Showing posts with label misc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label misc. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

10 Years


Its been 10 years since I went shopping for a new car.  A lot has changed.  I realized my taste in cars has also changed.

I purchased my Expedition in 2005 and the following year, they changed the body styles for the Ford SUV's.  Instead of the large box, they made them sleeker.

I never like the new style so I stayed away.  I paid off my Expedition and kept driving it.  It was the first car I've every driven that I never wanted to give up.  It never required any major repairs.  I changed the brakes a couple of times and the tires when needed.  Got the oil changed and basic services at required intervals.  The perfect car.

And then I got an itch.  I pulled up next to the new Explorer and I totally wanted it.  I think my Expedition knew what I was thinking.  Immediately, things went wrong.  The motor on the back passenger side window stopped working.  Someone hit the side view mirror while I was parked at work and cracked it.  Someone bummed into my front and dented the corner.  The defrost didn't really defrost anything.  The AC needed work.  We started adding up the cost to repair some of these things and realized I could put a down payment on another car.

So we did.  I test drove several cars including the Explorer XLT and the Nissan Xterra.  Both cars I really liked but the Ford won out in the end.  I wasn't impressed with the Nissan guys and they were trying to get me to buy a car in a color I didn't like.  I tried to explain to them that I wanted a specific color.  Nope, they kept trying to get me to take the silver Xterra.  In the end, I walked out and went to Ford.  They've been good to me for my last 2 cars and my husbands 2 Fords so we went back.

I sat on the decision for almost 2 weeks before I found my color at one of the dealerships.  It was hard to trade in Big Blue but I did.  I did cry because that was my car.  I bought that car when we started trying for a family.  We were looking for 2-3 kids and I knew I'd need a big car.  (We also bought the big house for the same reason.....)  Turns out, we had 1 kid.  I had a big car and no one to drive around in it.  

The Explorer is the perfect size.  Still has the third row and enough room to fit the hockey equipment.    




 Hello. Goodbye.

 I love the color.  Magnetic.  Not black and not silver.  A dark grey.  Perfect.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

CHA - #1

This was a last minute decision for me.  Someone had an extra pass so I went.  I'm still in limbo with this whole 'do I continue to scrapbook or not?' decision.  As soon as the offer was made to go, something made me go into my scrapbook room and do something.

I cleaned first.  I went through everything and made one HUGE stack of stuff to get rid of.  That felt good.  Then I dug out the bag that contains my December Daily supplies and made two pages.  It felt good.

Then I went to the show.  After seeing a lot of previews online I didn't have the big long wish list I usually have.  I start a Pinterest board for each show with the list of items I want.  I have no list.  I was kind of sad about that because shopping is the best part of this craft sometimes.  The hunt as I call it.  Hunting down the products because you know, not every store carries everything I want so I have to shop locally and online at multiple places to get it all.

I had one day to see the entire show floor and in past years that was not enough time.  This year, it was plenty.  We had so much extra time, we took a long lunch and circled back to see more stuff.  Sad really.

The trends we noticed were:

Gold, gold and more gold.  It was everywhere in the form of glitter and just plain old gold embellishments and foil on papers.  I like it in small amounts so when the entire show floor was blazing gold, it was kind of a turn off.

The other trend I noticed was that the manufacturers moved in different directions this year.  Some booths had little to NO scrapbook product in them.  They have moved to Home Decor and PARTY supplies.  Wha?  There were some booths (Teresa Collins and MME pop out at me) that literally looked like they hid their scrapbook stuff.  Teresa's one line was on the back of the wall where you enter her booth.  So when you walk in, you look at iPhone cases, party supplies, a Teresa Collins Selphy printer and other such stuff.  The scrapbook line was to your back.  And there were no samples.

So while we could make our own tassels and print out pictures and have a Teresa Collins branded phone case - it still shocked me.  The industry took a sharp left turn.  Instead of just downsizing, they went a whole new direction.

With that said, I took pictures of things that *I* personally do want to pick up at some point, even if they are more home decor or party focused.

First booth was We R Memory Keepers.  I've never been a fan of their paper lines but they have some cute embellishments and awesome tools. I could not get to the demo table to see their new Fuse tool (the one that allows you to make your own divided page protectors.  I will however be getting one if the reviews are good.  I like the concept and frequently wish I could do this.  How many times have the divided page protectors been out of stock but you can *always* get the full page ones!


 This is a new home decor/party idea from We R.  I kind of like it, too expensive for me, but I see potential.  These are 24x24 sheets of paper.  And yes, that top one is gold glitter.  You can now purchase templates to cut these large sheets into decorations (see the top picture), envelopes and boxes.  I totally like the box idea because, Hey! its a gold glittered box for your present.  I will not be purchasing this collection just to make gold glittered boxes but I think its a cool idea.


Their new acetate sheets.  Love.  I still miss Hambly and wish they would make a comeback.  I'm still hoarding sheets of that stuff because its just awesome.  I use it sparingly.  But these sheets are pretty cool and I will own some in every color except pink.

Next was Chickaniddy Crafts.  Totally love Heidi Sonbuls work but never really been a fan of her papers.  Too feminine and pastel for me.  But one of her new lines - 365 is a must have!


 Yes, there is a gold sheet in there.  I told you it was everywhere!  But there is teal, woodgrain and black and white stripes.  Ah, some of my personal faves.
 Her other line is a bit girly and thats fine.  I saw a few sheets I would love to have in that collection as well.
 But it was the enamel products that caught my eye.  Did someone say 'RAD'?

More enamel products from the 365 line,  The keys are cool but I really like the triangles.  And the months.  They pointed out that the months are not joined letters, each one is separate.  So you can use them as shown OR use them to make titles.

Teresa Collins was right behind this booth so I popped over there.  As stated above, it was not what I was expecting.  I did see her entire family and after everything she's been through, I love to see that.  Her kids surrounding her.

 More screen prints.  Gold of course.
 She had a line of label booklets with sheets of labels.  Woodgrain ones will be coming to live with me.
 iPhone/iPad cases.  Cute idea but.......  And those gold bags.  More gold.
 This was the one scrapbook line I could see amidst the party and other stuff.  I like it.  A Neutral travel line (my favorite) that you guessed it, contains gold.  I can over look that because its not everywhere in this line.  Just touches of it.
 What I really want is this mini album.  A 3 ring binder for divided page protectors.  I need 100 or so of these.  One for every trip.
 And here we go with the party supplies.  Tassels, tags, letters, banners, and even pre-cut strips to make those rings.  Gold, gold, gold.
So like I said, I can get behind some of the gold stuff because it is a pretty cool color, just in moderation.  But here we have file folders.  In Gold.  My office is so BLAH.  I could *totally* use gold file folders to decorate that.  They would look so awesome against my black desk accessories right?

Moving on.....

Lawn Fawn was in this section as well.  I love pretty much everything they do but I'm so not a stamper.  I wish I was.  But this involves a lot of cutting and coloring.  I was never good in either of those.  But now they have the metal dies for each set.  I spent some money last year on a Cuttlebug and a few die sets and have yet to use them.  So I prefer to sit and stare at all the awesomely cute stamps and cards they make.  Their booth was full of these little cards and I wanted to steal them all.  I daybreak down and purchase a few more stamps sets this year.  I do like them and I've used them on my cards for troops.







Okay, so Heidi Swapp has been around forever and while she has some great ideas, I always question the quality.  I've had some issues in the past.

I stopped to look at her planners.  I do like them, but there are planners everywhere and I can't seem to find one I truly need to have.  I do like the black and white stripes of this one but I don't like the 'guts'.  I will probably buy this and use it as a mini album since I'm all about mini albums these days.

 What I do need are these letters.  Marquee letters.  O.M.G.  I want them for my scrap room.  I've been in it for over a year and the walls are bare.  For a crafter thats unheard of.  I've started hanging things on the walls to make it more personal.  I need something.  My name?  my initials?  Something.  These are smaller than I expected but totally cute.

 She sells her own wash tape stuff to decorate the insides too.  (yes, there is gold....)
 I love the colored lights.  How cool is this?  And my room accent is that blue so it works out perfectly.  I will be getting some of these for sure.
Part 2 of my CHA recap will post tomorrow.  I realize that I found more I 'had to have' once I walked through those doors.  I never should have gone....

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Is he really 7?

Its hard for me to believe its been 7 years.

 Just a few hours old.


2008 - First Birthday


2009 - Second Birthday


2010 - Third Birthday



2011 - Fourth Birthday
Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour

2012 - Fifth Birthday
At our local rink.  The Kings won the Stanley Cup this year so I had the mascot come to the party to celebrate with us.


2013 - Sixth Birthday

2014 -

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Tour of my new room

Its almost done.  I still need to do a few small things and figure out the storage for some new things but for the most part, its done.

 This is a loft area so it is open but its tucked away in the front of the place so its really cut off from the rest of the house.  We put the desk in there for now - it may move later but for now, it works.
 As you walk in, I have my 2x4 Expedit, my old kitchen hutch and then a 2x2 Expedit.

 The top 4 cubes of the Expedit are ALL kits.  A mix of Studio Calico, Cocoa Daisy and Citrus Twist.  This is half of my kit stash.  Right before the move, I purged and got rid of kit pieces I knew I would never use.  Big floral papers and butterfly embellishments.  There was no reason I needed to move them when there was a 75% chance I would never use them.  I used to keep them 'just in case' I decided to make a feminine card but lets face it, my brain rejects anything girlie so they had to go.  Some lucky buyer was the recipient of 20 pounds of excess scrapbook stuff.
 Below the kits, I have a bin that holds all of my twine.
 And my rolls of May Arts ribbon and jute.
 One for my card supplies.  8.5x11 paper, envelopes, cards in progress etc.
 And my Thickers/Sticker Letter bucket.  Another victim of the big purge.  I still have WAY too many but these are all of my favorites.  Tucked on the side are some Heidi Swapp acrylic letter packs and those awesome MME sheets of tiny alphas.  I may have bought extra through one of the kit clubs one month because these are just awesome and they come in multiple colors per pack.
 On the top of the hutch are two Antonius baskets from Ikea.  This is one area I need to work on.  I want to organize and consolidate my Project Life supplies.  I've seen people organize by color and I think thats how I need to do it.  So this is a project for one of those days where I want to play with my craft supplies but may not feel very creative.  For now, the lose items and cards from kits go up there until I can sort.  I will merge my actual PL kits into this when its done.
 Another view of the hutch.......
 Second shelf of the hutch holds magazines and idea books.  The black spiral things are classes.  When I spend the money on a class ( like at Studio Calico or 2 Peas) I print out the pdf's at work and coil bind them.  Plastic covers and all.  I want the contents to stay nice.  Its also a perk of working for a print company.
 The main shelf of the hutch holds a new bin from Target.  It holds my larger sets of stamps in the Avery Elle pockets.  At some point, I may organize and add dividers but I don't have too many now to worry about.  I'm slowly transitioning the larger sets from my Martha Stewart binders (see below) to these pockets.  Smaller stamps will stay in the Martha Binders.
 I'm almost embarrassed to post these two pictures.  The drawers of the hutch hold my extra adhesive.  I must be expecting a strike at the Therm-o-web factory because I purchased a bunch.  You know, when stuff is on sale, you can't resist buying it because, well, its on SALE!  And since I didn't craft for almost 4 months, but saw adhesive deals during that long period, I bought some.  I'm sad because they switched the packaging from the larger green case to the smaller one.  Same adhesive, just less and a smaller package.  And then there is my Glossy Accents addiction.  There is a little joke in my house about me applying Glossy Accents to the walls of the house one day.  My husband is scared whenever he sees a bottle of this lying around because he knows I'm up to no good!
 The side drawers of the hutch hold some fun small stuff.  Its out but not 'out out'.  Not getting dusty in other words.  Top shelf holds Mod Podge, water colors, chalkboard paint etc.
 The middle shelf holds a lot of my wood veneer and lose chipboard.  I have more chipboard in another spot, but this is out of the box/package.  The bowls are from Crate and Barrell.  I wish I had picked up 6 more but the glass containers from Bed, Bath and Beyond work just as well.
 Bottom shelf holds more wood veneer, cork etc.  The other bin is lose ribbon and twine.  I started off buying the twine by the yard and realized I was using it enough to warrant buying the spools.  Problem is, I use the spools and forget this basket.  So its here to remind me  to use it more.
 The 2x2 Expedit next to the hutch holds mostly paper and mini albums.
 On the top from l to r: Cardstock, Pottery Barn tray, Martha Stewart binders.  The Pottery Barn tray was purchased with a gift card.  Someone got me $25 and nothing in Pottery Barn is $25.  They had this one clearance though, tucked away.  It was $30.  It holds my Martha Stewart binders.  I purchased a bunch of different inserts and they hold my stamps.  Those singleton stamps you get in kits or the little 3x3 sets.  For now, there are some 4x6 and 5x7 sets in there but they are slowly migrating over to the Avery Elle pockets in the other bin.  The big blue binder holds more stamps.  Again, a project.  I'm trying to get rid of that and combine everything into the Martha binders and the Avery Elle pockets.
 Below that is my paper.  Another victim of the big purge.  I had two Cropper Hopper rolling file holders full of paper.  In addition, was the paper I kept buying that didn't fit in either one because they were so full.  I liked the file folders because I could file by company.  They are filed in the new Cropper Hopper Vertical storage by company - I just need to find my labeler and label them.  I will be spreading them out a little more as I add in things that were purchased during my 'hiatus'.
The bottom bins hold mini albums and other bits.  Things that don't fit anywhere else.  I also have an addiction to mini albums and tend to buy them.  I hardly ever use them!  I have started though.
 My desk.  At the old house, I have the Linmonn (or whatever) desk with one set of Alex drawers.  During the move, I purchased a second set.  Since I was downsizing on the furniture side but couldn't downsize the same with actual content, I still needed a place to store 'stuff'.  Adding the second set was the best idea.  I have the longest tabletop at 72 inches (I think).
 This will eventually be hung on the wall.  My Michaels white organizer purchased with one of their awesome 50% off coupons.  My washi stash was purged.  I found duplicates of some patterns.  Scary.

I kept the patterns and colors I would work with or have worked with the most.  So much easier.
 My sequin stash.  Still looking for the best organizers for these.  I broke down and purchased the Studio Calico Color Theory sequin packs.  Yikes!  They are awesome and come with 3 different shapes/sizes. Just trying to figure out how best to store them but they will end up in those two holes.
 My other sequin packs and my small mist collection.  I used to have EVERY Studio Calico Mister Huey but found I never used them.  So I sold those off and kept the ones I do use a lot.
 My small wood mounted stamp collection.  These used to hide in a drawer but I left them out so I would use them more.
 My flair box and clips.  Paper clips are in the yellow and green bowls.  Thanks to places like 2 Peas, Freckled Fawn and Websters Pages for creating such cute paperclips.
 Okay, so my flair.  I'm on the DT for the Etsy shop A {Flair} for Buttons.  Man do I love some flair.  I've been a hoarder of flair for a while.  I use them a lot.  My collection is quite large and it grows frequently.  I have another container for misc flair that I get in kits, from purchases etc.  But, ALL of my AFFB stuff goes in here.  I tried to break it down by a category.  Makes it easier to find the kind of flair I'm looking for.   Shelley just added a bunch of new flair to the shop this week.  Some of those sets are on their way to me.

 At the other end of my desk is the Cameo.  I sold my SD and purchased the Cameo.  I'm glad I did.  My SD was nice.  I used it a few times but I felt like the 8.5x11 size kind of stifled me a little.  It collected dust sitting under my old desk.  Not good.  I've since used the Cameo multiple times.  I don't know what it is about the 12x12 size but my brain doesn't shut down.  This is the other reason the computer desk was put in here.
My little DVD player is there too.  I pop in a movie some nights and others I let my iTunes roll on the Mac behind me.
 On to the Alex drawers.  What all did I put there?

Extra cutting tools.  Hole punches, blades for my trimmer, Crop-a-dile etc.  I keep my most used items in a cup on my desk.
 Drawer 1 of 2.  Inks & embossing powders
 Drawer 2 of 2.  Inks and embossing powders
 Extra trimmers and my heat embosser.
 PL kits waiting to be broken up, what few punches I have left (all sold in the great purge) and my Epiphany Crafts tools.
 Other set of drawers holds embellishments.  Some chipboard and lumpy stickers, frames and other doodads.
 More stickers and dimensional things (like flair) and 3D stickers
 Diecuts, tags and journaling cards.  Mostly smaller cards.
 More wood veneer and larger packs of journaling cards.
 Larger chipboard sheets and large journaling cards/papers.
And finally the desk.  Its a work in progress still.  Its the Micke desk from Ikea.
My new room.  I tried to link up anything you may want to purchase.