!!!










after scrapping last night . . . i have the urge to do more . . . so i'm off to create! will update my post after i finish the layouts and scan them all! Read more on "tons of fun . . ."!