Oh where do I start??

**This is not card related - but me and a little blah, blah, blah of what's been going on in my life**

I don't even know where I need to begin...  I can not say sorry enough for my lack of posting.  There has been so much of life that has been going on around here that I just have not posted.

Yes, I was sick for a while.  I could not begin to tell you what it was.  Just when I started to feel better it happened again.  Pretty much since February I was down and out.  Then I had to get cards together for a shoebox swap that I joined in on.  This time there was only a few of us, not the general 18 that we normally have so that was nice.

With the earthquake that took place in Japan recently as you all know it has also had an effect on us here in the states.  My husband works at the Toyota plant and they have had an altered work schedule because of parts.  So for the whole month of May he has only been working 3 day weeks.  I'm sure that most of you can understand that when your used to working 5 day weeks and used to getting over time that is a big blow to the wallet.  I've been having to do some "creative accounting" with our checkbook.

There was Mother's Day.  It was a beautiful day here as far as the weather goes.  We took a trip to the park in town.  Danielle had to work in the evening, but we spent time together in the morning. I'll have to take a picture of the card that I made for Mom.

Then I had Danielle's birthday.  For years I tried to get her to have a party and invite all of her friends and she did not want to.  Out of the blue this year she decides that she wants a party and it had to be zebra themed.  She did pretty much put the party on for herself as far as searching the internet for anything zebra.

I did make her cake - although it was not how I planned it.  I used fondant which I've never used before.  It did not turn out too bad, but it was not how I planned it.  Being the card maker in the family I had a brilliant thought.  I thought that after I rolled out the fondant I could take my cuttlebug embossing folder and press it into the fondant to make the zebra pattern then it would be a snap to decorate.  Well yes, it did work.  But by the time I got the fondant on the cake from touching it I kind of worked the pattern out.  So needless to say she got pink and black flowers instead of a zebra pattern on the cake.  She still liked it so I was happy! 

This is Danielle and her boyfriend, Tyler.  They did have a little "break" this past winter for a bit - but they've been together for almost 2 years now.  Don't they make a cute couple?

And the posse.  Danielle (and I) are very lucky that she has a wonderful set of friends that have their heads on right.  I just love them!

And last but not least ~ we are a one car family, and yes... the car died. 

So as you can see that's why I've not been around for a while.  Just life happening around me, us, my family.  I will be back.  For a while I had not wanted to step foot into the craft room - but now I feel the urge to create so I DO PROMISE that I will be back in the next week or so.  Promise, promise.  And if you'd like to take a peek over at my Stampin' Up! blog I have posted the latest specials that Stampin' Up! has to offer.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Let me explain...

I can not say how sorry I am for being such a terrible blogger lately.  My last post on February 7th I mentioned that I went to the doctor, well it was more like the E.R. ~ and I did get some medicine.  At that time I was told I had a "virus".  Well in cleaning out my purse the other day looking for something I happened upon the papers that they gave me at check out.  I didn't even look at them, terrible of me.  I'm normally on top of things like that.  The paper work had said that I had an Upper Respitory Infection.  I've really not had a voice for over a month (and those of you who know me personally, I know that your giggling about that right now) this awful cough and my throat hurts I guess from trying to talk and coughing.

Sunday I woke up and my breathing was pretty bad, to the point that I was scared.  You see, I don't have insurance and I don't have a family doctor.  My Mother did get me an appointment with her doctor but that was not until Monday afternoon.  I woke Ricky up and off we went to the E.R. again. They gave me a breathing treatment and sent me home with some more prescriptions.  They want me to keep the appointment with Mom's doctor but to reschedule it for later in the week to give the drugs a while to work.

He did mention that I may need to see an Ear Nose and Throat Doctor.  I felt that it was headed in that direction, but what part of 'no insurance' did they not get.  So right now I am not allowed to talk at all and get plenty of rest.  That parts killing me, yes!!  I have a lot of ideas in my head right now that I want to get out on paper...  And of course the thought of the bills coming in is enough not to let me rest.  Thank goodness for the cough syrup with codeine! (he he he...)

But please know that I am still here - I am just not up to par right now.  But I hope to be back soon to show you lots and lots of paper crafts.  Just remember you can always look things up - I still have enough reading on my blog for the past couple of years to keep you entertained.  Thanks everyone for your patience Ü

Please understand...

I am just popping in here for a minute to let you all know that I am still alive and kicking, barely.  The end of last week I seem to of come down with a nasty bug of some sort.  Today I finally did go to the doctor and he gave me some medicine.  They said that I should be feeling better in the next couple of days.

I just wanted to post so you all knew that I was still here - just hanging on for now.  Once I'm back up I will post some new things for you to see.  Thank you everyone for sticking with me.

What I've been up to...

I've really been busy, really.  I've been preparing for a holiday bazaar that I commited to doing ~ So I've not been slacking off.  As a matter of fact, I have lots to show you - just not now.  The bazaar is this Saturday, and if you happen to be in the area stop in ~ I'd love to meet you!!

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE

Saturday, November 20

10am- 4pm

@ Grace Christian Church  1648 Lexington Rd  Georgetown, KY 40324

VENDORS, FOOD, & DOOR PRIZES!!!

OVER 25 vendors some of them including:

Between Friends

Sugar Mama’s Cupcakes

Tastefully Simple

31 Gifts

Celebrating Home

Lia Sophia

Scentsy Candles

Jewelry by the Spoonful

UpperCase Living

Tupperware

Savvy Stitiches

Creative Memories

Herbal Life

Pampered Chef

MANY, MANY MORE!

I will take a break this weekend and starting Monday I will be back with photos of the goodies that I've been making!  Have a super great weekend!

Some birthday goodies...

I know, you want to see some paper crafting and cards don't you?  But I just had to share with you the goodies that I got for my birthday.  Of course it was cuppy cake related Ü

Cute, cute cuppy cake stuff!

Look at the adorable mug that Betty gave me.  Isn't it special!?  I don't know to use it or just to look at it ~ it's so cute!  And she came to town early to take me to breakfast ~ how sweet was that!  Considering that she had to get up early to get ready and drive here.

All I could do was smile and say "I've never seen anything like this before".  I've made cuppy cakes for Danielle to take to school and hubby to take to work and you can never pack them up without mushing them together ~ so this is perfect!  It holds 3 layers of cuppy cakes, 24 total.  So I told hubby that I was going to make cup cakes for him to take to work, he said "great"...  Meaning "I really don't want to carry that into work".  he he he....

She bought it at Ginny's on line.  It's their cupcake carrier.  Oh, I just cant wait to use it! 

Then she bought me the decorator bags, tips and some cuppy cake papers too!  Not to mention some mixes, frostings and sprinkles.  Hey, maybe she wants me to make some cup cakes?

Kind of a funny story...  In our house the birthday person get's to pick out what they want for dinner that night, going out or staying in, a balloon and their cake.  Well, Mom made a blackberry pie last month and it was so good that I wanted that.  I like them kinda tart too ~ Ricky doesn't.  So he came home after work with this cake because he didn't want pie Ü and also....

This little guy.  It's 2 cup cakes covered with frosting to look like a puppy!  How cute is that?

Well, I'm done now.  Hope I didn't bore any of you with this post.  I just wanted to show off how lucky I am to have a wonderful family.  They really made this old girl feel special.  And thank you everyone who sent cards and sweet comments and emails ~ I find it harder every year getting older, but the love you all share is so kind that it puts a smile on my face.

Next week I promise to be back to normal with posting.  Really.  Have a super great weekend!

Ricky's pool table...

This is what I made for Ricky for his birthday.  Now he's a guy in every meaning of the word and well, he really does not care too much for all the boxes and things that I make.  He does not know why I get all worked up when something does not work out well ~ but when I saw this I had to make it.  I forgot where I got the idea from, but I will edit this post later to add that. 

I thought that I would make this box for him to hold the cards that I've made for different occasions over the years for him.  He used to be a pool player, so I knew that it would be ok. 

It's deep enough to hold quite a few cards, that's why I liked it!  I made the box out of Close to Cocoa and pretty much everything else was made out of scraps, how cool is that??

And before anyone says anything ~ I know that there are not 19 balls in pool.  The 19th was his birthday so that's why I put "19" on the ball...  Yes, a little goofey....

That's what I had for today ~ I will edit this later to let you know where I got the pattern from.

Have a super great day!!

EDITED TO ADD:

The blog where you can go to for these instructions is:  http://www.stampndesign.blogspot.com/ and trust me, you'll be blown away with Lynn's talent!

Where have I been? And happy Friday Ü

Hello everyone!  First I'd like to say that I am sorry for the lack of posting.  It's been a busy time here at our house.  With Danielle's graduation and Joyce being here.  Then earlier this week we went to Louisville and stopped in at Archiver's and another store that we were told about (thanks Anne!) called Dee's.  I so wish that we went there before Archiver's.  Oh, don't get me wrong ~ I love Archiver's, but it seemed that they really did not have all the great stuff that I remember in my last trips.  Maybe that means that I already have enough??  Ü

And this weekend brings Ricky's birthday and Father's day.  Joyce will be going home Tuesday too.  We will all miss her so much.  This time she was here with us almost 6 weeks and the time has flown by.  As it always does, as I'm told it will the older I get.  Anyway ~ I am here to say that I am so sorry and I will be back to regular posting probably next week.  BUT to keep you going I want to show you a little of what I've been doing in the craft room during some of our fun times...

Betty wanted me to figure out these boxes for our next get together so I figured it out and made one for her.  It's adorable, huh??

Here is an up close picture.  I've actually made a tutorial on how to make them ~ I'll post that in the next couple of days for you.

So once again, thanks for hanging in there with me.  I'll be back in the next few days and post the tutorial for you.  These really are very easy to make and they turn out so darn cute!

Have a super great day - and stay inside where it is cool.  Preferably at your craft table!

I'm sorry for the lack of posting, but...

I'm sorry for this past week, and the lack of posting.  I should be back to normal this coming week.  We had a health scare here this week and I've been busy with family.  It was scary to say the least, but we are all fine now ~ we just have to change our lifestyles and do things differently.  So please bear with me as I come back to posting regularly.

I also want to wish you all a safe Memorial Day. 

The original purpose of Memorial Day can get easily lost amid all the cookouts or, in these parts, trips to the beach for the unofficial start of the summer season. The origin of the holiday can get overlooked, too, since there have been so many wars since the one that led to the practice of commemorating those who died in service to the country.

Sorry about yesterday...

I'm really sorry about yesterday.  I had a doctor appointment in the morning and we decided to get a Subway lunch and go to the park.  It was a beautiful day!  It was Ricky, Mom, Dixie and I.  We ate lunch and walked around for a while.  I took pictures ~ whenever I go someplace I've got the camera in my hand, so let me share with you.

It was Dixie's first time at seeing a duck and goose up close.  She didn't know what to make of them, but they stayed away from her!  I still got to feed them though.  You don't have to be little to feed the ducks, I still enjoy it!

Mom did not walk around like we did, but she still enjoyed the day.  It was beautiful!!  It was a little warm but there was a slight breeze so it was pleasant.  I know that I'm going to be going back as much as I can til it gets too hot.

So I promise that I'll be back tomorrow with something to share.  It's getting close to Mother's day, do you have your cards ready?

Have a super great day!!

Flooded...

Remember I told you that Danielle was home from school because of the flooding?  Here is some pictures I took from our upstairs window.

These are the houses right across the street.  Good thing that our house is higher up on a slight hill than those. 

The water is right between the houses!  Eeekk!!!

We are fine - and the water is starting to recede.  But there are so many here in this state and the neighboring ones that have lost so much.  Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.  And never take anything for granted.

Just sharing...

Hi Everyone!
Well, as most of you all know I've been talking about Danielle and her senior prom. 
I just thought that I'd post a couple pictures of Danielle and her friends dressed for prom Saturday. It is their senior prom and they thought that taking pictures at the cemetery in town would be fun. At first I thought that it was a little "weird" but the twins (her best friends that are in the pic's) Mom is a photographer and she took them ~ and if your in the area and need pictures, she's wonderful!

Danielle and her BF Tyler...

Danielle, her BFF's and their guys...

Just the girls...

The group...

To add to all the drama of Prom - Danielle worked Friday night and she fell at work. It was midnight and I ended up taking her to the hospital to have her checked out. She was hurting ~ and in tears because she was afraid that she was going to miss prom. She sprained the muscles in her back. She is sore but she's doing fine. I think that there was nothing that was keeping her from prom.

And the dress... Drama from the word go!! We took her to the mall to find that "one of a kind big, poofey Cinderella" dress. After HOURS of walking and trying on dresses this is what she came home with. I was not too happy. I didn't and still really don't like it. It's really not prom dress material. But as you can see, it's the style with the kids. We had to take the dress to a seamstress, mostly to fix the whole "boob-age" area as Danielle would put it. She could not do anything for her - but she did sew the black panels on the two side so she would not fall out on the sides. Bra? Um, no. We searched and searched and still could not find anything for her. We ended up getting some "tape" from Victoria's Secret to hold the top together - but it still was not just right but it worked fine for the evening.

Even though I did not like the dress I still think that she looked amazing in it!! And when we went and got her hair done Saturday we were on our way home and she wanted to stop at McDonald's and get something, she was hungry. So she was eating her 2 apple pies and said "now I can eat whatever I want". I guess she was trying to be really good to stay in that size 7!!

Sorry this post is so long - I just had to share. My little girl is little no more...

 
I'll try to be back later to post a creation ~ if not, I'll be here tomorrow for sure.  Thanks for looking.

Moving Day...

It's moving day for me.  No, no...  Not my blog or my house.  I am moving all of my craft stuff from the dining room back to my craft room.  The weather has been just beautiful lately and I can't help but think (or hope) that it is going to stay that way.  So that brings me back to the craft room.  I'm sure that for the first few days I will do nothing by day dream and look out the windows at the wonders of spring.  The birds and the blooms.  It's always so pretty.

Not that I'm being sappy or anything ~ but when I worked full time I didn't stop to see that.  The seasons.  It was hurry and get to work, hurry and get home.  But now I cherish my time a little more.  Or let's say I've grown older (ugh...) and I've learned to appreciate things different. 

That brings me to the move.  I'm sure that I will have something to post for you tomorrow - so stay tuned.  But for the rest of the day it will be back to moving my supplies and probably doing a little re-organizing.  Then I just might take Dixie for a walk.

While I'm away maybe take a peek over at Kevin and Amanda's blog.  She's got some new fonts up that are adorable!!  You can either got to her scrapbooking font's blog, her handwriting font's blog or their regular blog.  Trust me, it is something that you can spend a whole day at!  There is so much to see!!!  Click on the buttons below to be taken to them.

http://www.kevinandamanda.com/fonts/freescrapbookfonts/

http://kevinandamanda.com/fonts/fontsforpeas/

http://www.kevinandamanda.com/

Have a wonderful day!

Please understand...

I just wanted to let you all know that I am changing my blog around - as if you could not see ☺ ~ after a long time coming I might say, and I hope that you all can be a little patient while I do so.  I hope to have things straight by tomorrow.  Let's keep our fingers crossed Ü

Thank you all ~ and remember to come back after the dust has settled.

Hugs,
Joani

Sorry I've been invisible lately

I'm sorry that I've been invisible lately, but I've been doing life things...  You know how life gets in the way sometimes ~ well, that's what's been happening.  Nothing bad, no.  No need to worry - just stuff.

I've also been working on changing my blog.  It's been behind the scenes so you wont notice anything until I'm ready to make the big change here.  Just trying to tweak this and move that.  I think that you will like it, or well I can only hope you will.

I have an appointment that I have to take Mom to this afternoon and I will hopefully get some crafting done tomorrow to be able to post for you.

Thanks for sticking it out with me.  Have a super great afternoon!!

Happy snow day!

again...  I know that I've wanted it to snow, more so around Christmas ~ but enough is enough...

Here's a couple of pictures that I want to share with you. 

Here's my little girl (ok, not so little any more) out back yesterday afternoon.  See her paws, or shall I say "don't" see her paws?  They said we got 5-7" at this point, but for some reason our back yard had more than that in it!?!

Here's one corner of our backyard.  I took the birdbath down because Dixie was sniffing around it and the top and I did not want it to tip over on her.  That thing is cement and very heavy.

Weird too, I love to shovel snow.  It's a good workout that's for sure.  But it's something that I've always liked to do too.  Just like sweeping - one of those necessary evils but I love it.

I will be back tomorrow with a card to show you.  I've been busy - but I've not taken the pictures of what I've made.  I used some new TAC stamps (that I love love l♥ve!!!)

Have a great day and stay warm where ever you may be!!

Just an update

Since some of you were so kind to let me know that you were sending cards in for Evan.  If you missed it, I posted the info in this original post HERE.

So here is the update...

This was a post that my friend Norma who originally let me know about little Evan:

I was so happy to get this letter and I know all of you will be too...........Thanks

Paula is Evan's mom and daughter to Cyndi, my friend from NY.........

Paula got an email from the teacher yesterday and she is just flabbergasted at how many cards Evan is getting. She is amazed at how well it is making the class accept Evan. She said each morning when the mail comes the kids all want to know how many cards Evan has gotten. She said that they may win two prizes. One for Evan having the most cards from the most places and one for the class as a whole having the most cards. So the teacher is so excited. She told Paula she never expected this and she is just so choked up every day when the mail comes. And she said that Evan just sits there proud as a peacock and says my Grandma Froggy has lots of friends and they all like me! So believe me it is making a difference and is working. I am so grateful to everyone that is helping out. Some people are even sending two or three cards and using friends and relatives names. The whole school is talking about it. Paula said she goes in on Monday for a parent/teacher conference so she is going see the cards and then she can get an idea of how many so far and where they are coming from. She was in tears yesterday when she called me because she couldn't believe so many people would help her little boy out like this.Thanks, thanks, thanks and thanks again!!!!

 

Thank you all.  And there is time, you can still send a card out if you want to.  Just go to my original post HERE and the address is posted there.  Thank you all!

A small favor, please...

I just wanted to post something and see if I can get everyone to do a small favor.  We are all card makers and paper crafters and we all make cards everyday.  Most of us make cards to send then there is some of us who make cards to just put in our stash to hold for the moment that we need a quick card.

There is a friend of mine who is a manager of a card making group I belong to and she has a good friend who has a grandson who is autistic and would like some cards sent out.  I don't think that I'm explaining this right so please just read on:

Evan is the grandson that is autistic and he has just been mainstreamed into the regular class so is trying very hard to blend in and make friends. Any cards would help him a great deal. The more from different states or areas or countries the better. If possible you could send postcards from the area you live. Just mention on the cards that you are a friend of his Grandma Froggy.  If he gets the most cards on the map he will win a prize. Thanks for your help, spread the word to anyone you know in other states or countries. Let's help this little guy win this and fit into his new school.

Send a postcard or Valentine to:  Evan Rupp c/o Mrs. Parvizi First Grade, Frederick Douglas Elem School, 100 Cedarmeade Ave, Winchester, VA 22601

Let's try to fill their mailbox with creations for this little guy.  Wouldn't it be nice to put a smile on a little boys face?  I would appreciate it and so would my friend.

Have a great day!

Just a little bit of Fall fun

This past weekend Danielle wanted to rake up some of the leaves and take pictures of her and Dixie in the yard.  When we first went to the humane society and met Dixie she was playing with the leaves in the fenced in yard they have.  She just could not get enough of the leaves that fell in the play yard.  Since we've taken her home she still plays with the leaves.  She's pretty goofy!

Here's my two girls.  Adorable huh?

And Ms. Dixie ~ she's grown so much!

Don't wait until the holidays to hug your loved ones ~ make sure that each and every day they know how much they mean to you.

Have a great day!

Back with more...

I'm not sure what just happened but blogger was doing it's own thing so I closed that last post and started another...

So... after the tree drama - that was Wednesday evening.  Thursday Betty and I were going to meet to set up our table for the Christmas Bazaar.  I think that something is always working against us ~ I don't know.

Here Ricky, his sister and I are cutting on the tree because I called the city to see if they have any means of disposing of the tree.  When the trees last year fell across the street they had a wood chipper out here taking care of it.  I called the city and they did not have any info and they were going to call me back and never did.  So we were outside cutting and bundling the branches together and it got time to leave to go meet Betty.  We went to meet her, got home and Mom and my SIL had stuff ready to BBQ.  I'm the BBQ'r in the family so I was outside in the dark BBQ-ing by flashlight.  That get's done and I've got a few last minute things to do before Friday rolls around for the sale.

Friday is here, we drive to Paris to be there for the sale which starts at 9:00 am and I'm a little excited because I see that they have some signs on the bypass (which were very, very small) but then I take a good look at what they say.  I thought that it was 9:00am to 4:00 pm - NOPE how wrong was I!!!  It was 9:00 am to 8:00 pm.  Trust me, 11 hours is a long time.  Especially when you are not really doing anything.  The show was not really advertised so we hardly had any sales.  We did have a few more on Saturday ~ I think that it was mostly vendors who were all buying from each other - but it was a little less to pack home with us.

This picture is the front looking in at our booth.  This was when we set up.

This was the first day when we got there and this was off to the left of the booth.  Our tables were in a "U" shape and it was a lot nicer than the last show.  At least we were inside away from the weather, although it was a beautiful weekend!

This was to the right of our booth.  This table had most of the cards in the baskets.

We could of done better, and I think that we will try it again in a couple of weeks.  We have all of this stuff and we need to get rid of it.  I don't know for sure yet...

I'm sorry for the long post... but this is what I've been up to.  In the next couple of days I will try to be back.  I've got some computer issues to deal with to.  But I will be back, back with bells on!

Have a great afternoon!

I'm here ~ really I'm here.

Thank you everyone for being patient with me.  I've been away for a while - but I've not been doing nothing.  I've been busy that's for sure.

My "drama" started last week.  It was last Wednesday and Danielle when Danielle came home from school.  Two of her good friends (the twins) drive her home from school and Danielle walked in the house and said that they heard this loud crack out front and it was the tree.  Well I go out there and looked at the tree in the front yard and sure enough it was cracked in 3 different places and one of the branches was actually broken off the tree and laying on another.  I thought that standing under it was probably not a good idea at that point.

Well I came in and called hubby.  He was going to run some errands after work and I told him that he should probably come home instead.  I knew that we were going to have to cut the tree down and with it getting dark early he would not have much time.  I hate to see trees fall - they are all so beautiful in their own way and it takes them so  long to grow.  When we had the ice storm this past winter there were 4  or 5 trees on the other side of the street that fell, it's so sad.

Here is the tree just before we cut it down.

Hubby and his sister pulling the branches out of the way and starting to bundle them.

The tree cracked right in the crotch of it - in 3 different places.  It's just sad...

I'll be back to show you some more of my busy week!