My First Video -- Mini Haul

Here's my very first video (YAY!) showing some of my great finds of the day!

The video was fun to make and I'd love to make more of them... but I still feel weird because I feel like I'm talking to myself. :-p

So question for anyone who may come across this:

HOW DOES A NEW BLOGGER GET FOLLOWERS??

:-) THANKS in advance!

Finally!

I have finally had some time to do my crafting! I haven't been updating the blog with the photos, but I have spent a few nights the past week or so in my craft room playing around! I also found a new television show on TV that is about scrapbooking and has been giving me some great ideas (especially when I have it playing in the background while I'm playing around!)

My hubby has also been supporting my "habit", but more about that in a few!

Before I get to the crafting update, here is some updates about my personal life!

First, I have a stepdaughter that's a HIGH SCHOOLER! How scary is that!?! K started 9th grade on Monday and I think we were more nervous about how it would go than she was! So far, she loves it! She's amazed at how the teachers and administration is treating them like "adults"... the biggest shocker: That they don't have to ask to go to the bathroom at lunch time! :-) Oh I miss high school!

Secondly, we had a big birthday in our house this past week! Our puppy... well, not a puppy anymore, turned 4 (28 in human years, right?) Our Yorkie named Princess (nicknamed Princess Pie, P-Dub, SugarSugar, or many other unmentionable names!) celebrated her birthday on Tuesday.

No, I didn't really make her wear a hat. It's a "sticker" that I put on the photo on Picnik! But it looks real, doesn't it?

We are getting ready to head north to PA again next week for my mother's wedding. It'll be a very stressful and time-crunched trip, but I am still looking forward to seeing my family! I miss them so much! And I've FINALLY gotten my dress and shoes for the wedding. I hope they work!

So here's what else has been going on!

My hubby, as I said, has been supporting my habit by BUYING ME MORE CARTRIDGES! Recently, for a project that we volunteered me for, I had to purchase (yes, HAD to!) A Child's Year.

I can't write more about the project.. just in case... but as soon as it's complete, there will be LOTS of details!

Then, we heard that Michaels had a sale on their carts, so HUBBY suggested we go check them out! He had two carts in hand for me, but I talked him into only one. That was so backwards from what I THOUGHT was going to happen, but true story!

So we ended up purchasing what I think is my new favorite cartridge, Create-A-Critter!!! SO MUCH FUN!

Also last weekend, hubby WANTED to take me to Hobby Lobby and Joann's! I'm not quite sure what's gotten into him, but I'll take it while it's here!

Of course, then I had to play with these new toys! So here's what I've come up with!

This was a card that I made for hubby and I to give to our new high schooler with some words of encouragement for high school written on the inside! Made with the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge.

A friendship card made with the Stretch Your Imagination cart as well.

Card made with the Winter Frolic cartridge.

Card made with the Winter Frolic cartridge.

The card for my Mom's wedding. Made using the Cuttlebug and Stretch Your Imagination cart.

First Anniversary card made for my mother-in-law using Stretch Your Imagination cart.

Just a really neat image cut using the Happy Hauntings cart. It's a haunted house that I cut and pasted onto a sheet of 8.5x11" paper and then the "Enter if you Dare" image cut and glittered and glued. Don't know what I'm going to use it for, but I had to try it out!

I've also done quite a few scrapbook layouts, but will share those later!

Sorry!

Okay, so I really stink at doing what I say I'm going to do. I had every intention of spending my week playing with my new "toys", but... life gets in the way sometimes, doesn't it?

So, I ended up doing much-needed errands and straightening up around here on Monday and Tuesday, babysitting my twin 10-year old nieces on Wednesday, cleaning up after them on Thursday and then having our new AT&T U-Verse system hooked up at the house!

Today, we picked up my stepdaughter and worked on some of her back-to-school shopping, as she has orientation this week and school begins a week from Monday! We also got what I THINK will be our dresses for my Mom's wedding that's coming up much more quickly than I had thought!!! I just realized that it's only really 3 weeks away and I still didn't have a dress and I'M THE MATRON OF HONOR! She did not pick out formal/matchy-matchy dresses for us to wear; instead just asked us to each wear a black dress that we could/would wear again. I think I may have finally found one (after many failed attempts!)

So... tomorrow will be finalizing our shopping needs and cleaning up and Monday I have a commitment with a former colleague of mine, but HOPEFULLY by Tuesday I'll have some ME time finally and get to post some projects!! Being unemployed sure is keeping me busy! :-p

I'm a spoiled wife!

I cannot express how blessed I am to have the husband and family that I do and how much he tends to spoil me!

My DH has been working very hard at his job lately and I have been trying to be as supportive as I can of his long hours and sour mood. I have also been in a funk lately for the lack of finding a job. This weekend, for the first time in a very long time, my husband and I were able to spend some quality time together. During some of that QT, we ended up at Joann Fabric. Well.... Joann's was having a great deal on Cricut cartridges this week. I had been admiring some of the carts and been sharing the creations of some of the bloggers and message board people that I follow. He knew how much I have been wanting some of the carts and to my utter surprise, I came home with 3 new cartridges! Seems like, "Wow... how much money can one person blow on cartridges in one spot?" Well, this week (until the 14th actually), all Cricut carts were on sale from $89.99 to $33.99. So, all 3 cost us $101.97 when they normally would have been $269.97! We also picked up some neat cardstock and a paper puncher that I didn't have. In total, we saved $170+ from what the regular prices were. Not bad for an unexpected trip!

The new carts that I picked up yesterday are:

Designer's Calendar

Winter Frolic

Happy Hauntings

Technically, DH was going to buy me four, but this Joann's was out of Mini Monsters. Oh well! So now, there are only three more carts on my wishlist (for now)! I'm hoping that for my upcoming birthday or Christmas, I'll get Mini Monsters, Simply Charmed, and/or From My Kitchen.

Earlier in the week, I had stopped by the store and picked up two other cartridges:

Paper Doll Dress Up

"Just Because" Cards

I can't wait to dig into them this week and see what I come up with! Because of this unplanned splurge, it's going to be a hang-low and keep it cool in the house kinda week! :-) But that's okay with me! Projects will be posted this week!

My Prize from Paper Crafts Magazine!

If you recall, I recently won a contest that Paper Crafts Magazine held. When we got back from our vacation, I got the prize in the mail!

Here is a photo of the loot that I won!

And the letter from the magazine!

I tried to take an inventory list of what I had received. Here's what I got:

20 sheets of different papers and cardstocks

Little Yellow Bicycle - Lucky Me (I think I got everything in the set!)

Clear Cut Shapes

Chipboard buttons

Jewel stickers

Chipboard Stickers

Cardstock Stickers

Lace Cut Cardstock

Clear Stickers

Journal Tablet

Dimensional Stickers

Rub-ons

Canvas Stickers

Epoxy Stickers

Decorative Edged tablet with Die Cut Stickers

Clear cut frames

9x5 Chipboard album

Fiskars

Scissors

Sun Circle border punch

Pop Up Punch -- Small Butterfly

Lizzie Anne Designs

Monthly Mix Unmounted Rubber Cling Stamps -- Hey Sunshine August 2009

Hero Arts

Sky's the Limit stamps

I haven't had the opportunity to plan a layout or cards for this yet, but I am so excited to get to use it soon!

Photos from our Vacation to Pennsylvania

As promised, here are some photos of our trip to Pennsylvania!

This is the view from one of the most serene and peaceful places I've ever been to. I can say that I am very blessed to have grown up in an area of PA like this!

My mom and my niece at our family BBQ. We were doing fireworks and little one wasn't too sure about them.

If you ever go to Knoebel's, I insist that you have their ice cream waffle! Freezing cold ice cream block between two freshly made steaming waffles... HEAVEN!

They were loving the Teacups

My family at Knoebel's!

If you look really closely, you can see a Mama Bear and one of her babies running in front of me. Not the best photo I've ever taken, but you get what you can when you're trying to get it before they disappear!

Hersheypark HAPPPPPY! Hersheypark glad! (My lame attempt at singing the song from the park)

My family (plus my niece) at Hershey

Meeting Chuck E Cheese for the first time.

My niece loved Chuck E Cheese!

My mom and her boyfriend with my stepdaughter looking for "gold" at the town's carnival!

My stepdaughter had never played real BINGO before! This was her first time.

My niece's 2nd birthday cake

Oh where have I been!?!

I started this blog and then... I disappeared for over a month! What happened?!

Well, at the end of June, my husband realized that he had some vacation time that he had to use up, so he, my stepdaugther, my Yorkie Princess and I loaded up the car and headed to my home state of Pennsylvania to visit my family and to help celebrate my niece's 2nd birthday!

My stepdaughter had never been to PA when there wasn't snow on the ground (we've only been able to take her at Christmas time) so I thought she needed to experience the northern part of the country during the summer time to be able to fully appreciate it! So, off we went!

We were in PA for almost 10 days and there is very limited internet access there, so obviously I wasn't posting then. Instead, I was out enjoying my time with my family! We had my niece's Nemo theme birthday party, took her to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time, visited Hersheypark and Hershey's Chocolate World one day, Knoebels another day, went to the best Farmer's Market that I've ever been to, had a 4th of July BBQ and fireworks with the family, and ate at delicious restaurants such as: Country Cupboard, Grotto Pizza, OIP, Red Robin, The Brass Pelican, and Nino's! (I know that Red Robin is a chain restaurant, but we don't have one near us here in Florida so we always eat there when we go "home" to PA!) Of course, I was playing paparazzi and I took over 2,000 photos while we were on vacation, so there will be lots of photos to share!

Once we got back, I have been busy applying for jobs and tweaking my resume. I have been out of work for over a year now and am desperately trying to find a position. This didn't leave much time for me to scrapbook or craft.

Then, my DH had his 35th birthday on July 27th, so we spent that week celebrating HIM! Had a small family party at our house the day of his birthday, complete with his favorite dinner foods! Then that weekend we went to celebrate with his family by having dinner at a great Mediterranean restaurant here in Jacksonville called Istanbul Mediterranean & Italian Cuisine. YUMMY!!!!

Last weekend, I begged my DH to help me get my scrapbooking stuff out of the dining room and into our spare bedroom (which is never used). We'd already downsized from a full-sized bed to a twin daybed, so we just needed some tables and organizing stuff. We went to Lowe's and got some shelves and a folding 6' table (that can multipurpose come the holidays when we will be hosting dinner this year), and then visited Michael's and got some craft room organizers that were on sale for 40% off!! I can't tell you how excited I am to have an actual ROOM to craft in! We hooked up a little iPod radio and the TV and put a lamp in there for me so I can sit in there for HOURS now!

So that's where I've been and what I've been up to! I did finally get to do some scrapbooking this week, so I will return soon to post photos of our vacation, my room, and other neat stuff!!! Stay tuned!