First Snow & a Happy Turkey Day

In case the pretty photo didn't make you smile...a joke perhaps?

BAD Parrot

A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse  vocabulary.

Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity. John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to 'clean up' the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even more rude. John, in desperation, threw up his hand, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer.

For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed.
Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute. 

Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out
onto John's outstretched arms and said 

"I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. 

I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do

everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude.

As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior,
the bird spoke-up, very softly, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

Dia De Muertos at the Rockwell

No Halloweenie pages for me this year (yet!).   I did manage to fit in a cool Mexican holiday that is equally cool...well maybe more cool since they have sugar skulls.

I also managed to use up some scrap stash! Major holidays have their own bag of paper & embellishments in my stash & Halloween is no different. The only holiday with more stash is Valentine's Day, which is odd. You'd think it would be Christmas. (love me some hearts & doilies!)

My new fascination are sugar skulls. Lexi was invited to the Rockwell Museum with her Spanish class to make skulls. Since they were on display, they did not use real sugar, but white clay and paint.



































Lexi is standing in front of the sugar skull display. I have a close up of hers, but it is blurry...I hope it comes home soon too!

One of favorite part of this page was making some coffee filter flowers to match all the lovely ones they had above their display. Of course, the little skeleton that come in some Halloweenie stuff from Lizzy Hill peeking out of a die cut window is pretty awesomesauce...especially the red gem eyes!

Pretty happy on how this turned out! The color inspiration & splatters emerged as a result of the Tresors de Luxe mood board. They had a LOT of that pretty golden orange and yellow!

Hope you get a chance to play along!

Happy Hump Day!

Oh on those sugar skulls? I still want to make one.....I'm pinning and planning for next year!

Creating Quickly with a Kit or Power Scrappin'

I have been using Scraptastic Kits for nearly two years. Back when I lived in the North Country and the Local Scrapbook store had limited stuff, it was a way to keep things fresh. Now I live near three big craft stores and I still buy a kit.

Let me tell you why.

It's the best way for creating quickly.

In theory the person who is putting together a kit has an eye on what is fresh in the industry. They also have a good eye for things that go well together. They can buy things in bulk and even possibily offer things that are exclusive. Plus, they may send you things you'd never normally pair with something else and shazam! It looks awesome! Way to grow as a Scrapper!

I am here to admit that sometimes I'll power through an entire kit in almost one setting. I won't even have photos in mind, I'll just lay pages out with spots for one photo or a couple. This summer I did that several times sitting at a picnic table by a campfire. I'll add the photo, title, journaling, and embellishments later.

It has been a huge timesaver.

I have been hoarding the November Shake It Off Kit because I want to show my Sistah-In-Law who is coming to visit for Thanksgiving how easy to power scrap. Well, it hasn't been easy because I do want to rip into it. Lucky for her I've been messing around with decorating & Christmas stuff.

So, after we slice up some Turkey, we'll shake it all off with some lovely paper, chippies, and embellies.

Fun times await!.

Happy Tuesday!

My House & it's Split Personality

My house currently is on the brink of Christmas with Thanksgiving mixed in! Which means I still have the pumpkins out on the mantle in honor of our upcoming Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, but Christmas is sneaking in various places!

Take for instance by the kitchen sink....I have the little BINGO house I made for THE CUTTING CAFE on display. I finally settled on a milk glass antique plate hot glued on a upside down candlestick  to show off my house that is hanging out next to a past LESSology project.

On the black buffet that we painted with tractor paint just before we moved, I am showing off my little book page trees I made a while back, the altered strawberry glass shade lamp I redid, an altered clock, my Pratt Inc. wooden blocks, and a more recent addition....a revamped junkin' vase. This is all next door to my hutch...

Little sparkly trees, some vintage glass ornaments on a back drop of vintage silver platters. Those platters used to hang out on my big wall in the North Country. 

Now they stay completely dust free & mostly tarnish free in my china cabinet! Yes I need a family photo in that frame..I'd better get on that!

I added a few cookie cutters in various places, this one is my favorite!

The top of the hutch has a new junkin find & a lamp base tree that I made several years ago. Isn't that red case cool with the mirror in it?

Can you almost spy the mantle in the mirror....I'm getting over there...that is where most of the Thanksgiving stuff is...

That little vase right in the center filled with dried hydrangea from the bush outside also came from the second hand store. I sprayed it will a little vinegar & mirror paint so it would match the candlestick holder. In a previous life, it was a glass shade on a light fixture. Of course that clock was a restore from earlier this year....

That glass light fixture in the middle got the same treatment with the mirror paint & hydrangea.

Right by our dining room table, I have a Thanksgiving Cactus getting ready to really get crazy. I am hoping my Happy Thanksgiving Card from THE CUTTING CAFE inspires it! I have had that plant for years...came in one of those itty bitty pots....

And there you have it, Peeps! A little stroll through my house. There might be a corner or two I'm not showing you yet...a future blog post or two!

Happy Monday!

The Eighth Icicle for Linda's Funkie Junkie 12 Tag Challenge

I got inspired last night to create the eighth icicle for Linda's Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas. Linda's store The Funkie Junkie Boutique sponsors the tags. Wait until you see her stocking tag and you'll see why I was inspired!

I really really liked that brown polka dotted part of her stocking and all that texture! Did I mention I LOVED IT TO BITS! So much I used the new prima Color Bloom Antique gold all over my snowflake. For the record, it is shimmery but more brown in my book than gold. Made up for wanting some gold by edging the whole piece with gold liquid pearls.

Can you see my icicle has a lot of texture! And jingle bells too! Just like Linda's!

Quite the large pile now! Only four left to go!

No snow yet here in the Miami of New York State! So I'm still able to take these photos outside!

Happy Thursday!

The Seventh Icicle for Linda's Funkie Junkie 12 Tag Challenge

This is my seventh icicle for Linda's Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas. Linda's store The Funkie Junkie Boutique sponsors the tags. Her lovely tag this week was SUPER PRETTY!

The peachy copper tones inspired me along with the hints of gold! Loved the embossing as well and did attempt to emboss some fuzzy vintage holy leaves...yeah, disaster!

I used some chunky vintage gold glitter, vintage gold ornaments, and a vintage bow to capture the look I was going for. A Christmas scene with a guy walking home down a snow covered road is in the center in a bronze bottle cap.

I am starting to get quite the pile! I see she has released the 8th tag, I better get to work! I also am onto Plan B on where to display these...

Happy Hump Day!

Shine at CMOG Layout or where Lexi gets more birthday fun

Since we were celebrating Lexi's birthday week, her friend Cora came to visit us for an overnight. It happened to be when we moved, her friend also moved to a nearby town. How is THAT for convenient!

Loving the white background with the really bright colors. It's cheerful. Kinda how my oldest gets when we take her to the Corning Museum of Glass and she sits through a hot glass show. She is even happier if she can sit through five shows back to back. Reminds me when she was little watching a Disney movie. After it was over she would yell AGAIN! AGAIN! like only a toddler could.

She also has figured out that they have a pretty epic cafeteria with great mac and cheese.

I enjoy the museum myself because it's a cool place. The Tiffany window in the back of Lexi and Cora is one of my favorites.

I'm back again tomorrow with my Seventh Tag for the Funkie Junkie Boutique.

Happy Tuesday!

Happy Thanksgiving Card for THE CUTTING CAFE

Oh what fun, a Thanksgiving Card for my centerpiece!

Turkey Day is here this year. We are hosting my Sis-in-Law with her peeps and Dad Pratt. Don't be horrified, but I have supper ordered for pickup. I was told quite firmly by Dad Pratt & THE MAN that all that meal prep is unnecessary and pizza would even be fine. Turns out the local grocery has meals to go, so I'm all over less work! My sis-in-law wants to scrapbook, so leaves more time for paper cutting!

This Happy Thanksgiving Word Shape File Template over at THE CUTTING CAFE could be used as a title for a scrapbook layout or a triple layer card! Love how the brown layer accents the blue & spattered fold. I also added a vintage key to symbolize family as well as some little silk leaves, yellow twine, and inked up flowers.

One more photo of my card and a little more of the hills in the background. You can finally see them from our house on the hill as all the leaves are finally off the trees! They were lovely in early fall and beautiful now too!

Happy Monday!

ALL BOY layout for Another Freaking Scrappy

So, last month I made a very similar page for Lexi's Birthday. I have a confession. I screwed up and used the wrong sketch for Another Freaking Scrappy. It was for THIS month! That was one of those cases where I quickly did the right one shortly after (oooooppppps!).

See, here are the pages side by side so you can see they are similar although one is very feminine and the other is ALL BOY!

And below is the actual sketch. See how you can work it into whatever you want!

You can also put flowers on a layout for a boy and bows! ;-)

Of course my favorite part of this page is the journaling! I wrote up something very similar on a blog post I did for his birthday and used it here for a page. THANK YOU LIZZY HILL for telling me to use my blog post on Lexi's page and also inspiring me to use it here! ;-)

And one last photo so you can see how I pop dotted the All Boy title!

We'd really LOVE it if you'd play along with us at Another Freaking Scrappy! It's an awesome sketch! I've used it twice!

Vanilla Coffee, a Birthday Bow, and some Gaming

My Little Squirt in July 2008

The boy turns 12 today. Luke has already started celebrating his birthday week. In the case of his sister, it was more like birthday month, so no doubt he has quite a bit more spoiling to get out of the way.

Not that you'd maybe notice, but they both have birthdays on the 13 of the month. Just goes to show you how well I can stay on schedule. ;-)

He was off school Tuesday for Veteran's Day and THE MAN went down and got him a box of donuts and some vanilla coffee. Yes, he's a coffee drinker already. I'm hoping it will stunt his growth. He's taller than me, has bigger feet than me, and his pant inseam is the same as THE MAN's. The doc told me he will be taller than his Daddy. Keeping him in pants that fit him has been quite the adventure. I'd like for once the pants to actually WEAR OUT vs. just being too small.

On his day off he mostly played games on his computer and shot his new bow. Last weekend Tommy was down from the North County and THE MAN set up a target and helped them shoot. He and Tommy had a campfire with marshmallows, hotdogs, and ate their fish dinner watching the flames.
That night we had cheesecake. Tonight we will have pineapple upside down cake. Nothing like having more than one birthday celebration!

Have a good day at school, Squirt! Come home soon so I can make you a special dinner and we can eat cake! Oh and thanks for being a good kid. I haven't ever heard a cross word about you from your teachers. It's a pretty cool they think you rock. And I forgive you for always taking the last cup of coffee and those stretch marks.

The Bus Fiasco Layout

I'm still in school mode with my scrapping! It's about time. Normally I make back to school pages in short order after the first day of school photos. This time, I was way way way too mad! Guess it's time to get over it since we are almost two and a half months into it!

Here in NY for reasons I have never understood, we start school on a Thursday. Our new school was a merger of Corning East and Corning West, so they decided it would be easier to have the 6th graders come on Thursday and the 7th/8th graders on Friday.

They told us to use School Tool to check where the bus would be picking up our children and also what time.

Luke got on the bus exactly when they said it would arrive at our house.

Lexi the next day did not have a bus pick her up. Huge fiasco ensues because THE MAN had a doctor's appointment right when she needed to be dropped off at school. A crazy woman in a ball cap with wet hair managed to get here there only ten minutes late.

I called when I got home and was assured that we had the correct pick up time and the bus would pick them up on Monday.

On Monday, no bus again. Called again. Was assured again.

Tuesday, no bus. Called again.

Finally someone tells me to have them out for the bus a full HALF HOUR SOONER. We were missing the bus by a half hour! To heck with what they had published on School Tool!

So, you can see here I had to content myself with split photos since they did not ride the same bus on the same day. I also had to take one of Lexi getting OFF the bus since she missed actually riding one to school on the first day.

I guess the school went with what was best for them, not best for my scrapbook layout or photo needs! The nerve! ;-)

Things are all squared away now for the most part. I'm not big on the hour it takes for my kids to get home from a school that is ten minute away by car, but I hear they are working on it. We're all getting in the groove, including finally getting it scrapped!

Happy Hump Day!

Happy Veteran's Day & All Star Layout

First before I tell you about this page, just a quick shout out to our Veterans including our Uncle George! It's Veteran's Day here in the States AND my kids are enjoying a day off school. So I suppose it's fitting I do a page about school? There is logic here somewhere....

Love these school photos I got my hands on the other day. I honestly try to limit my packages to a really small amount because I take photos of my kids constantly.

I was pretty pleased how these turned out and decided to save them on a layout.

Here is a close up of those pretty photos! Love how the flowers really contrast against the dark in the photo!

Hope your Tuesday is fabulous where ever you are! Back tomorrow with another back to school page, this time with a story!

The Sixth Icicle for Linda's Funkie Junkie 12 Tag Challenge

This is my sixth icicle for Linda's Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas. Linda's store The Funkie Junkie Boutique sponsors the tags and she is also inspiration behind our creativity!

Linda created a very monocromatic tag with a very slight hint of color on the snowflake flower. She also used pearl snowflakes. I decided to go monocromatic myself but opted to go with the pearl color. I was doing great using JUST one color, when I added some pink & green sparkles to the key I used.

Next thing you know I was inking up some ribbon in pink and crinkling it!

They are all quite different, aren't they! I am working on a display idea now...

Happy Monday!

A Climbing Rose and Garden Shed

She's done! (And already full!)

We finally got our garden shed wrapped up! Good thing too, we needed the space! All the outdoor implements needed to move inside for the winter.

And look Lizzy Hill, I even bought a climbing rose to start making it look pretty! Will have to wait until spring for flowers though! The previous owners left us a smidge of trellis, so THE MAN attached it to the side for me. It will match the front of the house & a second climbing rose. I have planted the hostas back along the side of the shed here under the lilac, so hopefully come spring, it will be really cool!

Let me just tell you, this time of year left over plants are on serious sale! ;-)

Do you see my little P on the side of the shed? I have been hoarding that metal initial since this summer at my big ole junking trip to the Hudson Valley. So glad it's up where I can enjoy it! It's vintage and used to be something people installed in the middle of their metal screen doors..I'm thinking 50ties maybe?

The old shed that came with the place is also gone. We put it on Craig's List for free and next think you know, some dude was here with a trailer, a winch, and rolled off with it!

Happy Friday!

Altered Monogram Trick or Treat Box for LESSology

This wooden box came all plain jane from the second hand store. I believe it once held some kind of caliper and I rescued it from the tool section.

Let me get you a photo since I am pretty sure you are thinking it couldn't have been THAT plain....

Oh look! It's kinda grubby too! ;-) That is what happens when you get thrown in a toolbox...

Let me show you a few more photos of my rescue!

I really love the color I got on the edges and top. I used a hammered ivory spray paint as a base and then added some purple mist & gold paint on top.

Of course there was a doily involved at one point that got modge podged on and then some microbeads and glitter added in the wet glue...honest, both halves of the doily are there, you have to look realllllly close under my bling on the front!

I am not entirely sure I am done with the inside. I kinda want to build a little scene going vertical....

For now, the grubby painty look is making me happy, besides I am thinking about storing something yummy in this box on my desk...which is why of course it has my monogram on the front. I just want to make sure EVERYONE is very clear in this house who owns the candy!

I happened to have my Halloween scrapbooking stuff out and I figured when my box did not contain any chocolates, it would be a trick! ;-)

Talking about treats, it's always a pleasure to work some really fine quality items like these flowers and this butterfly from Renea Bouquets. 

Won't you come play along with us over at LESSology! Fun times await and glittery fingers!