It's Scrappy Time!

Wow it's been more than a week since I blogged. Well, actually since Baxter blogged FOR me. ;) I've been busy scrapping with challenges and stuff. I've just finished the last challenge of the Crowned contest on Scrapdango.net. The Week 4 challenge was a tough one but I did it! And in plenty of time too! I'm able to post the LOs I've done for this contest here so thought I'd share.

Here's week 4 - I'd have to say that so far this is my absolute fav LO this year!


Here's week 3 -


Here's week 2 -


And here's week 1 -


Week 2 was a challenge to scraplift a LO we liked in the Scrapdango gallery. I just couldn't resist totally copying one of Jackie's! I even used the same papers!


PLUS I did a Design Team challenge to do a LO about love. I did this one about Steve, the love of my life -


I also joined a brand new forum that branched off of Lucy Chesna's My Sketch World. They started their forum with a HUGE bunch of challenges! It was soooo much fun! I only did 4 challenges, but here they are:

A challenge to use at least 3 types of bling -


A challenge to use a photo that's anything BUT a 4x6 -


A challenge to use alphabet letter(s) that you normally wouldn't use (W,J,X,Z, etc.) -


And just for fun -


I also took this totally awesome photo of a hibiscus flower in my back yard:


So you see, I haven't REALLY been doing nothing and ignoring my blog. Guess I should post LOs and pictures more often tho huh? :) Happy Scrapping!

My First Week

Hello. My name is Baxter. I'm Steve and Ginni's new dog. I am so glad to meet all of you! Today I have been here in my new home for a whole week! I am so very happy in my new home. In one week I have learned many new things -
1. The word "No" isn't a good thing!
2. My name is Baxter.
3. How to walk on a leash - this is a good thing!
4. How to walk around the block - it's pretty big.
5. How to relax in the house - especially the living room.
6. That people really can be loving.
7. That I can have all the food I want and sometimes even treats!
8. That I have to stay in my chair in the living room when they are eating.
9. That I love "puppy massages"!
10. That my people really, really love me.
11. That I really LOVE to be petted. Why won't they do it all the time?
12. That I still don't like riding in the car even though Mommy says I will someday. She tried to take me somewhere yesterday, but I didn't understand and freaked out totally. She says we'll try again. I'm not too sure about that...
I have also started to learn how to sit, stay, and that boundaries and limitations are a very good thing for me.
My Mommy and Daddy have learned
1. That I don't like green beans.
2. That I'll take on the neighbor's pit bull.
3. That I love to hide my chew bones under pillows (bed, couch, wherever).
4. That I can't be trusted in the back yard alone yet because I still want to run away.
5. That I haven't learned how to play yet.
6. That my eyes are really brown with black irises - not totally black!
They found out today that I can bark when I told that pit bull that I was gonna be the boss now! My Mommy dragged me across the street because she didn't like that. Guess it surprised her!
I hope to get to know you all better soon! But for now I'm still a bit shy and timid and scared. It's going to take me awhile to be really trusting. I just wanted to pop in and say hello...

Most Memorable Vacation

Here's the latest Scrapdango Blog Challenge from Tara "I would like you to blog about your most memorable vacation memory. Was it the destination? Someone you met? Something you saw? Something you ate or did for the first time? What was it?"

By far I would have to say the Oklahoma trip my brothers, parents and I took over 35 years ago. I was 15 years old at the time. My dad is notorious for getting lost on trips. It has nothing to do with senility or anything like that. He has no real sense of direction although he is quite intelligent and was a very good driver. (He's now almost 87 and doesn't drive anymore by his own choice.) However, this one particular trip was a memorable one for each and every one of us three kids.
My dad was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He had moved away from there when he was 7 and hadn't been back. So he decided that we were going to drive and camp our way out there and possibly go farther west if we had time. We stopped in St. Louis on the way out and saw the gateway arch (INCREDIBLE) and the St. Louis Zoo which we all really enjoyed tremendously. There was even a really nice campground there too! And the camp store had this REALLY cute guy working in it. Of course, my dad embarrassed me so badly in front of this kid that I wouldn't go back in the store, but that's another story. (Along with all the others that we all share and remember about this particular trip. More than the normal trip ever had!)
Anyway, my poor dad will NEVER EVER live this trip down as long as one of my brothers or I are alive! We made it out to Oklahoma City. We found the old homestead place and started to talk about the rest of our trip. Dad insisted it was Thursday as he proceeded to get lost finding our way back to the campground. Mom, my brothers and I all insisted that it wasn't Thursday, but really Wednesday. Dad wouldn't hear of it. He wouldn't look at a newspaper or anything. Now remember there weren't GPS or cellphones or anything like that at the time so we couldn't prove to him that he was wrong. So the next morning we packed up our camping gear and off we go back east. We were all the way back to St. Louis before he realized we were right and he was wrong!!!! He had lost an entire day!!! This was AFTER he had embarrassed us all so badly at the Capitol building tour that we wanted to just escape! (Another story here too....)
Well, it turned out to be okay because we went back to the St. Louis Zoo and my brother was able to meet his idol Marlin Perkins of Wild Kingdom fame. Mr. Perkins was quite sweet and spent several minutes talking to us. And my brother was just soooo excited!
Then there was the tornado threat in Kansas on the way home. We saw the weather turning nasty and decided to break camp early and eat breakfast on the road. An hour after we left, we heard on the radio that a tornado had hit the very campground where we had stayed and dropped grapefruit sized hail!!!! Our Nimrod camper would have been destroyed!
So you see, not one of my two brothers or my mother or I will EVER let daddy live that trip down! And we were all sure to tell everyone at their 60th anniversary party last year during the toasts! ;) Revenge is very sweet you know. At least we all have had some really good laughs out of the whole experience.

Ever Been to a Gun Show?

Yep. I said a gun show. I got dragged to one yesterday by my dear, dear husband. He's been wanting to go to one for quite awhile now and always forgets when they're in town. But yesterday he really wanted to drive to West Palm and he wanted me to go with him. So I reluctantly agreed. After all, he's been dragged into many scrappy stores and a couple of conventions so I figured it was a nice wifey thing to do.
Now to be honest, I truly expected it to be this testosterone filled redneck crowd and there were a LOT of them. But there were other people too. Normal people. Gangster types who were quite polite. And everything in between. Short ones, VERY tall ones, fat ones, skinny ones, old ones and young ones. It was a good representation of our country, America the Beautiful. You remember it. The one where the constitution gives us the RIGHT to bear arms. Not that "I" really want to, but we still have that right.
Or at least for awhile we do. It seems that there's some talk about the new administration putting a damper on that right - 500% tax on ammunition, ban on the sale of guns, etc. Whether or not the rumors are true, it has started a movement in the rank and file of America. There were some vendors who had totally sold out of certain types of ammo!!! And the show was only TWO DAYS long!!! I was shocked!
Then there's the doom and gloomers who are talking about how bad things are going to get. We aren't doing very well at controlling crime already. And with unemployment and foreclosures rising steadily it's bound to get worse. So there were many people who were there for the same reason as my husband. "Just in case we might need them." WHAT?!?! This is my husband who has never once hit a person in anger or otherwise. And now you're talking to some man about whether or not this bullet is strong enough to kill someone if it comes to that? I hope and pray I never see that day!
So next time he wants to go to the gun show I think I'll let him go alone. I don't want to think about things like that. I prefer to pray for God's protection over my family and my home. I prefer to pray for God's blessings over my friends (online AND IRL), my community, my county, my state, my country, the world. And yes, I prefer to put at least one eye in that proverbial sand and only peek out once in awhile. It's much more pleasant down there. I think it's time to go back to my Scrappy World and pray some more.
God bless each and every one of you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

So what's everyone doing today? Hope you have a great one!
It just so happens that today is also my birthday. It's almost as bad as having Christmas day being your birthday! And it's worse as you get older. I'm 55 years old today and I'm not too happy about it. But I've always said I wanted to live to be 100 (my mom's mom was 101 1/2 when she died) so I guess I have to go through all these birthdays to get there. I just don't FEEL that old! :) Guess that's a good thing huh?
Anyway, with everyone out there celebrating my birthday for me even though they don't know who I am, I decided that this year I wasn't going to try to fight the crowds and stress out trying to have a dinner that definitely would not be relaxing or enjoyable. (Not that we can afford it right now anyway.) So I'm spending it at home with my wonderful husband (who forgot it was a special day!) and my sweet puppy who has finally decided that life's not so bad after all in the Gass household. :) I'm hoping that maybe later I can get a picture of me holding him. I'm not very photogenic at all! Hehe! And then there's that age reminder that goes with it.... Maybe that's not such a good idea.... Hmmmm.... We'll see....
At least the weather's cooperating! It's beautifully sunny with a nice ocean breeze and no need for air conditioning! YAY!
Have a wonderful day!!!

I've Been Tagged!!

Several days ago Heather from Scrapdango tagged me. With all the excitement of bringing Baxter home I'd almost forgotten! So here are the rules:
Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures.

1. Pick the 6th Folder, then select the the 6th picture in that folder.

2. Post that picture on your blog and the story that goes along with the picture.

3. Tag 6 other people that you know or don’t know to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog or an e-mail letting them know you chose them.
It's very unusual for me to have as many pics or folders on my computer as I do now! But my 6th folder is my layouts this month. So I chose my 7th folder. And in that 7th folder are 7 pictures. The 7th one is of my DH in front of a waterfall in Ketchikan Alaska two years ago. We had gone up to look at our property in nearby Hollis to decide if we really wanted to build a lodge on it. This picture was taken after we'd made our decision and just before we returned to Florida. It's one of my favorite pictures of him! Isn't he handsome?! :)

Now..... Who to tag? Since I'm in the number 7 guess I need to tag 7 people too huh? So here goes... (Can't seem to get the links working. Grrr!)
1. Robin - http://tqmnurse.blogspot.com
2. Karen - http://birkelbk.blogspot.com
3. Shelley - http://shelleysplace-shelley.blogspot.com
4. Sarah - http://mythreekiddos.blogspot.com
5. Jackie - http://jackiepstuff.blogspot.com
6. Shana - http://www.yayaprincessblog.blogspot.com
7. Gina - http://www.reformationtheologyandcheerios.blogspot.com
Enjoy Ladies!

HGTV Dream Home

Have you entered yet? I have! There's only 6 days left to enter. Check it out!

This is what I'll look like if I win! :)

You can make your own by following the link above. Be sure your volume is turned up too. :) Enjoy!

Baxter's Home!!!

Oh my goodness! What a great dog God chose for us!!!! He's adorable, got a great personality and is already enjoying his new home. The vet checked him out and he's quite healthy. He's been neutered so we can't give him a submersed bath for 10 days. May have to hose him off pretty soon though. And the vet says he's about 1 1/2 years old so he's still young enough to learn and be with us a very long time, but out of that puppy stage. Here's what we've done since in the four hours he's been home:
1. Fed and watered him.
2. Taken him outside about 10 times already.
3. Walked around the block.
4. Taught him the word "No"
5. Taught him the word "Outside"
6. Taught him the words "Good Boy!!!"
7. SPOILED him rotten!
8. Learned that he already has me wrapped around his little paws! :)
I mean who could resist that face! But I finally got him to rest a bit. And he really loves being held and petted. Definitely needs that bath! ;) So here he is the first time he settled down and went to sleep.

What a cutie pie!!! Welcome home Baxter!

Only a Few More Hours!

In about 12 hours we will be able to go to the pound to pick up Baxter and bring him home! I'm trying not to be way too excited just in case he doesn't acclimate to us. But I spent half the day going to Wal-Mart and Target trying to find a crate, a crate pad, bedding, food, ONE toy, chew bones and some treats for training. Then I had to get groceries. Seems that prices are on the rise again! Grrrr!!! Finally I came home and put Baxter's crate together. And of course as soon as I was finished putting it in it's place, Steve walked in the door. He's got good timing that way!

I've been scrapping too and was gonna post pics but they'll have to wait until tomorrow as they need to be resized first. Scrapdango's Crowned Contest is in full swing in its second week. It's been a TON of FUN!!! If you haven't already, you should check it out at http://scrapdango.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=4. You won't be able to be sashed or crowned, but there are other fun things to do and LOTS of beautiful eye candy in the gallery!

Happy Scrapping!

I've Been Scrapping!

I haven't posted anything scrappy in awhile so figured it was time since this IS supposed to be about my Scrappy World. Hehe!
This is a picture of my daughter Michele when she was only a few months old in 1981. I've always loved the picture, but with time it's faded to almost orange! So I scanned it in and used a technique shared by hlough on Scrapdango to turn it to black and white, but then color just the bow. Thanks to an old posting on a forum I used to hang out at for the design idea, I love how it turned out!
These are pictures from Michele's kindergarten days. Even though Steve and I didn't know each other existed at this point, his nickname for her was totally perfect for the title! I did the the next page for the Crowned contest at Scrapdango. Someone will be sashed each week of February and at the end of the month someone will be Crowned! It's a LOT of fun and there's some awesome prizes! There's also many other chances to win like scavenger hunts, Name that Photo and other games, along with Miss Congeniality (the one who posts the most during the month.) Check it out at www.scrapdango.net or follow the link in my favorites listing. Hope to see you there! The challenge was as follows: "For our first competition we will be having an evening gown competition. Every girl loves to dress-up, and what goes great with a beautiful evening gown…..well BLING of course!! For this week’s challenge you must use at least 2 kinds of bling somewhere on your layout. It is that simple. We can’t wait to see what you come up with! Here are some examples of bling that would work...gemstones, crystals (Prima Say It In Crystals and similar), glitter, glitter glue (Stickles), and sequins."I used Art Glitter, Glitter Brads, Stickles and Crystal Lacquer. Here's my entry:

In honor of Valentines Day on Saturday (which also just happens to be my birthday) I did this layout about my 6th birthday party. It's not one of my best LOs, but it's cute and it's done! ;)And finally one I did last night of my daughter, her husband and their son (my grandson). The picture was taken on Christmas Day last year. I LOVE this picture! I was trying to figure out how to do the title when I read Tara's Scrapdango Blog challenge to use a font she had linked on the blog. It was PERFECT! And after viewing all the eye candy in the Scrapdango Gallery, I couldn't pick just ONE to lift for the Week 2 challenge (see below), so I used a layout by lbettis called "Graduation" and came up with this:
It's been a busy month already and I'm off to do another LO for the Week 2 Crowned Challenge - "It is time for the talent portion of the competition. Baton twirling anyone? No, we know you are all a talented bunch of scrappers, but for this week we want you to focus on a specific technique. For our technique we are going to play around with make-up. I don't know about you, but for me, make-up application does not come easy, and I think it is a talent and an art-form that stylists take years to perfect. But what better way to improve, then to practice. For your challenge this week, we want you to scour the gallery and find a look from a stylist you admire and do your best makeover (scraplift) of their layout to reproduce the look but make sure to use some make-up (paint, ink and/or chalk) on your layout. Let us see the layout you used for inspiration as well as your layout."
I have my pictures all ready and I know what LO I'm going to use for inspiration. So off I go to my Happy Scrappy Place! Hope you enjoyed the layouts!

More Baxter Pictures!

We went by the pound again today to visit Baxter. He's scheduled for his neutering on Monday and we'll be able to bring him home on Wednesday. He's very scared and very skittish. But he's also very obstinate and wants to do what he wants, when he wants, how he wants to. We'll have our work cut out for us for awhile. We have two weeks after we take him home to bring him back if we can't handle him. We don't even know if he's house trained. So if you have any ideas or suggestions, we would welcome them! Meanwhile, we enjoyed taking him for about 1/2 hour in the yard next to the pound. We took a few pictures too. :)
Here he is with Steve trying to explain the facts of life to him. We'll see who's really the boss in a few days! Hehe!

He's actually letting me pet him! It was REALLY windy and I'd just washed my hair. :)

And here's a really good close-up of his face! Isn't he just adorable?!

Thanks for looking and for your comments/suggestions! Off to find some dog obedience training info. ;)

Is this Baxter??

Steve may have found a new addition to our family! He stopped by the animal shelter and this man was turning a dog in. The shelter wasn't open yet and Steve took one look at the dog and said "I'll take him!" So after a brief conversation the man gave him to Steve and drove off. We decided to place him into the system for several reasons. Mainly because they will pay for his checkup, neutering, shots, etc., but also because if he's really not a stray we don't want to take someone else's pet. So I dropped everything and ran down to the shelter to see this dog and to make our decision. On the way I was thinking about him and the name Baxter came to me. Steve says "He looks like a Baxter!" I fell in love with him instantly! But I also realize that he isn't ours yet. We'll find out on Monday when the time period is over and they take him in to have him fixed. Then if all goes well, we can bring him home on Wednesday!!! Only a week! :) He's very skittish and scared, but totally comfortable in his crate. They think he's about 2 years old so he's full grown and just the perfect size. After we walked him around the kennel a bit we found that he doesn't mind lots of other dogs (including HUGE LOUD ones!) and that he responds pretty well to the leash and the crate. Those are good things! So time will tell if he's gonna be our Baxter or not..... Isn't he CUTE?!

Boat Building Progress!