Wow, it's been awhile

March 15 was the last time I posted to this blog. Dang, that's a long time. I have nothing to say other than life just got in the way, as it often does.

Now, I have been tagged as a "Rockin Girl Blogger" by my friend and DT Member/Editor/Queen Catherine, so I must update - that and you 3 readers deserve one too, LOL.

ScrapMuse news - there's a huge surprise in the works for this year. It will most likely come in fall. I am working really hard to make it happen and I am nervous about it going off without a hitch.

There's a hella-sale going on there right now, 10-70% pretty much everything, kits included. It's a darn good deal, lemme tell ya. I just got tired of looking at those older kits wanting to be loved and ordered - my garage is overrun with product and I need to MOVE IT OUT to bring in new fun stuff.

Hints for the fall kits? TEXTURE and lots of it!

I promise this blog will be kept up better from now on...until the big surprise comes along and then we'll do things a *little* differently.

Oh, and it's a GOOD surprise. (and one that I've mentioned before). Hope you like surprises!

Product Review...UHU liquid glue

So I got some samples of UHU All purpose, Liquid glue and would love to share my thoughts on this product.

First, the price point of this product is $3.25 I believe. (Looking on amazon.com)
The bottle is 3.2 ounces, and the design fits nicely into my hand. You can use the glue three ways: as a small pointed tip, narrow glue strip, or wide glue strip.

I took this glue with me to the Ali Edwards Discover Home class last Friday, and I must be honest, I was a bit unimpressed with it at first. The main reason is that it is very runny and so it is easy to use too much. Which is what I did, all over the cover of my Junkitz metal album. A little saddening, but ah well.

As the class went on, I got better at going lightly with it, but it really wasn't until today that I feel like I was using just the right amount. This is all with the small pointed tip, by the way.

Today I also tested the narrow and wide glue strip capability of this product...I was less impressed with that - again easy to overdo... The way you get the flat gluing surface is by twisting the top of the bottle around, which is a REALLY cool idea, but somehow the narrow tip part still sticks out a little bit and so really you end up with a line of glue that you have to work to smear around, which gets glue all over the sides of the bottle and then have to wipe off, else you'll glue the cap to the bottle.

So all in all, I will not be carrying this product in the store, and my favorite liquid glue, Aleene's tacky glue, is still the 'reigning champ' in my book.

Here's a link to Maria Filosa's blog if you'd like to try some UHU samples for yourself:
www.mariafilosa.com

March kits will be shipping soon!

I am really excited about this kit - almost b/c I think you need to see the papers in person to understand how cool they are. Lana did a great job with kit pics this time, but the distressed nature of these papers just doesn't seem to come through...

In other news, we have so many CHA goods in the store right now - it's awesome. I just love going into the warehouse to gawk at the many fun things available.

and more :)

Huge stickers from Heidi Swapp - Love those birds (hint, hint)











More bling from Heidi Swapp - these crowns are so fresh and funky!











Cuddles from Everlasting Keepsakes - totally cool! (hint, hint)











Yesterdays collection from Chloe's Closet (hint, hint)











Office Supplied line by Imagination Project - Gosh I ADORE this line!!

more sneak peeks

Here's some really cool acetate/plastic lettering and shapes from Making Memories...saw lots of that at CHA...






Just a taste of many, MANY cool new items from Heidi Swapp!


Love the blue photo corners (hint, hint)

And the playing cards, as well as the journaling spots that look like little pink post-its!















I am in love with these buttons~













Ahh...Hambly...they have rubons and papers with owls, and my favorite - ROBOTS!
(hint, hint)

Back from CHA

Gretchen and I on our first morning at CHA. I was totally overwhelmed at the whole thing, but Gretchen helped me cope, and made excellent suggestions on how we should "do" the show and where to go when. She was my compass and she was invaluable (although we all knew that already)!





One of the highlights of the trip was seeing Vicki and Cat! We had lunch together several times and even had dinner with Cat - it was so wonderful to meet them all in person!









Check out Cat with her new book! You can buy it here -> Cat's super awesome book

















And last but definitely not least for this post is Vicki and the gorgeous wedding dress she created FROM PAPER for the AccuCut booth. The photo I took doesn't do it justice b/c our jaws dropped when we saw this thing for real...

also beside it (sorry, it's hard to read) is a lovely invitation/announcement style placard that had Vicki's name displayed prominently as the creator of the dress. She also did the bouquet that you see on the table there.

ScrapMuse and the new DT

ScrapMuse has found the additions to our Design Team!

First, let me just say that we had such a great response to this call. Each and every one of you who submitted had lovely work and this decision was truly, TRULY difficult. You should all be proud...proud of your memories and moments and of the beautiful ways you have chosen to remember them.

We couldn't pick just 2 ladies for the permanent design team. So we chose 4 and here they are (provided they accept of course!):

Nathalie Kalbach
Rebekah Robinson
Michelle Clement
Bernadette Henderson
Congratulations ladies! And again, thank you ALL who entered.



The Guest Designers for Feb - June are:

Jill Cornell - February 2007
Christiane Muller - March 2007
Elizabeth Carney - April 2007
Kristen Rousch - May 2007
Emeline Seet-ng - June 2007

Well, it's Friday at lunchtime

And I am so glad that it is. I am actually *somewhat* ahead on ScrapMuse kits(one can never truly be ahead when you run your own business but you know what I mean). And my DH actually went to the grocers yesterday so we have food, and more importantly, COFFEE. :)

My New Year's resolution was to commit to putting the cats on a diet...alright, alright...and I'm going to watch what I eat too...mostly cause I feel hypocritical, LOL... They're one helluva lot friendlier now that they depend on ME for their food. Kind of nice, really.

It's another gray day in the Pacific Northwest. My day job is going OK - still trying to find ways to keep myself motivated on projects instead of just putting out fires but I think it's because it's been so long (a year at least) since I actually was in project MODE...I am getting the hang of it though.

My cold is gone, thank goodness, and just in time too - we're taking our neighbor and his wife out to Alameda Brewhouse tonight for his 30th bday. I am looking forward to it b/c we haven't been out with them in awhile and they ALWAYS show us good places for beer in Portland.

Mina is doing fine - my other New Year's resolution was to take her on at least ONE walk a day on the days she doesn't go to doggie day care (I can hear my sister laughing). So far I am upholding this resolution OK. It's important to me b/c buying ScrapMuse has really cut down on the time I spend with her and I want to do at least one thing with her each day.

So that is that. The house plans are moving along nicely too. I am so glad we decided to close at the end of January - with all that's going on, rushing it like every realtor and builder wants you to do, would have just driven me bonkers.

Have a super weekend ya'll!

Only 2 months behind...Deb this one's for you!

So December's Muse went out last week and I am so glad. That one about killed me, what with all the products that were coming in at the last minute and not in at all....I was up until almost 2AM boxing and shipping and stuff, and then back up for my day job at 6AM :) I learned a lot from the experience so it was worth it.

Anyway - January's stuff is mostly here or on its way, the DT kits go out tomorrow and I am so ready to go on holiday. Tonight we fly to ATL and then drive to TN on Saturday and spend the week at home, but we'll be back in WA for New Years. Our neighbor M's 30th birthday is on the 31st and so we'll be partying with them which will be nice as they live 4 houses down and we can walk home :)

Our power went out last night, and now my computer won't turn on. Scary as all my email and files are on it. I think it's the processor fan, which sucks but is better than the hard drive. But that still means, most likely a new motherboard which is several hundred dollars that we don't need to spend. And to be honest I'd prefer a laptop (even though I already have one for work) because it's just more convenient and the work one I don't put my home stuff on, but I can do all my work stuff from the home one...anyway...a few hundred dollars versus a couple grand is no contest right now when we're in the midst of purchasing a home....

:) Enough of that. Please have a wonderful holiday and I wish you all the best for the coming year.

Lots of fun stuff going on

The November kit is half here. I am so freakin' excited. The December kit will be ordered by Friday so that it won't be in such a rush for the design team next month. I hated that I've put such pressure on them this month, but with the timing, there really wasn't a way around it. I know they'll step up, cause they're all so freakin' awesome.

In other news, my CAI job is doing well - I think the DBA we hired is going to be good, I just gotta figure out a way to get him to step up and start changing things. I know he's hesitant but you just gotta get in there sometimes, ya know?

Oh, and one final note about ScrapMuse - 50% sale, everything in the store!

The sale is going from now till midnight November 15th and the code is washingtonMOVE. The code can be used as many times as you like. Only catch is you have to pay and ship now (versus choosing add to next kit payment or shipping). We accept Paypal, AMEX, VS, MC, and soon Discover (in the next day or 2).

www.scrapmuse.com Happy Shopping!

Lots of news

First, my husband and I just bought ScrapMuse. It's a monthly kit club as well as an online store. I have been a customer of ScrapMuse for over a year, and the previous owner had to sell or close due to her health, which is really unfortunate but she wanted to see it continue, and so did I, so we worked out a nice deal for both of us, and that was that.

I just got back from PA visiting her and assessing the inventory and she is just the sweetest person on earth. Very down to earth, friendly, compassionate, and has good business sense. I think we both hit it off very well.

In order to facilitate moving the goods to WA, we are having a 50% off sale on everything in the store. Use the code washingtonMOVE to get the discount. Fun stuff!

Mina helps celebrate Ben's birthday

Mina was all about Ben's birthday. She "sang" him a birthday song, and even consented to wearing a party hat and sharing her peanut butter with him. It was very cute.

I fixed Ben a nice dinner on his birthday, and on Friday we're going out for sushi at his favorite place, Masu. With the money his family gave him, he bought an effects board which hopefully we will get reimbursed for later by WaferTech as the one he had originally did not make it here. And then he'll have his birthday money back to use on something else... probably more stuff to play guitar loudly ;)


I took yesterday off and went with my friend Martha to the Oregon College of Art and Craft - it was so cool and lunch there was fantastic! We both had lentil and butternut squash soup, olive brean and an autumn salad, and carrot cake for dessert. All homemade, all tasty! Then we stopped by Cornell Farms to look at plants - they had some great stuff, in particular to get design ideas from. 

Back from the ATL

Back from ATL this week. I think their new logo and re-branding idea is totally dumb and a waste of money. Anyway, I spent last week there for work - getting some "face time" in the office and going to lots of meetings. I always forget how many there are when I'm physically there. Also I stayed with friends and remembered painfully what a commute was. At one point it was 90 minutes....and they live 14 miles from my office.

But it was so worth it, and so much fun to see everyone and reconnect. I was even able to catch up with Jessie and Jason in Chattanooga. I was sick for most of the week, but it didn't really matter - I still spent as much time as I could with folks - hopefully I didn't pass on too many germs.

I am back and now I need to rest - my sense of time is all crazy and I am still not feeling 100%. But work is a little busy today, and Ben's car is in the shop and will be another thousand to repair, I'm sure. I know that used cars are a "better deal" financially than buying something new, but damn I love a warranty. Although I really think Ben should investigate a motorcycle and just keep one car. We shall see.

gardening bits

Check out this little guy - he looked totally happy crawling around one of my roses. I don't know why I am so good with roses - I think it's because they are actually easier than a lot of people think, not because I am all that good. It could also be that this area is known for growing roses...cause food and clipping (I almost said cropping - you can see how ingrained scrapbooking is to my brain!) are about all mine get. And this house has three beautiful rose bushes - pink, white and a gorgeous tangerine one. 2 are climbers and the third is one of those patio-type things, that has a stalk and then sort of a rounded bush on top, like a topiary kind of thing. Anyway, these are also things I enjoy photographing. And these are "easy art" for me - I like showing places we've been or things we've seen at home...and so these will probably end up on my craft room walls...along with the other roses that Ben photographed from the Internat'l Rose Garden in Portland. Love that place!
 

first commissioned photograph

My neighbor commissioned me to do this portrait of her husband's Dachsund (sp?). Usually she is camera-shy, but we got out some good treats and she was all about her portrait then!

I think it's one of the better animal photos I've taken. 

Here is a link to another blog I read pretty often...since it's getting to be fall and this is an election year where I HOPE AND PRAY we will take back the Senate and/or House, I am starting to get involved a little more with politics, and I really like the links this blog has to articles and stuff. The links in the URL below are some of the most interesting discussions from a social science standpoint to why so many people who in the 70s and 80s would have been Democrats, are now primarily (and some almost violently so) Republicans...

Deb, I am mostly interested in your response to these - if you have time to read them..

http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2006/09/talking-with-folk-who-hate-you.html

This is the first year I will actually be involved - I have signed up to volunteer with MoveOn.org - Sept 11th, if nothing else, changed the way I think about politics...Sounds silly I guess but the way I feel like I can honor their memory is to become more active in our civic process so that this won't happen again to other innocent Americans.

some layouts I completed over the weekend

Again the pics aren't all that great...

I was stuck in the house all weekend due to a release that I felt like I needed to be on call for. When I wasn't working on that, I was scrapbooking! No better way to spend the time, right?

This LO is a scraplift (almost element for element) of my online friend Vicki Chrisman. Her work is so good! I like how this one turned out. That blurry thing at the bottom right of the photo is a strip of linen that has been inked on one side and tied into a bow. (Using the April 05 kit from ScrapMuse I think)


One of my first LOs that's about Ben...it's using the July 06 kit from ScrapMuse - thought the colors went well with the background of the photo...it's about that 'scoff' look he gives me so often. Like I have just grown three heads....

The final LO about our trip to Seattle - this one is short on photos but I wanted to save some of our memorabilia from that trip - it's funny, we spent 2 days and a night there and I have THREE layouts about it :) What can I say, it was a fun trip!

some layouts I did a couple weeks ago

The pics aren't great - this paper is actually purple and not the sickly weird brown color it looks like on my screen...this is one of my neighbors' Dachsunds -cute, but noisy...












Me and Grandma - or "Grandmu" as my sister frequently reminds me...


My mamaw and me - these pics were actually taken in 2005 I think - I made them both layouts and framed them, and decided I wanted to scrap the pics for my albums too. These papers are all from the June kit at ScrapMuse. 

a few vacation pics

J's new cat Weezy - a very rambunctious kitten!





















Hiking at Old Forge.
















Ben's fez, a present from his sister.

So....

No pics today - something's messed up with my folder that has them - they're still THERE but Picasa can't see them or something. I need some IT help, LOL! Actually I just don't have time to mess with it, so you get an update with no pics.

I signed up for my very first ever art class. It's with the Art and Soul Workshops which are in Portland Oct 4-7 this year and at my neighbor's hotel. He got me a free registration (which is like $45!) so all I pay is the class, and it was kind of expensive (in my opinion) but I'm sure as art classes go, it wasn't all that high. We're making our own mixed media hanging..creation...is the only way I know how to put it. The pic of the example is totally cool and I am hoping mine will turn out similar.... My block in creativity is just letting it FLOW and not talking it or myself down - so hopefully I can branch out and just let myself go and create a beautiful piece that I can actually show in our home. I am TOTALLY STOKED about it!

The weather is much cooler this week and I am LOVING IT. Waking up to 51 degrees outside is AWESOME, particularly when I have the windows open and am sleeping with a blanket. I may need to move Mina's bed from right by the window though - she looks cold in the mornings...maybe she needs a blankie? LOL - I'm crazy..I know...the neighborhood all know us now cause she's the dog always carrying around her plush soccer ball. It helps keep her occupied and not scared of/barking at new people and little kids. I call it her pacifier...cause it works! We had to get a new one b/c I couldn't repair the holes in the last one (plus it had been washed a few times and was just getting tired).

What else - I have been working on a book of Mina for Ben to put on his desk at work - It's actually a fold out purse, but don't tell him - I don't think it looks girly so I think it'll be OK. I have also done several LOs over the past few weeks that I haven't posted, mainly because I haven't had time to take pics of them. Maybe this weekend during a free moment. I am working on a major software release this weekend, so who knows if I'll have a free moment, but maybe I will....

Have a great day!