can you almost smell them??

I'm in a cookie swap so I made about 12 dozen of these Raspberry Thumbprints today...they are delicious, pretty, and very very easy...so they meet all your general cookie baking criteria...I would give you the recipe here, but I borrowed it from another blogger named Jeanne, she has all kinds of fun stuff over there at her blog...so you can get it here...

sorry I've been absent the past few days, I worked on Saturday and I've been held hostage by this book right here...

It's a sick addiction, my infatuation with everything this woman has ever written... (not under her Sci-fi JD Robb pen name).... but everything else....I think I've read almost everything she's ever written and if you are at all familiar with Nora Roberts, then you know that is a lot...there's even a book out there about all the books she's written...This is pretty typical Nora Roberts Faire...but what can I say? I'm a sucker for it...and it drives me completely bonkers when she does these triologies and you have to wait like 6 months in between the books...Like the "Bloodfever" series by Karen Marie Moning...omigosh I don't think the next one in that series comes out until like Aug 08....I'm sure it's some kind of writer's conspiracy to try to make us all go nutty

I finally got around to making my Creative Journal...I used a naked chipboard binder (81/2 x 11) by Making Memories from Hobby Lobby, the paper I used was Rhonna Farrer, Bo Bunny and Bazzill. For tabs I cut paper 6 x9 and stamped with CTMH boing font acrylic stamps...

here's the pictures....

Now the trick will be to actually get myself to use it so I can better oranize all the noise in my head...

I'm catching up on CP's also from Christy

Here's number 13

and number 14

These are a little simpler that my usual work...I don't know why that's just how it worked out...I'm pretty sure I need more stamps...I said as much to my husband earlier and I don't think he agrees with me....

I'm pretty sure he will though, after I'm done having sex with him...

what?

how do you think I got him to agree to a puppy?

night all....

Warning

If you have to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and you have a puppy, remember to turn on the light, do not take the path barefoot because you are sure to step in it and therefore a stream of expletives is sure to leave your mouth, and you are sure to wake up your husband, who is sure to laugh his ass off at you....




But stepping in dog poop is not the only mess I made today...oh no....my husband and boys have a saying around here...whenever someone does something "the hard way", or "the weird way", or "the other way", therefore setting off a chain of events causing the universe to work against you in all aspects of your life, they (Rob and the boys) say "You Amed It!" . The word "Amed" of course referring to the name Amy, which in case you didn't know is me. Let me say that this phrase is most often used by them to me....




Past "Amed It" occurrences include, but are not limited to, the following:




1. Closing the Garage Door on my 6 month old Car.



2. Having to file a police report because Rob was TDY and the Cable Company sent out a Stalker(really I'm not kidding)



3. Burning everything I cook (this was before I got my new oven possessed by Mary Poppins)



4. Setting fire to the stovetop when I was boiling water because I forgot I was boiling water in
the first place and left a dishtowel too close to the burner which prompted Rob to buy the flat
top stove/oven possessed by Mary Poppins.



5. Getting Hair Color all over the newly painted bathroom...no, that stuff does not come off the walls, or the carpet, or the sink.



6. Accidentally hitting the barricade going out the gate to the Base when we lived in Florida, subsequently ripping off the passenger side view mirror, the morning we were leaving for Disney World



7. Falling down two flights of concrete stairs outside a nursing home (I was seeing a patient)
in 20 degree weather and having to crawl back up said stairs, crying, bleeding and
laughing (what else is there?) to be sat in a Geriatric Chair while I waited for Rob to come
take me to the hospital....I sprained my right ankle and twisted my left knee....



8. Using Nair to remove my eyebrow hair because I didn't have time to go get them waxed (I figured "why not?")the night before a Dressy Air Force Banquet I had to go to...ok DO NOT DO THIS...this resulted in red blisters as long as my eyebrows just below my eyebrows...think what it would look like if you tried to take a curling iron to your eyelids



9. Leaving to drop the kids off and go to work, only to come back to the house 3 times because I forgot to 1. turn off the oven, 2. grab my lunch, and 3. lock the door....(it's embarrassing how often this happens, so much so that Britain is almost OCD about checking everything before we
leave, so convinced is my 12 year old that the house will not be here by the time school is out)



10.....really do you need any more examples....??




ok so now you know...this is why when I woke up and stepped in the doodie I knew I was in for an "Amed" it kind of day...I mean really I don't ask for these things to happen...trouble just finds me....




so like a good girl I avoided scissors, the oven, my flat iron and all other basic deadly appliances for most of the day...



I finished reading this book here



If you can't read the title it's Size 12 is Not Fat...This book is so fun, and funny so you should go read it, it's a really easy, quick read....

and on the subject of books, I found this really cool site
http://www.paperbackswap.com/


You join for free and post your books you've already read, (they don't have to be paperbacks)...ok so then when you post your first ten books to swap they give you 2 credits.. 1 credit=1 book...you pay the postage to send your books to whoever "orders" them and when you order a book from someone else they pay the postage to you..you can print the postage and the wrapper to mail your books right from their site!!....it's like going to the library but you don't have to leave your house...then you just relist the books you get from someone else and so on...I love free stuff (or almost free)....




so remember I said I was a good girl for most of the day...well of course because I spent most of the day on my couch reading and doing laundry (so far I don't count the washer/dryer as deadly appliances, but that doesn't mean they won't get added to the list) I got a false sense of security...so when I pick up the boys from school I go to Dairy Queen for dinner...(no way was I going anywhere near the oven on an "Amed" it day) but I should have known I don't have to go near the oven...Landon ordered a kids meal, which came with a vanilla ice cream cone...as the lady handed it to me through the window and I attempted to pass it off to Landon, (I mean really is a 6 inch pile of ice cream necessary for a nine year old??) the ice cream fell off and landed on my lap but not before bouncing over from the center console...on my new faux suede coat from Avon....(yes I bought my coat from Avon and yes it's faux suede, I hate shopping for clothes)




Then I come home, and do some blog hopping well I can't resist Lain and her challenges, although I can't imagine what made me think I was safe...

so here's some pictures of Lain's challenge to create something that's is home decor it started out so innocently...







I recycled an old coffee can, painted it then stenciled on some stars and painted the words "Christmas Cheer", you can't see it here for some reason, but I punched holes in the sides with a hammer and nail and added ribbon for a handle. I think I'm going to use it to hold cookies. (I know right now you're thinking I was brave to use a hammer and nail on an "Amed" it day)



So feeling confident and drinking my Starbucks Frappacino...I did not get Dairy Queen btw, I was playing with the lid and inspiration struck,



"self , why not alter the lid with something cute?" "ok" so I find the perfect chipboard circle to fit on the inside of the lid and get out my Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive...I open it up and squeeze it, hmmm, it's full why isn't it coming out? so I squeeze harder...and OMIGOD....I AM ATTACKED BY GLUE!!!!!! you can not imagine the velocity of this stuff!! Here's a visual aid to help you... now this mere picture does not in any way give you an idea of the magnitude of the ATTACK OF THE FLYING GLUE...but after I took one picture I realized I got it on my camera, it's still in my hair, on the phone, the wall, the lamp, the dogs, and Landon...I'm still not sure if I'll be able to get my clothes off or if I'll have to cut my hair and for all I know the dogs are probably stuck to each other ....and I think I might be getting just a little bit high from the smell...I was not deterred though, I rinsed everything off and altered my frappacino lid...here's a picture



aww isn't that cute..."make a difference"...now I'm going to have to make one that says "I Amed It"....


This for some reason put me in the mood to hammer holes in something...so I thought "self let's make a ribbon holder"...so I took this big plastic jar that I got at WM for like 94 cents




and I hammered holes around the perimeter, about halfway through I figured out it was much easier to just poke it with scissors, but somehow the hammer is more satisfying.... and I ended up with this..... yes I know the ribbon is only sticking out of the bottom...I should have put the holes everywhere...and I completely misjudged the amount of ribbon I had....but on the whole I think it was a good idea...thankfully the plastic jar was only 94 cents so I can start over....but not tonight...I am sooooo done......


I know I need to get some layouts done, but I'm afraid I'll cut my fingers off with my fiskars trimmer....

and because I refuse to have my blog end on anything but a happy note...look at our first snow of the season....no way am I going anywhere until it melts....

10,000 Care Packages for our Servicemembers...

I am floating on air right now...I am exhausted...but it is a completely happy amazingly elated feeling...I am in awe of what we, as volunteers for the USO, accomplished today. The USO is such an incredible organization, I just can not sing their praises enough. There were 137 of us, from all walks of life, some military (or affiliated) some just wanting to donate their time and we managed to stuff, box and pallatte 10,300 care packages and we did it in under 3 hours...here are a few pictures

First we stuffed the bags with postcards from Jack Daniels that people from all over the country had written messages on to the troops, when that was done they set us up assembly line style to put the "product" in the bags, product included toiletries, phone cards, granola bars etc. I was a bag zipper...:-). I would have pictures of the assembly line but we were working so hard I couldn't stop to take a picture! Every so many thousand packages, we would stop and do the conga...everyone..it wasn't an option...IT WAS SO FUN!!!

Can I just say that everyone whether you drink alcohol or not, should show some support to Jack Daniels, an american company, who although they can not sell/send their products to the troops overseas, are just out there to support the troops here...they have donated over $300,000 to events like these with the USO....
and this man right here

that would be Craig Morgan in the middle....wow...he actually helped the volunteers this morning set up for the packaging party, and then came out and worked on the assembly lines with us. He's just such a nice guy!! I have always been a fan of country music, and a fan of Craig's but now let me tell you I am going to promote him anywhere I can. Go buy his CD's, request his songs on country radio, whatever just do it. Here's someone who could have been with his family but took time out of his busy schedule to come spend time with us at Scott AFB and he was so sincere about it. This was not event that was advertised outside of the base. He did it just for us!!! He kept thanking US ...and he himself is former Special Forces with the Army. The concert was awesome and Craig and his band did this for us for FREE!!!!!

here are some more pictures

The USO survives because of it's volunteers, who better to give your time to than for those who lay their lives on the line everyday for us. Volunteer by clicking here.

Supporting artists who support our troops is what keeps the USO holding events like todays. You can go buy Craig Morgan's CD's by clicking here.

Jack Daniels can be found just about anywhere but they have a cool website too here.

Thanks for stopping by!

a few bits and pieces

Before I leave this morning for my date with Craig Morgan...ok the date isn't really just me and Craig, more like Craig and 125 USO volunteers (we're filling boxes to send to the troops), but hey a girl can have her little fantasies, right? Yes, my husband knows I have a date with another man...LOL...he's the one that volunteered me...I love that man...If you don't know who Craig Morgan is click here... I so love that song...I really appreciate artists who take the time to volunteer their time to support our troops, and you seem to see that in country music more than most other types of music.

Anyway...I'm trying out some photo printing services...I've always tended to be a print as I go kind of scrapper, but at about 30cents a print it gets expensive and really it's just not practical. I find that by the time I print the pictures I can't really remember the story behind them, or at least not in the detail I would like anyway. I'm trying to get better organized and start printing the photos and "filing" them in an album with journaling, then going back to "scrap" them later as I have time, if that makes any sense. Plus, I've been doing so many challenges lately, it helps to have the pictures all ready there. (I Remember When sells a really great system for the filing/jounaling part of this called "Everyday Stories" if you're interested. There's my shameless plug for the day..:-) ) The subject of photo printing has also come up on our forums there, so I wanted to try my own little experiment.

So here's where I'm at, I placed 2 orders on Sunday, one with Clark Color and one with Winkflash. I will let you know how long it took to get the pictures, shipping quality, picture quality etc. In the meantime here are some codes...

Clark Color 9cent prints maximum 100 9CENTPRINTS, Plus if your a new customer you get 30 free prints

Winkflash always has 99cent shipping and has 50 free prints with your first order
WF95WF27 (regular prints vary ,but I have it on good authority that they frequently have prints for as low as 3cents, but they email you a code, so I'm guessing you already have to be a cutomer)

Both sites have free photo storage as long as you place orders as often as their specified amount of time...

I really have to go now, have to finish getting the kiddos ready for school...I hope to be back later with pics

I am almost done with the Book "Plain Truth" by Jodi Piccoult, so I can join the discussion at Lain's....yay!

Christmas Crafternoons!!!!

This is going to be long...

Yesterday we had our first ever "Castellano Christmas Crafternoon" I decided to take on the trees from Ali Edwards site with a twist, we used felt cut into small squares and created "mosaic trees" and since there are 4 of us we each made one....I also used a styrofoam block for a base so all four trees could be together and covered it also. Now let me say, it was very hard for me to not try to take over when Landon chose camoflauge felt for his tree and Britain wanted a Star Wars tree, I have this problem of wanting things to match and look the way I want them to...but I was a good mom...and I just let go...and I love everyone's trees and they might be a little messy, but I just love the way they turned out...and we had so much fun!!!...so here's some photos:

and the final product

From Left to right, Rob, me, Britain and Landon some of the felt sparkles but you can't tell in the picture....Landon ended up adding red and green with the camo, Dad's tree is totally camo LOL

then we finished our "itty bitty buckets" for the boys teachers...here are some more pictures

First I made these bookmarks using jumbo paperclips from walmart, I cut a bird out of felt, well, 2 actually, and using felt glue secured the paper clip in between. Then I stitched yellow emboidery floss around the edges. Next I cut 2 little wings out of white felt and glued them on, added google eyes on each side and presto. To make the card I used a scrap of Bazzil Bling in Silver cut a slit and put the bookmark on it. I used thickers to spell "read". This entire project took about 15 minutes or so. Next I made chapstick holders, again using a scrap of pattered paper, scored and folded, chapstick held in place by glue dots, and tied in place with a ribbon.

I also added the calendars we made a few days ago, see the earlier post. To top it off I added hershey kisses to a cellophane bag and printed out a "Happy Holidays" card stapled to the top.

The finished product looks like this....

The buckets were 94 cents at walmart and I printed out a card with a vintage santa picture and a cute Christmas quote, inked the edges and xyroned it for a label....easy peasy...!!

ok and I did a few layouts

first the 30 minute thursday layout from Lain's, the challenge was to use all one product line. I used My Mind's eye.

and Creative Prompt #11 from Christi

I did another one that I submitted to Simple Scrapbooks Call, so keep your fingers crossed for me...

I got some Christmas presents made to, I didn't take pictures of all of them a minialbum for my father in law, a wall hanging for my mil and this for my nephew

This is the allison frame by Creative Imaginations Bare Elements and all I did was use the kit that comes separately, and with the leftovers was able to make the minialbum and the wall hanging. I still have left overs too, so those are pretty great kits!!

That's it for projects...

Rob took Britain for some Dad time to go see Beowolf so Landon and I are watching "The Santa Clause" right now...the first one

so how about a Holiday Movie Review!!

Landon gives it 2 candy canes out of 5...he says "it doesn't really make sense"

I think he's kind of mad right now because his Dad and brother aren't here...:-)

I give it 4 candy canes for humor, sentiment and of course a wonderfully sappy Christmasy ending!!!

you can watch a scene from the movie here

and here are some pics of the family from our nice weekend together hanging out and watching movies...

Even though they're getting older, I never get tired of watching them sleep.

Have a great night !

I'm pretty sure I have a problem, maybe 2, okay a few

It's adhesive, I can't get enough of it, I seem to have the overwhelming need to try every kind there is and I am overflowing with refills, this is just what I keep within arms reach, you should see what's in my closet. I mean it's glue for criminy's sake, what the hell is wrong with me??






I really, really love Xyron. Which is one of the reasons I became and instructor with I Remember When... (they have a partnership with Xyron) I signed on with them about a year and a half ago as a hobbyist, really just to get a discout on scrapbooking products, and so I could horde more adhesive. If anything ever needs stuck to something else, I'm pretty sure I have the right glue. Anyway back to IRW, they are a relatively small direct sale company, comparable to CM or CTMH just not as big. They are still fairly inexpensive to become involved with and are not as strict as the other companies about using "only" their products which I really like and they have very low minimums. The idea is that you'll host crops, have people host parties, and vendor at different venues....and I guess I'm here babbling about it because they recently "split" us up into two groups Business Builders and hobbyists. I went ahead with the BB program, (it's really based on how much you order)...and have just not figured out where to go with it yet....my problem is that I'm not much of a salesperson, I always feel like I might be being pushy...I mean my gosh even here it's taken me this long to just spit it out...so there it is...if you are at all interested you can go to the website above to view the catalogs and contact me if you wish to place an order or would like any further info....there I don't know why that is so hard....


here is what was in the big box of goodies I got from them today








Thickers from American Crafts, Doodlebug paperfrills, sugarcoating (very fine glitter in yummy colors), sugarcoated chipboard letters, rubons and paper from Daisy D's, paper from WeRMemory Keepers, Fancy Pants Designs, and Creative Imaginations, Chipboard from scenic route and more, more, more...I'm so bummed I have to work tomorrow, but I hope to be able to dig into this stuff starting Friday, since I have a long weekend... and I think I am now officially on a scrapbook shopping diet until I go on my pre-retreat shopping spree for the crop weekend retreat I have coming up at the end of January...who am I kidding...this is why I can't be trusted with a credit card






This is my little scrappy buddy she likes to sit on my lap when I'm creating stuff...she also likes to climb all over Winnie when I'm trying to type so if I missed any typos, it's her fault...

good night and take care!!

strange things make me laugh

So I'm going to share some of them with you....

...have you ever just spent some time looking at some of the videos on you tube...I could get totally lost there if I let myself...there are some very talented people out there with waaaay too much time on their hands...but I'm glad they do because when I need a little pick me up it's a fun place to go....



I got started tonight because Annie is coming to town, and me having two boys of course NO ONE wants to go see it with me...I loved Annie as a little girl, we sang "maybe", and "tomorrow" in choir in middle school....anyway I was trying to explain it to Britain and found this

"I don't Need Anything But you" Britain and I were sooo cracking up...I so get these women...I could so see Steph (my sister in spirit who has left me and moved to Japan) and I doing that...if we had a video camera, and lived in the same country...Steph I sooo miss you....



ok and this is a long one, but it gets me every time...so corny I know...I warned you

Superman



and if you've been reading my blog lately you know about my obsession with Will Ferrell

Elf

a word from our sponsor

and that's all I've got for you tonight... I am going to read ( I have some serious catching up to do) and go to bed....