Scrapbook Update

Here is the layout I was working on when the chair broke. It is the first in a serious of layouts about our winter vacation in 2005-2006 to a ski resort. This is sort of an intro page and a pocket page to stash all the cute brochures and stuff from the trip. Next will be a ski layout, a layout about our cabin, and a layout about the reindeer we met that live there. It is pretty simple and uses some Chatterbox paper I had been hoarding (I am using chatterbox all the way through these trip pages), some brads, and some round tags. I am also going to use the detail where the paper is split and folded back on all the trip pages to unify them. Pretty simple page. The trickiest part was printing the journalling right on the page. My 12x12 printer is notorious for barfing ink all over the place (something to do with the time Greg dropped it on the ground!) so it is nerve racking to run a piece of cardstock through when you don't know if it will come out nicely or covered in extra ink. This one worked out great with only one smudge!

Ouch!

A funny thing happened to me this weekend. I was scrapbooking away and got up to get a drink. I went to sit back down and the stinking chair broke in half! I found myself on the floor laughing and crying at the same time. It's a little humiliating to break a chair and considering I only fell about 2 feet I still banged my butt and elbow pretty hard. But at the same time it was far to comical not to laugh so I of course had to grab my camera and take a photo.

The saddest part of this story is that this is the SECOND chair that I have broken by sitting in it! Apparently I need to exercise my big butt a little more! In my butt's defense these brown chairs were chairs we found on the curb in the neighborhood. They were being tossed out so we grabbed them and I recovered the seats. So they were pretty old and a little wobbly to start with....Just so you know!

Good Eats

We had what may have been our last homemade pizza of the season last weekend. If you read this blog you may have guessed we like to eat homemade pizza since I talk about it here all the time. I make it almost once a week and we love it. The weather has taken a turn for the better and we have had 70+ temps for the last 4 days which means that my baking days are numbered. The temps are supposed to drop back down but probably not low enough to keep using the oven. Good-by home baked pizza, we will miss you!

On a happy note we have a new favorite. Greg has been perfecting a simple carmel corn recipe and it is pretty darn good. I knew there was a reason I keep him around! It is made with a little Earth Balance Margarine, some cane sugar, a squirt of agave to prevent burning heated on the stove and then drizzled over popcorn made in the microwave popper. The best thing about this dish is that it is really light on the carmel so you get just a hint of sweet with a bit of salty. Plus it can be made without an oven so we can enjoy this all summer. If he ever writes down the recipe I will share it with you but right now he just eyeballs it.

Just a couple good things that come out of our kitchen!

The sign of the times

My latest project involves admitting that the digital age it here. My new favorite thing to do while I scrapbook is to watch DVDs on the computer which sits next to my scrap table. Unfortunately some of my favorite scrapbooking movies I only have on VHS (like Working Girl). I was on Amazon.com the other day ordering a DVD for Greg when I decided it was time to make the switch. I ordered DVD versions of all my favorite VHS movies. Well, all my VHS movies were my favorite so I ended up ordering a lot of DVDs! I also took the opportunity to get some other movies I always wanted to have copies of. The video cabinet which was filled to the gills suddenly has lots of extra room now that it is stocked with slim DVD cases.
We sent most of the VHS to work with Greg. They have VCRs in the patient rooms in the clinic and were really excited for some new movies (the nurses watch videos when things are slow, shhhh). Now, I am the first to admit that my video collection is 99% chick flicks and 85% from the 1980s and 100% movies I have seen 10+ times. When I scrapbook I can only play movies I have seen 100x because otherwise I will become distracted and actually watch the movie instead of scrapping. If I have seen it a 100x I can just listen and glance occasionally and still know what is going on. It is a system that has worked for me for years now.

Scrapbook Update

The rain has stopped. I think it is over and I hope that as the storm moves on it brings some real spring weather in behind it.

Over the weekend I had an opportunity to go to Michael's with Peh and Alice and pick up some craft stuff. One thing I found was a box of printed notecards for making cards. So I took the opportunity to whip up these bad boys using the printed cards and some rub-on expressions and lots of embellishments I had laying around. Fun, quick and easy!

The real reason I went to Michaels was to pick up some foam sheets. You know that ones for kids craft projects. I took the foam sheets and cut them into 1 inch strips (the sheets were 12x17 and my strips are 1x12) and punched holes in them and made them into album spacers. These spacers can cost $2 a pair at the scrapbook store. I probably made 40 for under $2. Plus I bought black foam to go with my black albums. I would highly recommend this if you have large stuffed albums and need some spacers to fill up the binding area. My albums came with 4 cardboard spacers for free but I think the foam are much nicer. I also made a huge amount of 8" ones for my mini books too. You can buy extender posts at the hardware store for a lot less than at the scrapbook store too in case you didn't know.

Rain Rain Go Away!

We are having a Nor'easter right now. It started on Sunday and so far has dumped 7 inches of rain on us. There is mass flooding all over the place. Today the rain has slowed a bit which is nice but they said on the news it was because we are in the middle of the storm and it is the head and tail that dump the most rain so we should expect more. This is a photo of our backyard right now. We have never had this much rain at once. The paths are completely filled with water (they are at least 6 inches deep). The water has receded a bit because yesterday the water covered the cement paths as well. I decided to work from home today so I could stay dry. Hopefully it will be over by tomorrow's commute!

Questions Questions Questions

Ok, I searched through comments looking for questions that have been asked. Here is what I found and my answers:

You like the Cure? Did I ever know that?-Peh
Probably not. I was a much bigger fan in high school and college since my best friend was a huge Cure fan. Greg and I still pull out their albums on a regular basis.

Do you have fake nails, yet? Can they do a French manicure of half chewed nails, like mine? Could you ask Eric is there is something good for hair and nails?-Mom
Fake nails are too high maintenance for me. Mine are all real baby. They can paint a French manicure on almost anything. They do it on toes all the time now and they are pretty short. The nails not the toes. When you come out next I think it is time to initiate you into the world of nail pampering!

As for supplements, Eric once suggested one to me but I can’t remember what it was. A friend of mine suggests Evening Primrose Oil, 400mg Magnesium daily, and a vitamin B complex. She has had good success with that but reminds you that a typical hair cycle is 2-3 months so it takes a while to see a difference.

The dorm I lived in my freshman year in Pullman, Davis Hall, had silverfish. They never went anywhere but the floor there. Do yours travel up onto the desk?-mom
For the most part my silverfish stay on the floor. Twice they climbed on my desk but one of those times I was vacuuming up their friends so it may have been a moment of distress (in the silverfish’s defense). I sucked it up with the vacuum. Bwaaahhaaaahaaaa.

Yum! Post your yummy ricotta filling sometime. -mom
See post here. It really is da bomb as far as fake cheese goes.

Where did you get the cute advent calendar?-mom
I inherited it when I said “I do”. It was Greg’s as a child made by his talented Aunt Linda.

Speaking of chocolate... do you know about max brenner restaurant where they serve chocolate pizza? –Alice
They put one of those restaurants in at 14th street right near my work. We may need to go check it out!

Since there weren’t a lot of questions once I went back and looked, I thought I would add a few here from an on-line quiz I found:

What’s your name spelt backwards?
Knahskiurc (and spelt is a grain!)

What did you do last night?
Made homemade pizza, watched LOST and worked on my laptop on grant management stuff. Did some dishes and went to bed.

The last thing you downloaded onto your computer?
I am taking a digital scrapbooking class online through Big Picture Scrapbooking. While I haven’t had time to do the assignments yet I did download the class materials today.

Have you ever licked a 9 volt battery?
What? Yuck!

Last time you swam in a pool?
On our Anniversary last summer the hotel we stayed at had a shorty pool and we went for a dip. “Hanging” in the pool isn’t as cool when you are an adult.

What are you wearing?
Wide-leg jeans, a black long cami, and a super cute brown jacket I picked up at H&M last time I was there. Oh and copper colored ballet flats. There is a big meeting today at work so I had to dress up a little.

How many cars have you owned?
I personally have only owned 1 car and that is my current Toyota Tercel. My parents were kind enough to buy me a Chevy Celebrity (Eduardo the Quick), a Chevy Nova (Super Nova), and let me borrow a Mazda B-2000 truck. If you could drive that truck you could manage any clutch in the world! All have great memories. I should scrapbook them someday.

Type of music you dislike most?
Well Greg redefines this for me regularly by bringing home lots of new stuff for me to hate. Right now it is Calypso.

Are you registered to vote?
Of course. For a while it turned out I was registered in 2 states at the same time. I am sure that is some kind of federal offense.

Do you have cable?
Nope, though TiVo makes me want to change my ways. We purposefully don’t buy it for self-preservation. If I had cable I would lose my job because I would never go to work.

What kind of computer do you use?
Is this some kind of secret marketing survey? I have a Dell desktop and my new work Thinkpad Laptop.

Ever made a prank phone call?
When I was younger my friend Ida and I would call a number and then I would make baby noises into the phone and she would get on and pretend to be the mom and apologize that her baby had called them by mistake. So ridiculous on so many levels but we thought it was hilarious!

You like anyone right now?
Ok, apparently this survey is for junior high school students. Yes, my husband!

Furthest place you ever traveled?
France or Spain. If I was not a total loser when it comes to Geography I would know which one was farther away!

Shower, morning or night?
Of course it depends on the hair. Short hair requires morning showers to prevent bed head. One nice thing about my long hair is I can sleep on it wet and it stays down. So right now it is night showers.

Favorite pizza toppings?
Black Olives and Follow Your Heart Vegan Cheese. YUM!

Chips or popcorn?
Candy!

What cell phone provider do you have?
Why does this matter? T-Mobil

Orange Juice or apple?
At home it’s always orange juice because it is calcium fortified! At church during coffee hour they have both kinds of juice and I always choose apple. Hmmm?

Who were the last people you sat at lunch with?
Huh? Junior High question again. I usually eat lunch at my desk while I work. No time for breaks.

favorite chocolate bar?
Riter Sport Dark Chocolate with Marzipan filling.

Have you ever won a trophy?
I have never “won” a trophy because that would suggest I was good at some kind of sporting event and I am not. I was given a trophy in bowling as a kid. I was in the Popsicle league. We got a Popsicle after every game. Of course we were really jealous of the kids in the pizza league!

Ever ordered from an infomercial?
Unfortunately many times. I have tried and returned many products in my lifetime but I am a bit less of a sucker now a days.

Sprite or 7-UP?
Water

Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school/work?
I did have to wear a uniform when I worked at Camelot at the mall. I really hideous shirt and khaki pants. At the hospital I wore scrubs.

Ever thrown up in public?
Yep and as an adult even. I had terrible food poisoning (raw cookie dough) and it hit me on the train. I got off the train and puked into my lunch sack. Then I caught a train going back toward my house and Greg met me at the station (it was 5am) and walked me home since we had no car. I threw up about every block into the gutter. I lived 12 blocks from the train so that is a lot of puking in public. I refused to take a cab because I didn’t want to throw up in the cab. I got home just in time for the puking to stop and the diarrhea to start. Fun memories! Only in NYC!

Where would you like to go right now?
Home

What kind of back pack do you have, and what's in it?
Ok, this is definitely for kids in Junior High!

Thanks for playing!

Scrapbook Update #2

Many years ago I my family had a dog named Mitzi. When she died in 1999 I made a memory book of her for my sister. I also made one for myself but never finished it. Most the photos had been glued to pages but I never did any journalling. Well I recently decided to re-do the album during my album changeover project (making them all black). I wanted to re-make the Mitzi album in my favorite 8x8 size using a line of dog products by KI Memories that was adorable. I offered to make one for Rachel too for her new dog Misha but she said she already had a dog album. I was able to finish the whole thing over the weekend. It is only 10 layouts which made it pretty quick. Plus the coordinated products made it easy. I didn't have many photos of Mitzi but I had lots of memories to record.

Scrapbook Update

I had a really hard time getting online over the weekend and over the last part of last week. I have been really chugging along at work with no time to post lately and when I try at home the wireless is not available.

Anyway, this weekend because of the Easter Holiday I had no BSF meeting which meant that Saturday (and part of Sunday) was scrapbook day. I managed to finish a couple layouts below and one medium sized project which I will show tomorrow.

This first layout is from Valentine's day 05. There are lots of fun embellishments on this page. Foam letters, chipboard hearts, a flower brad, leather flowers, and some giant brads I recently picked up.

Next is a layout about craft club highlighting the project we made and everyone working. I used my own handwriting on this layout and for once didn't hate it. Some little ribbons and a bunch of flowers. The background paper was a mocha color even though it looks grey in this photo.

Both of these layouts went pretty quick because of my sketches I did in advance but in both there were some mis-calculations that I had to overcome. On the valentine's layout I had miss added the photo sizes and had to swap some stuff around to fill the space. The craft club layout was supposed to have a photo of me on the left but then I realized I didn't have a photo of me so I had to improvise with a photo of the project. I am still loving the sketches and preplanning I did.

For Tomorrow...

One thing I am really bad at is replying to the comments you readers leave. SORRY! To make it up to you tomorrow or Thursday I am going to dig through the archive and answer some of your questions. If there is anything you want to know, leave me a comment today!

Spa Review

My trip to the spa ended up being very nice. I started out with a facial, my first ever. The facialist was really nice. Upon inspection she determined that my skin was VERY dry (which I already knew) so after a deep cleaning and mild exfoliation I got about 15 minutes of steam and a hydrating mask. During the steam bath I received a hand and arm massage and treatment of the skin on my neck and chest. The steam opened my pours nicely for "extractions". That is such a nice way of saying they pop your zits and squeeze blackheads. Luckily I don't have very many of either (remember my skin is dry and flaky instead!) so it was relatively painless and quick. She made some product suggestions which I turned down. I don't need a $60 pot of moisturizer. The stuff I have works fine, I just don't use it very liberally. Overall I enjoyed the facial a great deal and my skin felt great when it was over.

Next I moved onto a hot stone massage. The therapist asked me if I wanted it to be relaxing or if I wanted her to work out any knots she found. I said work away! The stones were hot but not too much so. Plus they use them mainly on the back of the body which I find much less sensitive to hot and cold (at least in the shower). It felt really nice to have her work on my back. That is until she found my shoulders. I carry most of my tension in my neck and shoulders. The minute she touched them she made a comment about how knotted up and tense they were. She worked them really hard (with the stone!) to get the knots out. It hurts but I knew it would. Then it was on to my arms and legs. The hand massage was FANTASTIC. Greg! learn how to give a hand massage! Then I flipped over and she worked for a while on my neck. She asked me if I get a lot of headaches (yes) and told me it was because I have no mobility in my neck. I already knew this as well as my turning radius has decreased over the last few months. After all the neck work I am happy to report I can turn my head 360 degrees around. Just kidding, but I am back to normal. Now I just need to remember to stretch it regularly. Lastly I got a 15 minute foot massage. I can't tell you how happy I was that I had gotten that pedicure since she sat with my feet practically at eye level and worked them for so long. No dead skin and mangle toe nails there! It felt really good when it was over but it always hurts to have my non-existent arches rubbed a lot. After it was over she told me to take my time getting up. I could have taken a 3 hour nap at that point on the table I was so loose and relaxed. But I got up and hit the showers to clean off all the oils, especially in my hair from the scalp massage.

Not something I can afford to do regularly but it was fun to be pampered for an afternoon. To keep the momentum going I am getting my hair trimmed and my roots done tomorrow. I will be ready for summer in no time!