Happy Sunday!

I belong to a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) group through Papertrey website. http://www.papertreyink.com/. And the way it works is you send random homemade cards to others who have signed up as well. It's just kind of a fun way to practice using your stamps and that the cards will be received by someone who is appreciative of the work and fun it takes to create a homemade card. Well, I received my first ever RAK card this week from a girl named Kelsey who lives in TN. It was such a nice surprise to find it in the mailbox. Here is a picture of the great card she sent.

Then this weekend I went to the mailbox and there was another RAK card. How cool is that??? I got another great card from Angie in Indiana. It's so fun getting mail from around the country. Plus everyone is just so talented and willing to share ideas and techniques. Here is the card I received from Angie. Papertrey makes such fun stamps that really work well and interchange with each other so easily.

Today I was able to get in my stamp room and play a little bit and made a quick card to send as a thank you to girls who sent me a card. My cards are pretty simple since I never have nearly enough time to play with my stamps as I would like

Here is a picture of the card I made today. Actually the only part of this card that is stamped is the stem and the little "thanks" in the lower corner. The flower is a die cut from "Cuttlebug" dies cuts. It's probably one of my favorite flower dies. There is a little crystal in the center that really sparkles. It doesn't show up too well in the picture.

Tomorrow is back to work. Blah.... I'm so not ready for Monday. Well Tuesday is another chance to win the lottery.

We're Back from the Smoky Mountains

We had a great time and lots of fun. It's funny how K.I.S.A. and I can have such a good time all by ourselves. Once the kids are grown and gone and it's just the two of you again it's amazing how much we like to be together and like doing the same things.

About the trip - I poured rain all the way down and it rained hard. After we checked into our hotel, which was in a great location we went in search for some lunch. We heard the BBQ was great. We found a place called Corky's and both ordered the pulled pork sandwich. It was pretty yummy. The waiter then asked us if we'd like to try some deep fried pickles? Well, we had seen them on the Food Network after all, so we weren't totally oblivious to them. They were awesome and I would definitely eat them again. If you've never tried them, you must. After lunch we decided to go to the Aquarium since it was still raining. What a great Aquarium, lots of cool stuff like sharks and stingrays and assorted other sea creatures that you can get up-close and personal with. Once we were done at the Aquarium, the sun had come out and the weather was perfect. Luckily it stayed that way the rest of the trip. We spent the next few days wandering around Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and the Smoky Mountains and doing all the usual tourist stuff. We even went up in the Tram that is suspended by wires and takes you up the mountain. What a great view of the town we had.

Although we were gone for several days, it was still wasn't long enough. All we talked about on the way home was how we needed to win the lottery so we could just cruise around this beautiful country taking in the scenery and talking to the interesting people we met along the way.

Oh well, no winning ticket this week. It' s back to reality for us.

Today's Stuff!

1. The Good Stuff: We are headed out of town for a few days and boy am I looking forward to it. I haven't had a day off since New Year's Day and am ready for a little vacation time. K.I.S.A. and I will be heading to Gatlinburg, TN for a few days of relaxation, site seeing and hopefully some fun. Plus I will have a chance to play with my new camera.

2. The Great Stuff: I had my review at work today. It turned out to be very good and I'm happy with everything that the boss said. To make it even better, "I GOT A RAISE" on top of maxing out on the bonus amount. The boss even told me to take Monday off as a freebie and not have to count it toward vacation time. I really do work for a very generous company, for as much as I complain sometimes.

3. Just Stuff: So, I will be back early next week and hope to have some nice pictures of the Smoky Mountains to share with you.

2 Posts in One Day

I thought I would share a few cards I made, plus it gave me a chance to try out my new camera.

The last card is an Easter card for my Grandson, I guess it's a bit dark, but I'm learning. The other cards are a Mother's Day card I made using another set from Papertrey Ink stamps. http://www.papertreyink.com/ The set is called "Woman of Life" and I think it's one of my favorite sets. I also used the same set on the third card. I hope you like the cards and I'll be playing with the camera some more so I can get the photography thing down.

I finally bought one!

For over a year now, I've been eyeballing a nice new digital SLR camera. However, they are a bit on the pricey side. I've had an older digital point and shoot type camera for a couple of years and have just never been happy with the pictures it took. (see the Lamb Card in the previous post). Since it is time for the second part of our bonus at work, I thought I would get something for myself and I was good and put the first bonus in the bank to save.

So Friday evening K.I.S.A. (Knight In Shining Armour) and I are grabbing some dinner out and making a few stops when he decides he needs to go to Radio Shack. Well, right next door happens to be a Ritz Camera store. I said "I'm gonna look in the camera store while you're in Radio Shack". He replies, "OK, I'll meet you there". Wouldn't you know it, the camera store is running a big sale that starts on Saturday morning. One of the camera's I've been looking at is going to be on sale, plus it comes with a nice camera bag, several extra goodies and a $50 gift card too. I do have to say the sales girl, Carol, was very helpful and really taught me a lot about the camera I was interested in as well as a few others. My biggest concern with buying a digital SLR is ease of use. My fears were soon alleviated as I was soon snapping away with the store model. Since the sale doesn't start until Saturday, I walk out with nothing, but Carol does offer to hold a camera and sales gifts for me.

Saturday morning, I'm up early and ready to head to the camera store as soon as they open. I'm there shortly after 10:00 am. After learning about filters, downloads and free classes I'm out the door and on my way home with my new Nikon D40X camera. It is a beginner SLR camera, but heck I'm a beginner and we all have to start someplace. I do have to say, that I really am happy with the camera and it truly is easy to use. I feel that I can do some advanced things with it already. Hopefully in the next few days, I'll be able to post a picture or two taken with my new toy.

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.

T.G.I.F.

So glad it's Friday. Even better because it's payday!

Today, I thought I'd share a card I made with you. I'm going to a baby shower today at lunch for one of the girls here at work. She is having a girl next month.

On this card I used some stamps from my favorite stamp company, Papertrey Ink. http://www.papertreyink.com/ Three different sets were used. "My Punny Valentine" set was used to make the lamb head and legs. "Year Round Puns" was used for the sentiment on the little tag. The tag was cut from a set of mini tags from Cuttlebug dies. The third stamp set I used was "Polka Dot Basics" at the bottom of the card. The lamb's body was cut out of some fuzzy type paper I've had for a long time. I used the Mavy Uchida Mega Scalloped Oval punch. The ribbon is just some I had in my stash and the brown ink is also from Papertrey. It's Palette Ink in Burnt Umber. Hope you like the card. (Sorry the photo is not better).

Happy Thursday!

Actually, Thursday is my lease favorite day of the week. I would really like to just skip over it and go straight to Friday.

Another boring day here at work. Actually, I do work for a very good and generous company and most of the people are pretty good to work with, it's just that I hate spending so much time here. Really wish I could just work part time, but I don't see that coming for at least another 7 or 8 years.

By the way, I did receive my Borders coupon in my email today. So I'll either run over there after work today or tomorrow.

On to how I met my Knight In Shining Armour (KISA), if you're not interested you can just skip over it.

It was a cold and snowy Saturday morning (January 1994). The boys were spending the weekend with their dad. (that is a whole separate story). I ended up going to meet some girls I knew for an early lunch. While we were having lunch they told me they needed to go out to a bar in Waterford to pick up a trophy that had been won earlier in the week. The trophy was for playing darts. Electronic Darts was huge, with leagues all over town. I decided what the heck, I didn't really have anything else to do so I decided to go with them to pick up the trophy.

When we got there another big Dart Tournament was going on. I sat down at a long table with a group of people that my friends knew. I sat right across from KISA, he was playing in the tournament that day. We were talking on and off during the afternoon, only to find out he thought I was "with" the girls I came with as they were a lesbian couple. This was something I was definatly not interested in, nor had the thought ever crossed my mind. However, I guess I could see how he could have assumed it. I thought the idea was very funny and laughed about it with him. When it was time to leave, I got up to go and he continued with the tournament, we said good-bye and that was it.

To be continued.....

Hump Day!

Another boring work day. I guess I really shouldn't complain, since I do have a good job that pays very well and there are so many people out of work right now. However, this is my blog and I can do anything I want on it.

On to other things.

1, How come Borders Books sends me coupons every week and I rarely use them? Today I want to get something at Borders and guess what? You guessed it! No coupons so far this week. Maybe tomorrow, they'll send one that's good for the weekend.

2. Tonight should be fairly quiet as we don't have to do any running around. I have some yummy lamb chops marinating and they will be ready to throw on the grill when I get home.

3. I'd really like to finish working on the cards I started over the weekend. Maybe I can even take some pictures of them and post them here. Of course, I have to figure out how to do that.

4. My favorite stamp company http://www.papertreyink.com Papertrey Ink is doing their countdown to their March releases this week. The 15th of every month, Papertrey releases some new stamps and product. They start having sneak peaks on the owners http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/ blog on the 10th of every month. Nichole is a marketing genius as well as extremely talented and can get all us stampers in a wild frenzy leading up to the 15th.

5. Another stamp company I use quite a bit is http://www.stampinup.com/us/enu/default.asp Stampin Up. Although since Papertrey began a year ago, I tend to buy more of their line.

Tomorrow I'll tell you about my Knight in Shining Armour (KISA).

My First Official Post

I guess I have now joined the 21st century. My kids accuse me of still living in the last century. Apparently anyone who is anyone must have a blog. This is my first official post to my first official blog. Not sure what course this blog will take at this time, but will most likely be a place to post my artistic endeavours. Artistic you ask? Well, not really but I wish I was and will make an attempt. It may also hold some of my traveling rambling. I am hoping to do a little more traveling as well. Maybe some of my motorcycle trips, car trips, snowmobile trips, boat trips and plane trips. I think that about covers it.Welcome to my blog and hope you come along for the ride.