Craft Fair

Happy Halloween! It's hard to believe that today is the last day of October! I can't believe how quickly time is passing by!
I am participating in a craft fair at work next month and this is one of the items I will have at my booth. I picked the book up at Target in the dollar bins and covered it to match the little band aid tin. Inside the band aid tin are little glitter pens that I also found in the dollar bins at Target. Gotta love those bargain huh?
I usually try to carry a variety of items at my booth and only about 3 or 4 of the same item, just decorated up differently. This way I am not stuck with a huge amount after it is all said and done. It is difficult to get ready for one one of these shin digs because you never know what's gonna sell. Sometimes you sell the heck out of one item and so you think hum...maybe I should make a lot more of those for the next show and so you do and no one buys them the next time. Weird. Oh well...variety is the spice of life right?
Well have a safe night tonight! Hugs...Toni

New Cardstock

Hi friends. I have been searching for new places to get my scrapbook supplies. I am no longer shopping at Scrapbook Garden because of the way that they treated the East store employees. Hey, I know sometimes business have their hard times and they can't afford to stay open or loose their lease whatever the case may be. We can all sympathize with that right? I understand that we are living in hard economic times right now, but the thing that gets me is the way everything was done. The way people were treated that worked for a small company. I just felt that there could have been a little more consideration for the people that helped make your store what it was. That being said I have decided that I just simply can not shop at Scrapbook Garden anymore. I really enjoyed being able to match cardstock to my projects, it was so easy to walk into the store with your stuff and just match away. So I started thinking about what I did before I worked at Scrapbook Garden. I used to order from this great little company called Memory Works. They are based out of Utah (what scrapbook company isn't) and are a Direct Sell company only there are no up or down lines or minimum quotas to meet (which is great because I don't want the hassle of selling stuff at parties). You pay $50to become a consultant and you have to purchase $75 a year in products. So I signed up for the discount (20% off the regular price). They used to carry Bazzil cardstock but had some issues with having what they needed in stock so they switched to another cardstock line called Prism. It is a nice quality cardstock as well. Not as many choices on color but they sell them in monochromatic packs and you can get 3 shades of any color you want, 12 total sheets for $5.25. Here is a picture of the Prismatics swatch book...which I picked up for $6! That is such a great deal compared to Bazzil's swatch book for $30!

On another note, here is another one of the projects that I am working on for the craft fair. I actually found this idea in a scrapbook magazine and when I saw it thought...why didn't I think of that? These are little plastic ID Badge holders that you can purchase at any office store. There are 6 plastic sleeves in each of these little books. I used all scrap paper to put them together. How fun is this? I mean isn't this great to just carry around in your purse? So tell me what you think of this idea okay?

And of naturally I have keep you updated on where we are on my favorite show right? Yep, the girls and I have made it to season 5 of the Gilmore Girls. If you haven't ever watched this show you are seriously missing out on some good stuff. I mean really. Just do it. Sign up for Netflix and start renting the series. You won't be sorry!

Well friends, that is all for now. Tune in next week for more from your creative little friend in Kansas!

Pumpkin Patch

Saturday afternoon we took our godson to the pumpkin patch. He cracks me up! He reminds me of pictures of Thomas (my stepson) when he was little. He makes these funny little faces that make you laugh. Right now he is in this phase where you ask him questions and everything is answered with "yeah". I asked him if he always answers questions with yeah and he said yeah. I said oh, well did you know that Veronica (his little sister) told me that you were her friend? He said NO! I am not! LOL! Too funny! He is named after Mike and I...Michael Anthony. Sweet huh? Yes...Toni is a derivative of Anthony. Yes it is, don't argue with me. Thanks for stoppin in tonight!

What kind of Latte are You?

This is way too much fun...I found this little quiz through Whimsey's blog...

I am a Cinnamon Latte

Deep down, you are a sensitive soul. You just want to be loved and appreciated. You may have a spicy attitude, but you're all sweetness on the inside. You are dependable and loyal. You have you life together, and you're able to be there for other people. You like nothing more than a warm, cozy house filled with friends and loved ones.

What Flavor Latte Are You?

She's a survivor

Recently my friend JoEtta did the race for the cure with her family. Her sister in law is a breast cancer survivor. I wanted to do something for her as a memory of this day. JoEtta is a fabulous photographer and I knew that she would be taking pictures of the day and so I asked her to email me the pics and I would make up a little memory book for her sister in law. The main color here was pink, naturally, but I wanted to accent it with other colors too. The chipboard album was from Basic Grey and the paper was from various Basic Grey lines. This is just a little sampling of the album...it had a few more pages to it. Thanks for peekin' in.

We are headed to Coxfarms to the pumpkin patch this afternoon! Hope you're having a great weekend so far!

I'm still kickin!

Yep I am still around. You guys probably thought that I fell off the planet huh? Nope. Just thought I would take some time away from the computer for a while. Since being dismissed at Scrapbook Garden I have found myself really enjoying being home with my kids. I loved working with the gang at SBG but secretly there were times that I would think to myself that I wished that I didn't have to work on Saturday's. Weekends are precious time when you work full time and on the weekend that I worked at SBG I felt like I really didn't have a weekend. So needless to say I am enjoying not having to go to a 2nd job. I have also noticed that since I am not in the store drooling over all the new items that come in I have not spent very much money on scrapbook supplies not to mention saving money on gas!

So this weekend was Gilmore Girl marathon! Haley and I watched the rest of season 1 and all of season 2. I am working on finishing up season 3. I did read a few spoilers and I am not sure that I really like the way the show ended. But we shall see.

Tomorrow we are taking our girls and our little godson to the pumpkin patch so I will have some pictures to share with you.

Tonight we are going to see the the 9:30 flick...Fireproof. I actually twisted my mom and dad's arm and they are going to see the movie with us. What a treat! The girls are so excited!

A few weeks ago I was reading the Catholic Advance (the local Catholic paper that comes out every week with Catholic events and goings on in the area) and there was an article about a priest that used to be at our parish a long time ago. He is now serving as the Chaplin in the army and he is stationed in Iraq. I emailed him to tell him I had read the article and that I would like to send him a care package. So that's what I did. I sent him a box full of stuff. I was amazed at how much stuff I got and how I fit it all in this little box. I sent it on Thursday and they said it will probably take about 2 weeks for it to get to him. I recently found this great web page where you can adopt a soldier that has no family back home. There are certain requirements, like you have to write one letter a week and send one care package a month. It is a pretty big commitment but can you imagine how nice it would be to receive a letter or a package once in a while? Might just make your day to receive something. We gotta support our troops!

Well anyway...thanks for peekin' in tonight!

I am officially addicted!

I LOVE this show! We signed up for Netflix earlier this year because I was getting tired of all the darn late fees to the local movie places. So I thought this was a perfect way for us to watch movies. Well first I got hooked on CSI Miami so I made sure to catch up on all of the episodes from beginning to current on that and I was blog hoppin and noticed that Emily over at Three Peas In A Pod Designs seems to really enjoy this show so I thought what the heck I will try one season. OMG! I love it! So naturally I put all of the shows episodes into my queue on Netflix. I am pretty sure that this is going to be a Gilmore Girl weekend!

Tonight we watched a movie called The Scarlet and the Black. It is based on the true-life story of Vatican priest Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, played by Gregory Peck, who helped allied POW's escape from Nazi-occupied Rome. The girls watched this one with us, Haley had actually seen it a few years ago in school. I found myself thinking of how scary it must have been to live in that time. Not knowing when the bad guys might break into your home and send you off to jail. Very interesting.

Well thanks for peekin' in!

Sistas!

Since I am on a sister kick I thought I would post this picture that I just put up in my scrapbook room. Haley took this picture of Teri and I back around Christmas time last year (didn't she do a great job). I was out shopping not to long ago and found this frame and thought this was perfect for this picture. I am so glad that I have a sister, sometimes we have our disagreements but we are always there for each other.

Thanks for peekin in tonight! I will have some work to post soon. I am working on a special project for a friend of mine and I hope to finish it up tonight. I can't post pictures of it until I give it to her first...so stay tuned! Have a wonderful evening!

Kansas City Photos...continued

Ok so here we go with the pictures that go with my KC story below...read my story posted below first then look at these pictures so you get the idea of what they are...I know...I am backwards!

Kansas City

Ok so a while back my sister and I got a wild hair and decided to go up to Kansas City. It was supposed to be a day trip and then we decided that we would spend the night. We had a blast! Me being the organized person that I am made a map of what we were doing and map quested every stitch of directions. We drove up there and spent the night at Hotel Phillips. When we got there we cracked up laughing because the guy working the desk in the hotel lobby had hair that looked like the lead singer of Flock of Seagulls. My sis took his picture but we were laughing so hard that it is a little bit blurry but you get the idea! After checking in we went to eat dinner at Bucca Di Beppo. Hello! That is some serious Italian food. They serve in family size portions and way more that anyone could ever eat. So there are a few pics of us eating there...Teri's lasagna...again we were laughing because even after eating it there was still too much to fit into the carry out container! There was a thunderstorm that rolled through in the night that woke my sis up and she decided to try to catch some pics of the lightening...she didn't get that but I thought her shots of the city at night were great! Then next day we woke up and drove to Legends shopping area. Here we found this fun little yellow brick road...of course we stopped for a photo op! I have seen a lot of people taking pictures jumping and so I thought it would be fun to do that. Teri didn't want to jump...she just wanted to photograph me looking weird jumping...hee hee! Before we left the Legends area we stopped by this Mexican restaurant and yep...that's Teri's legs under that dude with the sombrero! Then we stopped in at Cabala's outdoor store. And naturally...I had to put a hat on. Again we were laughing...I couldn't keep a straight face when she took these pictures! We had a good time...lots of laughing.

Funnest Birthday

My sister needed a card for a friend of hers and this is what I came up with. I have used this cherry paper before. It is amazing how far your scraps can go when you just need a small square! If you click on the photo you can get a close up view of the cake, I used a little bit of stickles on the green icing...just wanted to add a little bit of bling.
In other news I am still thinking about my friends at Scrapbook Garden East. I know this is a difficult time for you and I wish I could make everything better for you but just know that I am thinking of you and any time you need a margarita...I am here for ya baby! Sarah I am so proud of you for being your spunky little self today!
Thanks for peekin' in...hope you have a great weekend!

Heavy Heart

Hi Friends. I have a heavy heart this evening. I drove to Scrapbook Garden just as I do every Thursday night to work my little shift. When I arrived at the store there was a strange feeling in the air. I knew there was a meeting but I didn't know that I was to be included in that meeting, I thought it would be a meeting for the managers. There were several customers in the store and one of the owners walked up to the customer closest to me and asked her to leave, here is a gift certificate for the inconvenience just take all of the stuff in your basket we are closing the store for a meeting. She didn't understand, he repeated himself and told her to go ahead and take the things in her basket, that she didn't have to pay for them they were closing the store. I found this very odd. The rest of us kept looking at each other in disbelief of what just occurred. We were then all asked to go to the back room for a meeting. As he read from a piece of paper we were told that effective immediately the East store was closed. All of the merchandise would be sent over to the West store over the next week and the staff would help to do this and stock the inventory at the West store. There might be positions available at the West store but hours could not be guaranteed. So there you have it. I sat there thinking about my co-workers that work there full time. They are out of work now. How would they make ends meet? I know the economy is doing poorly right now and this probably happens a lot more than we know but I have never been through something like this before. What an eye opener!

Please keep my friends in your prayers tonight.

Happy Bug Day

I had this left over bug paper from a scrapbook project and really wanted to use it on a card some how. Our Godson's birthday is coming up this month and I thought bugs would be a fun thing for him. I hope he likes it. I have a bit more paper left over so I think I am going to try to put another one together maybe a bit different design.
Thanks for checkin' in on me. Hope you're having a great week!