Hey, it could happen! :)

Gooseggs & Barbells, Fri., Nov. 20

Let's just say ipods and barbells don't go together while walking and looking down at the gym, and I have the goosegg to prove it! I'm actually quite surprised I didn't get knocked out....what a clutz I am! It does feel good to get back on a regular gym routine, gooseggs and all! And, I am enjoying being home, getting my studio put together, and especially cooking. Have found quite a few good recipees for venison on the food network along with a good sausage lasagne. I haven't had time to do anything craft and it's killin' me! Stan and I did get the check-out counter home and set up, and now I'm arranging it. If he has any time this week-end, we're going down to the store to get the 8-ft. slat wall, I have a wall it will fit perfectly on, and I will be so happy to get my paper out and arranged where I can see it. We also got the carpets cleaned, which feels good too. I have tried to sneak in a few flower sets for my etsy shop, but not nearly enough to keep it full, will keep trudging away at that. Will post again when I have something scrappy or creative to share :)

My New Ride, Sept. 29, '09

Well Stan finally broke down and got me my b.day wish (after asking for 10 yrs. :)...and as promised to the boys here it is:

He did ask if he needed to take a wheel off before he left, in case I thought I'd take it out for a joyride....he is petrified I'll have an accident on it (truthfully...I'm a bit shakey on it, and probably won't go out alone at first :) Had a great b.day AND day before b.day...Stan and I went on got my bike, then he had to go see someone in the hospital...then we went out to dinner (because he had a business dinner tonight). Today my sis, Cindy brought me lunch, then hung out here at the store with me....she was just itching to start rearranging things, I just know it (it's in here genes, being the oldest of four). She is coming back Thurs. to help set up for the closing sale...yes, the store is closing. My lease isn't up until the end of Dec., but I want to enjoy the holidays, so I'll probably close at the end of Oct. It's bittersweet....I have loved meeting all the fabulous people that have become friends and remained tried and true to the store, and I will miss them the most (you all know who you are :). Looking forward to cooking, gardening, crafting on my own time. Had I remained busy enough here at the store and been able to secure full-time help, it would be a different story...I've loved having the store and doing what I love and sharing it with others, but I really do need some time off, and I need to take care of my health and be with DH!!! :) Before I close the brick and mortar store for good, I will be chaning to a Blogger account, but I will let you know what my new blog addy is, I will for sure keep sharing paper crafting ideas and projects! Take care and have a good night :) Suzie

Camping & Crafting, Wed., Sept. 9, '09 (9-9-09)

We had a great little combo week-end last week-end for Labor Day. Stan took the trailer up to Round Lake on Saturday and I met him up there after work. I brought along some paper crafting supplies to keep myself busy while he was out hunting (I would have gone with him some, had it not been cold, windy and rainy). We have great dinners when we're in our trailer, which we mentioned Sun. when we were eating steak, and fresh cucumbers and tomatos from our garden :), and some pretty fierce games of cribbage! I am not really a 'Halloween' person, and of course a few compaines sent me some of their CHA releases...out of all the lines each company released, they ALL sent me Halloween lines (I would have love to of had some of the other lines, but I shouldn't complain)...anyway, trying to make use of some of the goodies: And this Fall card NOT with Halloween trinkets :) I made the leaves making teeny tiny spiral flowers. And a 'back to school' using a Sande Krieger digital badge, and Silhouette diecut apples: Not much else new here....the boy's are all hunting in the evenings (bow hunting), Stan for deer, Griffin for elk (Seth has both rifle tags, he just got back from a 10 day fire anyway :). Have a great day!

Check out my Slide Show!

Back Home! Tues., Sept. 1, 2009

Good to be back home from Vegas (but I am one of those rare people that could stay down there for a good week :)....laying by a pool all day, walking the strip, and a little gambling with a lot of good food! Seth has been on a fire in the Dalles since early Friday morning. When I talked to him last night he said it was at 1200 acres, and not yet contained. He'll smell just lovely when he does get to come home :) I've had a lot of you asking about my spiral flowers. I actually got a tutorial online from another blogger,and for the life of me, I can't remember who. This is how I do it, though: 1) Cut a square, any size, depending on how big or small you want the flower. The width of the spiral also effects the size (how flat or tall it is). I think in the original tutorial I read it said to draw the spiral...I just start cutting, I like the look of imperfection. 2) To get a different look you can use decorative edged scissors to make the cut. 3) Start winding the spiral up from the outside the, play with the tightness/looseness to get different looks. 4) When you get to the end leave a small circle as a base to glue you flower down to. 5) I have been using a drop of either glossy accents or any clear-drying liquid glue in the center and smearing around the circle base. 6) Hold the flower in place for a few seconds until it is set...voila'....you're done! Another cuple of layouts I havent added yet: Here is one I haven't added a title to yet: Used my Bazzill stitching template for the circles, and my Silhouette for the fern cutouts. Griffin and his dog, Remi. And one of Seth fishing: And a few of my 'Perfectly Imperfect' flowers, hadn't made any in awhile, and I was missing it: That's all for now...getting ready to do some scrapping, have really had the bug (I just need to get the memory cards from my kids and Stan :) Have a wonderful Tuesday :)

~On My Way Out To Vegas~ Aug. 26, 2009

So excited to finally be getting away for a short vaca....Stan, Ashley and I are going to Las Vegas for a few nights to celebrate my 2nd cousin, Gayle's 80th birthday. We were all supposed to go, but the boys couldn't get off work. I'm really looking forward to being at the pool with hot temps (and, of course, the fun night life we'll have :). And, I'm ready to be away from the store for a few days..... Let's see, what have I been doing...Stan and I had our 30th (yes, we're that old) class reunion...it was good to see so many people that we don't regularly see. We got our usual award of being married the longest....28 years (yes, we got married young). What else??? We've done a lot of going out in the trailer to lakes and fishing....I got my first taste of 'big' fish...still couldn't figure out how to actually hook one and get it to shore....Stan got some nice ones though. Seth was able to join us one night. Creating....have been doing a few things: Isn't that rear view of our dogs nice??? :) Oh, and I really like this one of th kids...even though, Griffin is cheesing, and looking like a total redneck...with his broken front tooth.... Yep, I'm still into the spiral flowers and paper frills...they add so much dimension to a page. Not much else new here, it's warm, which I love, wish I could be out in it....thinking about nurturing more flowers in the future..... Have a great week-end ~ Suzie

Wed., July29, '09 & Slightly Addicted to Creating Flowers

It's been awhile, I've totally been a 'blog slacker' this summer. I've been totally addicted to a few things, both creatively and outdoorsy :) In the paper crafting world, first I was obsessed with finding an on-line tutorial to make these spiral flowers (just after being obsessed with pinwheel flowers :): Those are photos of Ashley and I both at the age of 3, I find our resemblance uncanny! I used old bookplate for the flowers (a little bit fragile), I even accidentally stepped on one and flattened it, and like the results. Here's another using the spiral flowers: 'Our Little Teacher,' Ashley's first two years of teaching pictures in Pheonix. I added some mulberry flowers in the spirals of this flower. Have still been digging my Silhouette machine big time :) How cool are those antlers? Love them, perfect for my little (big) shed hunter, Seth! The curled ribbon, I made just like you do curling ribbon on a gift package, only out of scrapbook paper. Then this: The border on this was made with my Silhouette I pop-dotted the stars on this....Griffin & Seth at Smith Rock. OK, I got my fishing liscense this summer for the week-ends we go camping (we're trying to camp around Bend, so I can come and go more quickly to and from work). We've gone to Paulina Lake the last few times, and I have kept poor Stan busy with baiting my line (I try, but I really can't do worms....they're just little snakes in my mind, and he's so good about it). Yes, they were little tiny fish we'd let go, but I love the thrill of reeling them in....Stan is the only one that catches the big guys, he catches the grandpas, I catch the grandkids :) Had a little emergency surgury last Monday....wish I could count how many times I've had to literally call Stan from surgery room. Bertie, my nurse, went to access my catheter, and I felt a burning and felt a 'pop.' I think my leg going straight up and an 'ouch' was a dead give-away...she stopped flushing immediantly and said, 'what???? I'm not doing anything else,' which was a good call. I went to get an x-ray, and my catheter had torn apart, with the bottom portion of the line floating around my right ventrical. Went down to surgery right away, told them I wanted to be 'out' as much as possible (I had a horrible experience with the extraction of my last catheter)...well, I never did fall asleep...the Dr. did, however, retrieve the line, get my old catheter out and a new one in place. Needless to say, I was REALLY happy to see Stan and Seth waiting when they wheeled me out. This is my 3rd catheter, my first two both lasted 7 years, which is a good lifetime for them. This one always rubbed on my collar-bone and Seth and I have been playing tennis, the Monday before I had surgery, swung my racket and by the time I got all the way across my body, I felt something pinch horribly, but thought it was just a muscle. I think the catheter line was just wearing out, and that was the last straw....my theory, of course. Anyway, doing good now....Last week was exhausting. I thought I could work Tues., but as soon as I stood up I hd to sit back down...Stan had already called Ashley to work for me. I was back at work on Wed., but didn't feel great. Anyway, doing good now.... Will try to keep this more updated. I'm thinking of changing to Blogger (it's free), any of you that use Blogger, let me know how you like it. Take Care ~ Suzie

Seeing & Hearing Thunder & LIghtening ~ June 11, 2009

We've had some pretty severe thunder and lightening storms here in Central Oregon...so much so that a few times I actually jumped when the thunder sounded..it was SO loud! We've got Seth back for the summer from college, so far, I think Griffin will arrive tomorrow (he's not too happy with Seth, he said he had to stay at school an extra day to clean, since Seth 'just left.' I had to remind him that Seth had to leave because he started work today for the Oregon Department of Forestry for his second summer. They are both in their twenties...but call me a sucker...I still like having my kiddos around :) I've been so good this week...gone to the gym every day but MOnday (it was a hospital day)...I figured 30 minutes was better than nothing, right? Speaking of the hospital...there was another patient in the infusion room Monday who also gets IVIG....although her's is a little different, it has different antibodies in it to protect her organs (she is a liver transplant patient), and mine are antibodies for my immune system...but still, this made me sit up...she said she was going to to start a new regiment of shots of IVIG....I can't imagine how freeing that would be..not to have to go to the hospital twice a month for 8 hours!! I need to make an appt. with my neurologist to see if the shots are available for my form of IVIG! I'd be exstatic after going to the infusion room for 21 years! I've really been using my Silhouette lately...making some fun things: Both the tree and word background were cut from the Silhouette. I stitched around the edge and stitched the hearts together for a symbolic touch :) The trees and title were cut with the Silhouette on this layout, I pop-dotted the second tree to give it dimension. It's sure been nice using it...and I must say, their customer service is unsurpassed...they will bend over backwards to make sure you are happy with your product! Have a great day :)

I Think Summer Has Sprung!! May 27th, 2009

What a beautiful Memorial Day week-end we had! The weather was perfect for camping (even if I was only in on it for one night and day :). I know the boy's had a great time at Antelope Resevoir scouting, fishing and hiking. When I got there Sunday night, Stan had a great concoction brewing over the campfire in his Dutch oven....pork ribs with a sauce he made with pineapple...the meat fell your fork, it was soooo good! I saw a turkey when I was driving in, so Seth and Griffin and I went to look for it (Griffin has a turkey tag)....but to no avail...just a little hiking, and I spotted a herd of deer, which we tracked down. Stan and I hiked around the resevoir Sunday while he did some fishing after the boys left and headed back to school. As for the rest of the week-end, I was here at the store working, then home and got some scrapbooking done! I'm in love all over again with my Silhouette, now that it's all fixed...the tree, leaves and text background for the photo are all cut from it. And I also finally figured out how I can use some of the cool digital elements that so many talented people have created on my layouts and still me a 'paper' scrapper....the the 'I Miss You' layout I used text blocks I think by Sandy Krieger (I'm going to have to figure out how to keep better track of the creators). It was fun sitting down and starting and finishing a layout in one single night...rather than letting it drag on for days :) Getting ready to go have a glass of wine with my sis, then home and hopefully Stan hasn't seriously injured himself in softball....last week he came home with a pretty bad shoulder..I'm not so sure it's any better.....men, stubborn about their injuries :)

Leason Learned; Print My Own Pics! May 15, 2009

I wanted the pics from last week-end right away, so I could scrap them at our crop tomorrow night....well, as luck would have it, I was out of ink in BOTH my printers here at the store. I went to Target and printed them out....hmmmmm, not really happy with the results. I found that I really like to go beyond the regular size prints, change colors, etc...you can't do that at Target. I'll count it as a lesson learned! Getting excited for the crop tomorrow night, we have a VERY full house, and it will be a blast. I think Stan is coming to 'work' the store, that should be interesting (just to see if he can make it past 11:30pm + the clean-up time :). I have really been pulling out a bunch of 'old' stash items, and using things that I have been avoiding for so long, like my stamps (even some of my rubber-mounted ones), sewing machine and some old chipboard and rubons I've had forever....amazing how they are still so functional!! Just a few more of my 'bits & pieces' tags.... Have a wonderful Friday! It's supposed to be nice and warm here!