Busy, Busy, Busy!!

It seems I haven't posted in a while. That's because I've been busy! Yep, you read correctly. I haven't neglected my blog because of laziness, but because of busyness! And while I'd love to post some of the projects I've been working on, I can't because they are Christmas presents and I don't want to spoil the surprise! However, I'd probably be safe as I'm not sure any of my family reads my blog. I don't think I'm gonna make my deadline of having all of my Christmas presents completed and wrapped by December 1st as I've got 3 more quilts and several purses to make. I am teaching a Rag Purse class on December 12th, so hopefully that day I'll get one or two done. DH is off fishing with his dad in the Keys, so I've got plenty of "ME" time, so I'm sure I'll be a sewing "machine"! Oh well, time to get back to work. Toodles! ~Kim

I really am alive!

WOW! I can't believe it's been a month since I've posted! I've been so busy with schoolwork and work I've not gotten a chance. Plus, I'm trying to not spend all waking hours at home on the computer so I can get other stuff done, like actually MAKING something! I've just finished another baby blanket, but have yet to decide who it's going to. I have several baby boys that I can send it to. I decided I'm sick of making blue blankets, but everyone I know has had boys. So finally, I've found out my husband's aunt has a new granddaughter, so I'm making a blanket to send out to her. Of course, I'm only working on it at breaks at work, so 20 minutes a day isn't making much progress! I have two more boy blankets to make. Hopefully I'll find make the time to work on it.

My husband and I have been house hunting for the past few months and yesterday we made an offer on a home. I like it, but I'm trying to stay calm about it, and not get disappointed if the offer is rejected. If it's accepted, we will be getting a great home at a great price. I'll talk more later about it once it becomes a reality. (But I am already starting to plan my craft room!! I'm sure a trip to Ikea will be in my not so distant future!)

Well, I guess I'll wrap this up. I'll try to take some pictures of some cards I've been working on tonight or tomorrow. I've got a test tonight and need to study my behind off so I can get a good grade. It's funny, when I was younger, I didn't care what kind of grades I made, but now I am striving for A's. Guess it's a maturity level thing! Toodles! ~Kim

Imma Big Fat Liar!!

OK, so I haven't organized a thing. NOTHING! My stamp/craft/catch all table is still a mile high with clutter. I haven't made any cards for my giveaway winner, and over all I just suck. I don't see how all of these bloggers in the blogging world make daily posts along with daily cards?!? Maybe they do not work full time jobs and that allows them to be creative during the day? Or maybe they are just more motivated than me? (That is probably not too far from the truth!) And I've stopped spending all of my free time searching other people's blogs for ideas that never come to me. I haven't stopped knitting though. That does take a lot of my time, but I'm wanting to get all of my projects done before my friends have their babies! I just can't knit fast enough!

So, my plan for this weekend...1.) Get my office straightened up so I can set up my craft room. 2.) Clean off my craft table and move it into office and get everything organized. 3.) Try to talk my husband into building my ribbon/stamp rack that I've envisioned for quite a while. 4.) Make cards for giveaway winner and some to have on hand for me. 5.) Make birthday cards for my sister and one of my friends. 6.) Finish my project for my friend in Utah. 7.) Rest. Hopefully I'll not decide to jump straight to 7 and be done with it. I'll probably be going to see my parents on Sunday, so the hour drive each way will be good for knitting. And I'm sure I'll knit while I'm there, cause that's what I do!

I'm feeling very motivated right now...too bad I'm at work today and can't get my house work done...blah...

OK, my break is over...must get back to work. I'll make a post later and show you my lovely anniversary/valentine's present from my hubby. There's a story to go with it, so it deserves a post all to itself! Thanks for reading! ~Kim

I really am still alive!

Wow, it's been a month since I've made a new post! My laptop is completely out of commission right now, and I can't stand to sit at my desk for very long. Plus, all of my photos are on my laptop, so I couldn't show anyone a project if I wanted to.

I had a wonderful Christmas! I got to see all of my loved ones that I had not seen in a very long time. I got some cool gifts from family members. My parents gave me a Cricut, which I am too excited about. I have gone home every night this week and made a card. I'm making that a challenge for me this year. Make something every day. I probably won't post every day, but I'm gonna make something every day, whether it be a card or some other kind of crafty thing. I really need to start scrapbooking again, but I just haven't wanted to lately. I haven't felt up to it. If I could scrapbook from my recliner with my cornbag on my back, I'd be in luck (especially since I'm not wasting all of my time on the computer!) Man, I really miss my laptop! I bought a new cord for it because I thought that was what was wrong with it, but it still won't hold a charge or start up. So, I think my next step is to buy a new battery. And if that doesn't work, then I'm going to have to try to find someone around here who works on macs. Grrr...I don't wanna have to do that, but whaddya gonna do?

I got sidetracked while talking about my Cricut. My inlaws gave me this cool digital frame. If I ever get my laptop up and running, I'll be able to put some photos on my small memory card and bring it to work so I'll have it on my desk. But until then, it sits at home. I also got some cash from my inlaws and from my Nanny, which was awesome. They will fund my addiction, um I mean hobby of crafting! (Or either pay to get my computer fixed...grrr...can you tell I miss my computer?)

Well, I need to get back to work. Thanks for reading! ~Kim

To My Friends in Africa

Michael and Joe Joe are missionaries in Tanzania Africa. (You can visit their blog here.)When I heard this group and their version of 12 Days of Christmas I thought of them. So, here's wishing you guys a Merry Christmas and hope everything is going well for you and I hope you are touching a lot of people and spreading the word of God.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know I did! We went to my mom & dad's house and the whole gang was there. We sat around socializing until chow time. Then, we all got our grub on. I wanted to eat soooooo much, but my little stomach wouldn't allow me to. Dang it! It's days like this that I get upset with myself that I had so little self control and willpower that I had to have surgery to lose weight in the first place, cause then I'd be able to enjoy more food. Of course, that's not really a healthy way to think. Oh well, I'm a work in progress. After everyone ate and all of the food was put up, we broke out the Wii. Jason and I bought one last spring and thought it would be fun for the whole family to play. My mom and dad even liked it. She's talking about buying one for her and dad as their Christmas present to each other! I told her good luck finding one! I had to stand in line for a bit to get mine, but it was well worth it! All of the kids love it, and it was so fun watching them have fun. We didn't get home until after 11 pm. Poor Lucy Dog couldn't wait to go outside. She even skipped her food just to go walk. If she hadn't of been waiting for us, we probably would have stayed longer! Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Tomorrow is going to be a day of prepping for my day long Stamping/Scrapping/Cardmaking Day. I'm not gonna do much, if any Scrapping, but lots of stamping and possibly some cardmaking while I'm at it! I've got lots of Christmas presents to make. Well, I must go to bed. I's a tired girl! Kim

I'm a Complainer...

OK, so after I made my last post...yeah, a few minutes ago, I realized that I was thinking about a bunch of stuff I was gonna complain about as I was making Dinker's card. I hate, absolutely HATE the new stamp cleaner I bought from the local scrapbooking store. I've used up all of my SU! cleaner, and I was impressed by the price of this stuff (less than $4 maybe) and the fact that it had a "bubble gum smell." EEKKK! It doesn't smell like bubblegum. It smells like crap! And it doesn't clean worth a darn! (I'm a little nutty when it comes to cleaning my stamps. I want them to look new...I wish I was this nutty about keeping my house clean!) So, I guess I need to just go back to the SU! cleaner and be done with it. I've even tried rubbing alcohol and I didn't like it either. I do think I'm gonna get some Staz-on cleaner so I can get the white staz-on off my snowflake stamp. That white Staz-on won't come off for anything!

What else can I complain about...stamp cleaner, check. Nothing that says "Happy Birthday," check. Oh, I got something else. I've been trying to make some stamped ceramic coasters. So, on try #1, they looked absolutely gorgeous! I stamped them with Staz-on, colored them with my classic ink spots and sprayed them with ceramic matte sealer. After testing with a glass of ice water, I was able to scrub the image off. Now, I was scrubbing hard. First the color came off. Then the Staz-on came off too. So, try #1, not a success. Try #2, I stamped on the image with black Staz-on, and then colored in with sharpies (as I've read to do that somewhere). Hated the way it looked. Yep, it may be permanent (I didn't do any testing) but it doesn't look anywhere near as nice as the first set did. I haven't done anymore testing as I was frustrated by this point. I need to do more researching. I've read where baking them works, but I'm just afraid that if I use my classic ink spots, whether or not I bake them won't make a difference. If anyone is reading this (other than my non-crafting, motorcycle riding friend Mikey...hi Mikey!) and knows what I need to do before I waste anymore tiles, please let me know. This was gonna be some great Christmas presents for family and friends but now I'm not feeling them at all.

One last thing to complain about. My laptop is dying. OK, so maybe not dying, but something is definitely wrong with it. Something to do with the power supply. At first I thought it was just a faulty plug. It's kinda torn and it seemed I had to hold it in a certain spot sometimes to get it to charge. Well, now that doesn't work. I made an emergency trip up to Radio Shack Saturday night to see if they had a new plug. He tried another plug and it still wouldn't charge, so he said I needed a new battery. They wanted me to pay $150 for a new battery. I don't think so. Especially when I can get it from the apple store online for way cheaper. But I'm not even sure if that's the problem. On Saturday night, it died completely. I plugged it back up and just left it all day. Yep, me, all day without my computer. I didn't even come in the office and get on this ancient desktop that I'm on now (it's not really ancient, just not liking it so much as I can't sit in my recliner and type...plus one of the shift keys isn't working and I'm having problem using caps on my left hand...and yes, I'm so anal that I'm making it work, even using the wrong hand...anal girl here...wow, it just started raining HARD here...) OK, back to topic. So yesterday, no computer until last night. Keep in mind, my iBook was off all day yesterday with the power cord plugged in. I start it up, the battery is fully charged. WTF is up with that? Oh well, I used it last night and part of this afternoon, until it died again. It seems it will only charge if the thing is turned completely off. So, that's what is happening right now. I had started this post around six but as I was laying in bed trying to get to sleep, I realized I had a draft waiting for me. And since I know I have one faithful reader (hi again Mikey!) I wanted to finish it.

We went to my friend's birthday party tonight and had a good time. Her 12 year old was flirting with me like crazy. I didn't realize they started so young! Gave my self confidence a little boost! OK, so I'm old enough to be his mother. I get it! Now if I could just get the college kids to flirt a little...nah, just kidding! I'm perfectly happy with my hubby!

OK, I don't guess I have anything else to complain about right now, other than the fact that I need to go to sleep and I'm not sleepy a bit. I was about to fall asleep earlier but kept pushing myself to read this book from the library because i need to return it, but once I finally woke up enough to read it, well, here I sit! I guess I'm off to look for more ideas for Christmas presents to make since the coasters might not work out. thanks for sticking with me! ~toodles! Kim

Procrastinator's of the World, Unite...Tomorrow

OK, so I admit it...I'm a procrastinator. I've had all weekend to make a birthday card for my friend, but yet, I wait until 2 hours before I need to give it to her. Could I have waited any longer? However, in making this card, I've discovered something. In all of the supplies I've purchased over the last few months, I've yet to purchase anything for birthdays. I've got something that has a cupcake, something that says let's party, but nothing that says just...Happy Birthday or even Birthday Wishes! It was way easier when I had like fifteen of my friend's stamp sets, but I had to give them back (she wasn't asking for them but I was starting to feel a little guilty). But now, since I had to make something other than Thanksgiving or Christmas cards, I realize I need to buy more stuff. Great! (for me, but not for my checkbook!) Here's the photo of the card I just made. Not my best work, but worked in a pinch! (I had the background pre-made from when I had Jessica's stamps...one good thing about making stuff in mass!) Thanks for looking!



Inside:

WOW, lot's of hits and other ramblings!

OK, so I know it's just because of the giveaway, but I've had a TON of hits over the past few days! I hope some of the people who came for the giveaway stuck around to look over some of my random ramblings! Sometimes I actually have something to say. (This isn't one of those posts though! This is an I'm up too late and can't sleep post!)

My nephew is here visiting this weekend. His sister was supposed to be here too, but she had better things to do than gang out with old Aunt Kim. She had a football game to go to with one of her friends. A High School Football Game. She's 10. She said she goes to almost all of the football games, because her friend's brother plays, so they get to go. Nope, it's not about the game itself. It's all about the socializing. I understand. That's not what I did when I went to football games, but that's because I was a band geek and was sitting up in the stands having fun with the other band geeks, or performing during half time. I know I wasn't even AT the games when I was 10. Heck, I don't know if I even wanted to go at that age. But, times are different now. (crap, I sound like my mom) I also can't imagine needing a cell phone at the age of 10, but she's DYING for one. No, not because she needs to make calls or anything crazy like that. She needs it to download ringtones and take pictures. She also wants to add "bling" to it. She even said she couldn't wait until she could get a job so she could buy a contract cell phone, cause they were way cooler than pre-paid phones. whatever. I just think it's ridiculous! Oh well, I guess that's just be getting old and being old. I asked my nephew if he'd rather be at the ballgame and he said no. Too much trouble that he could get into. When I asked further, he said there was nothing to do at the ballgames (I guess watching the game is no fun) but get into fights or get in trouble for making out (ummm, what, he's not even 14 yet!). Now, this really surprised us. He said if you were caught making out at a ballgame, you got 20 days of alternative school! 20 DAYS! Jason said the teachers who made those rules were probably the ones making out when they were in school, then changed it and said they were the ones who WANTED to be making out at ballgames but weren't. Honestly, I don't remember any making out going on at ballgames, but again, I was in the band, so who knows what the other kids did!

Jason took the boy out fishing today. They caught over 40 fish. None of them keepers though, even though they were given specific instructions by me to bring home dinner. (We ended up going out!) They did catch two fish that they didn't know what they were. I asked if they asked the fish what it was, but they didn't think that was too funny!

Well, I guess I'm getting sleepy and should go. Tomorrow is the big draw for the giveaway. I was gonna wait until midnight to draw, but I think I wanna cut it off sooner, so i can notify the winner and get started on the cards. Anything to put off finishing my own Christmas cards. I did a few last night. Couldn't get into it. need. some. mojo. NOW! OK, later! Kim

It's Official...I suck!

OK, so I thought this blogging thing was going to be easy. See, cause I'm ALWAYS on my computer, and I'm ALWAYS doing some kind of craft. So, why wouldn't I be making LOADS of posts? PURE LAZINESS! It's much easier just reading everyone else's blogs and getting great ideas and signing up for some wonderful blog candy. So, here is my resolution. Tomorrow after work, I'm going to come home and take photos of the latests cards that I've made (could be quite a few!) and hopefully get them posted before I go volunteer. (I volunteer at The Angel Clinic. It is a free clinic for people in my county who are employed but have no health insurance. I work in the pharmacy filling prescriptions. It gets pretty boring, but it's such a worthwile cause. I haven't been in several months, but need to get started again!) Anywho, I will get those photos posted before I leave, and then once I get home, I'll either try to create a card, or possibly put up some goodies...Can't decide whether or not I've got some good stuff for candy...Keep checking back! Toodles! ~Kim

Happy Birthday to ME!

So, today is my 33rd Birthday. WOW! Who'd of thought I'd live that long? Not me, that's for sure! But this has been one of the best years of my life! Yesterday, I went to my hometown to visit all of my grandparents and my mom. The first person I went to see was my Nanny! I haven't seen her since Christmas, and it was good catching up. Here is a photo of Nanny and Me.



Then it was off to Grandma & Grandpa A's. I haven't seen them since Christmas 2005. They have not seen me since surgery. My grandpa didn't recognize me! I do get that alot, so it wasn't unexpected, but it was funny. Here's a picture of me, Grandma & Grandpa!



Then I went to see my PawPaw. He lives next door to my mom, so I see him pretty often. I didn't until he moved down to this house. I don't have a picture of him and me from yesterday, but here's one from Memorial Day.



Here's a photo of me and mommy! She was a trooper. After visiting everyone, I drug her around to Michaels, Hobby Lobby and World Trade Market. She hates shopping, but since I was driving, it was either go in or sit in the hot car, and she didn't want to do that. She told me as I was leaving that she had fun and next time we'd have to go shopping for clothes. I need all the help with clothes that I can get! I'm not used to being able to choose what I want to wear. When you're fat you pretty much have to take what you can get!



Hope everyone is having a great weekend! UGH! It's almost over...boohoo! Toodles!

I fall down and go BOOM!

So, yesterday started out good enough. It was Friday, getting ready for the weekend. I love Fridays, even at work, cause I know the weekend is coming. And all day Friday, I was looking forward to the weekend. I was going to Paducah, to get a massage from my aunt who just graduated from massage school and go pick up my 10 year old niece to spend the weekend with me...she's my mini-me or my sister from another mother. For the first 7 years of her life, my mother called her Kim so much and then said her name (Sami) she finally said, "Nanna, my name is Sami, not Kimsami! Anyway, I went to Paducah, and got my massage. It was very good! Very relaxing. So, I'm leaving my aunts and as I'm walking to my car, I trip on the sidewalk and fall. I do believe in the phrase "The bigger they are, the harder they fall" because it wasn't as bad as it could be. But it wasn't fun either. I trip, try to catch myself. My left elbow, right knee, right shoulder and left side hit the ground, but not before my face (right side, cheek and forehead) hit the tire of my car and the pavement. As I'm falling, I'm cussing, way too much. My keys fly out of my hand, under my Explorer and across the other side of the car. Finally, after all of the commotion, I roll over and start to cry a bit. Yep, I'm a big baby when I get hurt. The first time I ever hurt myself in the presence of my husband, he looked at me really weird and said, "I've never seen anyone cry when they get hurt." He's seen it happen enough now that he's used to it, as we've been married now for seven years. Anyway, my aunt's neighbor comes over and asks if he can help me. I tell him I fell and he said he heard me...must of heard me swearing! So I ask him to go get my aunt. She comes out, freaks a little bit and wants to take me to the ER. I go get cleaned up, and realized I'm ok, just shook up and feeling a bit stupid and REALLY clumsy! So, here's the pic. It doesn't do my face justice though, as the flash isn't capturing all of the bruising and scratches. My glasses nearly broke on my face. I think the scratches on my cheeks and eyes are from my glasses. I have bruising on my forehead from the tire. I've got a skinned elbow and knee and a bruise on my stomach and shoulder. And I felt like a mac truck ran over me. So much for the benefits of the massage!



So I go to my mom's and pick up my niece. My mom is worried and thinks I need to go to the ER. The only reason I would even THINK about going to the ER is so I could get some good drugs! But, I didn't really need any, so I said no way! Then, Sami and I went to Hobby Lobby to start our weekend of crafting! We've had a good weekend so far. She's busy playing the Wii right now. We've gone out to eat twice today. I was good both times, as we shared a meal each time. We went bowling tonight, and she just can't get enough. She did some scrapbooking this afternoon, but I was hurting too bad and wanted to sit on my corn bag, so I just talked her through some stuff. She's scrapbooked before, so she didn't need much help! I think she's having a good time.



At the bowling alley, they have these machines that have stupid stuff in them. I found one that had "Hillbilly Teeth." After I got a super cool pair, Sami decided she needed them too. She is, after all, my Mini-me. Jason's getting tired of both of us, especially with the teeth! He finally said, "Take the teeth out if you're both gonna talk!" We just laughed!

First Post

OK, so I didn't really create this blog to be anything about reality shows...more about me and my obsessions. Once upon a time it was reality shows. I've dreamed about being on a reality show ever since the first Real World came out in the 90s. I've even applied to a couple of reality shows...only to be...wait for it...Rejected. Right now, my current obsession is rubber stamping. It should be scrapbooking, because I have a ton of photos to scrapbook, I have all of the supplies I could ever need. I'm just not inspired to scrap. Unfortunately, I'm wanting to stamp. I do not have the inspiration or ideas to stamp, nor do I have all of the supplies to stamp. I have a ton of paper. I have a ton of embellishments that I've bought for scrapbooking to use. However, I have 3 sets of rubber stamps, along with some misc. stamps I've bought at Michaels. Ok, I can work with that. I have three...count them...three stamp pads. Staz-on Black, Bordering Blue from SU! and some cheap brown stamp pad from Wal-mart. I do have some watercolor pencils from WM that I'm learning to live with until I can get me some Watercolor Crayons. I told my husband, if he really loved me, he could, for my birthday of course, sign up as a Stampin' Up demonstrator so we could get the products at a discount. Why my hubby? Well, I'm a Creative Memories Consultant, and I don't think you can do both. BooHoo! I shouldn't be stressing out over making cards, but I have been! Arghhh! Time for bed! Goodnight, anyone who reads this! I'll post tomorrow the cards I've made. (Total of four! WooHoo!) ~Kim