Checking in - Warning long post.

Well, I've been out of my blogging routine for a while and it's not because I don't want to post; believe me. See, I have an old computer injury that acts up every once in a while and I have to give myself a computer break. These last few weeks I only got on the computer to search for work and necessities only. So, I had to neglect my blog for a little while.



Not to be a downer or anything but, I want to begin by showing a card I made for my neighbors and friends who horribly lost their little dog, Muffin on Friday. I tried to not make it dark and sad, but bright and cheery, like Muffin.

Out of the goodness of her heart, my neighbor picked up a lost boxer a couple of weeks ago and tried to find its owner. This boxer was well trained and seemed to have a sweet disposition. Well, last Friday evening, when she stepped out to pick up her son at football practice, the boxer killed her little terrier, Muffin.

Unfortunately, I heard the whole thing from my backyard and called Greg to come down and look over the fence. He saw the dog had Muffin and it was too late. Needless to say my neighbors are devasted and heartbroken as Muffin had been with them 13 years.

I tell this story to make you aware of what can happen if you bring a stray into your home. If you have other pets or small children, it might be best to take the stray directly to animal control or a shelter. It's better to be safe than sorry.

On a lighter note, Spring has definitely arrived in Texas. The flowers in our yard are loving all the rain and sunshine. Here are a few pics to brighten your day.

The red flowers closer to the windows attract hummingbirds and bumblebees! I've never seen a bumblebee up close until just the other day and I never realized they were so big and furry. I couldn't get a clear picture of it though.

This picture of the rose did not come out so clear so I played with the colors and stuff and thought I could turn in into a note card in the future. We'll see.

Greg has a very green thumb and can grow anything (literally!). This rose vine was a stick in the ground last fall and this spring its blooming like crazy. I however do not have any color thumb. I'm not a plant's friend.

I haven't really worked on any current scrapbooking layouts. I created this one with Inspired Blueprints sketch #13 & 14. I used my Cricut for the title and subtitle (Graphically speaking). I layerd several cuts to give them some dimension and inked the edges. I tried to keep the embellies to a minimum in order to keep the layout simple and quick.

Speaking of the Cricut...the Everything Cricut Blog is now called Imagine That. They now offer free blogger backgrounds and still have the best information on the Cricut and its accessories. Check it out if you haven't already done so.

Right now, I have to catch up with Project 365 and I've been digging into my stash to work with old kits I have laying around. Does anyone still remember the Lisa Bearnson's Favorite Albums library kit sold on QVC? Well, I only ever completed the About Me album except for a few journaling pages and I think I need to work on the other three. I put the family one together without the pictures just to get started. Does anyone else have old kits they haven't worked on and aren't willing to give up? I have lots. I think I will try to sell some on Ebay.

I think that's enough of my rambling. Have a good rest of the week.

Still here...

Well, inauguration day is upon us and no doubt most of us (that didn't go to D.C.) will be glued to the tv screen all day today. This is definitely an historic event that I never imagined I would see during my lifetime. Mr. President Obama, please live up to your promises and do us proud. I also wanted to share a few pics for my Scrapbooking Project 365. Yes I have been taking pictures regularly and I just ordered a bunch from Artscow.com so I will be putting my pages together soon.

Lunch with Michelle and Adriana.

Giving Xena her weekly bath.

At Smoqued with Emily.

And homemade guacamole, yum!


Here's also a couple of pages I created with Inspired Blueprints sketches 6 & 7. The pictures didn't come out so clear but you get the idea.

Also, some bad news for fellow scrapbookers. Simple Scrapbooks Magazine will no longer publish after their May/June issue. Visit their blog to view the announcement. I am so upset about this cause I am mostly a simple scrapper and I really enjoyed the projects in their magazine. It's so sad to see good businesses die because of the state of our economy.

I have not been able to visit blogs regularly these last couple of weeks, but rest assured I will be visiting you all again soon. I'm a blog addict so leave me your blog info and I will stop by and visit soon.

Well, that's all I have for today. I've been cleaning out some of my scrapbooking stash and I will post a giveaway soon, so stay tuned.

New Layouts

Here are a couple of new layouts I created with sketches from Inspired Blueprints. I love sketches because they make it easy to just get creative without having to plan the layout first.

This first page is going to be the title page for my new album of a decade of Christmas memories from 2001 - 2010. Products include: KI Memories, Fancy Pants, Cricut Cart. Christmas Cheer (I'm having fun with my Cricut) and Home Essentials, Brenda Pinnick and misc embellies.




I just had to create a page for these cute pictures of my nephew.

Products used here are: Cosmo Cricut, DCWV, and Core'dinations, 7 Gypsies and misc embellies. The new Core'dinations paper is pretty cool. I tore the paper with a tearing ruler and I like how the orange middle came through.