Change your lens!

Hello out there in Blog-land! It's been a very long time since I've posted to this blog. I have been thinking about making my focus on what's around me....the place near and dear to my heart...the Desert! I realized there are those who have dreamed about the desert, yearn for it or are simply somewhere cold who would like a brief escape to read about the desert climes to warm their spirit. So if you fit into any of those categories...stick with me! I'll be doing my best to document all things desert related. This week was actually quite chilly here on the desert floor. We were all bundled up under fuzzy blankets last night as we watched some movies on amazon prime. Fred had me feed his salt water aquarium and I sat and crocheted a red, white and blue afghan that I've been working on for my son. He is 11 but has always been enthused by all things that are 'American' so I am making it for him. My own "Mr. America". Crafting has always been my passion. There's so many things I'm into. Crochet, embroidery, scrapbooking, beading. I love all handmade textiles. Just wish I had more time and was faster at it! Well, I hope all of you in blog land are enjoying some time off. I am going to be putting my Christmas things away today as I am able. If you're reading, post a comment and let me know what you'd like to see more of related to crafts or the Arizona desert!

She's Back!

It's been a long time since I've blogged. So long that I wondered if my blog was still in existence. Thank goodness someone in cyber-land kept my blog backed up! As for me, lots of changes in the past year or so. Not only have I begun teaching myself to quilt, but I am still a lover of all things scrapbook related. Keep tuned in for more to come soon!

Time to Pre-Order your 2011-2012 Stampin-up Catalogue!

Pre-order 2011-2012 Catalogs Here
It is hard to believe, but it is that time of year again. The new catalog is right around the corner.

Do you want to pre-order a 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog? I will be putting in my order on June 1, so that I will receive the first shipment of catalogs that go out.
You can begin ordering out of the new catalog at noon on July 1st, 2011. I am so excited to see what is in it, aren't you?

Also, to make the most of your scrapping dollars, check out all the great buys in the 'clearance rack'. There are some real deals to be had. Why not stock up on things you can use no matter what the season?

Want to get together and stamp, scrapbook or make cards? Let me know and we can get together at my house! I'd love to make time for anyone interested! Hit me up!

Sale-A-Bration

Just a reminder to all my Stampin' Up friends-March 31st is the last day to pick your FREE products from the Sale-A-Bration catalogue. If you haven't gotten a copy, please contact me today. There are some really cute stamp sets and digi sets available for FREE with your qualifying order.

We have thru April 30th to order out of the Occassions Mini Catalog for spring. I encourage you to take a look at the stamp sets in the Mini Catalog because most of them are limited edition and likely will not be available after April 30th. We also have some versatile new punches that have come out in the mini catalog that were not previously offered.

Zeke Swims!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I am wearing my green shirt, some shamrock beads and the emerald claddaugh ring I won from the local radio station a couple years ago. I have fond happy memories of St. Patrick's Day. Growing up, I always went to religious education classes, (catechism) at Holy Angels School in Globe, AZ. We were taught by nuns who were predominantly from Ireland. They were old-school and very serious and very dedicated. They were also very kind. I remember having shamrock sugar cookies and generally enjoying hearing about St. Patrick chasing out all the snakes. With fondness, I'd like to honor Sr. Paul and Sr. Carmel. They have a special place in my heart. God bless them today!

Spring where are you?

Well I got sad news today that my sitter is quitting us. She has been taking classes to be a dental hygenist and she is going to have to do her internship. So great for her but sad for us. She has watched my son Zeke since he was just months old. This is going to be hard for him. He loves her. And not to mention she is not too far from our house so we are going to have to be on the lookout for a new sitter. Hopefully things will work out. We still have a couple years to go before he's in school.

CKC Mesa is coming up and I am really looking forward to it. It seems this hobby of mine is going down. My scrapbooking buddy told me that our big local store Scrapbooks, etc. is starting to carry more fabric than paper which is not a good sign. They are trending over to quilting it seems. This makes me want to add to my paper stash. Which is probably more of a hoard than a stash. i've been buying design cards for my slice machine on ebay at fantastic prices. It seems that the quickutz has not been selling at great prices lately though. I wonder if they too are on the bring of closing up shop. Their product lines have been not so inspiring and there are only so many great alphabet sets I can buy. I am also really into stampin up products. I had gone to some card classes taught by one of my coworkers' wives and she makes cards that are so beautiful that I became inspired to stamp. I only wish I had more time to do it. Because I love it.

Tell me what inspires you to scrap or make cards. I want to know what your new favorite products are.

Happy Scrapping!

Wild Winter Weather Jan 22, 2010

We were under tornado watch last night. That was a bit unnerving being that we had just got the kids to bed 'early' for the first time all week. We experienced torrential rains for most of yesterday and all of last night. The ground was already saturated from the previous day's rain. We are now on our third day of rain. There are only 2 ways into my neighborhood and now one is blocked. Fred got up and went into work today to get his plant up but he may not be able to get home. I think he'll be snowed in by the end of today. They are under blizzard watch for Gila County. I wish the kids could be in Globe with my parents so they could play in it. Thankfully our home is ok and we survived the night!

Shake, Rattle and Roll

Today sometime after 11am, I felt like I was getting sick or like I might pass out. I look up and the walls are moving, I felt the floor rolling and I could not figure out why I felt like I was about to lose it. There was no one in the office today in my area so I figure I need to just stand up and go to the bathroom or get a drink. I finally found someone a row of cubes over and I ask him if he also felt the floor shaking. He said yes and that a chain hanging on his cube wall was swaying. So we both figured it had to have been a small earthquake. That was the first time I had ever felt that 'rolling' feeling. And hopefully the last! I didn't like it one bit. I also never truly believed anyone in Arizona could really feel an earthquake. I thought it was a bunch of baloney. But today I became 'one of those people'. haha

My friend Sara sits down at the opposite end of the building and she sent me an IM asking if I had felt the earthquake. She said she looked up and the hanging lights were swaying. It was quite a rolling feeling.

I can't believe only 1 more day is left of 2009. The year sure went by fast. I hope for a great 2010. Our trip to St. Lucia is coming up in February so I am counting down the days. It is going to be so much fun.

Halloween Week

Halloween is approaching fast and I still have lots to do to get ready for a fun-filled weekend. I have the afternoon off tomorrow to attend Caris's class party. I am really looking forward to it. I hope they get lots of great treats. I think it's sad that everything has to come pre-packaged or from the store now-a-days. The schools do not want anything home-made for fear that it will contain something that would harm the children. Understandable, but my best memories were of school parties with home-made treats.

We are having our 7th annual Halloween Potluck in the cul-de-sac. I've had a few neighbors call and ask if we were still doing it this year so I was pleased that they were interested in participating. It seems to get bigger and better every year.
There's no telling how many people will be joining us this year. I'll be cooking up a storm Friday night and Saturday to get ready though.

This year Zeke will dress as a monkey and Caris will be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Zeke has been fascinated by the inflatable pumpkins and cat we have out in the yard. He goes out every night to pet the kitty-meow as he calls it. I don't know how he will like all the costumes. He will probably say 'scare-you-mommy' as he does not like masks.

Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow and Saturday and warm us up a bit. It's pretty chilly outside and we're just not used to it!

My 'ALMOST' cat

This morning my son kept looking out the back window so I looked out and saw a cat in our yard. I took him outside to see it, but the cat was not at all friendly and sort of hissy. So we went back inside. My son kept looking at the Cat and soon I looked out again and noticed it had a kitten out near our pool. I was a little freaked out that the kitten would fall in our pool so I went outside and took it a box and some water. I just knew if the kitten were in our back yard by the time my daughter got home from school that she'd want to keep it. So luckily I saw a neighbor as I was leaving and asked if he could check on it or leave some cat food back there for the momma cat and it turned out that he decided to keep the kitten. So lucky for us becuase I'm allergic and not a big fan of cats. It was cute but certainly would have to find another home and my kids would be so devastated if I didn't let them keep it. But it's better that it goes to a person who would want it. So lucky me! I did get a couple great pics of the adorable little thing and it's mom.

Labor Day Weekend @ Big Lake

Just spent a relaxing 5 days in the high country. We took a trip up north to Big Lake. It is in far Eastern Arizona and about a 6 hour drive from my house. The kids had such a great time. I think we all did. The only negative was that it rained a little more than we all would have liked. The thunder was wonderful to listen to, but the mud and puddles were too much for Zeke to resist. He had to jump in feet first and slop around like a little piggy. Thank goodness Fred had put some watersealant on his new boots. They look amazingly good for having been through all that mud. And my girl Caris was quite the fisherwoman; she caught a pretty large trout and the biggest fish in the whole group. She was so proud. The food we cooked was amazing. Fajitas, tortillas, rib-eye steaks with 'secret sauce', breakfast FEASTS. We are truly blessed not only to be able to enjoy the beauty of nature and to get out of the sweltering desert heat but to have all the little luxuries that make a camping trip great.

Creative Escape 2009

Hello out there in blogland! I'm so excited. I am headed across town next Wednesday to the Wild Horse Pass Resort for Heidi Swapp's Creative Escape 2009 event. I am super excited. I can't wait to have class with Tim Holtz, Carol Wingert and all the fabulous people in the Scrap World. Not to mention all the great and exciting women from all over the planet who will be in attendance. This is going to be a ton of fun. My roommate will be my scrappy co-worker Karen Engelder. She and I met several years back at a CK convention and since we knew each other from working in the same area, we made a connection. Since then, we've met up for various classes over the years and although she invited me to join her at CE last year, I had just come back from the Memory Works convention in Layton, UT and I couldn't afford to go to CE right after that. It was a huge bummer but I'm super ready to go this year. I have been picking up my supplies from the class lists but now I have to figure out what to wear and pack. There's so much to prepare. I did the Yahoo charm swap and got all the cute and fun charms and I've been working on that necklace the past few nights. It's so cool. my husband thinks I'm a little nuts with my 'old lady' activites as he calls it. But I love to scrapbook and he's the first one to show off my stuff. My kids are hopefully going to treasure what I make for them (they already love their disney books). This is a hobby I have been in love with for quite a number of years. I only wish I had more time to devote to it.
Here's a photo of me and Heidi Swapp.