Games Games Games

Today was just peachy keen. I love having my husband home from work with me. We usually dont get many total days off together and today was one of them. We slept in, had breakfest and watched a movie. Then we walked downtown for lunch. (yes walked in the huge snow drifts! thank goodness for my toasty warm Uggs) On the way back we stopped at the discount store and found a few board games on mega sale. Ive had a thing for board games ever since I was a kid so we bought a few just to try them out. The Apprentice and Battle of the Sexes IQ edition. I figured even they suck... they were only $5 (which is cheaper than a movie) and we will be entertained all evening. And we were. They were actually pretty fun. I really wanted to play Scene It Seinfeld and Clue tonight too... but we ran outta on time.

Now Matt is going to bed and I have to do something to entertain myself. Tally is down so Ive been a refreshing fool. I need my fix darnit! Hanging out on facebook is so not the same. I may have to actually clean something

It is guttergirlz time again. This is my first official layout as a design team member. The challenge is awesome. I just love this song by Jewel and the lyrics fit my new mantra for 2009. I used chicken wire for the wire part of the challenge. No I dont have chickens... but I did have a little piece laying around my craftroom. Go Go check out prompt 15 and get in the gutter! You wont be sorry.

My frosty tally reveal

Its seriously freezing outside! The subzero temperatures the last week have frozen me solid. I have been huddled around my fireplace trying to stay toasty. Its pretty much done nothing but dump snow on us nonstop for a week. The roads are a mess! It was a good excuse to stay in and scrap a bit on my days off. Lucky for me I got my design team kit from tallyscrapper. Its called "Playtime" and boy i it fun. Can I tell you Id never seen (or heard of) Graphic 45 before I got this kit.... but let me tell you. Im in EL-OH-VEE-EEE with its vintage goodness. So far Im at 5 layouts with the kit and I dont want to stop creating. (and if it wasnt 3am I would still be) Check it out! Its a bargain at $20.99 Check it out

Happy New Year!!

Happy NEW year! I cant believe its 2009. I was always told the older you get, the faster time goes. Im starting to believe they were right. Time flies when you are having fun I guess.

I started out 2009 with a bang. Sick as a dog. I stayed out til 7am NYE singing bad kareoke and dancing myself silly. I didnt drink a ton, but I did drink. Definately not enough to be a hangover like that. I think it was some mutant flu that turned into a bad cold. Im just now starting to feel human thanks to ClearGuard and the fact that I have been sleeping ALOT. Because of this my house is a WRECK and I cant stand it. Im one of those chicks who HATES to clean, but HATES mess even more so I need to clean something

So today I have decided to be PRODUCTIVE! I will make a LIST and do at LEAST half of it today. (everytime I make a list it reminds me of my grandma) Im stuck at the house so I might as well feel good about today. (I always feel better when I get things done) If I start feeling crappy Im going to work Fly Lady style... 15 minutes at a time.... til Im done. Im off to a good start. My sheets are in the washer, my caardvarks card is done, dinner is defrosting and the tree is NAKED! I just need to get vacuuming so I can reward myself with some scrapping. *fingers crossed* my tally design team kit gets here today so I can play.

Yesterday during the cybercrop at Tally I managed to finish up my Guttergirlz layout. Here is a sneaky peeky at the awesome challenge that will go up January 15th. If you havent finished Prompt 14 yet you still have time to get your ART in the GUTTER and win the prize. Need some inspiration?? Check out the amazing layouts, atcs and other projects in the Guttergirlz Flickr pool

IF you LOVE challenge blogs amd telling your story..... remember there are only a FEW days left to apply as a storyteller for Category Stories. The info the design team call can be found HERE We are looking for a few new girls to help us jumpstart 2009! Its a one layout a month commitment. Check it OUT!

Now Im off to clean :) Have a happy Monday!

ca-ca-ca-candy

Here's a sampling of the candy I made for Christmas this year. I didnt take a picture of everything... I started packing tins before I remembered to take pics. *doh*

Merry merry!!

Checking in on my new laptop and wishing everyone a very merry christmas and a wonderful festivus!!

The candy man can

First of all.... My new slippers....dont they rock? I found them today while christmas shopping at Target. I just couldnt help myself. I had to buy them. I deserved a present for all the running around I did today. I finished up all my christmas shopping and then I started making candy

I had never really made candy before... unless you count that one time in girl scouts (circa 1987) ...but I figured it couldnt be that hard. I had SO much fun! I made peanut clusters, pretzel clouds, toffee crunch, peppermint crusted marshmellows and chocolate covered marshmellows. I also made gigantic pretzel rods. (chocolate toffee,chocolate peanut butter and just chocolate)

I ran for 13 hours straight! My candy is put away, my kitchen is clean, my laundy is done, my shopping is done and I can finally crash. Im kinda proud of myself and boy am I tired. Thank God for my Rhodiola supplements! I took one at 5 to get me going. It really helped. I think I'll be taking alot of them this week. I still havent wrapped anything, I need to buy a couple candy tins and I really need to vacuum. That'll have to get done after work tomorrow. I am toying with the idea of stamping tags to tie to my pretzel bags... but I dont know if I'll have time.

Why do all my bright ideas come at the last possible second??

and for those of you who arent sick of photos of my nephew yet... here are the halloween pictures....

Oh Christmas Tree

Make you you pop over to Scrapbook Heaven and take a looksie at the mid-December kit.Its full of vintagey papers and fantastic trims. Check out the fun layouts I was able to make with this kit



And while you are there sign up for the fun on the message board. There is a thank you card crop tomorrow (Sunday) from 4pm-8pm EST. There will lots of fun cardmaking techniques.

challenge time!

I am pleased to introduce the NEW improved Category Stories challenge blog. We have moved to wordpress and we have lots more catagories to share with you! Check out our current category **Decorate** and upload your creation to our Flickr group. I tore us an Anthropologie catalogue to make my layout.

We are also looking for a few new story tellers! Check out this post on how to apply.

I had some extra time now that I finished all of my design team projects so I decided to do the wicked cool guttergirlz challenge. (prompt 12) I tinted my photo red and scrapped about my problem with 4 letter words. *warning* the journaling is explicit and full of swear words. (as per the challenge) Please dont read if you are easily offended.

Now I want to scrap some more. I need to find more challenges! I love the crazy ones.

Core'dinations

A week or so ago I recieved a big box of cardstock from Core'dinations. My goodness this stuff is cool. My favorite is the black magic... black cardstock with a colored core. Its the coolest thing ever. I loved sanding the black away and letting that color peek thru. You rip it...and color! I really had fun with it.

Want a chance to win some?? All you have to do is participate in the current Caardvarks challenge and create a card with no patterned paper (I know it scared me too) Here's what I created.

On the Trail

Have you ever played the game Oregon Trail?. I first played on a green screen Mac when I was in the 3rd of 4th grade. Man I loved that game. I was giddy on computer lab days.

Later I played the deluxe version and would toss all my old boyfriends in my wagon and ford the rivers til they all caught cholera. It was very cathartic.(LOL) I probably havent played that game in 15 years... and now for some reason I have to play it. Someone mentioned it the other day and now Im obsessed. I went thru most of my games. I swear I had this game at some point... but I cant find it. I wonder if XP would even play it if I did.

Somehow, someway I am going to get copy and Im going to play it. Heck its so old I can probably find somewhere to download it for free. I need to check that out tomorrow.

I managed to get some much needed scrappy time in. I created 5 cards for the upcoming caardvarks challenge AND got in a layout as well. Im almost finished with my category stories project too. whoo hoo!


I would scrap daily if I could. After Christmas I will have more time. :) I cant wait

Rose Bowl baby!

Oh yeah! Penn State is Rose Bowl bound. I'm so excited for my Alma mater. I wish I was back at school at the moment. I remember the feeling of victory that spreads throughout campus.... and the craziness.....a happy drunken mix of young and old. Its electric..that feeling. I love being in the middle of it.

Being a Penn State fan didn't exactly make me popular amongst a sea of Ohio State fans at work this evening, but I didn't let that ruin my enthusiasm. Ohio State is my 2nd favorite team and I loved watching them give Michigan a pounding.

Can you believe its Sat eve and I havent seen Twilight yet?? :( The tickets to the midnight show sold out several DAYS before the show. I wasn't sure of my work schedule so I had to wait. I was hoping fore the midnight because I can never go out on Fri/Sat nights. I usually work 10/12 hour shifts and I'm up mostly at night. *fingers crossed* I can go tomorrow. My husband is feeling fluish and I want him to sleep as much as possible. I could always scrap.

I actually made a few tags the other day. I hadn't made a tag in 2 years. I found this big box of shipping tags my mom had given me when my step dad sold his store.

I decided to make a tag for my tally sister Renee and then it all just went on from there. I couldn't stop. I will just choose a ribbon and tie them onto packages. It was fun to use my stamps. I'm so making some for Christmas. I just need to dig out my Christmas stamps. I'm currently rearranging my tiny scrap room and its a HIDEOUS mess but it already feels alot better. I wish I could go buy this storage from Target. Maybe when we move :)

Have you seen it?

The mid November kit from Scrapbook Heaven! Its an awesome mix of Crate Paper, MME and Maya Road. There is even a pink paislee stamp. Here are a few of the projects I created with the kit





If you havent been to heaven in a bit be sure to check out the 12 days of Christmas Crop going on NOW thru November 24th. Join us for lots of Christmas projects, decorations and gifts!

the big 3-0

A little over a week ago I turned the big 30.... and the world did not end. I didnt even cry like I thought I would. I just had a blast.

The day started with a surprise Breakfest at Tiffanys themed tea party thrown by my Mother. It was so creative and cute and the food was delicious. We had chicken salad croisants, bruchetta, scones, tea sandwiches, cookies and more! We also had wine and cheese and watched the movie. It was so much fun. I actually got something from Tiffanys! A beautiful silver bracelet from my Mom & Skip. I also got an awesome set of Audrey Hepburn atcs and an amazing 8x8 address book handmade by my tallysisters. It is the coolest thing ever! My mom took pictures of everything but I dont have them yet. I will share soon.

After my afternoon tea it was time to go out drinking! We had a group of friends over for drinks and appetizers before heading out to the bars. Of course at the end of the night it was just Me, Matt, Matthew and Mindy as usual. We are always the late night crowd. Of course by the end of the night your makeup is gone and your hair is a wreck... and you decide to only make funny faces at the camera.


I slept til 11 the next day and woke up without hangover. Matt and I decided to get a picnic together and go check out the leaves at Mohican state park. It was absoutely stunning. It practically glowed red and orange.


After walking around and taking photos we stopped at the lodge to relax for a bit. It was so rustic and warm. My husband sneaked over and booked us a room for the night. Of course we didnt have anything with us... but we always like an adventure. We did find a store about 20 minute away and left to buy necessities and something to swim in. We had a nice romantic dinner and went swimming til they threw us out. Afterwards we explored the place before snuggling up in our room. It was such a spontaneous fun night.

It was a heck of a way to forget about being 30 :)