A Creatively Fun Day

I think the weather powers tried to wash us away for good today but they didn't succeed thank God! Our city got over 8" of rain in less than 24 hours! And a city about a 20 min drive south of us got over a FOOT in that same period!!! So if you live up north in the path of this storm, get ready! Cuz that equals out to a LOT of snow!!! Brrrrrr!!!
Anyway that made for a very creative day. I make chocolate chip cookies every year for Steve's clients, the bank tellers, etc. and this year I wanted to mail some to his three brothers. I mean after all why should I pay $50 for some basket plus $10 S&H to mail them when the post office has the $10 priority mail deal! And it's only $10 to send to Alaska too! So in a visit to the local dollar store yesterday I found these tins. Perfectly good tins as they were - two copper, one red, one green. But when it's pouring down rain and you have to drug the dog so he won't freak out and run away (like he did in the middle of the night - but that's another story) then us scrappers and crafters get a bit crazy, brave and creative. Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas helped too cuz they got my mind thinking... Soooo...
I took one of the copper tins and I started out with the alcohol inks and made a plaid pattern...

Prettier than before, but it still needed something... So out came the Staz-On black ink and a few stamps. The big background crackle stamp was first. Hmmm... That's even better! But it still needs MORE... Out come the flourishy, flowery stamps and THIS is what I came up with!


Here's a close-up of the lid...


I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself. And I'm amazed at how EASY this was!!! I've already done both of the copper ones and I'm about to do the red and green ones. I think I'll leave off the alcohol inks on those tho because they're pretty nice colors already... Maybe I'll just add a dab or two of pearl or gold or silver.....
I'm off to do more creating! Check back later cuz there might be more to see!

Bah Humbug!!!

It started off as a beautiful day for me. It had poured early this morning and when Steve left to go to work he opened the door to find this beautiful rainbow across the street from our house. I grabbed the camera and got a decent shot of it in between the rain dripping off the eaves of the house.

Then later I opened the front door to go run those myriad of Christmas season errands and found a white egret running away. Now some would say they're good luck. I say "YAY! Less lizards!" These egrets are everywhere and can often be found standing on top of hedges, cars, etc. So I gave the poor guy some room and let him leave peacefully without startling him any more. But at that point I should have known...
So I go on about my business. First stop was the post office to mail all my Christmas cards. Most were the same but not all so I had to measure a whole bunch. Thanks to the rain not many had ventured out (those snowbirds and the elderly drivers don't like the rain you know...) and I was able to get things done without too much of a wait and without too much hassle. And I was blessed in that every single card was only one stamp! YAY!
Next stop was Starbucks. I LOVE Peppermint Mocha Frappucinos and I also love their marble loaf. I needed to take some medicine so I thought I'd treat myself. It was a beautiful day by now and so I sat outside and listened to a bunch of old men shoot the breeze. It was quite relaxing. When I was finished I went off to my favorite grocery store - The Fresh Market - for some unusual and unique stocking stuffing candy and some Jelly Belly jelly beans for the kids. Cost more than I expected, but oh well. It's Christmas right? Next stop was the regular grocery store. Busy, crazy, but what else is new? It's season in South Florida. Hehe! Chatted with my fav grocery bagger who's an 80-something man who just lost his wife a few months ago to kidney disease. Today he informed me that his other lady he'd been "staying with" and who was also sick had died on Thanksgiving day and that he was gonna be alone for Christmas. So I gave him my number and told him that we'd at least have him over for some dinner. This guy has been bagging my groceries for years and always has a smile on his face so I feel like it's safe - especially with Steve around. Anyway, off I go on my merry way with my groceries. Unload the car, clean out the trunk for Suzann and Bob's visit on Saturday, and come in for a bit of a rest. Bax is quite happy to see me!
But then it's time to be on the go again. This time it's AC Moore for a couple of little things for making gifts, the Dollar Store for a few other gift-making things and the bank to make that all important deposit. Stop at McDonald's for lunch and then off to the car wash to get the car cleaned up for Suzann and Bob's visit on Saturday. (I CAN'T WAIT!!!) This is when the real trouble started as my ATM card wouldn't work and I didn't have enough cash. Grrrrrr! So I deal with it, get a lesser cleaning on the car and off I go on my merry way oblivious to the future...
Arrive home with a few more bags and take Bax for a short walk since it's looking quite ominous for rain now... Of COURSE! I got the car washed! Sheez!
Well, I had bought some bulk candy and wanted to separate it out for all the kids and decided to taste one of the watermelon Jelly Bellies.... BIG HUGE MISTAKE! CRUNCH! WHAT WAS THAT????!!!! Yep. It was a crown off my tooth. Grrrrrrrrrr!!! So I get the phone and the dentist's number and make that all-important call bracing myself for the cost. WHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTT??????????????? Yep. She really did say almost $1,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm barely holding it together and said "I'm sorry I can't afford that." We chatted for another minute with her telling me he might be able to give me 10% off and I can make it it two payments. Yeah RIGHT lady!!! All I can think is there goes my trip to Virginia! By the time I hung up the phone I was in tears! And there went that happy go lucky Christmas mood. Then I remembered we have a plan which is supposed to help with dental costs... That part was cancelled by the company in September. I cried some more. Then I did some research online and found a dental school nearby. Still gonna be a LOT of money and it'll be 2-4 MONTHS! Now I'm REALLY upset! But what can I do??? So I decide I'm not doing anything for now. I'll discuss it with Steve later and pray a LOT in the meantime...
Well, he calls later and says "I won't be as late as I thought I'd be." This means he won't be doing the job which also means he won't get paid as much as he thought he would. So I have to tell him what's happening and I started crying again. Poor guy! He's already having a bad day and now his wife is crying and needs dental work! And to top it all of it is absolutely positively horrendously storming out there! It looks like it's midnight and I'm worried the power will go out.
And if you've read this far you're probably saying "Poor Ginni!" Well, yes and now. You see, I am DETERMINED not to let this rob my joy! I'm done venting and now I'm gonna go wash my face, check on my homemade spaghetti sauce and pray it tastes better than it did awhile ago and then I'm gonna drown myself in scrappy goodness tonight and try to forget this afternoon happened. :)
And here's the start of that forgetfulness. I finally got the tree decorated and even got a decent picture of it! YAY! So let's get back to the Christmas spirit and put a smile back on our faces. And thanks for being such a great friend because only a great friend would really have read all this! {{{HUGS}}} and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

TOOOT TOOOOT!!!

I got an email the other day from Simply Scrapping asking me to be... Are you READY for this??? A Guest CARD designer!!!!! Yep! Card Designer!!! ME! I nearly fell outta my chair! You see, I really struggle with cards. Don't know why. Just do. They tend to frustrate me pretty badly too. So usually I only make them for challenges, special occasions or Christmas... That's why I was so surprised! And I'm new to this particular forum too. But I'd made some tags using Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas and had used them on a couple of cards and had posted them in the Simply Scrapping gallery. I guess they liked what they saw! :)
Anyway, they provided me a sketch and said the twist for the week was flowers. I didn't have any patterned paper I liked that would go with what I wanted to do so I used some stamps and clear embossing powder and created my own! Then my die cut from the Scrapdango September Spice Kit was too plain and flat so I used Stickles and Crystal Lacquer and jazzed it up.
The reveal is today so..... Here's my version of their sketch... Enjoy!

Thanks Simply Scrapping Ladies!!!

ETA - Blogger's being buggy lately. I'm gonna get some help after Christmas and revamp this site so bear with the cut off images please. I'm working on it! Grrrrr!

My Sketch World - Say "CHEESE"!

I've been posting a lot of different photos lately and there's a reason why. My Sketch World (MSW) is one of the most awesome forums out there for scrapbookers and cardmakers and they're having a photograph challenge. You can check it out here - http://mysketchworld.s2.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=4001&mforum=mysketchworld. (Dunno why the link won't work, but you can either copy and paste it or use the link on my sidebar to get there...) The really neat thing is that next month there will be challenges based on these photographs so you will have an incentive to scrap them! How NEAT! So get out that camera, charge or change those batteries, print out the list and start snapping! Have an awesome holiday season!

More Christmas Spirit!

Sunday night was the 49th annual Pompano Beach Boat Parade. We've gone almost every year we've lived here. Last year we missed it so we made a special effort this year. It was SO much fun! The people take Christmas lights and sometimes music and decorate their boats then they form a parade and go up and down part of the Intracoastal Waterway. This year tho the boats were spread pretty far apart and they went by really fast. Dunno why, just did. It was frustrating trying to get pictures. There were some great photo ops! Like the Goodyear Blimp which is stationed in Pompano. And the cool boats that went by. I did get a couple of really wild effects on a few. But that's for another post...
Anyway, about the time the parade was due to end I heard a helicopter and it sounded really close. I figured someone had been seriously hurt and they had to be medivaced. But I was wrong! The familiar thump-thump and rumble of that deep engine sound just kept getting louder and louder. We were behind a clump of pine trees and couldn't see anything until suddenly this HUMONGOUS helicopter just suddenly appeared! It was the Coast Guard rescue helicopter flying at treetop level!!! Now you have to understand that there's condos lining one side and sometimes both sides of the Intracoastal so this can be like flying in a canyon! It was SOOOOOOO cool! It had its lights flashing and the searchlight going! Just made you think about what it must be like out there on the ocean to see that thing coming to rescue you! Gave me shivers all up and down my spine! Unfortunately neither the video or the pictures came out because there was no way to light up the chopper itself. But let me just say it was one of the neatest things I've ever seen!
So after all that excitement we were walking back to our car and there was this strange sight...

Now how cool is that!?! The lady was kind enough to let me take a picture of it. Sooooo funny!
And THEN we drove home through the "ritzy" neighborhood of Lighthouse Point. These homes are all on either canals or the Intracoastal and the bigger ones are on the points where the canals and the IC meet. I just HAD to practice my night photography skills!!!



This one's my favorite! The whole street was lined with these lights! Cool huh?

Aren't those just NEAT!?! I absolutely LOVE Christmas!!! It's just the most awesome time of the year! :)
Finally, a couple more pics of my interior decorations... I collect snowmen and this little group seems to grow every year! :)

Well, I've been long-winded again. Sorry! (blushing here)... So I will save the rest for another post. Hope you and your families are having an awesome holiday season! Remember to take some time to ENJOY this time of year! And remember why we celebrate!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!!!

My dear husband Steve tries to act like Scrooge but I think he secretly loves Christmas as much as I do. However, he really hates it when I beg him every year to put up the lights. This year was no exception. But I persisted and he did a really nice job with what we had. I was quite grateful that he'd done ANYTHING!
Our neighborhood and especially our street has always been quite festive at holiday time. And this year it's gotten even BETTER! Our neighbors across the street are new to the area and when they started putting up Christmas lights this year they totally put our meager display to shame! So I started doing a bit more. We put some garland around our porch and put some bows on the garland. It wasn't much but it was better than before. While we were doing the garland the neighbors were putting up lights on their roof to spell out "Peace". Next thing I knew Steve was talking about doing a "better job" of spelling out words on the roof! I had to giggle because it's so different from what he had BEEN saying! Finally he decided he was going to at least get more lights the next day.
Meanwhile, I had to go to the scrappy store to work on a project with my BFF Shelley. I was gone ALL day and when I pulled into the driveway I laughed and said "Scrooge has left the building!!!"
My dear, dear husband had done himself right! Apparently he'd seen a clip on the news before going to work which gave him an idea. Then he had stopped into the dollar store for something for work and saw these HUGE gift bags and little stockings. The two came together for a wonderful idea! A string of lights and a little bit of labor and I have a pretty decent Christmas display! Thanks Honey Bunny!!!
So without further adieu, here's a slideshow of our house, the neighbors across the street and their next door neighbors' house. (Harry and Carol are always the first to put their lights up!) Now I need to finish decoration the INSIDE of the house! ;) I created the slideshow on Photobucket. Isn't it FUN? MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!! And remember, Jesus is the Reason for the Season! (Link isn't working so slideshow's in the next post. Scroll down and enjoy!)

My Funny, Silly Guys!

Yesterday Steve was outside working on the boat (which has come a LONG ways since my last post of pictures) and I was working in my scrappy room on Christmas cards. I suddenly heard a strange bark from Baxter and thought "NOW what's he barking about?" I seriously considered ignoring it because Steve was out there and he could handle it. But then I decided that maybe I should investigate after all. I hope God reminds me next time to grab and turn on the camera because pictures would be PRICELESS in this situation! I go outside and there's Baxter on top of the cabin of the boat pacing and trying to figure out how to get down and whining at me. Meanwhile, I hear Steve hollering "I'm STUCK! I'm STUCK!" I said "Are you REALLY stuck?" "YES! I'm REALLY stuck!" By the time I got up into the boat Steve had managed to wriggle his way out of his predicament but Baxter was still pacing and whining. Seems he hasn't figured out how to get DOWN from the cabin top once he gets UP! Hahaha!!!
Poor little guy just doesn't have the best intelligence. So between Steve and I we taught him how to go up to the bow, jump down onto the bow and then run down the gunnels. Baxter was SO happy! Now that's his new thing which, of course, he LOVES because now he can see OVER the fence and has a great view of what's happening in his territory!
But OH for a camera to make a page out of my two guys who needed me so very much! Now THAT would've been a fun one to scrapbook! :)

MSW Recipe Challenge!

I am sponsoring a challenge on the MSW site this month. It's a fun recipe challenge! And there's LOTS more FABULOUS challenges there this month. Like Kristin's "Friendly" challenge where she uses the letters from the word "Friend" and gives you a specific item to use. And Audrey's "Tic Tac Toe" challenge which is kind of like a Bingo challenge. FUN, FUN, FUN!!! And of course there's the AWESOME sketches by Lucy - one card and one LO sketch are posted twice a month! The ladies at MSW are SO talented and chatty! They are also quite supportive no matter what situation or level of talent you find yourself in. So c'mon over and check us out! Meanwhile, here's my example for the recipe challenge... I'd love to see what YOU can do with this challenge!

He got in BIG, BIG, BIG time trouble tonight! Steve was outside working on the boat and I was playing with Tim Holtz's tags of Christmas. I don't remember why I went into the room but I saw some foam on the floor in a funny place. I then noticed a TRAIL of foam and my heart sank! Steve had moved the foam for the seat cushions out of the boat and left them outside. We were getting rain so I brought them in and leaned them up against one of the walls. Well, Baxter decided that it would be great fun to tear into the foam. THIS is what we found:



Sorry the picture's so small... It's giving me a hard time tonight. But you get the picture... Baxter got in a LOT of trouble for this one. But he's happily been accepted back into "the pack" and now knows never to touch foam again! ;)