Win some awesome blog candy!!

Brenda at Rose Blossom Legacies is giving away a fab box of goodies just for the sake of it!

 

• Cosmo Cricket Jack's World - sticker sheet, 2 journaling sheets, 2 journal tags, and 9 pieces of matching printed paper  
• CTMH Clover Meadow - 12 sheets  
• Fancy Pants Mixed Media 8x8 album  
• Rolodex for altering  
• Inkadinkado School stamp set  
• Me & My Big Ideas Smile chipboard sticker  
• Colorbok Cute chipboard letters  
• Creative Imaginations school rub-ons  
• K & Company Rough and Tumble grand adhesions  
• Slick Writer pen  
• Primary colored safety pins
• CTMH chipboard - swirls, brackets, square frames, round frames
• 4 yards red ribbon
• Bag of diecuts from the Slice Fall/Back to School card
• Big bag of brads, eyelets (couple hundred or so various colors and sizes), bookplates, and buttons

Michelle at Michelle's Scrapbooking and More, is giving away a paper pad and punch of choice, a stamp and 3 Copic markers!  Nice!

Patty, over at Scrapbook Patty, is giving away a box full of yumminess!

Win a fabulous crafting workspace!!

 For a few days, you have a chance to win this Limited Edition Workbox!  You can see it and other Scrapboxes at "The Original Scrapbox" website.

Visit Obsessed with Scrapbooking for more info!

Meet Me on Monday

1. Do you watch any Soap Operas?
Thankfully, no.  I caught onto one a bit years ago because my best friend was hooked but I never really got into it and any interest waned in a month or three.  Actually, the only thing I watch regularly right now is "Royal Pains."

2. What appliance is used the most in your house?
Washer/Dryer and microwave.  There's at least one load every other day and three on Wednesdays.  The nuker is a daily tool, which is bad considering it died Friday and we haven't yet gotten out to replace it!  (Nope, that's not my washer and nope, I don't use affresh.)

3. Do you wear make-up every day?
Generally, no.  That's a joy of being an unemployed SAHM- I no longer have to wear makeup everyday.  There are some days when I just want to feel a little more pulled together or less "bland" but since I spend an hour or two at the pool or on the lake beach almost every day trying to wear the boy out for nap time, the last thing I want is makeup on while I'm sweating in the sun.  Most of the rest of the time, still no.  I've never been much into makeup and have never "outgrown" that.  :)

4. What is your worst pet-peeve?
People who are rude.  More importantly, people who are rude, know it, and revel in it.  Case in point, driving home this evening from the Sussex County Fair.  The road was backed up for miles, mostly because it was one lane.  Occasionally it would open to two and then drop back to one.  The number of #&@*$ who get out of line in the lane being merged into, get into the lane going away so they can get 10 cars ahead and then merge back in astounded me.  Excuse me you frickin' #(%&@!!!!  You're a large part of the reason we're backed up.  If everyone would merge when they can rather than forcing in at the last minute and making everyone else slam brakes, we wouldn't be here!  So many New Jerseyians seem to roll around in the bad rep the state has for being rude- it's like it gives them an excuse and they want it.  I just hate it when people think/act they're more entitled than the rest of us!  Grrrr!  I guess you can tell after this little soapbox that I REALLY dislike intentionally rude people!

5. What is your favorite lunch meat?
Hard salami.

Finally, new cards, pages and stuff

I'm finally getting around to posting some cards, pages and other stuff I've finally made!

A "magic card."  The image is b/w when you look at the card but colored when you pull it out by the tab.  This will be dad's bday card this year.

A bday card I banged out this morning for a 3rd birthday party we went to this afternoon. 

Another bday card for another 3rd bday.

Alphabet/Shapes/Numbers cards I made for The Boy.  While he knows his alphabet, I wanted to work on words that start with the letters.

A layout of pix from our recent trip to Six Flags.  I have to do the journalling but it can wait.

Scrappily Ever After's Brainteaser at Noon

This week's puzzle is a rebus:  (don't scroll down unless you want the answer!)
Can you figure out what this means?
ME1111ONEONE













Someone's following me.  Cute!  :)

Meet Me on Monday

1. What is your favorite holiday?
It's a bit strange.  While I'm not a religious person, I love Christmas- the baking, the presents for everyone, the general good feel that's around, the decorations, the cold air, all of it!  However, I also have a Halloween addiction.  When I look at scrapping supplies, I always end up drooling over the Halloween papers and accessories.  Personally though, I've never REALLY been trick-or-treating (the mall doesn't count) which has always made me a bit sad.  ToT for my son is a big priority for me- I don't want him to miss it.

2. What color clothing do you wear the most?
There's not one color.  Sorry.  I've got a rainbow wardrobe.

3. What is your heritage?
I'm a bit of a mutt on one side- English, German, French, etc. but I could apparently be a Daughter of the American Revolution on the other.

4. What is your middle name?
Linn.  My parents are all about history so I was named Jennifer Linn after opera singer Jenny Lind.  Too bad I didn't get a whit of that talent.  Oh well, if I'd been a boy, I would have been teased mercilessly for my association with a furniture store: Ethan Allen.

5. What is your favorite cookie?
Oh yeah.  Like there's one.  PLEASE!  Really, as long as it's not a chocolate chip cookie, it's probably a fav.  Today, I'd say lemon bars are high.  Tomorrow, there's snickerdoodles, peanut butter, chocolate peppermints, and and and.

Meet Me on Monday

A bit late in the evening but it's still Monday!

1. What one food could you eat every single day?
Red raspberries.  I could roll in them.  I could sleep in them.  Mix them with sour cherries and you have a religious experience of a pie.


2. Do you wear glasses or contacts?
Yep. 

3. What kind of cell phone do you have?
A sad, bad, old thing that should have been retired earlier this year.  However, as much as I'd LOVE to have an iPhone, it doesn't make sense and the data charges are nutty.  Instead, I kept my 2yr old phone and got a $100/15hr credit on it.  5mos later, and I still have 6hrs left on it.  Definitely a sensible, though boring, investment.

4. What did you have for dinner last night?
We went to a friend's house for a picnic.  They had yummy pulled pork, smoked chicken, salads and a mango-black bean salsa that yes, again, I could have rolled in. 

5. What is your favorite candy?
There's not just one.  Peppermint patties, Reese's PB cups (NOT dark!), Cathedral windows, 5th Avenue, and and and.



---------------------------------------------------------------

Halloween 2010?

The Boy went to an "Alien Party" at the library today.  Unfortunately, he didn't do too well at it but the costume came out kinda cute.  The UFO is just a kid's floatie/inner tube covered with super-shiny duct tape that I found at Michaels and some colored electrical tape, punched out in various shapes and sizes.  I would have loved to have him in all plain-green clothes but maybe for Halloween... saying of course he's willing to wear the UFO for more than 12 seconds at a time!

Meet Me on Monday

1. What is your favorite sandwich?
Tough one.  Egg salad?  A good chicken salad?  A killer burger? 

2. What is stashed under your bed/mattress?
Books that have been shoved aside in favor of others.

3. What is your favorite flower?
Honeysuckle- LOVE that smell!

4. What is your favorite magazine?
Food Network

5. How often do you weigh yourself?
Daily

3rd Birthday Robotz, pt. 2

You may remember I recently did some bday invites that I wasn't wild about:

Well, I'm happy to say that I'm quite a bit happier with the thank yous.  Yea!

I again used the CPS Card Sketch, 175 in this case.  I kept this card simpler, particularly the robot, due to time constraints, and I like it a lot more.  I'm not sure it's TOTALLY "clean and simple" with the background, but I'm also going to enter this in the Card Style Clean and Graphic Challenge over at Moxie Fab.  You should go have a look!  Honestly, it's late and that's about all there is to tell so I'll leave it at that.  :)

Meet Me on Monday

1. What do your normally eat for breakfast?
Whatever I'm feeding the munchkin typically- cereal, waffle, bagel, the occasional homemade pancake, oatmeal, PopTart...

2. What kind of car do you drive?
An orphan. A Saturn VUE.

3. Have you ever met a famous person(s)?
Briefly spoke with Mike Farrell and was hugged by the Orioles mascot.

4. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Depends on the day but too many Ben & Jerry and PSU Creamery flavors to name (or even remember).  Of course, B&J and PSU Creamery are sort of the same thing (look up B&J's history if you're scratching your head.)

5. Which TV Channel do you watch the most?

Upcoming giveaways

At A Bittersweet Existence

•  Victorinox Santoku Knife:  If you're not familiar with the name, Victorinox= Swiss army knives.  Need I really say more??  There's a new line of ceramic blades out there and they look FAB!
• LeCreuset Casserole: This one I'm telling you about but I'd really prefer you didn't enter because I REALLY want it!  :)  I love LeCreuset!  I have their square lidded baker and LOVE it... and it desperately needs a companion!

At Chubby Cheeks Thinks

• Skoy Cloths: Reusable, washable cloths to replace our dependence on the paper towel (whoo hoo! Less in the landfill... and a little sexier than the rags of tshirts we use at our house!)
• Patriotic Pillow Pet: You've probably seen them at the mall- great pillows/stuffed toys for kids!
• Arm.ID.illo bandz: Brilliant idea- a kid's "bracelet" with interchangeable numbers so you can change the contact number as necessary- great for when you take the kiddies to the amusement park, malls, etc.

• Simple Green Cleaning Supplies:  7 green cleaning products from Simple Green. 

• Socktopus: An adorable sock-octopus (think sock monkey) from Be Green Canada.  You've GOT to see this one:

Fingerprints on the Fridge

• Bella Michele: Gorgeous handstamped jewelry.  One day I'm gonna win me some of 'dis!!

Momma Told Me

• Cherry Blossoms: Great bag/purse inserts that add LOTS of great organization spaces and pockets.

• Right on the Walls: Vinyl wall art- so much potential to easily change the look of a room

Bday card for MIL

Trying to stay ahead of the game at least by a week or so, I just finished my MIL's bday card.  I used CPS-Card Sketches' sketch 174 for it.

I'd love to get a better crop but the problem with upgrading a computer is sometimes, older software like Photoshop 5.0 won't work with it.  *sob!*  It's a bit hard to see but the pink paper is covered with vellum and the stamping in on the vellum to give a bit of depth.  The 3d flower actually has 3 layers, a dk. pink on directly on the card, the light pink attached directly to it but curled a bit, and another dk. pink curled, offset and pop-dotted.

I used
Paper: pink & white, Certainly Celery, Regal Rose (SU), Vellum,
Stamps: Delight in Life, Wonderful Words (SU)
Ink: Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Craft White (SU)
Other: SU punch, White gel pen, PopDots, Vellum tape

Big CHA Sale at A Crafty Little Place/Die Cuts r Us

Check it out!  The Getting Ready for CHA sale where all items included in the sale are 40-50% off through Monday, July 12th.  Buttons, Thickers, Spellbinders, pens, stamps, and more!

It's Getting Hot in Herre!

Ok.  Truth be told, I really hate that song by Nellie but since I also hate hot weather, these days, it seems SO appropriate.  Last week, I didn't take the Boy to the pool because it was too cool for it.  We stuck to the lake/beach and he played on the jungle gym.  Tomorrow, we were going to go check out Land of Make Believe and hope the water park area was enough to combat the 100 degree temps (at 10:30 this morning, my car thermometer registered 100, at 5:10 this afternoon, 104.  YUCK!).  However, since the ozone index is in the middle shade, a warning of unhealthy atmosphere, we're going to put it off a day, hide in the local pool and try again on later in the week when being on a few rides and in and out of the water won't be SO oppressive in the balmy 91 they're calling for.

Recently, this is me:

Meet Me On Monday!

 1. What is your favorite Fast Food Restaurant?
Hate to say it but it's GOT to be McDonalds- LOVE their fries and Filet-o-Fish sandwiches.  Their Mushroom Swiss Angus burgers aren't bad either!  Most importantly, I've recently discovered the joy (and some trepidation) at letting the boy run loose in one of their play areas at a local restaurant.  He generally naps afterwards.  How can I NOT love that?!  A close 2nd would be Taco Bell though I have to be in the mood for it.

2. If given a complete freedom to start afresh, what profession would you choose and why?
I'd love to get back where I intended to be: Technical Director for a computer animation company (Pixar (now part of Disney) would be my #1 choice.)  I always considered being a party planner but I don't want to give up evenings, weekend, holidays and summers. 

3. Do you prefer your toilet paper to come over the roll or under the roll?
Under.  Definitely.

4. What was your favorite tv show as a child?
Not sure I remember but I know the Sunday night Disney movie was a fav and I always watched Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.
5. What is your favorite Summer drink?
Cold, light wines, froo-froo drinks (pina coladas, mudslides, grasshoppers), lemonade... so many possibilities.

My first blogger awards!

Many thanks to Kim at "Chubby Cheeks Thinks!"  I really appreciate it... and the kick in the pants to post something new!  :)

First, she gave me a Sunshine Award!  I really like that one- I wasn't having a particularly sunny day until now.

She also gave me a Versatile Blogger Award.

As part of accepting this award, the winner must first thank the person they received it from, so again, thank you so much Kim!  Next I must share seven things about myself, so...

1. I frequently say I have "crafters' ADD" because while I sew a bit, scrap, make cards, beaded jewelry, and Christmas ornaments of various types, I recently started making Scrabble tile jewelry, and have materials to do Temari balls, Fimo projects, and have lots of bells, silk flowers, glass bits, etc. etc. etc.  A nickname for the office/craft room is the craft warehouse for this reason:

That's just the odds and ends- it doesn't include the wall full of stamping supplies.  One of these days I'll actually do something with all of that stuff.  :)  It's pretty much the supplies I've collected throughout my life.

2. When younger, I never wanted to have kids.  Later, I really didn't plan to have kids.  Later, I was mostly open to having kids but got pregnant much faster than I expected and had a hard time being pregnant mentally and emotionally- I call it pre-partum depression.  I love my boy to no end but one's enough.

3. I have a M.S. in computer animation and graphics.  I'll never use it.

4. My favorite 2 meals as a kid were tuna casserole and liver (still love them both.)  I hated chocolate chip cookies (still do.)

5. I like Imagination Movers as much as my son does.

6. Peppermint may be my favorite flavor.

7. Honeysuckle and fresh cut grass may be my favorite smells.


Finally, as part of accepting the Versatile Blogger Award, I need to pass it onto 10 blogs and I'm passing it on to these 10 (in no particular order):

1. Holley's Hobbies
2. Mommy PR
3. Sweet Greens
4. Tip Junkie
5. Mod Podge Rocks
6. Frugal Creativity
7. Babes & Kids
8. Vanilla Joy
9. Momsense in NJ
10. A Crafty Little Place

3rd Birthday Robotz

Well, I finally did something with those Cricut Robotz I posted the other week. 

It's a bit hard to tell but I used a silver shimmer spray on the robot's background paper after I embossed it.  The Party line is also sponged with silver ink (the spray made the ink run and I just don't have the time to go back and spray first, stamp later.)  The "screw" in the bottom corner is stamped from Ageless Adornment and Crystal-effected.  I used the design from the Get Sketchy Challenge #42.

Truth be told, I'm not entirely thrilled with the card.  It came out a bit more bland than I'd pictured but I've simply run out of time since the invites should have gone out about 2wks ago.  Oh well.  I don't hate it, I'm just a bit underwhelmed by it.

Just for giggles, here are the robots:

Test post

Testing due to some Blogger issues over the weekend.

Recent Projects

I just thought I’d post a few photos of what I’ve been up to lately on the crafty side of life.

There’s the sand-toy project that is meeting with mediocre success. I thought painting with acrylics and putting on 2 layers of acrylic sealer would keep the paint on but both the paint AND the sealer are peeling off as you can see by the lack of "red fish lips”. The next tries will involve lightly sanding the bucket, applying a plastic primer (once I get some) and THEN painting and sealing the whole mess. I really liked what I had but it can be recreated (though have it peel apart does make me a bit more bitter about spilling the open bottle of red paint on my khaki capris and beige carpet… the carpet survived, the capris not so much even with ammonia, salt and detergent and then an EXTENSIVE oxi bath.  Bummer.)

Next, I’m essentially plastic-canvasing 30 Marylands for a Grange association near my parents. From what I understand, they’re going to be used as Christmas ornaments. These still need to be outlined, stitched with “MD”, and trimmed.  They wouldn’t be such a bloody pain but I ended up getting 14ct plastic “linen” with little round holes rather than the square ones on normal plastic canvas (I didn't realize that 14ct canvas was difficult to find in stores). Trying to get a needle with 6 strands of embroidery floss through the little holes gets tedious. Oh well. The work can easily be done in front of the TV or in the car so they’ll make for a bit of extra spending $ at CKC in July. I’m certainly not getting $ worth the time going into them but stitchery projects never do.

No pictures for this yet but I’m also working on a stack of cards of varying themes (sympathy to kid’s bday to Christmas) for a friend of mine. I give her a stack every year for HER birthday because she’s one of the few people I know who TRULY appreciates them. She frequently tells me through the year how much she liked sending a card to an uncle or someone who just lost someone or whatever and I appreciate that SHE

Of course, there’s also the invites/thank you’s I need to do for the Boy’s bday parties (yep, we’re having 2- one for his day playgroup friends and their moms, one for his weekly evening playgroup friends, their parents, appreciates them.
and our family. It’s maybe not the direction I wanted to go in but it’s SO much saner than the alternative!)

And then there’s the eternal pile of jewelry projects… fixing a friend’s broken necklaces, trying some new interchangeable beaded watch bands. glass marble necklaces, scrabble tile necklaces, Shrinky Dink anythings, a Stampin’ Up Simply Adorned piece I’d like to do for myself… and the list goes on.

Why I'm addicted to giveaways

I'd love to get off of the computer more but I've found that I have a wee bit of an addiction to entering giveaways. It's probably because I've won so much fantabulous stuff since July '09 when I discovered the joys of blogs and blog giveaways. I really don't enter every giveaway by any stretch- only those that I really know I'd use the prizes from but that still covers a lot of ground. I'm not going to mention everything I've won (there's been about 80 or so to date) but some of the highlights have been:

From MommyPR: I LOVE these ladies and their site!!!

• Bonz Band: I wanted this for me as much as for my 2yr old! I've collected Bonz and other Zolo "blocks" for years now.
• Leapfrog Tag, Jr. I was on the verge of buying one so the win was awesome!
• A slew of Sleeping Bear Press books (K is for Kabuki, G is for Garden State, A New Jersey Alphabet, The Listeners, The Gift of the Inuksuk, and one of 2 St. Patrick's Day- related books)
• A Cafe Press Christmas ornament that I customized with my son's 2009 Santa picture
• Pressman Toys' Silly Socks game
• Rosebud Night Cream
• A sampler pack of Fields Organics cleaners
• Tropical Traditions non-chlorine bleach (we're just trying this since we've finished the latest tub of Oxi)
• Several kids' CDs (Joannie Leeds, Roger Day, Ranky Tanky, Princess Katie & Racer Steve)
• A Suite Ta Bu soap that looks like a popsicle
• A kid's Power Cape (can't WAIT to see the boy in this one!)

From Sweet Greens:

• A huge pack of Yogachips
• 3pcs from Andrew's Reclaimed Wood etsy shop (bee house, soap dish and a planter)
• A SODA STREAM (all caps because this is VERY cool and I LOVE it!)

From Babes & Kids:

• A GC towards Campus Quilts. We still put some $ into this one but we got back something VERY nice that my husband loves and the boy can't live without!)

From The Most Travelled Mom:

• A tiffin container that my husband thinks is just the coolest lunchbox he's seen
• A pair of Dockers

From Living Smart Girl:

• Yoga2Go.

From A Bittersweet Existence

• Snack Taxis. I'd been trying to win these for months so I was really psyched to finally win some!
• Space Bags (the nice, big cubes!)
• A really nice delta kite from Into the Wind (we took it out for an inaugural flight Saturday)

Other great things:

• Chubby Cheeks Thinks: Today I just found out that I won her "Dr. Hess Udder Ointment" giveaway which equals 4 tubes of awesome flavored lip balms, a "baby butt cream" and an ointment for soothing sore, dry skin... YEA!
• Holley's Hobbies: $25 for a Stampin' Up purchase
• Vanilla Joy: A Word World DVD
• Today's Giveaway: $25 GC for Goblin Kids
• Get Together Ideas: Personalized frog hooded towel
• Positively Perfect Party: Custom cupcake wrappers and picks

The biggest win was by far the biggest surprise. 8 blogs/bloggers (ExperimentalMommy.com, akblessingsabound.com, momstart.com, whatmommiesneed.com, shoppingmama.com, 3garnetsn2sapphires, astheygrowup.com, lifestarringellieandeve.com) got together to do a Back2School giveaway in the late summer/early fall. There were 2 giveaway "sets" a day for 2 weeks and I not only won a daily prize but I won the Grand Prize in the end which included a $400 GC for KidsCoats.com. I was thrilled because I received notice I'd won the Monday after I'd been laid off! Some of the other great stuff in the prize was a pair of See Kai Run shoes, a child-sized rolling suitcase (Stephen Joseph), a huge set of Carolina Pads, 2 Envirosax bags, a Happy Green Bee hoodie, a set of ruffle pants from Doodle & Goo, a very cool collapsible market tote from Suzi Homemaker, and more.

And the list goes on.  Winning these things has been great because most items are useful and some have been great samples to essentially test-drive an item.  For instance, I'd seen the SodaStream on TV and thought it looked interesting but I wasn't going to spend $100 on a soda machine I knew nothing about.  After using it for a while (and there is a nice cold glass of very low-cal root beer sitting by me now), we just got one for my parents.  And THAT is why I'm a bit addicted.  I have found the addiction is thankfully wearing off somewhat (it can be a bit time-consuming) but I definitely still keep my eyes open for giveaways and sites that look interesting.

Robotz Play

I really should be off to nappy-land but I'm enjoying the sound of the rain too much right now to cash it in so thought I'd post some samples I made today.  I recently got the Robotz Cricut cartridge for L's bday party invites/thank you's/etc. etc. and wanted to try some of it out.  I haven't gotten to the 3D ones yet but I did sample 5 of my favs today in 3" and 4" sizes.

I didn't realize how many small pieces there would be to put together on these, it's a bit of a nightmare actually, but I really do like the end results.  No idea yet what the cards or color schemes will look like but at least I know what I'm getting into with these little critters! 

Anywho.  Guess I really should call it a night.  Have a good one all!