I LOVE BUBBLE WRAP!

There are many "pleasures" in life--some cost money, some don't. Some pleasures we find within ourselves and some pleasures we find in a package mailed to us.
Today, I received an envelope filled with something that gave me so much pleasure!

Inside this envelope was a bottle of NEW Distressed Stickles called Worn Lipstick by Tim Holtz. Well, I LOVE Stickles--I'm sure y'all know that. Nothing makes me happier than something I can put Stickles on. That sparkle is like magic dust--it's just makes anything so much 'happier' I think.

Well, I must admit, it was NOT the bottle of Worn Lipstick Stickles that was making me happier than ticks on a dog. Nope!

It was the bubble wrap protecting the bottle. The kind with the little bubbles--you know what I'm talking about right? I sat there and broke ALL the bubbles without stopping. I couldn't stop until they were all busted. There is no stopping me once I start. I search for unbroken bubbles until I'm sure they are all gone gone gone!

I love doing this so much (almost as much as I love busting feathers--don't ask!) that way back when -- I was given a WRITTEN reprimand from my boss (at the time, I was working for the Directorate of Training Development at Fort Sam Houston, TX). Yep, he told me to stop busting the bubbles (they were the big fat juicy ones!). I tried. I really tried but once you break one bubble, how in the world can you stop--it's like eating only one potato chip or one piece of chocolate candy or one chocolate chip cookie--HELLO!!!! I can't do it. Maybe you can but I can't.
So I tried to be quiet but he heard me. So he told me again TO STOP BUSTING THE BUBBLES.
Darn it all. As I continued to bust them, I tried to be even MORE quiet about it.
Well, he came out of his office and said that he had told me twice to stop it and I didn't so he had no choice but to give me a written reprimand for not following orders!!!! Hee hee, it was so funny.

Was getting a written reprimand worth it?
I'm sure if you know me, you will know the answer to that question!

That's why my most FAVORITE thing to bust is feathers--no noise!!!!!
Thank you Gloria for sending me some bubble wrap with the Stickles--what GREAT presents!

Love is in the Air!

Frog love that is! Oh my gosh, you should hear them! It's so loud!!! It rained nearly all day today because of Hurricane Dolly and the frogs are lovin' it!!!!

We must have watched them for over an hour! There's about 8 or 9 of them in or near our two ponds.

We walked outside with flashlights and they didn't mind at all. They kept on singing their love songs to each other! Jumping in and out the water, swimming around--doing the frog stroke--so cute!

Lucky, one of our turtles, was on the lookout too. I don't know if she wants to eat them or play with them!

Our backyard seems to attract all sorts of critters--squirrels, cardinals, blue jays, cute little sparrows, possums, and frogs! Who said we didn't have a zoo in our backyard!?

We do and we love it!

File Folder Album

This is a photo/memory album I made using two regular file folders. I love making things out of ordinary stuff to make extra-ordinary stuff! Don't you?

One file folder was used to form the front and back covers and the other file folder was used to form the pages. To glue everything together, I used Yes Glue--love that stuff!

I took an ordinary envelope and glued it to one of the pages so that little treasures could be tucked inside of it. For the photos, I used clear 4x6 "envelopes" stacked on top of each other on various pages.

For fast and easy decorating of the covers and pages, I used a rather large super kewl stamp in the Ornamental Ribbons set of The Angel Company catalog (page 42) and "dirty stamped" everything in a brown ink. I don't know if that's the real name of what I'm doing but that's what I call it--it's when you ink up a stamp and then stamp stamp stamp until all the ink is gone. By stamping this way, I can cover a lot of space with minimal effort--fast and easy!

So next time you see something ordinary like boring office type file folders, expand your box, and imagine the possibilities.

Weathervane!

Several Christmases ago, my brother and his wife sent us an awesome weathervane.

We couldn't decide where to put it--didn't want it on our roof or chimney because we wouldn't be able to see it really. We wanted it in our backyard--someplace where we could see it everyday.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, we decided where to put it. My hubby did all the work, of course. I supervised--something I'm very good at.

He first dug a hole about 4 feet deep. Bought two 2x6x12 pieces of lumber and sandwiched them together to create one 4x6x12, which is the "pole" for the weathervane. And, yes, it's 10 feet high!!!!!

My hubby used about 3 1/2 bags of cement to secure the pole inside the hole. Painted the pole black and made some kind of rain guard thing at the bottom of the pole. He explained it to me but I don't understand what he said. All I know is that the pole will last longer because of it. Sounds good to me!

Before we put the pole in the hole, he bolted the bottom part of the weathervane to it. Once the pole was in the hole and the cement was all dry, he added the other parts to it.

The weathervane has three parts: the top part--the large dachshund; the middle part--north/south/east/west directionals; and the spinner part--where the wind turns these three cups and there's a "dog chasing its tail" affect going on. It's so kewl!!!!!

My brother made this weathervane from scratch. Yeah!!! Lots of welding.

It was in HUGE box and we couldn't figure out what the heck they had sent us!

It was incredible in the box and it is now incredible in our backyard! A fantastic addition to our backyard!

We love it!!!!

July LAG

Hello!
We had the July LAG on 18 July at Connie's house! It was a night filled with great stamping buddies, great food (provided by the hostess, Connie) and great projects!
Here's a photo of the projects we did!

Seminar 2008

Well, Seminar 2008 is over! I had a GREAT time at Seminar and boy, did it go by FAST. I spent countless of hours, working on my trades--cardfronts, 6x6 scrapbook pages, Club Med swaps, special trades--and within 2 - 3 days--WHAM!!! All that hard work in the hands of other angels. Makes my head spin just thinking about it.
I'm sure everybody who attended Seminar feels the same way! We prepare for months and in a matter of days, it's all over!

At Seminar, we got the brand spanking new Angel Company catalog!!!! Yahooooooooo! Love all the new sets and papers! Can't wait to play with all my new stuff!

Since getting home from Seminar, I've been quite the busy little bee, working on the Seminar Photo Albums. I'll have most of them all sent out this week--still need a few more addresses but after these few are sent, I'll be free to play play play! :}

Here are a few photos from Seminar. Hope you enjoy them!