Fridaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy!!

Can ya tell I'm excited?? In just a few short hours I will be out of work and officially on vacation! WOOT!! I caaaaan't wait! Plus my sister has switched her flight and is coming in on thursday morning instead of friday morning! So she gets to party with us on thursday night for the bachelorette party! wOOt!! I think we're all going to have a really fun time.

So I'm tweaking the look of the blog a bit. Nothing major yet, just prepping. I'll work on a new header when I get back from FL. Are you itching for some 365 photos? Here's me on wednesday night at our favorite little italian place down in the city, Amicci's:

Since Amicci's didn't have a good dessert menu (ie they only had chocoloate chip canoli's), Jordan was a good man and drove me around to The Cheesecake Factory, where I picked up a slice of the heavenly goodness that is Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple Cheesecake (here's a picture Kim! I can't believe you don't have a CF over there!!):
(and yes it counts cuz I took it yesterday. I was too stuffed to eat any of it on wednesday night!)

So there are my 2 photo's so far. I wish they were better, but this just strengthens my case for an SLR! LOL! Soon I hope. Fingers crossed and all that goodness. Actually, maybe I'll use that surplus check we're supposed to be getting from the government.....hmmm..... *gears turn inside head*

So this is a random post for the day, but I'm really close to 25 points for SSD's Sweet Rewards, and I'd REALLY like to get a 40% off coupon for next month. Too many designers have come out wtih amazing kits that I (obviously) MUST HAVE! LOL!

Youtube has some of the most ridiculous and random videos you've ever seen in your life. One such is as follows. I absolutely died laughing (since I'm a Giants Fan). My Dad sent it to me the other day. :o)

Hitler was a Cowboys Fan


And since it's so cold out, and I'm headed to a warmer climate in a few days, here's a cute survey:

You Are a Cappuccino

You're fun, outgoing, and you love to try anything new. However, you tend to have strong opinions on what you like. You are a total girly girly at heart - and prefer your coffee with good conversation. You're the type that seems complex to outsiders, but in reality, you are easy to please

What Kind of Coffee Girl Are You?

Interesting, although I don't know about the girly girly part. Although I am thoroughly obsessed with the new shoes I bought yesterday to wear to the wedding (don't worry, you'll see them eventually, I plan to take a picture for one of the days assignments).

So I've been spending a lot of time at SSD and MSA. They're both smaller communities, which is nice. And since Traci sells there, it's good to whore out her product to some of the people most likely to buy it. Plus I get more one on one with people in the gallery, so I feel like I'm pushing Kim's products too a little bit.
I think that my favorite challenge over there is the Paper to Digi. They find a paper scrapper's gallery on the net, and you lift it and make it your own as a digi lo. It's really a lot of fun, and I feel it really pushes my limits sometimes. Here's one I just finished of Jordan. He makes it hard to take pictures of him, but at least he's kinda smiling in it :oP

I think that LO also has some pretty good clustering, which is something I really want to work on this year. I love scrapping because I really don't have a set style. Some days I feel like putting a million elements on my LO, and other days I go with a much more simpler style. I really find myself drawn to the opposites of the spectrum. Very graphic layouts with little to no embellishing, and then super busy layouts wtih millions of elements and amazing shadow work. I really struggle wtih putting oodles and oodles of elements on my pages effectively, so I'm really going to work on that this year.

I just finished my root beer, and I'm way sad about that. LOL! It was so tasty!

So my mom and I are definitely doing this: ScanMyPhotos.com. I went through all my boxes of pictures last night (seriously, teenagers should not take so many stupid pictures) and pull out what I want to be scanned. It was a little more than I was expecting, but when I put it all in the box (I went with the prepaid box for $99 plus a duplicate DVD for my mom) there is still TOOOOOOOOOOOOONS of space for all her photos. If I'm really awesome, I can get everything sorted at home and get the box to the post office tomorrow to be mailed out. It would be SO awesome to have all those photos waiting for me to play with when we get back from vacation. I'm really excited about scrapping pictures from my childhood. Now if only we could get all those REALLY old photos my grandparents. Then I'd be in hog heaven! Eventually I would really love to set up a Family Tree type book, but I have to see what kind of pictures everyone has first.

Good lord I wrote a novel! LOL! Ok ok, enough rambling for today. If you're good maybe I'll check in tomorrow and post the picture I take for today. I think tomorrow's pic will be of the dogs if I can get up before mom takes them to the vet to be boarded. Poor Scooby fell down the stairs last night. He's getting so old. :o(

Have a great night, a great weekend, and a wonderful week while I'm away!


PS~I got my hands on Kim's Valentine's Day kit, and whooooooooo-eeeeeee you will not be disappointed!!! Definitely pick it up when it hits DSO next week!!!

25

That's me. 25 years old. That's just crazy! Where did time go? How has it been 2.5 years since I graduated college? I feel old. I know that's silly, cuz honestly, 25 isn't that old. But I do. Last weekend we went to my cousin's 18th birthday party (a big party with her friends and a DJ and such). It was VERY comical to watch and made me wonder if I was like that at 18. Our future's leaders......scary! LOL!

So I mentioned that I'm starting a big new project. I decided to jump in on the Project 365 craze, and document the next year of my life by taking a photo a day. On the 23rd of every month, I'll take a picture of myself, so I can see how/if I've changed over the year. I'll probably upload my photos here every few days to share with anyone who stops by. A lot of people use flickr to share their photos, but I think I'm gonna stick with photobucket. TheDigiChick is doing something fun where each week you take whatever 5 photos you want, and then 2 of the photos you take for a "homework assignment" where there's a theme for you to interpret. I really like the idea of that, and I think that it'll keep me interested and moving with the project as the year goes on. I also got a set of templates by Amy Pearson over at Scrapbook Graphics, that she made up just for her 365 project. It's a simple way to fit one week's photo on a page, and the templates are all shutterfly ready, which is awesome because I want to get all my photos scrapped and printed for a keepsake book for myself. I probably won't use her templates for every single week, but I like having them for when I have a day or two without any mojo. I don't want to get behind on my photos and then get overwhelmed by them. So starting tonight, with a self portrait, I embark on this journey. I'm excited!! We're going out to dinner and I'm excited to eat mussels marinara. It's rarely on the menu at places we go to, so that's my special birthday treat. $20 says Jordan gets the chicken parm, lol.

My fellow CT member Beth sent me a super cute e-card. I DO love those annoying little singer guys Beth! LOL! Thanks so much hon, I appreciate you remembering!!

So I've gotten 15 LO's done this month. I have a feeling I won't be able to keep this up all year, lol. Kim's new kit "Forgotten Not" is so gorgeous. I just love it. Here's the LO I did with it, me and Tigah-now!

This one I did with Natali Design's newest kit, "Essentials". SO stunning. She's up there with Kim and Jofia and Annie Manning (Paint the Moon) for realism in their kits. I LOVE realism, I love doing shadow work to make the page look as realistic as possible. LOVE IT! This might just be a new favorite LO for me. I took this picture a day or two before New Year's in my front yard (in NY). It had snowed the night before, and there was ice on the trees, but the sun was out and had just started to melt it. It was so nice out that morning.

So I'm totally, not looking forward to this election. I really need to start researching the candidates and making some decisions. Iraq will be a big issue for me, and so will Same Sex Marriage. Although with gay marriage it seems like most of them are against it, but do not support federal law banning it. That might be all I can hope for at this point. We'll see.

Whoops I wrote a lot and it's almost time to head down to the city for dinner! Thanks to all who made this birthday wonderful and special!
I hope you all had a good day, and I'll catch you soon!

So much going on!!

Ok so first off, LET'S GO G-G-G-G-G-G-MEN!! Holy hell, I can not believe we pulled off that win last night!! Not gonna lie, I didn't have TOO much faith in my boys. Yea I love 'em, but this is Brett Farve and the Packers! The same packers that rolled over us like a Mac Truck when we played them week 2! I do kinda feel bad for Farve. He had such an amazing season. If they hadn't played us I would've been rooting for them to go to the super bowl.

So in the beginning of the year I set a goal for myself. 150 layouts. That's about 12 layouts a month (give or take ;P). I've already got 13 done, with another in the works, and plans for about 3 more after that! How cool is that!! Between Kim's awesomeness, and Traci's awesomeness, I really have my hands full with kits! My mojo is in full swing and I LOVE it!! Thank goodness Laura only does about 1 kit a month, and I've been pretty quick with layouts for Kim Hill too. I think that after these guests spots (just Mikkel Paige next month, who I might get to meet in person while we're in FL!!), I'm going to sit back and relax for a while, and just do KimB and Traci. Being a guest is awesome, but it really kinda stinks to leave after a month, the time just goes too quickly! My month with Bree really went too quickly. I just loved working with her. I hope that if a spot opens up she'll take me on full time.

Ok so how about taking a look at some LO's wtih all these goodies?? :o) (click on the images to go to my SSD gallery)

This one uses Kim Hill's "Memory Lane" kit. I just LOVE this photo of us, just before Jordan popped the big question. Such an awesome memory.


This one was super cute for an SSD challenge. The prompt was "If I've only one life, let me live it......", and naturally I chose "as my dog"!! Girl has got the LIFE I tell ya! I used one of Traci's V-Day kits, and Michelline Martin's :My Blue Valentine"


Another Tiger layout (I really need to take some more pictures, lol) using Kim's stunning "Close Knit"


And this one I finished last night. Tiger LOVES the snow, and she's so funny to watch playing in it. I got this cute pic as she zoomed around the yard enjoying the snow (and eating a lot of it, lol!). I used Traci's new kit, "3, 2, 1 Blast Off" which is a collab with the awesome Lauren Grier!


I have another lo almost done using a really special kit that Kim just finished. It's an amazing kit and I just love how the layout turned out. Just have to add my shadow-work and then it'll be on Kim's blog.

Today is also my first post as a Hawt Mama on the Team Blog! I'm so excited! The tutorial is for a super cute Valentine's Inspired project using wood blocks. Check it out and let me know what you think!!

I'm also starting a new project on wednesday (my birthday!!). But I think I'll just post about it then.

I hope everyone is staying warm out there! I still can't believe how cold it was at the game last night! I've got $20 that says Tom Cauhlin has frost bite on his whole face. That man was in bad shape. All I kept saying was "Someone needs to get him a ski mask!" LOL!

Have a great day/night everyone! See you tomorrow!

Focus

So I joined another scrapbook forum that many people on the boards have mentioned. It seems like a much smaller community, which is fun. It's myScrapbookArt.com. So in browsing the forum this morning before starting some work, I found a thread referencing this Ali Edwards blog post from last year, about One Little Word.

The concept being that you look inside, and pick one word that encompasses your hopes/dreams/wishes/thoughts/goals etc for the coming year. Usually, the word carries meaning in many aspects of your life.

My word for this year is Focus (hence the post title). This word has double meaning for me for the coming year. I am a person who is easily distracted (case in point: I realized while driving home from work that I needed gas, a fun song came on the CD, started singing and dancing, gas was completely forgotten about until I got in the car this morning). My mind doesn't like to dwell on one specific thing for too long. It's a blessing and a curse, lol. At work when I get stuck doing the same thing over and over and over (which is inevitable) my productivity drops. Well that's just not good now as it! LOL! And thus, focus.

But also, I don't always focus on the right things emotionally/mentally. When I make someone a gift (be it knitted or scrapbooked or altered or whatever) I get to wrapped up and focused on the "what if it's not good enough, what if they don't like it". I told a woman just last week at the yarn store, that NO ONE would notice that the crown on the hat she made was a little wrong. No one. They'll love it because you made it and it came from the heart. Well it's time to FOCUS and take my own advice! There are sooooo manyyyyyy people out there who do the same thing (yea, I see you nodding your head in agreement). Whenever I feel myself start to think those negative thoughts, "FOCUS" will come to mind, and I will remember why I do what I do. Why I create. Why I craft. Because I love it. Not because so-and-so loves it. Yea it's awesome to give someone a homemade gift that they love and cherish, and of course I love that aspect of creating. But if I never made another gift again in my life, I would still craft. I'd need a storage facility for all the STUFF, but I'd still create!
Instead of focusing on how Jordan makes me INSANE sometimes (I truly believe the y chromosome was created to drive us double X's batty), I should focus on how much he loves me and how happy we are together. Instead of focusing on why person xyz is being crazy/selfish/whatever, focus on how little that ACTUALLY effects me in life. Am I crazy/selfish/whatever? No. So who cares? (I'm not trying to say that no one ever effects me, but every little mood swing my friends go through should NOT have a huge impact on me. It's called trying again another day when they aren't nuts. It'll probably save us both some sanity.)

Focus. I feel good about that. So what's your word?

TOOT TOOOOOOOT!!!

WHOOHOOO!!!! Check out my new blinkie over there on the right!!! YAHOO!!! I'm one of the newest Hawt Mama's on Traci Reed's Creative Team!!! EEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I still can't believe it!!!

LOOK LOOK LOOK! THAT'S ME ON THERE!!!

Can you tell I'm just a liiiiiiittle bit excited?? LOL! I only recently discovered Tracy (beginning of Nov) when she joined Sweet Shoppe Designs, but holy mackeralfish is the woman amazing! She VERY quickly became one of my absolute favorite designers, and I feel so amazingly blessed to be a part of her team for the first half of 2008!! I'm still working on getting set up in the team forums and such, but I will be doing a lot of hybrid work for the team and posting my hybrid creations as tutorials on the team blog. Merry Christmas to me!! Lol!!

We had a long but good holiday with Jordan's family. It was very strange to not be home for Christmas, but it had to happen sometime. We're going home to NY on friday to spend time with my family and exchange gifts and such.

I'm tired, and I don't want to be here at work, but such is life. Next year we're definitely taking more time off, lol. If I had more vacation time we would've, but being sick a few times this year didn't help me out much. I'm also rather sad that we didn't have a white christmas at all. No snow. :-( I miss snow. We're scheduled for rain rain rain rain rain. Boo hiss!

On another fun front, my best friend Jesse has moved home to NY from TX! I'm SO excited to go home this weekend and get to hang out with him. It'll be WAY easier to hang out now that he's so much closer.

I think I'll go scrap for a while, then attempt some work. :-) I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday!

*Hugs*
~Col

Exhausted

I'm beat. Being out in the cold all day really zaps you. It was a stretch to get things done this week, but last night I wrapped the presents for Jordan's side of the family, and finished off 2 of the 3 things I need to send out today. I have 1 more to finish here at work, or at Jordan's house. I feel bad that the people won't get them til after christmas, but such is life. I wasn't planning on being out of the office all week and getting nothing accomplished. It's sometimes a hard lesson, but really, it's the thought that counts. Which is probably why, according to this little quiz, my stress level is nice and low this holiday.

Your Holiday Stress Level Is Low

You take it easy over the holidays, and you only take on what you can handle. You know the holidays are about celebrating and fun - not standing in line at the mall!

What's Your Holiday Stress Level?

I have some WONDERFUL news today!! Well I have 2 bits of news but I can only share one for now. Our family friends are having a baby!!! WHOOHOOOO!!!! They called and told my mom last night. I didn't realize the friend had had 2 miscarriages already, so the couple was waiting til she made it to the 3rd trimester before they told everyone. What a wonderful Christmas present for them! I'm so excited!! MORE BABIES TO SPOIL!!! WHOOHOO!! Lol. I really love making baby related things. Of course this means I have to bust my butt to get little Claire's blanket knitted. Can't very well make one for the new baby without finishing hers! LOL!

Thank goodness today should be nice and short. We're leaving at 2 to head to Jordan's parents house so we can skip some traffic. The car is jam packed, Tiger is here at the office in an unused room with her crate and a big ole bone to chew on, and there's pretty much nothing to be done. Next week will be even better cuz almost NO ONE works between christmas and new years. I'll spend the whole week scrapbooking I'm sure :-)

I'm really hoping that this weekend will be more relaxing than it sounds, lol. We're driving all over the place to see Jordan's family. I'm hoping to catch some of those old christmas movies on tv. I love the claymation ones, they make me laugh. Nothing like a silly little Rudolph stumbling through Christmas and saving the day at the last minute! LOL!

Now for something fun, were you naughty or nice this year?? :o)

You Were Nice This Year

You Were 25% Naughty, 75% Nice Okay, so you weren't *entirely* nice this year But Santa doesn't expect a modern girl to be perfect You were good enough - and you'll be rewarded for it

Were You a Naughty Girl or Nice Girl this Year?

Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night (I wish, I could use a nap!)

~Col

On the subject of wind burn

So wind burn isn't usually fun. But if you've been out on a boat all day, or out on jet skiis, or skiing or snowboarding down a mountain, it's really not so bad. Pretty much worth it to enjoy yourself and have fun.

Wind burn because you were on a "barge" on a river, inspecting a bridge in 35 degree weather really, just isn't worth it. It's been a long week, and it's only Tuesday night, lol. I'll be out there again tomorrow, and probably thursday too from the look of it. If I'm out there friday I might cry. I had on thermal pants and jeans, thick snowboard socks that went up to my knees, a second pair of socks, my work boots, a tank top, thermal shirt, t-shirt, fleece long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, scarf, hat, hard hat, gloves. And I still froze my ass off. If I put any more layers on I can't climb up and down the scaffolding on the "barge", which is really just a wooden raft. It's so shabby looking, but it's really pretty stable.

Soooooooooooo anyway. I'm wearing like 3 layers now to get warm again, lol. Even after a long hot shower I'm still a bit chilled.

Kim has a gorgeous new kit out called "Purple Christmas"! It's super versatile and can be used for all sorts of things! Here's a LO I made with it. The picture is of some new decorations that I got for the house for Christmas that I'm way excited about. Not purple, but that's what hue/saturdation/sepia are for! LOL!


I just LOVE that dove bird element. SO cute!! Kim really knows how to put a kit together :o) AND it's on sale @ 25% off right now! So hurry and go get it already!!

I'm chilly and tired, I think it's time for bed.
Have a great day tomorrow everyone!!
*Hugs* n Love
~Col

I can't believe I didn't post about this!!

We have a wedding date!! And a place for the reception! And we're having a chocolate fountain!!!
While we were home in NY for Thanksgiving, we spent 2 days running around looking at various reception halls. We were blown away by one and none of the others could touch it. So we called back the next day and booked it. We shall be married on October 11th, 2009! Hooray! It's the sunday of a long weekend (Columbus Day is that monday), so people can take their time coming
in, and Jordan's aunts and cousins can spend Saturday shopping at the outlet mall :oP It's so awesome to finally have that decided. It's nice to get the big stuff out of the way, you know? So YAY!

Kim has yet ANOTHER awesome kit hitting stores tomorrow. It's called Party On and it's fun and festive and bright and cheerful, just like Kim!! Perfect for all those holiday party Layouts!! Here's one that I whipped up, and I gotta say, I like it a lot. All the reds and oranges are so much fun!! Plus I used a template from my guest ct spot, Bree Clarkson! They're awesome, so check out the credits and see them too! Click for credits!


I'm working on another LO right now and I'm hoping to get it whipped up for Kim as a QP. So stay tuned.

MNF is on and I REALLY hope the Patriots snap out of it and crush the Ravens. I'll cry if I have to listen to the morons at work tomorrow. Although I'm sure they'll complain if they lose too. Looks like a lose lose situation for me! LOL!

So this is fun. Not totally accurate, but you know, whatevs :p

What Your Handwriting Says About You

You are a fairly energetic person. You know how do pace yourself, and you deal well with stress. You are reserved and not very outgoing. You are deeply thoughtful and introspective. You have a lot of control over your actions and emotions. You are extravagant, over the top, and indulgent. You set trends and influence people. You need a bit of space in your life, but you're not a recluse. You expect people to give you a small amount of privacy, and you respect their privacy as well. You are somewhat traditional, but you are also open to change. You listen to your head and your heart. You are a decent communicator. You eventually get your point across, but sometimes you leave things a bit ambiguous.

What Does Your Handwriting Say About You?

Ok. Time to finish my LO then work on the clutch I'm knitting. I'm sad it won't be finished in time for wednesday's holiday party, but I'm hoping I'll get it done in time for Dover's party next week. BTW, who decided that Company Parties on week nights was a good idea? Weak sauce.

Later lovers! Have a great night!
~Col

Funny stuff and a TOOT TOOT or 3 :)

Hellooooooo everyone! How was your thanksgiving? Do the pants fit again? I think mine finally do :oP

So I was going through the list of SSD challenges, and came across these two blog quizzes. I usually do the quiz and then don't post cuz I'm lazy like that (I mean it entertains me for a good 5 minutes so it's not totally useless, but it isn't exactly earth shattering news either), but these 2 made me laugh, so I'm posting. Plus, I want the sweet rewards points. I want a 40% off coupon dangit! LOL! I'm so close, but getting these calendars done is taking up all my challenge time!

So this is my Pilgrim Name. I don't even know how to take that, lol.

Your Pilgrim Name Is

Desire Mullins

What's Your Pilgrim Name?

And this is what part of Thanksgiving I am. I find this one hysterical, yet appropriate (or at least I hope so :oP)

You Are The Stuffing

You're complicated and complex, yet all your pieces fit together. People miss you if you're gone - but they're not sure why.

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?

Funnyyyyyyyyyyyy.

So I have some kick ass news too. As I posted a lil while ago, I'm trying to get on some different CT. Whether as guests or permanents or whatever. Kristine was amazing enough to extend me an invite (love ya wench!!), but I want to branch out and spread my wings a bit. I sent in several apps, and got back several rejections, lol. BUT! I also got a guest gig! Whoohoo!! For December I'll be guesting wtih Bree Clarkson at SSD!!! Her templates rock my socks.

Then the other day at DST, someone posted a thread about wanting to be on a CT or get a guest spot, and I mentioned that I was in the same boat that she was. Well I'll be darned if I didn't get 2 more messages from designers asking me to guest for them! So in January I'll be guesting with Kim Hill, and in February I'll be with Mikkel Paige! I'm so excited!!

I still love Kim the best though, don't forget that! :oD

Sooo that's wonderful and exciting. I've gotten a LOT done on my christmas shopping, which is spectacular and ahead of schedule for me, so I'm quite proud. I'm doing a lot of hybrid stuff, and a lot of homemade crafty things to try and save money. Jordan's resigned himself to knowing that I'll spend money for Christmas (like he said, it's what I do) but I do still want to try and save SOME and not go overboard like I always do, lol. So we'll see. That's my mission this month.

Ok, time to eat, and get a whole bunch of digi stuff done. :o)
Have a great day!!

~Col

There's always something to be thankful for.....

There really is. Always. If you're alive and reading this, you have something to be thankful for. Sometimes it really is that simple! It's been a WEEK, but I'm still alive and kickin, so it's all good. :o)

So the freebie today is a card template. Something different. It started last week because both Kristine and Bunny had some VERY rude people contact them about their blogs. How many times does it need to be said that you (meaning people in general, not YOU specifically dear sweet reader :oP) get freebies because people are kind and generous. You aren't owed them. And you for damn sure have no right to dictate to someone what they put on their own blog. Let's get real here. There was a thread over in DST recently, that Australian was going to ban Santa's from saying "Ho, Ho, Ho". Seriously? PC terms are running rampant. Just because you take offense to something, doesn't give you the right to spout off on it, or demand that Santa no longer say Ho ho ho, get a life! If you don't like what someone says on a blog, LEAVE! Or go buy a sense of humor. Sheesh!

Ok, that was a hell of a ramble. But the audacity that people have sometimes really amazes me.

Now, back to being thankful :o) What are you thankful for? I'm going to whip up a LO today about some of the things that I'm thankful for, hopefully anyway. Might get pushed off til next week. So what am I thankful for? Here's a quick list (in no particular order):
To the troops over seas who give up so much to do their duty and protect all of us here at home in the good ole US of A :o) (you know I had to send to love to all my west point buddies!)
Amazing friends who stand by me through thick and thin
A wonderful loving family
My amazing and sweet fiancee
My ridiculously comical dog, who is also a top notch cuddler
KimB! For giving such an amazing opportunity
All the people I've met online,through blogs/digi-scrap forums who inspire me constantly

I could go on, I'd be here all day and don't want to bore you. So here is the card I whipped up for people out there like Kim and Bunny and Kristine, who take a lickin and keep on tickin :o)


And here's the template. Use it today to thank a designer who's freebies you just LOVE. :o)


Have a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving everyone!

~Col