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

Lots to read and see here

So you've been sufficiently warned. :o)

Clearly, I survived this weekend. Unfortunately, my voice did not. :oP I'm a loud person, I know this, I don't try to hide this. But pair me with 15 other people who are also loud, who I haven't seen in a while/never met before, and add a LOT of alcohol and you've got a recipe for disaster on your hands! LOL! By about 2am on saturday I was all raspy, not even sexy deep voice. More like 90 year old who smoked 2 packs a day for 30 years. Gross. Hopefully it'll come back soon. I like my voice! Lol! Saturday was SO much fun. This picture sums up just how drunk and fun we all are. That's me and my girl Tara.

You'll be seeing some LO's in the coming weeks of our get together. I worked on one today at lunch but didn't get it finished.

So it's November. I don't know when that happened, but it feels like it happened to quickly. I'm DYING to get some christmas kits, but am waiting for Shabby Princess to reveal one that I think might be coming out soon before I buy any. Although Penny Springmann put out a GORGEOUS one this week at SSD that I'm DYING to get. Anyway, new month means new Songbird Ave charity kit. This one is called "Sugar Plums" and all proceeds go to Toys for Tots! You can't lose!! Check it out, and then go buy it ;o)


On Nov 3, Digital Scrapbooking Day, Sweet Shoppe Designs debuted a whole slew of new designers and products (over 100 products if I remember correctly). Well I snagged this one called "Winter Thrill" by Dani Mogstad (one of my absolute FAVORITE designers) and am LOVING IT! It's what I used to create my "Winter Laughs" LO that I posted last week. SO fun and versatile. I love the papers and the elements, and the alpha is stunning and perfect for christmas LO's too. Definitely my favorite thing I picked up that, although Penny's 2008 calendar toppers are a close 3rd. :o)



I want to thank all of you who left such sweet comments last week during Kim's huge birthday celebration. We all had so much fun, and I'm so glad that so many of you enjoyed the brag book that we all created. I kinda want to do that for every kit of Kim's! LOL! Just love that woman, but you know that. Oh and I'm glad that those of you who don't normal purchase grab bags, did and were so happy! This kit here is definitely my favorite part of teh personal use bag. It's in the store later today and is 25% off! GO GET IT if you haven't already!!


Heather is a big giant sweetie and passed this along to me today.

Thanks so much hon! I love Heather's blog and her designs are fantastic. Check out her post for today, it showcases her awesome commercial use/scrap for hire products. So if you're a budding designer or a scrapper for hire, you should definitely check her out. Plus her little girl is covered in spaghetti and sure to make you smile :o)

I'm saving a serious post for tomorrow because I don't want it to get buried. But you can go to Kristine's blog or Kim's or Bunny's and scroll back to last week and see a good preview. People really need to think before they speak. Not doing so is becoming a bit of an epidemic in this country. I just got inspired for a LO while thinking of this. If you're lucky I'll work it into a template tonight and post it for you tomorrow. But you're gonna have to go read one of the 3 blogs I just mentioned and linked AND leave a comment there AND here tomorrow after my post if you want it. You'll understand why if you actually go read those blog entries.

I think that's all for today, now that I wrote a small novel. :o) Have a great day/night everyone!

~Col

Fantastical Friday

I am SO excited it's friday. This week went surprisingly fast and I'm SO glad. A bunch of people I met online are coming into town and we're having a big huge get together and I'm SO excited. I'll have lots of new pictures to scrap, lol. One friend is flying in tonight, and then we're all heading down to VA tomorrow to party the night away and play endless hours of Guitar Hero (which btw I am WAY excited to get for Christmas, lol). I caught the South Park episode where they spoofed GH last night and I could not stop laughing! Absolutely hysterical, lol.

So, I'm pretty proud of this LO. It's the one I completed for week #6 of the SUAS contest, and the challenge was to scrap about what you're going to do to make an impact on the world. So I scrapped about a bunch of the things we're already doing in our home. Jordan and I car pool to work almost every day of the week, all the light bulbs in the house are compact fluorescents (and they REALLY make an impact on teh electricity bill, I HIGHLY recommend them), and our appliances are all Energy star rated. If the county didn't make it such a PITA to recycle, we'd already be doing that. I want to start though, I just need to look into it more. So anyway, here it is, click for credits.

Now I MUST remind you to go to Kim's store one last time. The sale ends sunday (at midnight I'm assuming) and after that the glorious contents of her grab bags will go back into the store at full price. And when you see what's inside, you'll kick yourself for not buying them (AND getting a giant brag book for free).

Here is the LO for today's template. Personally, it's my favorite of the 5 so I'm glad Kim saved it for today :o) Click for credits.

And here is the template. Enjoy! And don't forget, no hot linking, send ppl here, and if you use this template send me a copy of your LO and I'll post it here on the blog!


I hope you all have a glorious weekend! I know I will!!
~Col

Template Day 4

Where did the week go?!?! I swear, the worst part about getting older is losing all sense of time. I can't believe it's NOVEMBER! Where did the year go?!

So I think I have a new favorite layout on my hands, making that 3 favorites, lol! I did this one for the Sweet Shoppe Designs Treat of the Month feature. I was looking for a LO to spin and lift, but I found this one and didn't want to spin it, LOL! Click for Credits.


I just really love how that one came out. I don't usually cluster elements and things like that, but I'm really proud of that one.

Quick shout out to Tink! I'm glad SOMEONE enjoys my rambles! LOL! I'm really going to try and keep up with the blog more now. It's just fun!

Here's the LO I created for today's template. I was inspired by Hillary Heidelberg's "Got Game?" on page 28 of the 10/07 edition of Memory Makers, and had to lift it. I came up with this:

And here is your template (no word art today, sorry). But tune in tomorrow for a surprise :o) I've got something special planned for those of you who've played along and gotten my templates this week.


I would be a bad CT member if I didn't remind you again about Kim's goodies!!

Personal Use Grab Bag comes with the fantastic Christmas Kit I've been creating these templates with. Commercial use grab bag has more of Kim's amazing goodies. If you've ever bought something from Kim, and enjoyed it, then snag BOTH bags because at these prices it's a STEAL! PLUS when you buy both bags, you get a 21 page brag book that all of us on her CT created! It's a win win! AND her whole store is 40% off, and all of DSO is 30% off for their first birthday celebration!! What are you waiting for???GO NOW!

I hope you're all having a great week! See you tomorrow, TGIF!!
~Col

Wacky Wednesday

Hellooooooo everyone! I know, I know, I'm late! Sorry! I posted twice yesterday, so I'll be short and sweet today :o)

Here's the LO (click for credits):


And here's the template and wordart! Enjoy!


Ok have a good one!
~Col

Feeling chatty

I'm feeling chatty today, so I'm posting twice. SSD does a "from our blog to yours" bit every week, and last weeks was interesting, so I'm posting. :oP The post was about your absolute favorite LO. Well, I have 2 so take that ;o) It's my blog and I'll cheat if I want! LOL!

This is a LO I did for SUAS, week #3. The challenge was to use lyrics. I'd heard this song a few times in the days before the challenge was posted, and I knew I had to use them, even though it would be hard. That song reminds me of my best friend who passed away 5.5 years ago. I heard it for the first time very soon after I was told she had passed (bad car accident, though no cause was ever determined), and it's stuck with me ever since. It's a gorgeous song, and I'm sure other people take something different from the lyrics, but for me it will always be bittersweet. I don't often talk about Jaclyn, so this page was a little like therapy. Click for credits.



And this is a recent LO but has quickly become a favorite. I love the grungy-ness and the colors and the textures. Absolutely love this page. :o) Click for credits


I hope you all enjoyed my little extra share, and have enjoyed the templates too!
Have a good night!
~Col

Music soothes the soul

I love music (as you can probably tell from the blog header). There's nothing better to me, than "re-discovering" a great cd. The way that music can transport you through space and time never ceases to astound me. Just a few weeks ago I found a cd I thought I had lost, and boy did it bring back some summer memories. :o) I just love that. I've been rockin out to John Mayer for 2 days (all the cd's, the live stuff, the stuff you can't get on cd's - I love that man's voice and style) and I am still sitting here diddy-bopping in my chair. Reminds me of dinners at home when we were younger. We always play music at dinner, and inevitably mom would start "diddy-bopping" and then me or my sister would too, and dad would say in his "serious but not really so you can't actually take him seriously" voice "No diddy-bopping at the table!!" And mom would pretend to hang her head in shame, and the rest of us would just giggle and continue to at least bop our heads in time to the music. Ooooh good times.

So. Have you gone to DSO yet? Have you been to Kim's store and discovered that HER whole store is 40% off because it's her birthday and she's so awesome she's passing the goodness on to everyone else?

No? Well what are you waiting for?!?!?! :oD


The personal use grab bag has a GORGEOUS Christmas kit in it, and the commercial use bag is just full of awesome goodies too!! Seriously, if I wasn't on her creative team I'd be going nuts in the store! She has such amazing products, and at 40% off, you can't go wrong!!

Ok ok, you're probably looking for a template with some word art included in it right? Right. Here's the LO that inspired the template (click for credits):


Aaaaaaand here's the template. "Season's Greetings" word art included!!


I hope everyone has a wonderful day! And don't forget, not hot linking, send people here, and if you use a template, show me what you did with it!

*Hugs* n Love
~Col

Kim's Big Birthday Bonanza!!!

How fun is that word, Bonanza. Makes me smile just thinking of it :oP

SO! Hooray for Kim's birthday!! Can you believe her WHOLE STORE is 40% OFF at DSO!!! The woman is nuts!! Now if you like Kim's kits and creations, you are DEFINITELY going to want to pick up both her commercial and personal use grab bags. Not only do you get 2 amazing bags FULL of awesome goodness, but if you buy both you get a 21 page brag book that all of us on her CT put together!! 21 PAGES!! That's huuuuuuuuge!!!

Ok so you're all probably here cuz you want my template with freebie word art. I see how it is ;o)

Today's LO using Kim's stuff is "Joy", and inside the template you get the word art for free! Click for credits.


And here's the template! Click to download.


Don't forget, Kim's WHOLE STORE is 40% off @ DSO this week! What are you waiting for!?!?! GO SHOP!!

~Col

Well it looks like....

The cat is out of the bag! KimB included info on her awesome surprise in her freebie for today!! You guys have no idea how fun next week is going to be! All of us on her CT have put together some seriously awesome stuff for you guys. She's got grab bag's, she's got kits, she's got extra goodies to give away. You do NOT want to miss it. :)

So I was all excited to go home last night and work on some of ideas for Kim. I get home and I've got the house all to myself cuz Jordan went home with Tiger to go to the Penn State game this weekend with his Dad. I have a TON of stuff I want to get done so I'm not behind for the holidays, so I decided to sit this trip out. So I get home and get into jammies and set up the tv and start dinner. I go turn on Jordan's desktop (my poor old lappy can't handle PS CS2, lol)......"drive not found. please insert system disk and press enter". Um....what? So I call him, and he can tell that I'm disappointed, so he has me turn it off, unplug it, and let it sit for a while before I turn it on again. So I do that.....same thing. So now he's telling to unscrew this, go check that....yea, no thanks. I was too disappointed to deal with it. Then of course 2 hours later I was bored and wanted to call again! LOL! I'm gonna try and figure it out tonight with him on the phone. It could be as simple as a cable coming loose inside the tower and that's why it's not reading his hard drive. If it's something more serious I'll cry because then I won't be able to make all kinds of goodies this weekend. I wanted to start our christmas cards, I have presents to make, etc etc. PLUS, it's Digital Scrapbooking Day! So there will be oodles of fun things going on, and dang it! I want to play!!!

So I put my name out there a few times recently to try out for more creative teams, with no luck. But to be honest, it's not all that disappointing. I still consider myself a newbie in the digi-scrap world, I know I've got lots more to learn. I got the nicest rejection letter last night, I couldn't even be upset that I wasn't chosen! Lol! But she did say that she's holding onto my app for consideration in case a spot opens up, so that made me feel awesome. The Stand Up and Scrap contest really pushed me and challenged me, and I'm all about self improvement. I've really loved some of the pages I've made lately and that's such a great feeling.

Here's a fun one I did for the Slogan Challenge over at Sweet Shoppe Designs. I have some of the best friends, we have such a blast when we're together! Click to see it in my DST gallery.
Not too much else to report. Work has slowed down CONSIDERABLY for me in the last week or so. Some of the projects I'm on just can't move forward until we get more information or get the go-ahead from the state. I love what I do, but that can be frustrating sometimes, even my boss complains about it occasionally, lol. My company is doing really well, and we keep winning contracts. We've got tons of jobs waiting for us in the wings. I like being busy and learning new things and I get to do both at this company, it's really awesome.

It's so wrong of me, but I can't WAIT to start decorating the house for Christmas! Lol! All the craft ads in the paper are for sales on Christmas decorations and I'm just dying to get in the attic and pull our stuff out, lol. I've got a bunch of stuff I want to do in the house this year, I can't wait to get started. I'm especially excited to decorate the outside with lights. I want 2 little trees wtih lights on either side of the door, and lights all on the banister on the steps, lights around the garage doors.....Jordan's gonna hate me! LOL!

Ok, I think I've rambled on enough for today. :o) Everyone have a glorious weekend, I'll see you on Monday for the fun festivities!!

*Hugs*
~Col