Carjazi Scraps - Rants of a Buckeye Scrapper

New, new blog

2009-01-15T20:19:00.001-05:00

Just adding an update to let you know where you can find me now.

As of Jan 15th I can be found here. I still maintain this blog for log in capabilities.

Carjazi Designs can be found here.

NEW BLOG SPOT

2008-09-18T10:14:00.001-04:00

Hi all! Lots of times I'm required to sign in to leave a comment with my blogger address. I've moved my blog. You can see the new one here.

Still have boring old cable? No you gotta try DirecTV

2008-05-07T18:35:00.003-04:00

I love having DirecTV service! Through the years I've fought with Cable companies and other satellite Tv companies. They're all the same in my book. Poor customer service is just the bottom line in what prompted my change. Let me tell you the reasons why I love DirecTV.

The first and best thing in my book is the gazillion channels they offer. Yes, you get your local stations. A lot of people think that you don't. In addition to those, you have choices on different packages. But standard package comes with the must haves in my book - Food Network, Bravo, Discovery Channel and ESPN. Now I pay a little bit more but I also get Speed TV which is a must have for Nascar lovers. I also get about 30 music channels from XM music. Great for listening to while cleaning the house.

The second greatest reason for DirecTV is DVR, otherwise known as Tivo (which is a registered trademark and the DirecTV service is NOT Tivo, but I call it that). This is the greatest invention since the Internet. I get to watch one show and tape the other. I can pause, rewind, fast forward. I can tape 2 shows while I'm away from home. I can pre authorize an entire season of my favorite shows to record, that way I don't miss any episodes. DirecTV DVR is awesome.

It's all about choice and DirecTV gives you plenty of them. Football fans, Baseball fans, Nascar Fans it doesn't matter, you can always get all the games or races on a special plan. Prefer an International flaire, DirecTV has that for you too. There are so many packages to choose from. Everyone can find one that fits their likes and their budget. So if you still have regular old cable, break those bonds. Contact DirecTV. They'll get you all set up and you'll wonder why you waited so long.

FYI

2008-05-01T08:14:00.000-04:00

To get freebies and other scrapping news go

HERE

Police gear, not just for officers

2008-04-29T19:36:00.004-04:00

For everything that is sold there is a market out there in the vast world of the Internet. One can find just about anything. I found a site that offers police gear. Not only police gear but also Under Armour brand apparel. It's hard to find that brand at a great price. But LA Police Gear has them online and at terrific prices. And they are offering free shipping with a purchase of $50 or more. Never heard of Under Armour? If you do any work outside, then it's terrific. They have a cold line and a heat line. It works with your body to regulate temperature. Shan has several pieces that he swears by, especially their cold weather gear. In addition LA Police Gear also has other brands and lines including BDU Pants; so stop by and check them out. Terrific prices and a terrific selection.

Get your freebies!!! Templates and more.

2008-04-29T19:33:00.001-04:00

Have you seen the fab freebies I've been giving away at my blog?

Great find on internet coupons for big name retailers

2008-04-27T22:04:00.002-04:00

You know what I love about shopping online? That there are great deals to be found if you know where to look. And I've found this terrific site that I want to share with everyone because it is just full of deals and steals. It's called #1 coupons.com and boy do I wish I had known about it before. They offer discount shipping, special promotions and internet coupons for some of the best known retailers out there. If I had known about this site when I bought my laptop, I could have saved some big bucks. And now that I know all about this site, I'll be checking it out for all my nieces' Christmas gifts, since I order those online anyway just to avoid the stores. But I was tickled pink when I also saw that one of my most fave stores to buy clothes from was also on the list of top retailers who offer internet deals. Now I can order online to get my Levi's since the stores no longer carry them. But don't just take my word for it, click on the link Internet store for deals on laptops, digital cameras, LCD TVs, GPS navigation systems, jewelry, shoes, luggage and more to check it out for yourself.

NSD is coming

2008-04-27T22:03:00.000-04:00

A little history on the Vegas strip

2008-04-25T18:35:00.003-04:00

You know what I love about Las Vegas? Ok, besides all the glitz and glamour, bells and whistles. I love the history behind the city. I love the movies they make about it, I love the docudramas and tv shows. The throwbacks to the old days. The Rat pack and Elvis. The memories. And while the new hotels are fabulous, there's something quaint about the old strip. The Sahara Casino and Hotel is one of those throwbacks. With the rich history dating back to 1959. It's also got the state of the art modern slots and table games. The best of both worlds.

What do most people think of when they think of Las Vegas Casinos? Winning the big jackpot of course. Seeing a show? Maybe one of the terrific comedians who are now running the rooms like Dean Martin used to do. Of course, then there are those people who plan Las Vegas weddings. All of this can be found at an awesome deal at the Sahara. I've been planning our trip to Vegas for the late fall and am really impressed with what the hotel has to offer. Three nights under $250. That's almost unheard of without comps. And knowing what I do about the Sahara, the comps will follow. So if you are looking for a Las Vegas deal, look no further than the Sahara Casino and Hotel for your good time. Remember, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

NSD is coming!!!!

2008-04-25T18:31:00.001-04:00

Here's a hint:

Check back for more hints throughout the week.

Looking for credit fixes and bad credit credit cards?

2008-04-22T19:39:00.003-04:00

Less than perfect credit? Need a new start after years of trying to get bad credit off your credit report? Don't know where to start to reestablish your credit? I have a terrific place for you. It's call Bad Credit Offers and it offers a place to compare not only bad credit credit cards, but also home and auto loans. Are you looking to repair your credit and not sure where to start. Well you can also compare the various credit repair sites here too. It's a site that is dedicated to helping you correct your credit woes, find new alternatives to credits and ways to get bad credit loans.

Old Age is a gift

2008-04-22T19:37:00.000-04:00

Old Age, I decided, is a gift.

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometimes despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don't agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend.

I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60&70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will. I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.
They, too, will get old.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore.. I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free.. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day. (If I feel like it)

International Phone Cards to save you money

2008-04-22T18:59:00.006-04:00

Do you have friends or family that live out of the country? I know that when my aunt lived in Amsterdam, our phone calls were far and few between because it's so expensive to call overseas. Well, since that time, something new and very popular has popped up. International phone cards. And there is a terrific site that can help you navigate through all the different cards to find the one that will work best for you. What's great about this site is it gives you side by side comparison of the different cards and what they charge per minute to call a particular country.
Need a card to let you call Singapore, no problem- how's $.03 a minute sound? Or maybe you'd like to try your friend in South Africa. Rates start at $.015. Or maybe you have family in Mexico, there are over 200 cards to choose from, starting as low as $.01. How can you beat that? You can also purchase your access code online and begin to make calls immediately. It sounds like a win win situation. So if you use International phone card, check this site out. It may save you some money.

New freebie

2008-04-22T18:50:00.002-04:00

Do you want to get this freebie? Stop by here to find out how to pick it up.

Designer fashions for less

2008-04-21T21:49:00.006-04:00

With the price of just about everything going up these days, it's nice to find a good bargain. And when you find a great bargain, you just have to share it with everyone. One great bargain site I've found is Brandlet. They offer well known women's fashions for a steal. Nothing is over $20. You can't beat it. Check this out.

Brandlet offers a variety of well known designer products at a terrific price. Look at this blouse by Liz Claiborne. It's only $10.

Or this skirt by Calvin Klein, it's only $20. Or maybe you'd like to save 75% on a pair of Tommy Hillfinger pants. How often can you say that you've found a great deal like that? Well, if you shop at Brandlet, you can say it everyday. Nothing over $20, nothing, nada.

Well, how safe is it to shop online nowadays? Actually it's much safer. Brandlet uses a secure socket layer technology. You put your card number into your computer. No chance that an unscrupulous sales clerk will scan the numbers. And they'll ship it right to you home. And there's a 30 day money back guarantee. How can you miss.

Water Ballet

2008-04-21T21:39:00.000-04:00

Planning your dream cruise

2008-04-21T20:07:00.003-04:00

So if you could plan your dream vacation what would it be? I have several dream vacations, but the one that is most likely to become a reality is a cruise. Quite often I jump online and check out different websites to see what kind of terrific bargains are going on right now. Maybe one of these days, I'll just bite the bullet and book one. One of my favorite sites to surf for cruise info is Cruise Vacation Center. They have the destinations and itineraries of all the major cruise lines and they also have a great section that has links to the latest on news and articles from different travel magazines. So let me take a minute to tell you about some of the great deals I found today.

Growing up, one of my favorite TV shows was The Love Boat. I always thought how cool it would be to get to take a cruise on one. Well you can. Princess Cruises is the official Love Boat cruise line. In December they have a 7 night Southern Caribbean trip on the Caribbean Princess that goes to Puetro Rico, US Virgin Island, Grenada and Aruba. Doesn't that sound like heaven?

But just a little bit closer to heaven would be the tour of Hawaii aboard the Pride of America run by the Norwegian Cruise Line. 7 blissful nights in the Pacific floating around the island of Hawaii. I don't think I could think of a finer vacation. Except.......How exotic does a cruise to Brazil sound? Wow, that would be a trip of a lifetime. Royal Caribbean International has several exotic locales that they go to. In addition to Brazil, what about Southeast Asia seeing Singapore and Malaysia. Wouldn't that be something to tell your children about. And cruises are so much more affordable nowadays. So learn to dream a little and check out these sites. Plan your dream vacation now, because dreams can come true.

A little lite music for your enjoyment

2008-04-21T19:29:00.001-04:00

Here's a David Cook clip.

Enjoy!!!

Song lyrics and other musical stuff

2008-04-09T03:59:00.003-04:00

I love doing lyric challenges. Rarely can I find them and am in the process of pulling one together for Heather's CT blog challenge. I came across this really cool site while searching for lyrics. And it has lots of other great music related stuff on it. It's called Flametune. I can see this being a boon to musicians everywhere. And with hundreds of bands and thousands of songs, scrappers can make great use of it too.

So I started looking through the thousands of song lyrics. I always like to find those songs that are inspirational to me, but a lot of times the lyrics aren't necessarily great for scrapping or challenges. So instead of looking for a song I knew, I went looking for great lyrics. I was really impressed with the selection of bands and artists that were on the site. I came across some old Van Morrison Lyrics that are just awesome. I really think that the next challenge will be from his song Sweet Thing. Don't know it? Go check out the link. In addition to the lyrics, you can get both the guitar tabs and bass tabs for these tunes by Van Morrison.

And while I would use the site mainly for the lyrics, any musicians out there could go nuts with the hundreds of guitar, bass, drum and even mandolin tabs offered. There's also a community area with forums. You can also get ring tones for your cell phone. I'm really impressed with what they have to offer such a variety of people. Make sure you stop by and check it out.

2008-03-30T10:28:00.002-04:00

Hi all~ I'm over at my new site for awhile. This one will be primarily ads until I can get approved on the other site. Please stop by over there for an update.

New Site!!!!

Visit me there and leave me some loving.

Diane

Still not a lot going on.

2008-03-27T07:47:00.003-04:00

Another short, nothing to say post. Yesterday's weather was gorgeous. The sun shone all day and it hit 60. Today it's raining and will struggle to make it to 40. Springtine in the Midwest. Fun, fun, fun. I feel it in my bones.

I ordered my laptop yesterday. Dude, I got a Dell. Actually it's from the outlet store. It's pink (not my fave color, but it had everything I wanted with a low price). It should be here in about 5 days. Then maybe I can scrap at work. I've never had a desktop so it could be interesting watching me learn how to use it. Shannon doens't know. He'll flip I already know this. But who cares. It's my money, actually my little gift from Georgie B is gonna help pay for it.

I'm working on getting another blog site up. Once I do, for a short time, this one will have the ads back. I really need to work on getting myself back on track for that. Not only does that revenue fund my shopping sprees in the digistores, it's helped pay a credit card bill or two. So keep an eye out for the temporary change.

Ok, gotta run to work. Hope you all have a great day.

2008-03-27T07:37:00.005-04:00

AI or another NSBR post

2008-03-26T07:18:00.003-04:00

Another NSBR post today cuz I didn't have any time to A)scrap, B)find out if anything new is going on in my part of the scrapping world. I'm sure there is, but I'm being a baaaad CT. I want to thank you all for commiserating with me yesterday about my lack of internet access at work. Once again, if you have some great NSBR sites that you think I may enjoy, leave me the address in comments. Barb gave me a great one, but it's blocked at work, which is a bummer cuz there are some BEAUTIFUL photos on it.

Wanta know why I didn't scrap last night? TV. Yep I said it, TV. One of these days the Biggest Loser is going to inspire me so much to get up off the couch and start working out. One of these days. lol. At least I've stopped watching it with a pint of ice cream. Actually, it's been tivo'd because American Idol is gettin HAWT as Randy would say. What, you didn't see it. Well, watch this video. IMO the best preformance of the night and most likely the season.

I liked David Cook from his first audition, when he said that he watched what Chris Daughtry did during his season. Chris is the only AI artist that I've bought music from. I have said a few times that David has out Daughtry'd Daughtry. That preformance was AMAZING!!! As was Elenor Rigby. I think that David will go the same route as Chris. So seeing that Chris was so successful as the loser of AI, I'm really kinda hoping that David doesn't win and has a bit more control over his future. As long as he keeps singing this way, he'll continue to be on stage each week. I thought that Brooke did well, even with her small goof, but like Randy wished she would have either stayed with just the piano or really had the band rock it out and her get up away from the piano to rock with them. (even though she showed she doesn't do that well). I'm really not enjoying Michael Johns as much as I did during Hollywood weeks. Didn't get David A's song at all. Thought that Carly was much better than the judges said she was, but I'm not a fan really. The rest were just ok, not really all that memorable.

So there's my American Idol recap for you. Maybe tonight I'll be able to scrap some. I'm trying to figure out what on earth I'm gonna do when camping season starts. As much as I'm looking forward to it, when am I gonna find time to scrap? Thinking long and hard about a laptop. lol.
Have a great day!

NSBR

2008-03-25T07:19:00.003-04:00

As a many of you know, I have a boring customer service job with lots of down time. The IT dept. has made some pretty major restrictions over the last nine months, which is understandable. So I am always looking for ways to fill the downtime. When I started this job, almost 2 years ago, I spent the majority of my time on Pogo.com playing games. I used to be a Pogo addict. Then for awhile I got in to the SAHM sales games. See how many internet based small companies you can sell from. I think that lasted about 3 months. I had 8 different affiliations for stuffed animals, bath & body products, dog treats, candles, Watkins & it all started with Tupperware. That's how I got introduced to chats. Now the IT guys have them blocked.

Last summer I started scrapping. I had a trial copy of PSE5 on my work computer and was doing pages in my downtime. Well I guess the downloading of design files is what alerted the IT dept and games that were downloaded were against company policy and could end up in termination. My direct supervisor didn't think that my PSE was included, cuz it wasn't a game, but I wasn't taking any chances. So I took it off.

Now I look for ways to fill that time. I used to spend most of the day on different scraping boards. But it seems that things have slowed somewhat in the community. So I found some other interesting sites. I thought I'd share some of them with you. They are mostly blogs, but not on blogging sites. I can however read blogs again, I just can't leave comments on most of them. So that helps kill some time too.

The new season of Top Chef just started back up two weeks ago. Bravo TV has a great website that includes all their shows, but the only one I really watch is Top Chef. After I've watched the episode, I go to this site Top Chef blogs and read over the opinions of not only the judges, but also chefs from past seasons like Harold, Casey, Dale and a new power ranking from Brian Malarkey. There is also recipes from all the seasons. Great site!!

How I Met Your Mother ~ Barney's Blog is a comedic blast. Have loved this show since the very begining. At first is was hard to see Barney not Doogie Howser, but he changed and grew on me. The blog will make no sense whatsoever if you don't watch the show. But if you do, it's hysterical.

Grey's Anatomy; Grey Matter by the writters, The Emerald City Bar blog by Joe the Bartender & Nurses Station blog by Nurse Debbie. Another great way to kill an hour or so. Or catch up on what you've missed or forgotten since the writter's strike started. With new episodes starting back up in a month, this is great place. I really like the writter's blog, often explains what's going on in their mind as they were writting the show.

LOST is my number one favorite obsession. Have loved it since day one. Have a million questions that still haven't been answered. As a matter of fact, I've found that I've forgotten a lot of my questions. This is a wikipedia page. Gives basic info on the show and lists episode recaps from all 4 of the seasons. I've started back with season 1 and reliving my love of LOST.

What are some of your non scrapping sites that you love to visit. Share a good one with me, if I fall in love with a site, I'll share a little lovin with you in the form of a GC. Just leave me the site addy in comments.

Well, it's getting closer to that never popular time of leaving for work. And as always it's later than I thought. Have a good day all!

Monday Monday

2008-03-24T07:19:00.004-04:00

Hope you enjoyed your Easter weekend. It was a quite one here. Mostly lazed around the house. I did manage to get a few lo's done. Sat. was SBB's monthly chat and challenge day. So most of them are for that. Mojo not quite working right, so yesterday I spent time cleaning and purging. Didn't help much. I really need to do a MAJOR purge, but can't. I have 32 GB in my download area (but that also includes photos which got transfered there somehow on my last computer error time). I guess that's not really a lot. I'd say that I need to move all my layouts. I'll bet that's what's eating up my drive space.

Anyway, not a lot going on in my world regarding scrapping. My guest spots are coming to an end shortly. I still have 1 more page I need to do for Cherie, it's in progress. So here's what I got done this weekend.

Credits: Beautiful Soul by Cherie Shields. Flower & Word Art Templates by Birgit Kerr.
Everything by Jofia Designs.

This one was for an ad challenge at SBB. Paper by Cherie Shields, flower sprays by Kim DeSmet & alpha by Birgit Kerr (recolored)

And this one is the last one and probably my favorite. My nephew so hates it when I try to take photos of him. So these are the typical shots I get. Papers by Kiki Halbert, page curl template by Melgen designs & frames by Doreen Stolz.

Typical Monday morning. Running late as usual. Have a great day all!

TGIF

2008-03-21T07:44:00.002-04:00

So glad it's Friday, even if I do have to work tomorrow. Once again, a short post today. It's been a week since I've done a layout. Between having the kids here, mom staying on an extra day and being sick, I just haven't had the time or energy. I need to find some motivation cuz I've got at least 2 CT layouts to do. I'm waiting for the pics from my SIL from the weekend and the links from SBB. I picked up Ztampf! Liquid kit to scrap those with, with a little help from Amanda who gave me a GC a few weeks ago as a rak. I've been in mega shopping mode instead lately. Last week I got some fab things from the Oscraps sale, the CT appreciation kit and misc. other purchases along with 2 kits from my CT obligiations. Hope Shannon leaves me alone this weekend. Feeling a bit more human. It's progressing from throat to nose to chest, which means it's about run it's course. I hope that everyone else suffering can kick it soon too.

If you celebrate Easter this weekend, happy Easter to you all. May all you photos turn out stunning. Enjoy your weekend.

Yea! It's the first day of spring

2008-03-20T07:29:00.002-04:00

This will be a short one today. Still feeling like yuck, but am going into work anyway. The old man is on my last nerve and I'd probablly kill him if I stayed home. Happy first day of spring! Now I need the grass to grow so he'll go back to work.

I wanted to make sure that everyone knows that I can and do read the blogs at work, I just can't leave comments on Blogger or if there is any extra anti robot measures (for lack of a word). I have been trying to get back to leave comments after I get home from work, but sometimes I miss it.

None of the photos that I took with the throwaway underwater cameras turned out. Don't know why. Fortunately my brother took his Nikon and braved the splashing to get some photos. My SIL turned to the dark side somewhat for a minute and did a photobook at Shutterfly. She enjoys her paper time too much to join us completely.

Ok, I'm gonna drag myself into work. Hope you all have a wonderful day.

Trying to get back on track

2008-03-19T06:51:00.003-04:00

Let's see if I can get back into the swing of things here. Where to start? Ok, very little CT news here. I'm winding down my guest spots with Cherie Shields and Kiki Halbert. I have some layouts that I need to finish for Cherie before the end of the month. A few of the designers have personal things going on now, so I don't forsee anything new from them before the end of the month. This weekend coming up is SBB chat weekend. Sure to be some good challenges and giveaways there.

Had a wonderful weekend with the kids. It started off a little shaky with the hotel overbooking and messing up our reservation. We were supposed to have a 3 bedroom suite and ended up in a room with a loft and 2 queen beds. Not good for a family of snorers. I think the only one that slept good on Sat. night was Shannon and that's because he came back home to take care of the dogs. I mailed off a nasty complaint letter yesterday. Other than that, the water park was a blast. The girls loved it and Josh was in heaven, especially when he and uncle Shannon went on the big slides. It wasn't a Great Wolf Lodge, someone had asked about it, but similar. My brother had been to the Great Wolf ones and said that they were a bit nicer. On Sunday my cousin brought her 4 yr old out and she and Emily were just terrific together. I took photos with 2 disposable waterproof cameras, but haven't gotten them developed yet. Here's a few that I took with the digital, most of them were taken in the hotel suite.

She's crawling up a storm already and will most likely be walking within the month.
Some of my favorite pictures were Shannon with Addi. One needs to be photoshoped before I can do anything with it. I hope I can get my actions fixed on my program.
Here's one of Josh riding the lazy river. I did that too and it was fun. I didn't do any of the slides but I should have.

So I'm looking for a good kit to scrap the waterpark photos with. Any ideas? Really want to stay away from beach kits, so I'm having a harder time. I need to go recheck the thread I started at DST, but if you have any ideas, please share them here.

Addi was a little sick over the weekend and I think I picked it up from her. My throat is killing me and my nose is running like the lazy river. I'm not happy bout that. It could be the weather change too. Nothing I take seems to help.

Thanks for all the lovely thoughts left in the last 2 days. The first anniversary was a tough one. Mom and I went to the movies to get our minds off it. Not necessarily a good move for a woman who can't have children to see a movie like Juno on what may be the most emotional day of the year for her. I think I identified with the wrong character. No sympathy for the 16 yr old who found herself preggers. My heart broke for Jennifer Gardner's character. A decent movie, but not necessarily Oscar material, imo.

What did you think about Idol last night? The second round of the Beatles really didn't impress me. I think that the only one who did better than last week was David A. I love the song he chose this week. It's among my faves. I'd say that Kristy, Syesha & Rammile will be in the bottom 3 this week, with Kristy going home. Brooke has grown on me, even it she looked horrible dancing up there this week. I adore David Cook. I think he out Daughtreed Daughtry in the past 2 weeks.

Anyone watch Top Chef? A new season started last week. I finally got to see it last night. Love that show. Also love Deadliest Catch and need to see when it starts back up.

Ok, gotta drag my sick ass into the shower to go to work. Hope you all have a great day.

2008-03-17T08:03:00.001-04:00

In loving memory

3/6/44 - 3/17/07

Missing you more than words can say.

Enjoy your weekend!

2008-03-15T07:50:00.002-04:00

I've been the bad blogger this week. And today won't be any better, but just wanted to drop a short note. It's hard to believe that only a week ago we were getting 20 inches of snow. It's mostly all gone now, having been replaced by mud. My crocus' are blooming and looks like my daffs are only a few weeks away. Yeah Spring is almost here!

Mom and the kids are coming into town and were going to spend the night at this water park hotel near the house. A big suite with seperate rooms for everyone. (there a BIG snoring issue within the family, lol.) So I spent a lot of yesterday cleaning. Nothing like having your sister in law come to town to get the little things clean. Mom's staying til Tuesday morning. She had originally planned to go back on Monday, but I was a little concerned of her driving back by herself on that day. I'm glad she's saying another night.

So I gotta say I love the designers that I CT for. Hopefully you've gotten the CT appreciation week collab. I must say it was really nice that Cherie Shields lives in Australia and Tracy, her head CT lives in New Zealand. I had the links on the 15th, just in their time zone. All downloaded and some of it sorted. Heather got some bad news yesterday, Pato's father passed away. It's a hard time for her and my thoughts go out to her and the whole family. I don't think she's gotten the CT stuff out, but I know she's got tons of stuff on her mind.

Since I spent Thursday night cleaning and watching Survivor and LOST and yesterday cleaning, I've got nothing new to show you. I'm sure however that there will be tons of new stuff in the weeks to come. Enjoy your weekend!!

He's baaaack & some enabling

2008-03-13T06:39:00.010-04:00

Let's do the enabling first. That's so much more fun than reading about my life. Kiki Halbert just released a new kit over at PDW called Fierce. If you've got a rebel or a rocker girl, this is the kit for you.

Check out all the tribal elements. And the papers are awesome!!!!

Combine the papers from Fierce with her Wasted Walls paper pack and you've got everything you need for those masculine pages or if you need papers rich with textures and dark backgrounds these are for you. Look at how I used them.

Elements from Jofia Designs, Natali Designs & Birgit Kerr.
This photo is one Shannon took while at Panama City. The journaling is from a Bob Dylan song. The glitter is by Flergs.

Cherie Shields has some great new items over at Gotta Pixel. I'm getting ready to pick them up today, so hopefully I'll have something to show you a little later on. I just love Cherie's frames.

And the pages I've seen her other CT members do with her new Beautiful Soul are gorgeous!!! Love the greens, and so right for the upcoming spring season.

Ok, something really weird is going on at work. I can now read blogs at work, but I can't leave any comments. So if you're a regular here and a regular at the DST blog train, then I want to assure you that I've been stopping by, I just haven't necessarily gotten back on the computer after work to leave a comment. I know the comments are the important part. Now that Shannon's back, he's a bit more demanding of my time and really doesn't "get it". I'm hoping that now I have some pictures from him to scrap, he'll leave me alone some, but I'm not holding my breath. He should be back to work in about a month, which will help. Don't get me wrong, I love him, but he's a total pita sometimes.

Well, gotta jump in the shower and head into work. I had a customer go off on my yesterday cuz the old lady wasn't doing her job right, so it could be a battle royale today. If not, I'm reading The Other Boylen Girl, which is pretty good. Doubt I'll rush out to see the movie though. Anyway, have an awesome day. It's one day closer to the weekend and the kids coming down. yeah!!!!!

Vacations over

2008-03-10T20:34:00.008-04:00

Did you hear that scream? It was me. I don't understand family dynamics very well, especially when it's not my family. But I think my sister in law said it best, "relatives, like fish, stink after a few days". Let's just say that my "vacation" is ending sooner than expected. And my blood pressure is up so scrapping just isn't in the cards.

Blogger is acting up too. I think I was able to leave comments on everyone's blog yesterday. I know I stopped by all the usual suspects, but was having major issues with the comments and gave up. So I do know what is going on in your lives, just couldn't leave a cute little note about it. I really need to get my other blog set up. It's up, just not pretty.

So here are a few more of the pages I finished this past weekend.
My nephew, yesterday was his birthday. He's a teenager now and it shows. I get more answers out of a brick wall. But he's basically a good kid, so he gets the pass. The papers are by Kiki Halbert - Wasted Walls and Varsity Blues. Awesome papers if you have boys to scrap.

This is also by Kiki, her Breath of Spring available at Scrapbook Elements.

My Dad's been on my mind a lot lately. There was 10 days between his 63rd birthday and his passing. I miss him very much.

The girls just did spring photos so I had lots of fun with them. Flergs grab bag items. Love the butterflies.

And my favorite for last. This is from a new collection by Heather Manning, Quite Day and is just fab. Did you get the idea that I finally figured out blending? Well, at least I'm working on it.

I'm sure that there is a lot that I'm supposed to be telling you about from the scrapping world. But for the life of me, can't think of right now. Thanks for listening to another rant. Next time it'll be an enabling post, I promise!

A record is broken

2008-03-10T05:33:00.005-04:00

Well, I survived the blizzard of 2008. Here in Columbus, it was a record breaker; record 1 day snowfall of 15.5 inches and 2 day total of 20.5 inches. You know it's big when all the churches cancel their Sunday services. The majority of the schools are closed today too. Allowing for more time for clean up. A report 2200 accidents over the weekend. My question is why on Earth were 2200 people out in the storm? Sheesh. I'm still a little peeved that I don't have a camera. It was a really pretty snow until the clean up started. The dogs love playing in it. Jazi just kept eating it. I had to yell at her at least once not to eat the yellow snow. lol. Fortunately my neighbor snowblowed out my car for me. I shoveled the rest of the walk. I'm sure that it'll be a busy day at the office. Hope those of you caught in the Ohio Valley fared well too. I know that Barb has some gorgeous photos on her website that she took over the weekend. Stop by and see them.

The good thing about being snowed in alone is that I had plenty of time to scrap. I ended up with too much time and scrappers block yesterday evening. I decided that I'd had enough. I figure that I won't get any time to scrap next weekend with Shannon coming home on Friday and the kids & my mom coming in for the weekend. Blogger's being a pain and won't let me download more than 1 at a time. I figure that's good for you, cuz I think there were 14 done. I showed 3 on Sat. Here's a few more.

Done for the SBB template challenge. Template by Amy Bleser, Kit is Gwen by Lauraskathi.

Everything but word art is from the SBB collab kit Pushing Daisies. Word Art by Faith True from Sweet Hannahlee.

Papers from Kiki Halbert's new kit, Fierce. I just love her papers!

Another one using Amy Bleser's template. I found this picture of my parents and had to use it. I did a few pages of Dad this weekend, since he's been on my mind. Papers by Kiki Halbert from Wasted Walls & Varsity Blues; Butterflies by Flergs.

Sogni Dolci by Cherie Shields. It's a stock photo from my computer, but looked very inviting with all the cold white death here in Ohio.

That's only a few that I did. I'll share more with you tomorrow. I wanted to thank Amanda also. Last week on her blog she was asking for posts regarding a hybrid project she's working on. I read her blog on a pretty regular basis so I posted that while I've never paper or hybrid scrapped I wished her luck. And also thought that maybe she could use any photos she had of the happy couple. Well, I was her random drawing winner for at GC to the store of my choice. Since I've been shopping so much lately, this was a big WOO HOO. Now I'm waiting for either the right new kit or a big sale, or both! Thank you so much Amanda! Hope that you've not floated away. (flooding issues)

I'm sure that there was some big news that I've forgotten about. The time change is messing me up. I'm afraid to go back to sleep as then I may wake up late. So for now, I'm gonna go snuggle with the dogs. Have a great day!

The blizzard of 2008

2008-03-08T05:58:00.003-05:00

Well, it's gone full blown blizzard here in Central Ohio. My first one in over 20 years. I don't even remember when the last time the weathermen said the word blizzard. I must have cabin fever, cuz it's a pretty snow. My back yard is all covered in white and even at 3 in the morning, it's got a bright glow to it. And it's sad but right now all I can think is, "damn, why did I let him take my camera to Florida?" Yep, that's sad isn't it. The biggest snowstorm of the decade and I don't have a camera to take pictures of it or my dogs playing in it. Yesterday when I got home from work they had a blast playing in it while I shoveled the walk. This morning, they weren't too happy about it as its too deep for them to do their business. I'm gonna have to get the shovel out just so they can pee. And I would say that Karma is bitting me in the butt, cuz it's Saturday and not my turn to work~ they're gonna have to close the office today. It's not safe to drive. But I can't bitch too much. I'm so very, very thankful that it did happen this weekend and not next weekend for 2 very important reasons. 1 is that Shannon's flying home on Friday and 2 is that my mom & brother's family are all coming down to spend the weekend at a waterpark hotel near here. It's the anniversary of losing dad and if I was a wreck on his birthday, I can only imagine how I'll be then. But having the girls around helps me and I know that those girls are moms reason for going on. So let it snow now cuz I want dry roads and just a little sunshine next weekend.

Well, I got my PSE to where I can scrap some. Look at what I did last night. I had bought all this stuff from Megan for her birthday sale and really didn't get much of a chance to use it and then I picked up her grab bag. I must stop shopping!!!

This one uses Lindsay Jane Designs Breath of Spring collection. It's available at SBB. I had picked up several of her new kits and haven't had a chance to use them or the big SBB collab kit I got too. I'm so far behind.

More Flergs stuff.

Well, I'm thinking that i'm going to go crawl back in bed under the covers with my doggies for awhile. Then I'm sure I'll need to go shovel. Cate I feel for you girl. If this is normal for your area, I'd move. I hope that Barb and Jamie to the south of me didn't get it too badly and that everyone is safe. Stay warm and scrap happy!!!

Credit card comparision for low credit scores

2008-03-08T05:45:00.005-05:00

I remember a time when my credit wasn't the best. I was young, I shopped a lot and couldn't pay. Millions of Americans are in the same boat. But the difference between now and then is that several companies are willing to give those people with bad credit card debt and low credit scores a chance. This website Bad Credit Offers has compiled a list of 10 companies that will work with people to help improve their credit by offering them credit cards, home or auto loans or even personal loans. It compares the companies and even offers direct links. So if you are one of those people who is trying to turn things around with your credit, check out this site.

Eating crow and getting tagged

2008-03-06T23:13:00.003-05:00

I guess that eating crow is never fun, but can be important to do sometimes. I'm sure that some of you will remmeber my big bitchfest the other day. Well, I got so wrapped up in my own issues that I forgot that real life is a little more pressing sometimes. I owe Megan an apology for jumping to conclusions and then bitching about it.

Also Barb tagged me so I have to come up with 7 things you may not know about me. And I have no idea what to tell you. So I may come up short. But here goes.

1) I've lived in 4 different states - Kansas, Michigan, Florida & Ohio. Ok, that's boring. I quit school to go live on the beach in Florida. All I had was a job, I went down by myself. I lasted a year.

2) On spring break, my senior year in high school I was on Entertainment Tonight and recognized in 6 different states. I was a Prince freak and went to the opening concert of his Purple Rain tour in Detroit and the final show in Miami. I was interviewed cuz I traveled so far.

3) My second car was a 1975 Pontiac Lemans and boy was it fast! It was also the size of a small boat.

4) I've seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show 138 times in the movie theater. It used to be the weekend thing to do when I was in high school. I think I've seen it sober maybe twice.

5) I'm very computer illiterate. I used to think I know a lot until I tried to master PSE, vista and FTP on my other blog. Now it just gives me a headache.

6) I'm a Gemini and it shows.

7) It's actually 10 minutes til midnight Thursday night and I should have been in bed an hour ago. I'm a real bitch if I don't get 8 hours of sleep.

So now I get to tag people - HA! Kristine ya wench; Heather; Cate; & Andrea. The usual suspects.

Oh yeah, my PSE issues are still here. I uploaded 6 and still couldnt use the Organizer, so I deleted that and reinstalled 5, disabling the active file monitor. I can't pull photos over but I can drag and drop so that's what I plan to do, for now.

Snow update - the weathermen here don't know anything. They forcast either 4-6 or 6-12 inches. Either way, I think we're getting snow. So Meg, if you're reading this today, I'd trade you your a.c. for a snowball anyday.

Have a great weekend all!!!!

Edit: It's early morning and my usual blog time. My head is pounding cuz of the weather change but a bit clearer. I thought I'd let you know that I'm able to scrap again. I've been working on a page for the last half hour.

Yesterday was really rough for me personally. I thought I'd be ok until someone was actually nice to me. I went into the florist in the strip mall where my office is. I was early for work and thought that maybe some flowers would cheer me up. The florist is a really nice guy and we've talked on several occasions. We'll I lost it right in the middle of the store. How embarrasing is it to cry in front of people. We'll being the sweet guy he was, he special ordered me my favorites, daffadils. He made this gorgeous arrangement and brought them down to the office for me. Then only charged me his cost. I wish I had my camera, I'd have taken a picture of them to share for everyone else who is so sick of winter they could just spit. They are so beautiful and I really can't wait to go back into the office to see them. I figure that it'll be another 3 weeks before the ones planted in my yard bloom. My crocus are up but I'm sure the snow will knock them all back down.

Ok, all you other LOSTies out there, what did you think of last night's show? Personally it bored me. And confused me (what else is new). Is Ben a good guy or a bad guy? Is Widmore a good guy or a bad guy? And how can Jack love Kate and kiss Juilet? I'm not a fan of either Kate or Juilet. And I was really getting upset as it neared the end and no scene's with Sawyer. So very glad to see him at the end. Sweet dreams for me. Can't wait for next weeks show!!!

Ok, off to try to finish this layout. Have a great day all.

Car insurance check up time

2008-03-06T22:50:00.003-05:00

Well, it's that time of year again. Car Insurance renewal time. And with that renewal notice comes the shopping around. I do it every year to make sure that a) I'm getting the best coverage for my needs and b) that I'm getting the best coverage at the best price. I call it my annual financial check up. I also do it with my home owners since I usually try to keep them together. Most companies will offer you a discount if you have more than one policy with them. So do you compare rates on a yearly or semi annual basis? How do you know that you have the correct coverage for you? And more importantly are you getting the best rates? Do you know what questions to ask when shopping around? Do you know what answers to give? Let me give you the crash course that I tend to give my customers. This is not meant to be all inclusive and is not a substitute for getting your insurance questions answered by a licensed agent in your state.

First of all, full coverage doesn't necessarily mean fully insured. Full coverage to most insurance companies means that your car is fully coverage against collision or damage. Full coverage does not necessarily extend to uninsured motorist coverage, rental, medical or towing. If you are asking for full coverage, make sure that you ask if it includes these additional items and then decide if you really need them. I don't need towing, it's included with my car loan so I decline it. Also ask how they determine the value of your vehicle. Which blue book value to they use? Do you know the blue book value of your vehicle? If you car is more than 7 years old and you do not have a loan on it, you should look into if it is economical to have full coverage on your car. I cannot tell you how many people will come in and put full coverage on a 10 year old plus vehicle, with a $500 deductible, pay $800 a year and then get mad when they have that vehicle totaled out and only get $500 out of the claim. Full coverage is blue book value less your deductible or the cost to repair the vehicle. On older vehicles, most insurance companies will total it out instead of repairing it. Just check the values and weigh your options.

Secondly less coverage does not always mean a lower price. Non standard insurance companies are designed for high or higher risk drivers. People with not so perfect driving records or credit. So if your state minimum is all they write in the limits of liability, ask yourself if you are involved in an accident, heaven forbid, and it's a bad one, will those state limits cover all the parties involved? Chances are no. Make sure that you are carrying limits that are high enough to protect you.

Most importantly, find an agent in your area that you can ask these questions of and get the proper advice from. Insurance is a tricky business and it's up to you to be informed.

Thank you

2008-03-06T07:21:00.002-05:00

Many thanks to all of you who responded to my bitchfest yesterday. I guess I need to learn not to focus on those people who can't seem to follow rules. I have issues with that to irl. So 1 person who takes part in the DST train didn't stop by. I'm so happy that 14 other people who were not right below me did. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

My computer issues went from bad to really bad. I was working on a fix for my organizer issue and found that all of my photos are gone. That's not really bad because I have them on back up discs and the most recent ones are still on my memory card, here in my office (the camera is floating around Florida right now) I now have an extra 70GB of space on my hard drive too. Who knew that photos took up so much room. Oh, everyone but me. Anyway with the fix that allowed me to get into the organizer, it wouldn't let me pull any photos over. What kind of fix is that? So I played around a little more and nothing worked. I uninstalled and downloaded PSE6. Same issue. So it's not the software, it's something else. I'm gonna have to call support today. Fun,fun,fun.

"Man plans and God laughs" has become my favorite saying lately. I had planned to do a simple layout to post here today. It would have been my daddy's 64th birthday. Then I figured that I'd put a picture of the two of us here. Well as you see no photos. So no public memorandum to celebrate. So I'll just add that I miss him very much.

Hope that you all have a great day. More snow forecasted for us in the morning. Thanks for stopping by again today.

UGH! It's gonna be a bit*h post

2008-03-05T06:56:00.002-05:00

I don't know where to start. But I'll warn you now, this is gonna be a bitch post. I guess we'll start with scrapping. Somehow, some way I messed up my PSE. I can't get the catalog to open. For those of you who don't have PSE, the catalog is the area that holds all the papers and pictures and from there you put them into the editor area. I don't know if it's called the same thing on other programs. I tried to do a system restore, didn't help. I went to do a repair under the unistall area, didn't help. So I removed PSE and reinstalled it. No problem, until it wouldn't take the serial number. It says it's invalid. It has been loaded into 2 computers already. I'm trying to reinstall it again. I'm not pleased.

For 2 days in a row now the person below me on the DST blog train has bothered to leave comments, therefore I doubt they even stopped by the blog. Isn't that the whole purpose of the train? I know that there are days that I don't get back by everyone who's stopped in here, but I always, always get the person above me. And it wasn't like they were new to the train and didn't understand the concept of it. I was really ticked off and gonna raise a big bitch about it (other than posting it here) but then figured that even if the person below me didn't stop by, so many of you did. So thank you, you have restored my faith in the blog train.

And finally, what really set me off at 1:30 this morning, as the dogs whined to be let outside, was that there was at least 1 inch of snow of the ground. It was 65 degrees here on Monday. I am so tired, so very tired of this snow. And we're supposed to get more this weekend. Is Spring ever going to come???????

So there's my humpday bitchfest for you all. Thanks for stopping by and comisserating with me. Hope you all have terrific days!

Primary time

2008-03-04T06:36:00.002-05:00

Well, I had planned on being on of the first at the polls, voting and coming back home to blog and get ready for work. Of course, when I woke up at 5 am to let the dogs out to rain & 35 degrees, the best place to be was right back snuggled under the down comforter. So when I woke back up, it was 6:25 and there goes my plan out the window. I'm not sure how the polls will be. For the last Presidential election, I only had to wait about 15 minutes. I've never voted in a Primary before. (at least that I can remember) Let's just say that I'm awful glad that my phone number is unlisted. I've had a lot of people tell me that they've been getting lots and lots of campaign phone calls.

I spent part of last night playing around with a challenge from SBB to create Easter stickers. It's part of the learn something new challenge and I was going to combine it with DSO's color challenge. I'm thinking I printed off the wrong tut. Either way, I've got some more work to do on them. I also got the girls latest photos sent to me. Some of the shots are fantastic, but a lot of them I'm not so crazy about. I think it's the same photog that they used for the last series, but maybe not. I'm sure that you'll be seeing a lot of those soon as I have tons of spring kits with no photos to scrap yet.

Keep an eye out for something new from Heather Manning. Here's a little sneak peek. I'll have more details soon. Butterflies by Flergs.

Off to do my civic duty. Hope everyone has an awesome day.

Monday, Monday

2008-03-03T06:31:00.003-05:00

Yea! It's 55 degrees outside right now. And it's 7 AM. It's supposed to get into the mid 60's today with rain later on tonight. Of course nothing lasts forever and it's supposed to snow again tomorrow. I'd say only in Ohio, but I believe it's really only in the Midwest. I'm truly hoping that the snow that we're supposed to get later on this week is the LAST snow of the year. I'm ready for daffadils and tulips. After all, it's March.

Speaking of March, tomorrow is the primary here for Ohio. If you'd have said 6 weeks ago that Ohio could be the deciding factor on the Democratic ticket, I think a lot of people would have laughed. And then a lot of people thought that having the Ohio primary so far back was pointless. Well it may be for the Republican's. I think that McCain's got the nomination all sewed up. All I can say is I'll be glad not to have to watch all those political commercials again for a few months. Talk about OVERkill. I'm so glad that I have Tivo and will be using it this summer to fast forward past all those commercials.

Ok, on to business. Do you like scraplift challenges? Well, over at Heather Manning's CT blog, I'm running the first of the March challenges. No more coloring inbetween the lines. Scribble and doodle all you want. Check it out here.

And here's my lift. I've never done a scribbly page before, so it was a little bit of a stretch. Frame & other doodles you can pick up in Heather's store. The paper is from her Dirty Snow paper pak.

And Cherie Shields released a new kit at Sophia Sarducci's. Sogni Dolci or Sweet Dreams for those like me who's Italian is limited to pizza toppings. Here are 2 layouts I did with her new kit.

And don't forget about Kiki Halbert's new fabulous paper pack, Wasted Walls. Terrific for those masculine papes, but works great with the girls too. See Em being a Rock Star. The foil elements are by Kiki too, Foil Flourishes & Foiled Again. All are available at Plain Digital Wrapper.

I FINALLY got my Shutterfly Christmas book all done. I know that no one is in the mood to see cutesy Christmas layouts, but you just gotta see these. I've gotta be the only person still buying Christmas kits in late Feb.But I'm glad I finally broke down and picked up Jofia's Warm Christmas. So much fun with this kit. And the alpha is glitter by Flergs. I finally figured out how to load it, lol.
And the last page of the book, us all playing my nephew's game, he didn't get to play it for a few days. lol.
And I among many others, went nuts for Flerg's birthday and here's one of the pages I did. Something about sleeping babies just touches the heart.

Hope you all have a wonderful day! I'm going to enjoy the warm up, even if it's only temporary.

A little humor to start off the morning

2008-03-03T06:30:00.000-05:00

One day I met a sweet gentleman and fell in love. When it became apparent that we would marry, I made the supreme sacrifice and gave up beans.

Some months later, on my birthday, my car broke down on the way home from work. Since I lived in the countryside I called my husband and told him that I would be late because I had to walk home.

On my way, I passed by a small diner and the odor of baked beans was more than I could stand. With miles to walk, I figured that I would walk off any ill effects by the time I reached home, so I stopped at the diner and before I knew it, I had consumed three large orders of baked beans.

All the way home, I made sure that I released all the gas.

Upon my arrival, my husband seemed excited to see me and exclaimed delightedly: "Darling I have a surprise for dinner tonight."
He then blindfolded me and led me to my chair at the dinner table. I took a seat and just as he was about to remove my blindfold, the telephone rang. He made me promise not to touch the blindfold until he returned and went to answer the call.

The baked beans I had consumed were still affecting me and the pressure was becoming most unbearable, so while my husband was out of the room I seized the opportunity, shifted my weight to one leg and let one go. It was not only loud, but it smelled like a fertilizer truck running over a skunk in front of a pulpwood mill. I took my napkin from my lap and fanned the air around me vigorously.

Then, shifting to the other cheek, I ripped off three more. The stink was worse than cooked cabbage.

Keeping my ears carefully tuned to the conversation in the other room, I went on like this for another few minutes. The pleasure was indescribable. When eventually the telephone farewells signaled the end of my freedom, I quickly fanned the air a few more times with my napkin, placed it on my lap and folded my hands back on it feeling very relieved and pleased with myself.

My face must have been the picture of innocence when my husband returned, apologizing for taking so long. He asked me if I had peeked through the blindfold, and I assured him I had not.

At this point, he removed the blindfold, and twelve dinner guests seated around the table chorused: "Happy Birthday!"

I fainted!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you thinking of buying a house?

2008-03-03T06:15:00.003-05:00

I bought my house five years ago in the middle of the housing boom. The market was wonderful for both sellers and buyers. Zero down loans were readily available and easy to qualify for. How quickly things have changed here in only five years. I feel incredibly fortunate that I knew a little about the mortgage industry, having worked in an office back in the early nineties. When I went to my bank, I was adamant about having a fixed rate loan. It didn't matter to me that I could have had an adjustable at 3%. I wanted the security of knowing that my payments would be the same for the next 30 years. Now 5 years later, we are seeing what the no money down, adjustable rate mortgages are doing to the housing market and the foreclosure rates.

With the housing market in a slump, if you've been thinking about taking the leap from renter to homeowner, now is the perfect time to look into making that dream come true. It's definitely a buyers market nowadays. The first thing I would recommend that you do if you are thinking of buying a house is to get a Mortgage Quote and get yourself prequalified for a mortgage. When searching out a mortgage, take into account many things including interest rate and escrow standing. Do you want to be responsible for your own taxes & insurance? A lot of mortgage companies are willing to look into this provided you meet the criteria. A lot of people, me included, prefer to have that escrowed into their monthly payments. The interest rate most likely will not vary that much between lenders, unless you've got a broker that is bumping your rate to make their commission. So it never hurts to shop around for mortgage rates if you feel that the rate you're being quoted is too high. There are many factors that go into what rate you are quoted though, so what may be a great rate for your Uncle Charlie may be unobtainable for you. Seek out a qualified mortgage broker and realtor if you are thinking about buying your first home. Take advantage of this fabulous buyers market. Hopefully it will turn back to a sellers market soon.

New release, Happy Birthday sale & a shopping spree

2008-02-28T06:45:00.005-05:00

First off, I want to show you Kiki Halbert's newest papers. They're available over at PDW. I think that these are soon to become my faves by her for scrapping those photos of Josh that I have just recently gotten. I love her papers and their depth. I just got my hands on it, so keep an eye out for new Josh related layouts soon. And stop off at PDW and pick up this paper pack. You won't be sorry.

Speaking of shopping, I went on the spree to end all sprees yesterday. Happy Birthday to Megan, Flergs as she's more commonly known. For her birthday, she gave us a sale and a whole bunch of new stuff. I got this with the borders, Nana's garden, Grunged and the funky collection. I also picked up an older Jofia kit and 3 kits from Lindsay Jane Designs over at SBB. SBB is also offering a collab kit with any $10 purchase. Melissa Bennett sells there, so go and check it out. I have so much that I need to just take a scraping break and scrap, scrap, scrap. So if I disapear for awhile, it's to recharge my energy from all the negativity that is going around the digi scrapping world and to get some of my fabulous new goodies a work out.

Enjoy the rest of the week and have an awesome weekend.

Find yourself in a cash crunch?

2008-02-28T06:21:00.003-05:00

Have you ever found youself in a cash crunch? Car troubles or unexpected bills pop up? What do you do in a situation like that? Who can you turn to for help? How do you know who you can trust? In situations like this, a pay day loan company may be your only alternative. Did you know that there are companies online that also do these loans? So you can find help from the comfort of your own home. All you need to qualify for a cash advance is to have a job where you make over $1000 a month, be at least 18 and a US citizen and have an active bank account with direct deposit set up. Your credit rating does not go into play with online payday loans. I don't think it could get any easier.

With the growing number of Cash Advance companies out there, Congress has stepped in to force reform within the industry. There are now 3 catagories based on the state you live in. The first one caps the interest rate and length of loans. The second one allows the consumer and lender to agree upon an interest rate, which the lender can change only with the approval of the consumer. And the third sets a maxium interest rate the lender can charge for a maximum amount they can lend. Whatever your catagory your state falls into, the government has it set up so consumers don't fall into the cycle of debt.

A little humor

2008-02-28T06:19:00.000-05:00

A SPANISH Teacher Was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.

'House' for instance, is feminine: 'la casa.'
'Pencil,' however, is masculine: ' el lapiz..'
A student asked, 'What gender is 'computer'?'

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether 'computer' should be a masculine or a feminine noun.

Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation. The men's group decided that 'computer' should definitely be of the feminine gender ('la computadora'), because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

(THIS GETS BETTER!)
The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine ('el computador'), because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

The women won.

Insurance quotes

2008-02-28T06:03:00.004-05:00

You may know that I'm big on insurance. I think it's incredibly important part of one's financial life and can often mean the difference between hardship and windfall. But insurance is very tricky. There are a lot of terms that are used that don't make sense. Like Full Coverage. You would think that you're fully covered with if you have this type of insurance, but your not. Your car is fully covered to be repaired or replaced regardless of fault. You and your passengers may not be covered. Now, since I have an insurance license in the state I live in, I understand the terminology, but the average person usually doesn't, unless they do their research. And if you were buying a car, computer or tv would you do some research? Why is insurance any different. It's a BIG potential purchase. You don't realize how important it is until you really need it. And remember that cheap insurance isn't always the best insurance. Make sure that you and your loved ones are covered correctly against losses.

It's always good to check around for insurance yearly at your renewal. The Internet has made it even easier. At EZ Insurance Portal, you can get real time quotes from the nations leading insurance companies in just a few minutes. Just answer a few simple questions and you can have offers immediately. And not only can you get an auto insurance quote, but also homeowners, life and health insurance. Also on this site are articles that can help you understand what you need to know about insurance. It's a very helpful and easy site to navigate and a good way to start your insurance check up for the year.

The 80's ~ a little fun

2008-02-28T06:01:00.000-05:00

Not really who I'd have first thought of, but ok I see it.

Your 80s Hunk Is

John Stamos

Who's Your 80s Hunk?

Black Friday information and email sign up

2008-02-28T05:46:00.003-05:00

I know it seems like it was a long time ago, but remember Black Friday? It's the day after Thanksgiving. You know, the day that bargain shoppers yearn for, retailers base their entire holiday season on. Did you go out shopping on that day? I know I did. And I went prepared too. I found a great little site that helped me decide where to start, what to look for and where to stay away from. Maybe you've heard of it, blackfriday Ads. They post what companies will have in their Black Friday circulars. And they have all the major stores too; Best Buy, Walmart, Target, Sears, Kohls, ToysRUs. They also have the ads for Cyber Monday for the online shoppers. Now they also offer an email service. You sign up and forget about it until November. Once they find out what companies are going to offer, then they send you emails telling you about them. It's a win-win situation. I signed up because I'll forget until I see someone post about it on one of the forums. This way I can be in the know from the get go.

So sick of the snow

2008-02-27T07:08:00.002-05:00

Every 3 days or so, more snow and rain. I am so tired of it and need to see spring so badly. And to pour salt into the wounds, I hear over the phone "it's 85 and sunny here on the gulf". If his father doesn't strangle him on this trip, I will when he gets back, I swear. I'm a bad GF, I told him to go swim in the Atlantic. Did you see the pictures of all the migrating sharks? lol. No actually I told him to stay out of there. But it sounded good.

Nothing good to share today. No new releases, sales or layouts. My heart is heavy with the goings on throughout the digi world. So much hate out there for no good reason. I truly don't understand it. And remember when you point a finger at someone, there are 3 more pointing back at you. Life is too short for this.

Have a good day.

How was your weekend?

2008-02-25T01:21:00.006-05:00

Well the weekend's over and it seemed to go by rather quickly as most of them do. The only time I left the house was to shovel snow Sat. morning. Pretty sad isn't it? Of course the big weekend for the rich and famous. I'm not a big movie buff, but I usually enjoy watching the Oscars. I missed the red carpet (my favorite part) and the monolouge cuz I had the Nascar race at California on (rain delay) and was fighting to get my Shutterfly Christmas book done and into place on Shutterfly. I've got 1 page that meets all the specs but just won't turn out right. Drivin me nuts I tell you. I would say that other than people in the industry and their families, there are really only 7 catagories that we really want to see on the Oscars, they don't need a 4 hours telecast. I did see both of the actor catagories and the director and movie of the year. I always fall asleep in the middle. I will say that this is about the 3rd year that I haven't seen any of the nominated movies. Told you I'm not a movie person. Did you catch the special Jimmy Kimmell live afterwards? I had forgotten how funny he could be. The Ben Affleck thing had me rolling. It was a bit crude, but funny.

It's new release Monday. Here's the 411 on my designers. Previews are linked to stores.
Check out the gorgeous paper pack that Kiki Halbert has released at SBE. Love the rich colors and textures of Kiki's papers.

And Cherie Shields just released this in her store at Sophia Sarducci. It's gorgeous and I should have some layouts done with it this week. Cherie also has a store at Gotta Pixel and there is a Leap Year sale with the entire store at 29% off. Click the ad

to get more info on it, I didn't realize the ad was so hard to read, my fault.

Did you take part in the Trash to Treasure Hunt over at DST this weekend? 45 designers put together freebies and clues for everyone to find. Gorgeous freebies to be had. I was impressed with several, but must say that Lliella and French Ruby really wowed me. So if you took part, make sure you check out an additional challenge that Heather has running for a chance to get gift certs to her store. Don't forget about the quote challenge on the CT blog either.

I only pulled 2 of layouts that I did this weekend to show you. These 2 were my faves.
I used Kiki's Breath of Spring on this one of Em.
Most of what I did was for the Christmas book I need to get finished. It's hard to be Christmassy at the end of February, but I love this one.
Papers by Melissa Bennett, elements from Natali Designs, Merideth Fenwick, Lindsay Jane Designs & Doreen Stolz.

I'm surviving nicely the vacation, even if I'm not doing anything wild and crazy. I'm hoping that Shannon and his father don't drive each other totally nuts. My dogs are in major seperation anxiety mode and are just always in my face. Almost glad to be going to work. Almost.

Hope you all have a great day!

I love Thursday night TV

2008-02-21T22:18:00.006-05:00

I think that says it all. I call it island night. Now there's a little Idol thrown in. And all I can say is Tivo (or DVR) is just about the best thing since sliced bread. There is NO way I could get through nights like this without it. If you haven't watched American Idol, Survivor or LOST yet and you are a fan, skip down to my layouts now. Big time spoiler alert here.

Ok, Where did Cherie come from on Survivior? I knew that she was the swing vote, but when did she go to running the show? WOW is all I can say about that. I'm really bummed that Yau Man is gone. I like him and really thought he should have won the first time he was on. Let's see who goes next week. I bet it'll be Kathy from the fans side.

American Idol. Eh, didn't have to be a whole hour if you asked me. I thought it was ridiculous that they had the girls dressed in 60's attire to sing their song. And did anyone else think that Paula really needs a reality check. This isn't 1988. The whole music video thing just cracked me up. And I was of an age that I remember dancing to her music at the bars and dance clubs in 88. So not revelant for today's music as Simon is so fond of saying. I almost had a cow when they had Amanda & Joanne up at the end. I like the rockers on the show. Speaking of rockers, just how much more can they milk out of Chris Daughtry? I feel for him. Last year and then again this year. He's the theme music. Bummer dude.

LOST ~ My entire reason for living on Thursday. Ok, admit it. You really thought Kate was pregnant with Sawyer's baby. I was SO blown away by the ending AGAIN. I had to go back and play it just to make sure I heard right. WOW! Talk about twist. And more questions. But I've always said since season 1 that I could watch an entire hour of Sawyer shirtless. Tonight was major eye candy and I loved it! Is he not HAWT! And it's the whole character that just pulls me in. I so love the bad boy.

Speaking of bad boys, mine has called me 3 times today. He misses me. Well, the dogs are going into a depression. And I'm a little upset that I'll have to shovel snow tomorrow. Guess I could take a cue from Cate and live with it. She does it all the time and in her part of NY, it's a massive amount. As long as the ice doesn't hit too, I'll be ok. **Edit Friday morning~ We got about 3 inches of snow overnight and now are experiencing freezing rain. I picked the wrong day to call in sick, as I've decided that I'm going in today.

Being sick had it's advantages today. Look at all the stuff I got done.

New Kiki Halbert ~ look for it Sunday.

More Kiki~ Le Grunge & Varsity Blues at PDW

New Kiki, Faith True, Flergs, Beth Kern & Andrea Gold.

Varsity Blues by Kiki Halbert; Well Worn Birgit Kerr; Windgefluester designs & Flergs

Well Worn & Sweet Summers End by Birgit Kerr. That's me and my BFF of over 30 years. The stories she could tell you.

Oh Boy, Strawberry Delight & Carmel Pudding (recolored) by Flergs, white paper Birgit Kerr.

Well, did I get enough done for you? I most likely will go into work. The dogs drove me nuts today. We'll see tomorrow.

Oh yeah, don't forget the Wicked Treasure hunt. Over 45 designers with freebies and contests. Make sure you check out Heather's blog. She's a part of it and I think is running her own contest AND she's got her entire store on SALE ~ 50% off. Woo Hoo.

Have a great day and scrap happy (and legal~Sharing is not caring)

Isle of Wight Festival and other great concerts

2008-02-21T21:08:00.004-05:00

It seems like forever since I've gone to see a concert. Some of my favorite memories from my teens revolve around going to concerts or camping out in line waiting for tickets. Something that is no longer done nowadays. Even if the proceedures hadn't changed in how tickets are distributed, who has time to spend all night out waiting for a store to open just to purchase 2 concert tickets. Nowadays, life is so much easier. We have a marvelous invention called the internet.

Being a child of the 80's, I grew up with the music of Sting, Steward Copeland & Andy Summers, otherwise known as The Police. They broke up before I got a chance to see them in concert. Now, 25 years later, they have gotten back together and are on a massive tour. And of course, they are not playing near me anytime soon. I do find it intersting that in the middle of their North American tour, they are going back to England and Europe for the Isle of Wight festival, June 13th through 15th. That sounds like an awesome festival. 3 days of camping and music, with the headliners being The Police, Sex Pistols & Kaiser Cheifs. Last years lineup was amazing. The Rolling Stones were the headliners and an unknown in the US, Amy Winehouse was in the

lineup. In addition to the big names listed above for this year, other notibles include KT Tungstall and Iggy & the Stooges. From some of the footage I've seen from other Festivals over in England, they sure look like they know how to throw a good party.

So now I've peaked your interest, but you don't have tickets. Never fear. Stop by this awesome site for London Tickets and all other Eastern European concerts and sporting events. Or maybe you have extra tickets and you want to sell them. This is a great spot to do so.

A little vacation, sick days & challenges (or a whole lot of nothing)

2008-02-21T07:12:00.003-05:00

Well I got Shannon on his plane yesterday, so my vacation has officially started. Since I got up at 5 am yesterday morning to do this, I was just about out of it all day yesterday. I got some stuff uploaded that I bought on sale, rearranged a few of my files and started a layout. Too tired to make it work right. So I watched the girls on American Idol and then was fast asleep. I feel like I have the flu. So now this morning I'm debating how much I want to go to work. Ok, that's not the debate, it's how badly do I want to use up my remaining sick time. They're forcasting 7 - 9 inches of snow for tomorrow (and that's now, it'll change by the time it comes. Our weatherguys are all doom & gloom).

There are several blog challenges out there that I want you to remember. The quote challenge over at Heather's CT Blog. It's a great quote. Please stop by and play. Also over at Cherie Shields new CT blog we have a terrific challenge. Do a layout about a Life Changing moment. 1 person who posts a layout and links it to the blog will win a $10 GC to Cherie's store. Also don't forget Cherie's Rock My Desktop challenge over at Gotta Pixel. She's picked a great spring inspiration for March. And keep an eye on Heather's Manning's blog, there's something brewing for tomorrow. It's top secret I think, cuz I don't know what's going on but I think it's gonna be big!

That's about it for scrap news for me. I figure if I do stay home I'll stop by your blog earlier than my new night visits now for those of you on Blogger or Wordpress. If not, catch you tonight. Of course tonight is Island night, lol. Survivor & LOST. Which means that I won't get much scraping done. Sheesh, another reason to *cough, cough* make that phone call. lol.

Have a great day!

a rant

2008-02-19T07:30:00.003-05:00

Not much to report here today. Didn't get anything accomplished last night but a few new CT things downloaded and my SIL sent me some adorable photos of the kids. I'm trying to get old layouts loaded into Shutterfly so I can get the books I bought on ebay ordered before they expire. The countdown in now offically on and is at 24 hours. I'll have to get up a bit early to get him to the airport, but I won't mind. There may be no post for tomorrow unless I do it tonight. We'll see what happens.

I guess I can't let it go by without putting in my 2 cents worth. I usually am behind the times and sometimes feel like the last to know anything. I didn't know about a certain store closing and why until way after the fact. I don't know who Tandika is and other than it affected some of my friends, couldn't care less what she does. And while I had no clue what digiscrapping was in Jan. of 2007, I did read part of the the smurf, tunabake, Mo debacle. I read up on these things and look at them the same way as the evil blogs (yes, I admit I read them too, usually a week after the hubbub). It's all a train wreck and you just can't take your eyes off of it. However, this stuff (edited, I'm a family blog) with the pirating has got me pissed off. When this affects my friends the way they were affected this weekend, I've got a right to be pissed off. They don't need the stress that this *stuff* adds to their lives. As designers they don't need to feel unappreciated, used and ripped off. As people they don't need to feel unappreciated, used and ripped off. And as a scrapper, I don't need to feel ripped off. Cuz that's how I feel. I work hard for my money. I sit through long and very boring days, but I willingly and honestly (even though I usually wait for a sale) give my money to these designers because I support what they do. Do you know that IRL when people steal from stores, it makes the prices go up?!!!! And knowing that people are getting this stuff for FREE, stealing this stuff that I pay my good hard earned money for really makes me mad as HELL. Yes, I've found this a way to make it about me. Cuz if we get pissed off, maybe we'll take a stand. And we can say enough is enough.

And with that, I'm off to jump in the shower and go to work. I hope that you all have a wonderful day.

A little chuckle for ya

2008-02-19T07:25:00.002-05:00

Irish castaway
One day an Irishman, who had been stranded on a deserted island for over10 years, saw a speck on the horizon. He thought to himself, "It'scertainly not a ship." As the speck got closer and closer, he began torule out even the possibilities of a small boat or a raft.
Suddenly there strode from the surf a figure clad in a black wet suit.Putting aside the scuba tanks and mask and zipping down the top of thewet suit stood a drop-dead gorgeous blonde!
She walked up to the stunned Irishman and said to him, "Tell me, how longhas it been since you've had a good cigar?"
Ten years," replied the amazed Irishman.With that, she reached over and unzipped a waterproof pocket on the leftsleeve of her wetsuit and pulled out a fresh package of cigars and alighter.He took a cigar, slowly lit it, and took a long drag. "Faith andbegorrah," said the castaway, "that is so good! I'd almost forgottenhow great a smoke can be !"
And how long has it been since you've had a drop of good Powers IrishWhiskey?" asked the blonde.
Trembling, the castaway replied, "Ten years."Hearing that, the blonde reached over to her right sleeve, unzipped apocket there and removed a flask and handed it to him. He opened theflask and took a long drink. " 'Tis nectar of the gods!" shouted theIrishman. " 'Tis truly fantastic!!!"
At this point the gorgeous blonde started to slowly unzip the long frontof her wet suit, right down the middle. She looked at the trembling manand asked, "And how long has it been since you played around?"
With tears in his eyes, the Irishman fell to his knees and sobbed,"Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Don't tell me that you've got golf clubs inthere too!

A grandfather clock

2008-02-19T07:09:00.003-05:00

What is it about a grandfather clock that makes one so nostalgic? And is there room for them in the households of those younger than the baby boomers? My grandmother had a gorgeous clock, if I close my eyes I can still remember the rich chime of the bells. Shannon's grandparents had a beautiful one too. I'm not sure where either of them ended up after our grandparents passing. But I rarely see them in the houses of my friends or neighbors. Could it be that we are just waiting for one to be passed down to us? A grandfather clock that may or may not work correctly? I've seriously started looking into purchasing my own to furnish my living room. There's no guarantee that one will come to me, since I'm not sure who has the family ones. So in my quest to get more information, I stumbled across this, a Grandfather Clocks Blog. It is full of information regarding grandfather and grandmother clocks, how they work, the retailers of new clocks and a whole lot more. It seems to me that the entry about looking for an antique vs. a new retailer purchase makes a lot of sense. So maybe it is time for our generation to looking into decorating our homes with what we want, instead of waiting and hoping a family clock will come our way.

Monday, Monday

2008-02-18T06:32:00.002-05:00

Hope you enjoyed your weekend. It was very low key for me here. Friday night I swear I was in bed by 9:30. I must be getting old, cuz 20 years ago I'd have just been leaving to go out for the night at that time. lol. I still feel like I'm fighting something and am wishing that I also had President's Day off. I'm thinking we're gonna be rather busy today cuz so many people are off.
Yesterday we spent the day enjoying the beginning of Nascar season with the Daytona 500. A terrific finish as most of them have come to be lately. My favorite drivers didn't win but had decent runs and good finishes.

Look at what Kiki Halbert has just released over at PDW. Aren't they adorable. Stop by her store and check out her wonderful designs. I love her papers, they have such depth to them.

I did get some scrapping done this weekend. I'm still a little behind on CT stuff, but the playtime just really produced some of my new favorites.
Credits: Birgit Kerr Just You & Designs by Natali
Credits: Hubba Hubba by Melissa Bennett, Iced Berry by Lindsay Jane Designs, template by Amy Bleser all at SBB.
Varsity Blues & Le Grunge by Kiki Halbert, stiches & template by Lindsay Jane Designs.

SethroTull by Rachel Martin; Andrea Gold temp.

Don't forget about the various challenges. The quote challenge over at Heather Manning's CT blog. It's a great quote and you most likely have one already done with it. I have 3 of them in my gallery already. Also go update your desktop for March. Spring is around the corner and Cherie Shields has just posted a fantastic inspiration for her Rock Your Desktop challenge over at Gotta Pixel. It's a great ad she chose and I feel like it's gonna cause me to stretch some.

Off to work. The countdown has begun and it's only 48 hours now. hehe

TGIF!~{What an original title}

2008-02-15T07:23:00.002-05:00

This will most likely be another short one today. No real new scrapping news. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day yesterday. Mine was so so. I got to work and there was no heat in the office. Went and got a space heater, but still not good. They're supposed to be fixing it this morning. I'm not holding my breath. Shannon was supposed to fix me dinner last night, but decided he wasn't gonna cook and take me out instead. I just wasn't feeling up to dealing the a holiday crowd in a resteraunte so we grabbed cheap Chinese and came home. At least I got to watch my TV for the night. Gotta love it when someone gets totally blindsided on Survivor. And then I got a second wind and watched LOST. I love that show! Too many twists and turns and a hundred unanswered questions, but I love that show. I did do a little shopping yesterday even though I haven't been scrapping and still have a ton of CT layouts I still have to do. Just stocking up for my vacation, I mean Shannon's vacation. I'm gonna miss him while he's gone but finally time for me. I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend. With any luck I'll have bunches of new stuff to show you next week. I also hope to get my new blog up and running. Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T07:24:00.005-05:00

Hey all,

Hoping that you have an awesome day today and are able to spend it with the ones you love.

Not sure what's on my agenda for the day. Not feeling all that great, but really have to go into work. The weather's cleared but it's still cold. I really have a whole lot more to say, but I didn't want to pass the day without wishing everyone all the love in the world. Enjoy your loved ones today.

Checked your insurance rates lately?

2008-02-14T07:06:00.003-05:00

As an insurance professional, I know the importance of carrying the proper insurance. I also know how confusing insurance terms and conditions can be for people. So every year about a month before my policies are set to renew, I do some comparison shopping. It never hurts to shop around. Any company that will flat out guarantee you that they are offering you the lowest rates, usually isn't. I do both my homeowners and auto at the same time, same place. But being in this line of work, I know what to look for and what to ask. It pays to do your homework when it comes to car insurance coverages, rates and companies. There are several good articles on this website, carinsurance.com to help you navigate the ins and outs of the insurance lingo. There is a comprehensive state by state guide that explains what is required by your state. They also have articles about rates and why they increase or go down, claims, easiest cars to insure and a complete glossary of insurance terms. In addition to the information, you can get a quick insurance quote. That will give you a great starting point on your search. When looking for a new quote, make sure that you have your current insurance information handy so that you can give them the correct information. No use comparing apples to oranges if they give you a lower rate but it turns out to be less coverage. And keep in mind that a less coverage doesn't always guarantee a lower rate. And while an agent is to look out for your best interest, the bottom line is their business.

I was wrong I admit it.

2008-02-13T06:31:00.004-05:00

So I'll admit that I was wrong and the weathermen were right yesterday. We initally only got about 3 inches of snow and then it rained for a good part of the day. Then it turned to freezing rain and later on more snow. Since the rain melted down a good part of the snow, I'd say there's only about 3 inches on the ground but it's covered with a layer of ice. I will say that I was a little impressed that the company I work for sent everyone home a hour early and we get to delay start time an hour, so our safety is important to them. I once worked for a company in the same field that during a level 3 snow emergency called the local sheriff's office to ask to have their employees classified as essential workers. I sell car insurance, not save lives. I think that was the start of the downward spiral with that company. Anyway, I'm wide awake and don't have to be in til 10 now. Yippee!!!

Thanks for answering my questions about challenges and why you do them yesterday. It was very helpful. On Heather Manning's CT blog, we have a new challenge that is starting and I hope that everyone will stop by and play. It's a quote challenge. Anne has come up with an awesome quote. Being a small size, the ad can be difficult to read on my blog, click the link to see it full size.

Here's my lo from it. Little Addi sleeping. I just love photos of the girls asleep. There's just something about it that touches my heart. And talking to my SIL, she loves it when they're asleep too. lol.

Last time I went to see them, I took my Shutterfly book. My SIL ordered 3 of them, one for her mom, my mom & herself. Mom took hers into work and sent me an email saying that several girls in her office wanted to know more about the book and how to do them. And her boss was very impressed, which just made my day a whole lot brighter. So I may be responsible for some new addicts being brought to the "dark side". My SIL swears she'll kill me if I get her hooked on it. I think she enjoys her time with her mom and their paper scraps too much to change. I haven't told her about hybrid scrapping yet. I'm saving that one.

Here's another challenge I finished last night. It's for Cherie Shield's Rock the Desktop challenge over at Gotta Pixel. I used her Chai Latte papers, J'amie Le Rouge elements & Melissa Bennett's Oh my Mat2. I was a little late in getting a start on this one. Cherie's challenge runs from the 16th of each month, so there will be a new inspiration this weekend. I hope you'll join in on both challenges.

Well, I'm off to ride the DSO & DST trains. Hope you all have an awesome day! Stay warm and safe.

Winter weather warning for only 3 inches of snow?

2008-02-12T06:53:00.000-05:00

I've decided that the weather forecasters in my area all need new jobs. For the second time in 2 weeks they've forecasted doom & gloom in the amount of heavy snowfall. The local news last night showing everyone rushing to the grocery store to stock up on supplies. I get up this morning, all the schools in the area are closed. (man, I want a snow day too) And there is about 3 inches of snow on the ground. 3 inches is not a "Winter Storm Warning" amount worth getting upset over. Just ask Cate (hehe). So now the freeways and roads will be in a tangle and what would normally take 15 minutes tops will take 45 at least. It's like a little bit of snow turns everyone's brains to mush and they forget how to drive. There were back ups on the freeway at 6 am already. I just hope we don't get the freezing rain they're predicting.

Check out the new elements to play with from Cherie Shields. They're all available at her store at Gotta Pixel. Isn't that alpha just the cutest. And I love the beads. And keep an eye out for a beautiful new kit coming to Sophia Sarducci next week.

I scrapped some last night, but got stuck on a title. I've got it posted for a little bit of help and CC on a board. Hopefully someone will come up with a terrific title for me. Mine's horrible and must be changed. I just looked and there is a few awesome ideas so I'm sure it will change again.

There will be an awesome new challenge posted tomorrow on Heather's CT blog. Just curious, what do you look for when you're selecting a challenge to do? (Cate, don't answer this one, lol). How much of it's for the actual challenge itself. Do you prefer ones that stretch your limits or do you prefer simplicity? Do you do the challenges based on the participation bonuses or gifts? I'm just checking. Any info would be appreciated.

Well, off to work early, since it's gonna be a long 5 mile drive. Hope you all stay warm wherever you are and scrap happy.

New releases & a freebie

2008-02-10T18:21:00.000-05:00

It's almost Monday and that means new releases. Look at what Kiki Halbert has just released over at Scrapbook Elements. The first preview is a beautiful kit with a name I love. A Breath of Spring. With the artic blast coming through, I could use a glimpse of spring now. But looks at the colors on this kit, aren't they beautiful.

And then she also has 2 wonderful alphas. All previews link to her store. Stop by and check them out. I hope to have some more layouts done with her amazing stuff soon. You can scroll down a few days and see the ones I did yesterday and Wed. night.

I was having issues getting things to go together right. You ever have those days when your pictures just don't go with the kits you've choosen and nothing looks right. I've decided when those days hit to leave everything behind and do something else. When I go back to it, it works just like I thought it would. Anyway, I started to play around with some actions since I finally learned how to load them. And thought I'd play in Kim B's color challenge over at DSO. I give you my first element set (well, it's all one thing) - Hearts a plenty. 24 hearts, different colors, different materials. As always please no hot links, send your friends here to grab their own copy.
You can grab it here. And if you haven't played in Kim's color challenge, you really should. Kim posts a color swatch and so many people play with and make some of the most beautiful kits with them. Last month, I tried my hand at papers and while there were a few people who uploaded them, I wasn't impressed with them. There's a lot more to this than it seems. But it's fun to play and it's fun to give away.

Well, maybe I'll get another layout done tonight. But don't count on it, hehehe. Hope everyone has a good Monday (if that's even possible).

Get paid to blog

2008-02-10T18:07:00.000-05:00

I know that you've seen the reviews for different products or websites scattered throughout my blog posts. Heather & Yen introduced me to the get paid to blog program in December and I've been going ever since. It's a great way to make extra money to pay off those pesky credit card bills, fund your digiscrap habit or save for a rainy day. I was introduced to another company and I wanted to take a minute to tell you about it. Smorty is a site designed to connect advertisers to bloggers who want to make money by using their blog to talk about sites or products. It's quite easy to get started and those of you who already do pay per posting will qualify for Smorty too, get paid to blog . Click the blinkie below to get some more information. It's quick and easy and if you've been blogging for more than 90 days, you too can make money off your blog.

Enjoying your weekend?

2008-02-10T08:14:00.000-05:00

I've been a bad blogger this week. I think it's been an every other day thing. I haven't had much of a chance to scrap this week and there haven't been a lot of new products coming out. So instead of going on and on about my life I just didn't blog. And that means I also didn't do many ads either. Oh well.

So how's your weekend going? I did have to work yesterday but I got up early and got 1 page done. I love this photo of the 3 kids. It was taken for Addi's 6 month photos. I love how they got all three of them in there.
Everything but the glass flower and vine are by Kiki Halbert from her Sandy Cove collection. Flower & vine by Natali Designs.

Yesterday I tried to do another page and ended up with 2 of the same subject. The photos are from Em's birthday last weekend. When it's your birthday, you can eat your cake however you want. lol. Her face is close to rivaling what she did on her first birthday. I can't decide which one I like better. So you tell me which one you like.

Credits: Flergs & Lindsay Jane Designs. Template by Andrea Gold on first one.

Any NASCAR fans? The season officially started last night with the Bud Shootout and Shannon was so happy his driver won. With the big changes to Jr.'s world over the off season and the last 8 months, it was good to see him win. The Daytona 500 is next Sunday. I didn't get into a fantasy league this year. I tend to be competitive and when my drivers got knocked out, it would put a damper on the race for me.

Well, I really need to clean the house and do the laundry. Especially if I want to get a few more pages done. Enjoy what's left of your weekend.

Oh yeah, anyone else who uses Blogger, does your spellcheck work? Mine doesn't and I don't know why or what to do about it. Just curious.

Romance should be more than just 1 day a year

2008-02-10T07:53:00.000-05:00

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I've been thinking a lot about love, romance and the past 8 years of my life. It's always the mystery, what to get Shannon for Valentine's Day. Do I get him anything? Will he get me anything. Now he's not the flowers type of guy. As a matter of fact, the only time he's had flowers delivered he was in BIG trouble and knew it. Ok, to be fair he had brought home a few bouquets over his lifetime, but few and far between. So I started thinking how was he romantic? Coming home to a clean kitchen and nice, simple dinner. Romantic. Curling up on the couch to watch a game or a race. Romantic. Sunday mornings in bed with the dogs. Romantic. Mowing the lawn without me having to ask a million times. Romantic? Well, maybe not so much. But romance shouldn't be a one day out of the year thing.

How do you keep the romance alive in your world? Especially in a long term relationship? We all know that in the beginning both parties work so hard and everything is new and exciting. But after so many years, the kids, the mortgage, the bills how do you keep the fires burning? Have you ever written a love letter? Looking for a good way to get started on one? Check these out.
One of my favorites is this one;I miss you. I really like the idea behind it. Instead of writing it, you could scrap a page. Find some good old photos and do a love letter layout. What a great gift to give and with it you also give yourself some time doing what you love.

TGIF!!!!

2008-02-08T07:47:00.001-05:00

I'm really loving Thursday night TV right now. The new season of Survivor started last night. And I must say that I'm kinda digging on the "Fans vs. Faves" format. I didn't watch all of the seasons throughout the years. I will admit that I didn't watch the Cook Islands, but even I know who Johny Fairplay is. And I was surprised by his actions. But I don't want to be a spoiler so I won't say anymore. Then after Survivor, another island show. My favorite, LOST was on. I love that show. Have since the very first episode. So much that I talk about the show with my old boss from a job I quit almost 3 years ago. But I must say it drives me crazy. So many questions.

and it rarely seems to answer them. Like last night, I thought maybe we were going to find out what the black smoke monster was, but NO they're not gonna tell us. Oh well. I still watch and wait. Do you like my pix of Sawyer? I tried to make it bigger, but it didn't work. I love bad boys and you can't find anyone badder than Sawyer. Kate's gonna break his heart.

OK, I'm running late today. But I wanted to show you what little I got done scrapping this week.

These are from my nephew's music competition. The papers and alpha are by Kiki Halbert and the stars, ribbon & paint are Flergs. Click the preview to be taken to a better preview and to get full credits. Kiki will be releasing a new kit and 2 terrific alpha this Sunday. I'll have previews for you then.

I am so late for work and haven't even jumped in the shower yet, so I better run. Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a terrific weekend!

Texas Hold Em online style

2008-02-08T07:19:00.000-05:00

I love to watch Texas Hold Em on TV. It started with the Bravo show that had celebrities on it. Then I started watching the World Series of Poker games on TV. Now if I can't sleep, Poker After Dark is a mainstay of my insomnia. I have 3 different Playstation poker games. Just like with Nascar, I have learned the personalities and persona's of the main players and I am addicted.

So I thought about checking out the different poker rooms that are available online. Wow, there are literally hundreds of them. I've found this review site, Flopturnriver.com that has lots of great information about getting started in the online poker world. There is a wonderful section for begginers, explaining the how's and why's of online poker. Then there's an entire section devoted to poker tools like hand converter and odds calculator. These are very helpful when playing online.

Then there is the online site review section. They review the hundreds of poker sites for you. They give Full Tilt referral the highest ranking overall. A lot of the pros play online there or advertise that they do. In addition to the reviews and rankings, there is also information regarding bonuses that the sites offer players. Ladbrokes Bonus is 100% of initial deposit up to $500, of course there are conditions. And even the most popular place Full Tilt Poker has a referral code to get a special bonus just for signing up through FlopTurnRiver.com. These bonuses are really a must have if you're going to be setting up accounts and playing online poker. It's a great way to pass the time and make a little money. Who knows, maybe one day you'll see me on TV at one of those WSOP championship games.

New products

2008-02-06T06:15:00.000-05:00

I wanted to start off with my thoughs and prayers going out to those people throughout Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and other states who were affected my the terrible tornadoes yesterday. I know that we have some people in the digiscrapping world in those areas (or close) and I pray that they are all ok. Tornadoes in the middle of winter is just a mind boggling phenomenon. I know our weather here has been strange the past few days, but nothing compared to that, Thank God.

I haven't gotten any scrapping done, but I've been on a shopping spree. In addition to my CT and guest spot goodies, I've picked up a few grab bags, kits and element packs. I'm gearing up for Shannon's vacation. And the countdown is on. lol.

Look, new stuff today. Look at this awesome new kit from Heather. It is GORGEOUS! It's called Midnight Butterflies and you can get it at her store, where it's on sale. Let me tell you that the preview doesn't do it justice. I have 3 photos in mind for this one. Now to just get 1) the time to scrap and 2) the idea to go from my brain to the computer. :) Hopefully I'll have something to show you by the weekend from this beautiful kit.

And look at these kits that are brand new from Cherie Shields. She's now selling at Sophia Sarducci. Both kits are simply beautiful. Obviously the Now & Forever would be perfect for wedding photos and pages. But her fab CT has found other uses for it too. (I haven't grabbed it yet, there was a different kit I wanted first). If you'd like to see some of her CT layouts, stop by Purple Paper Flowers. Heather's CT stuff is there too.

Hope you all are having a chance to scrap. I need to go catch up on blogs from yesterday. Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great one!

A dream trip to Spain

2008-02-06T05:39:00.000-05:00

Most of my life, I've dreamed about a trip to Europe. As a teen it was backpacking through the various countries, staying at hostels and living like a vagabond. In my 20's it was the glamour and nightlife of Ibiza, Monte Carlo and Cannes. Nowadays, it's just about making this dream come true. So I look and I listen. I check out various spots; some touristy, some not. I check flights and find how I can fit them into my schedule, budget and life. And then I find websites like this and I think that this dream really can come true. Check out CheaperthanHotels.co.uk

So I started looking through this site and came up with some new places to visit. Places that were never on my original list, but sound like a little bit of heaven off the beaten track. Places that the Europeans holiday at. Oh how I envy them sometimes. Taking off for a holiday to great places like Benidorm, Costa del Sol or Alicante in Spain on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The water temperature is a balmy 18 degrees Celsius. Open markets and booming nightlife make it sound incredibly quaint. Or on the Northeast coast, Costa Brava. With it's rugged coastline and sandy beaches, there are a number of resorts there. And to experience the heart of it all, no trip to Spain would be complete without a stop in the capital city of Barcelona. While not the big tourist traps, there sounds like more than enough to see and do to make any trip there a dream come true.

So I've been looking through the website Cheaperthanhotels.co.uk and seeing how easy it is to use. It's a comparison site. It offers you the rates at several leading hotels in the area. It's set up by star ranking. So you look for the hotel or price you want. The site gives you an overview of the hotel and it's amenities . And you book it from there. And they offer terrific prices. With sites like this, my dream trip to Spain may just become a reality.

Hope your weekend was terrific!

2008-02-04T06:38:00.000-05:00

So how was your weekend?
Much thanks to all of you who wishing good weather for me. I got up and on the road at 6 am Sat. morning for the drive up north. And the roads, well they were all clear with very little snow even on the grass until I crossed the state border. I guess the weatherman here needs to find another line of work. All doom & gloom for nothing.

I got to wander through my old high school waiting for Josh's music competition to start. A lot of ghosts there, but a lot of good, happy memories too. Josh has only been playing the bass for about 4 months now. The darn thing is bigger than he is. He was part of an enseble group that hasn't been playing together very long too. I think he would have done much better if he'd gone in as a solo artist. They got a 3 rating out of 5, but it was the first 3 that judge had given out all day. They played well, just not together. But I was very, very proud of him.

Here's some pictures I thought I'd share. I have millions of them.

That's me & my best friend of 30 years, Alisa. I don't get a chance to see her as often as I wish I could. She came and spent part of the day at my brothers with us.

I took my Shutterfly book and everyone loved it. That made me feel so good. We spent about a hour right before I left rearranging what all I had in my Shutterfly downloads and did another book for my SIL, her mom & my mom. I may not be able to get them over to the dark side, but I definately have them hooked on Shutterfly. I got to see my SIL's books in progress for Addi and the Christmas book. Paper is such a different medium. Sometimes I wish I could do that too, but I hear of the mess and the cost and just am so glad I have my digi world.

Since I didn't leave on Friday night after work, I got a little CT stuff done. This is Em at 9 months. So hard to believe since we just celebrated her 3rd birthday.

Credits: Cherie Shields ~Chloe collection; alpha is Charming to Me; swirls from Chai Latte.

I have just a ton of photos to play with now. Not only the ones I just took, but my SIL mother gave me the ones she's taken since Halloween and my brother loaded his onto my zip drive. I'll be in digi heaven soon.

Speaking of digi heaven, did you grab any of those fab grab bags this weekend? Of course, Heather's was wonderful. I was also really impressed with Kiki's first bag. I'm so glad that I'm a guest for her CT this month. I also grabbed Blythe's and it was just packed to the brim. I found out at OAKS that you can never go wrong with Blythe's bags. I also grabbed LauraKathi's. Did you get any that I didn't mention and if so, tell a little about them.

I didn't watch any of the Superbowl last night. I was driving home during the first half, uploading pictures during the half time show, and sleeping during the end of the game. I did roll over and see that surprise, the Giants won. So did I miss any awesome commercials? Tell me your fave.

I got my hair cut Sat. morning too. Heather's issues last week in finding a good stylist made me go see my old shop. While the lady who used to cut mine 13 years ago was there, she couldn't get me in, but the same lady who cuts Em's hair did mine. She's cut it before and we went to school together. So now I gotta go blow it dry, at least once. No before or after photos. It wasn't a dramatic cut, just getting rid of the dead ends and even deader color. So I'm off to jump in the shower and head to work. Wish I could stay home and play. Oh well. I'll check on you all tonight.
Have a great Monday!

A whole lot today

2008-02-01T07:14:00.000-05:00

So much to write about today. Where to start. Ok, life first. We didn't get the doom and gloom snow they predicted overnight. Which is great! However, it did go to the north and I think is going to affect my trip home to see the girls. Yesterday I was quite devesated by the whole thing as they were expecting 8 to 10 inches today, but I've calmed down. I think that I'll just change my travel time a little and leave early tomorrow morning instead. Give the road crews time to clean the area up some. Plus I didn't sleep all that great and still fighting whatever the old lady's trying to give me. So on the bright side, if I don't leave tonight, I'll get to come home and 1) visit all the blogs I don't get to read during the day & 2) scrap! So I'm trying to look at the brightside. It's not easy when you're a glass is half empty type of girl. However, if you don't hear from me today, that means I made a run for it and will have to jump on my mom's computer to catch up on the blogs.

I'm rereleasing my song quotes word art freebie. Why you ask, well that's the next thing to talk about. But if you want the word art click the preview or here.

Ok, now you have some love song word art, you can play along with Heather's CT on their latest challenge. It's an easy one, and perfect for this time of year. Just do a layout with the lyrics from ANY love song. For everyone who participates, they will get free QP's made from Heather's Con Amor kit that was in her grab bag. And there will be a random drawing for 2 gift certs. Check out her CT blog for more information and other CT member's layouts with love songs.
Here's one I did for the challenge, I love the Wings song Maybe I'm Amazed. Ok, I'm a Youtube idiot and can't figure out how to embed the video into my blog. But here's the link. It's a beautiful video for a beautiful lovestory.

Look here, we have a new store to shop at. Kristine (da wench) has opened her own store.
Stop by and browse through Kristine's new store. She's got some gorgeous stuff there. Just click the ad.
And Kiki has an awesome grab bag over at PDW that starts today. I've seen what's in it, unfortunatly I didn't have time to play with anything before the sale so I could show you a sneek peak, but for $2 it's a steal!!

Well I think I've gotten everything. Please hope the weather cooperates for me so I can see those little girls. Cuz if I do, that means I get new pictures and a whole new scrapping mojo. Enjoy your weekend all and stay safe.

LOST, layouts and make me stop complaining

2008-01-31T06:07:00.000-05:00

Mornin all. It's early (at least for me) and I'm stuffed up and mad as hell about it. The old lady I work with last Friday was getting sick. She missed the first 2 days of work this week, but came in yesterday all hacking and sniffleing and generally still pretty sick. She didn't want to miss another day of work cuz then she'd have had to go and see the Dr. And she's too cheap for that. Thanks a lot! Now I'm gonna get it. I'm supposed to go up and see my nieces and if I'm sick, that's not gonna happen and I'm gonna be madder than a hornet. And there hasn't been any measurable snow in weeks and guess what's coming in tonight after midnight? Yep, a snowstorm. So I'm gonna have to listen to Shannon go on and on about how it's not safe for me to be driving. All I want is to see those little girls.

I've been complaining a lot haven't I? I guess I really shouldn't. Things are good here. I've got my terrific full time and wonderful guest CT gigs and tons of photos to scrap. Plus the mojo's been pretty good, even if I'm hard on myself. I guess I just need some sunshine. So don't let me complain anymore. Threaten to stop reading my blog if I don't stop. Or something like that. hehe.

So I posted at DST about grab bags, cuz I know that this is the time of month they usually come out. Heather did hers last week and I think that by doing it earlier she grabbed a lot of attention. Plus we rak'd a lot of people with it. It was AWESOME and I'm so glad that I get to play with her stuff. I saw the preview for Kiki's and I am just sooooo excited that I'm a guest for her this month and next. There are some wonderful items in there and I hope to be able to introduce you all more to her designs. Her's should be released tomorrow and I believe it will be over at PWD. I'll let you know more tomorrow about it. Anyway, back to the DST thread. Someone had mentioned that Lauraskathi had one at the Funky Playground. She was one of the digi sponsors at SDD so I'm familiar with her work and picked it up. Boy was it BIG! I haven't opened it yet, but there were 11 different downloads. The grab bags was something I really liked at OAKS and miss very much.

Here's my first LO using Kiki's Sandy Cove kit. It's available at SBE. It's perfect for my Florida photos. I've got another one sitting in PSE, but I'm not sure if it's finished. You know how that goes, don't ya? So maybe you'll see it tomorrow or sometime next week.

Tonight something is happening that I've been waiting for since my birthday last May. And I am over the moon that it's finally here. The season premier of LOST. It's been a long time and I was so upset that they were holding off the premier until mid season and with the writter's strike, there are only 8 episodes, but at least I get to see them!!!! I am so in love with Sawyer, the island bad boy. What a hottie! So I know I won't be getting any scrapping done tonight.

Watch for a new challenge that I'm running tomorrow. It's gonna be a good one.

I'm gonna go crawl back into bed with my doggies for awhile. Hope you all have a good day!

PS. Blogger's been acting up lately and spellcheck isn't working. I'm sorry about any typos.

How do you protect your IPod?

2008-01-30T18:36:00.000-05:00

Everyone I know has one and just about everyone I know had has issues with their IPod getting scratched and dinged up. So how do you protect your Ipod? My brother bought this leather case but it defeats the purpose of having the super slim IPod. I found this website that offers these great ipod cases called invisibleShield. And they offer these shield for products like cell phones and lap tops too. This invisibleShield is a protection film that is clear and super strong. It's made from a material originally developed by the military to protect helicopter blades. It's a urethane plastic that conforms to fit the item it surrounds. So it protects from those annoying little dings and scratches that subtract from the beauty of your IPod, cell phone or laptop. Take a look at one.
Pretty cool huh?

Wild winter winds & a giveaway

2008-01-30T06:53:00.000-05:00

I laid down to go to sleep last night and I thought I was about to visit OZ. I couldn't believe how the wind was whipping and whirling. I wouldn't be surprised to see several roof shingles on my front lawn. It made for a noisy night. Straight line winds at anywhere from 50-65 mph. I didn't hear any major crashes which is fortunate cuz there are some big trees down in parts of the city. At least that's what the morning news is showing. That kept the dogs restless and me waking feeling like I got very little sleep.

I showed you these lovely swirls by Kiki Halbert yesterday. They are available at PDW for only $2. I think they would be an awesome addition to ANY valentine's day LO. So I'm buying a set to give away to my loyal blog readers.

All you need to do is go to Kiki's store at either PDW or Scrapbook Elements and pick 1 kit that you really like. Then email that to me at carjaziscraps "at" gmail "dot" com. I'll do a random drawing of everyone who sends me an email. Just a little something to say thank you for reading my blog every day.

I've got another guest CT spot to announce. I'm very excited to be a guest for Cherie Shields for Feb. & March. I have a few of her kits from my time at OAKS and am really looking forward to seeing more of her stuff. She's getting ready to open at Sophia Sarducci too. So I think between my full time & guest gigs I'll be pretty busy. I'm taking a page from Cate's book and spreading the love around as a guest. Somehow I doubt I'll be able to match her amazing feats with challenges though.

I'm getting itchy to get to Friday so I can leave to go see the girls. The only bummer is they're calling for snow. Shannon gets nervous when I drive in snow. Actually he gets nervous when I drive up there alone anyway. He just doesn't realize that I was doing it long before I met him. He's getting ready for a nice little getaway with his dad. Since he's laid off for the winter he's flying down and he & his dad are driving to Florida. He'll be gone for most likely 3 weeks. Am I bad to think YIPPEE!! I'll have all the time in the world to scrap. He's been so touchy lately saying I spend too much time on the damn computer. Anyone else got a DH or SO that doesn't get it?

A few big announcements on Friday so make sure you check back! Have a great day all.

It's only Tuesday?

2008-01-29T07:18:00.000-05:00

It's rollercoaster weather time here in Ohio. Today we're having a heatwave (well for Jan.) and it's gonna be in the 50's and tomorrow it's supposed to snow. Nothing like winter in the Midwest. You just never know what it's gonna do. And it's hell on the sinuses. I keep telling myself only 2 more months til spring. ugh.

Yesterday was Em's birthday. She turned 3. I'm heading up there this weekend to watch Josh play in a music competition and celebrate birthdays. I'm so excited cuz even though it's only been a little over a month since Christmas and the last time I saw the kids, I miss them so much. And they've grown already. There needs to be a way to keep them little forever. However I don't think my SIL would agree. Em's at that terrible 2, I can do it myself, but I gotta be the center of attention stage. That's hard with a 8 month old baby too. I think that Addi's about to crawl too. The things I miss being 4 hours away. So look for lots of photos next week.

Now I haven't officially started with Kiki's CT yet, I'm waiting on a few files and Feb. to be here. but I have to pass this along to you. Check out these lovely swirls word art. Are they fab! And wouldn't they just dress up any Valentine's layout. You can pick em up at PDW for only $2. At such a great price, I'm thinking of a little contest with em. hmmmmm. Let me think about this. Watch for this tomorrow.

I'm thinking that's all the news I have for today. Safe travel wishes for Heather as she comes to my state, only to find that I'm not here. :( Scrap happy all.

Blogthings

2008-01-28T19:44:00.001-05:00

Ok, I just had to do this one when I saw Cate's. Have to admit I like hers much better ~ Iron Fanny La Bouche. ROLFMAO!!

Your Pirate Name Is...

Cannibal Ivy the Infected

What's Your Pirate Name?

$8 Glasses at Zenni Optical

2008-01-28T19:41:00.000-05:00

So I broke my glasses again. It never fails, I lose the screw or something. And with my vision plan I only get glasses every 2 years. Now I only need to wear them when I'm on the computer, which is just about all the time. So I was looking at different sites and I found this site. Zenni Optical: Sell Rx Glasses $8 with case! With prices like that why bother going to a big name site. I guess they can sell so cheaply because they manufacture the frames, no middleman & low advertising budget. So the consumer wins. And they have a wide selection of frames available. My pair was similar to this pair and at the Eye Doctors I paid a $25 deductible and an extra $30 for scratch resistant lens. So if you are in the market for glasses, check them out.

How was your weekend?

2008-01-27T17:14:00.000-05:00

So how was your weekend? Did you lay back or do lots of stuff? Did you get to scrap? Mine was pretty low key. I spent a lot of time at SBB for their 5th birthday celebration. They held several chats and challenges over the weekend, giving out prizes and goodies. I'll show you more of that in a bit.

Guess what! I got a guest spot for Feb. & March with Kiki Halbert's CT. I'm so excited about that. I've gotten a few of her kits from RAK's and am looking forward to working with some of her designs. I've browsed her stores and don't know where to start, there are so many great items. So look for some of her designs here soon!

I was chatting with Cate on Hello on Friday night and she was showing me her newest layouts with blending. I love how she does it, especially with landscape & nature shots. So I sent her a few of my pictures from my trip to Florida and look what she did for me. Isn't it gorgeous!!! I need to see if she's put it on her blog yet so I can link the credits.

I'm still playing with blending. Hopefully I'll have something to show you soon.

Here are my layouts for some of the challenges from SBB this weekend. The one above I combined 3 challenges into 1 layout; quote, 5 items (were given) and 5 designers. Credits: papers ~ Nicole Pols (windgefluester) from her grab bag - elegance papersRibbon - Paint the Moon (Annie Manning)Frame~ Deacon's Closet by FlergsButtons ~ Holly Jolly Christmas by Doreen StolzStitching ~ Sew What by Melissa Bennett
This is for Amy Bleser's template challenge. The kit is Lindsay Jane's Magical Christmas.
This one was a recipe layout. Raechel gave us the ingredients and here's what I came up with. Credits: Template~ Andrea Gold from her blog1 Photo ~ my old man & the dogs2 Patterned papers~ Heather Manning Con Amor kit1 Solid paper~ Heather Manning Con Amor Kit 2 Ribbons ~ Color Revolution Ravishing Red by Connie Prince 1 Tag ~ Flergs from Deacon's Closet Stitching ~ Heart by Ztampf! from SBB collab For the Love of it Alpha for Title ~ Faith True Chrome AlphaFont for Title ~ KissMe KissMe KissMe Extra embellishment ~ Chocolate Heart from Designs by Shelle Be Mine

Don't forget about the Now & Then challenge over at Heather's CT blog. And watch for a new one from yours truly on Friday. Also I need to go and work on my new blog. I've been slacking this weekend and not getting things together, but I really just wanted the person putting it together for me to spend the weekend with her DH and DS's. :) I'll be by to read blogs after I get off work.

I hope to get lots of scraping done today

2008-01-26T08:38:00.000-05:00

But first I need to go and visit everyone's blogs. I feel that I've missed so much in the past 3 days. But I also haven't done any pages either. So I'll balance it out going from PSE to blogger and back and forth. :)

Did you know that this weekend is Scrapbook Bytes 5th anniversary? They're having a big sale and party. Spent a few hours last night at the chats and going through the store to see what I just can't live without (too much) and what I can afford. They have a terrific Collab that you get for free if you spend $10. And a lot of the designers are running sales right now. Unfortunately they are having some issues with the store and now I have to wait to get my goodies. But that's ok cuz I can spend time with you all.

Did you grab Heather's Grab Bag yet? What are you waiting for? Lots of goodies for a ridiculously low price. Plus you can use those goodies in the CT Blog challenge Now & Then, not to mention the Valentine's Day Challenge that I'm getting ready to post on Friday.

Guess I'm off to scrap. Hope you can get some good quality scrap time in too. Enjoy your Saturday.

Spotlights and flashlights

2008-01-25T19:07:00.000-05:00

I was surfing the net for landscape lighting and came across this site MagnaLight.com. Now what caught my eye on this site wasn't landscape lighting but the wide variety of High Powered spotlights. Which would be perfect for the campground. Quite often we play horseshoes or cornhole until the light is all gone. If we had a set of GoLights we could play all night. In addition to the GoLights, MagnaLight has a great selection of hunting lights, boat lights and even military lights. It seems that they do quite a bit of business with the military and have several testimonials from some of our military men serving over in Iraq. To me it sounds like they need more lights and less red tape. So if you're looking for any type of spotlights, flashlights, HID equipment lights or mounting equipment for these lights, check out MagnaLight.

Friday, Friday, TGIF

2008-01-25T06:48:00.000-05:00

Good morning. It's early here still. I got up to let the dogs out and decided to sit down at the computer and get some work done. Never fails. So I figured I'd come by and leave a happy TGIF message here. I am soooooooo glad it's Friday. 'nough said!

Last night Shannon and I went to see his niece play basketball. It's the first game of the season we've gotten to see and just about the last game of the season. It was a good defensive game, but they lost. It's her Senior season and it hasn't been a good one. The first 3 years she played on this team they had a 6 foot 3 guard who they parked under the basket. They won titles all 3 years, so this year is a big disappointment to her. And she sprained her ankle but tried to play through the pain. She wasn't in a good mood by the time I got to talk to her. And all she really wanted was some sympathy from her uncle and the blockhead didn't realize it. Men are so dense sometimes.

So while I was playing at DST with the grab Heather's grab bag game, I got myself some goodies too. Look.
This adorable Valentine's kit from Designs by Shelle
And this cute alpha by Tangie Baxter. There were quite a few others that I would have loved to have gotten, but can't get greedy. I find that a bit of Karma is good for the soul. Whenever Heather lets me give away her goodies, I get goodies in return. The other thing I've learned is that up to yesterday, everyone I've rak'd had done a turn on Heather's CT as a guest. We'll see if the trend continues.

I got the nicest Thank You card in the mail yesterday from my SIL parents. I changed a few of the photos on the calendar I did for my mom and my SIL ordered one for her parents. They are major paper scrappers and I am so in awe of what they can do. For her to be impressed with my digiscrapping skills (as basic as they are) and to say so really made my day.

Don't forget Heather's grab bag is on sale at her store until the 29th. I hope to get to play with it just a little bit more this weekend. Working on a great challenge for her CT blog for the beginning of Feb. Hope you'll keep an eye out for it.

Enjoy your weekend all. Happy scrapping!

What are you going to do with this "tax rebate"?

2008-01-24T21:51:00.000-05:00

What are you going to do with the proposed tax rebate? Will you spend it like the government want us to to stimulate the economy? Or will you put it into savings? Maybe pay off some credit card debt? Have you ever considered how much you need in an emergency fund? Check out this blog for recomendations on emergency savings funds. Most experts recommend that you have 6 months in savings, some say $500. What is most important is that you have some sort of savings for emergencies.

Managed through

2008-01-24T06:03:00.000-05:00

Well I made it through work yesterday without a major meltdown. I was pretty bored and gave up trying to stay away from the forums after lunchtime. I'm hoping that they won't take those too. See I have a job with a lot of downtime and not a whole lot to do. So internet access was ok until now. The IT guy will be in the office today. Debating on if I'll ask what is so wrong about blogs. I'm sure he'll tell me lots. I know, you're tired of hearing about it.

So I'm trying to get back on track with my Christmas book. I've still got at least 10 pages to go. And I've really lost the Christmas feeling. I wanted to try to get away from traditional colors but I still used a Christmas kit. I've got mixed feelings about it. I have decided that I need to journal more on these pages. So I'm really struggling with that. Credits: Jingle Jangle from Melissa Bennett, gift boxes by Mary Fran & template by Andrea Gold.

Well I'm off to pick the winners of Heather's gift bag giveaway. Stop by her CT blog to see who won.

Have a great day all!

Blogthings

2008-01-23T19:10:00.000-05:00

You Are A Blue Girl

Relationships and feelings are the most important things to you.

You are empathetic and accepting - and good at avoiding conflict.

If someone close to you is in pain, it makes you hurt as well.

You try to heal the ones you love with your kind and open heart.

What Color Girl Are You?

You Are Marcia Brady

Confident yet kind. Popular yet down to earth. You're a total dream girl.
You've got the total package - no wonder everyone's a little jealous of you.

What Brady Are You?

A great guide to web hosting choices

2008-01-23T18:59:00.000-05:00

Are you looking for a web host? I was, thanks to my desire to be able to read my blog while at work. So I was happy to have found web hosting choice. It is a terrific site that offers comparative info on different web host sites that are out there. There is a wonderful quick start guide and a FAQ area to help you improve your knowledge of what is important while you are looking for a web host. And I truly appreciated the section on scams. I don't need to fall into any of those. So if you are thinking of getting your own domain name for your blog or want to open a website of your own, start with the web host and get all the information you need.

No more blogger at work.

2008-01-22T22:18:00.000-05:00

So I've been having issues at work with my computer the past few days. When the IT guy called yesterday to go over things and reinstall and remove etc.. stuff, I just happened to have the site for my new blog host up. Well, later this afternoon I found that IT has blocked all Blogger based sites from my access at work. I have a feeling that forums will be next. I tried to clear out my history and stuff, but I know they have an exact printout of where I've been and such. Now I don't know why they feel that scrapping blogs are so dangerous to the server but I'm pretty sure that I've ruined it for everyone else in the company. However I doubt that anyone else is a ticked off about it as I am. I have a boring job and the only thing that makes it even remotely tolerable is my Internet access. So while I'll continue to blog I won't be by to read your during the day. I will however continue to visit my friends, nothing will stop me from my appointed rounds, lol. I just wanted to let everyone know what was up and why I'm not traveling the blog train during the day. (or at least until I figure out a way around this). I did get a domain name and started to set up a new blog. I'll let you know if I can access that one at work, not that it will matter, cuz I won't be able to read yours at work.

So it was very nice to see this from Yen yesterday on her blog. I truly adore all my regular readers and am an avid reader myself. It's nice to get to know what it going on in peoples lives. I am so majorly bummed out about this IT issue. Anyway, I would like to once again recognize Heather, Kristine & Cate. These girls are just such a part of my daily life. I can't repeat what Kristine said about my IT issue, but it at least made me chuckle. Which I believe has become her main focus in life. Cate is my lifeline on trying to figure out my Vista and PSE issues. I don't understand something, one email screaming help and the problems fixed. Heather believes in me, even when I don't believe in myself. Love ya girls~Mwah!

I thought I'd play around with Kim B's color challenge over at DSO. I don't know when it started to become a design challenge, but it seems that everyone is trying their hand at that. I think I'll stick to word art. But here is my very first attempt at papers. If you like it, snag em here.

Don't forget to stop by Heather's CT blog & leave a comment to be in the running for her newest grab bag. I'll be randomly drawing a name of everyone who leaves a comment. At least I'm getting all those at my email. lol. Ok, I know shut up and do your job.

Have a great day! I'll be missing you.

Obsessed and a grab bag rak

2008-01-22T07:43:00.000-05:00

Good morning. It's snowing a little bit here and I swear that with the little bit of precipitation people here lose their ability to drive. I don't get it at all. There's about an inch of snow and it took me 15 minutes to turn left off the main street I live on. Anyway, the snow isn't the problem, the people who forget how to drive in it is.

So I've become obsessed with blending and the fact that I seem to be unable to grasp the process well enough to make a decent attempt at it. So here's one I did this morning since I woke up early. The kit is Flergs Deacon's Closet with recolored flowers. Anyone have an easy step by step tut that you can link me to. I see so many people who do this so beautifully and I want to do it too. Blending envy, how funny.

Look, Heather has a new grab bag out. 5 new products for only $2.75. Go check out the CT blog for an opportunity to win this fabulous grab bag. I will randomly pick 1 person from those people who leave a comment on the CT blog. I'll announce the winner here on Thursday. Also check out the great challenge that Charlize has posted at the blog. It's a "now and then" challenge and there will also be a random winner for a $5 GC there too. Heather is being sooooo generous.

Enjoy your day all!

Happy Birthday Cate!!

2008-01-20T20:33:00.000-05:00

Well I did get to play a little bit yesterday. Unfortunately I can't show it to you until I post the new challenge on Heather's CT blog. Yeah! Another blog I get to go on and on at. The entire CT team will be involved and that's where we'll be introducing new products, challenges and give aways that Heather has planned for the upcoming weeks. So keep an eye out for the link. You know I'll have it here first. hehe

Ok, now I can show you the other thing I was working on yesterday. Yeah! Happy Birthday to my friend Cate!!!!!! Cate has been such a sweetheart to me and a good support system. Please stop by her blog and wish her a wonderful day. I think that she got buried in snow over the weekend. brrrrrr. Catie girl, I wish for you lots of time today to scrap to your hearts content.
Credits: Everything by Flergs from Caramel Pudding & Strawberry Delight. Word art by me.

Also, Purple Paper Flowers is officially open! Check out the gallery, forums and wonderful shoppe.

Baby it's cold.

2008-01-20T08:31:00.000-05:00

It's so cold here, but then again, it's cold throughout the entire Midwest. It's 3 degrees with a windchill of -10 degrees. So glad I do my grocery shopping midweek. Feeling like I'm starting to come down with something. That's usually the case. First time in a month I've worked a Saturday and get overtime and I'll get sick and not get the OT. Oh well, I'll just pump myself full of Theraflu and junk, maybe I can beat it.

I tried to play around with blending a bit yesterday and this is what I came up with. Not sure that the blue dress went so well with the blue paper but I just loved that. Anyone have any CC for me on how to do this better? It would be so greatly appreciated. (Credits: Paper by Michelle Coleman Frosted Papers; Ribbon (recolored) by Paint The Moon - Annie Manning; fairy & fairy dust from Feral Faeries by Scrappin Hillbilly Sweetpea Designs; Snowflakes from Icy Sparkles by Heather Manning ; Snowflakes by Flergs from her blog; alpha by Debb Cozzi - Lucite Christmas.) This is the only one I did yesterday. I spent most of my time resaving the layouts I've done of my nieces to Shutterfly specs for a book. Since I bought 2 of em on sale at Target, I thought I'd get some of mine printed off. Didn't realize that I have 40 of the girls alone. Guess I need to make a trip back to Target to grab some more.

Well, time to go do laundry, dishes and all that other domestics stuff I hate. Cate, wished you lived closer~lol. Stay warm everyone!!

Ahhhh Saturday

2008-01-19T08:17:00.000-05:00

And you'd think I'd try to sleep in since I don't have to be to work until 10. Yeah I know, yuck. But I was awake at 7 and since I didn't get to play last night, I thought I'd see what I could come up with after a good nights sleep. Actually I'm pretty impressed with myself on this one. I used Heather's I'm Blushing and her part of the Purple Paper Flowers designers collab Come What May. The flowers and butterflies are by Flergs from Caramel Pudding and Strawberry Delight. The template is by Doreen Stolz. I just love photos of Em sleeping. She looks like an angel, but really she's just a ball of energy. So now I'm off to work. Hope you all enjoy your Saturday.

Thinking about refinancing?

2008-01-18T18:56:00.000-05:00

Have you been thinking about refinancing to get a better rate, get out of an adjustable rate or debt consolidation? Not sure where to look? Check out DollarBlvd.com. You can get information from 5 different lenders without a credit check or giving your social security number up front. Make the lenders compete for your business. After all they're the ones who are looking to get paid. So check out this site for comparative no obligation refinancing or home equity loan quotes. Florida Refinance is just one area that can obtain great quotes. Stop by today.

Look, a layout finally.

2008-01-18T07:38:00.000-05:00

Hi there. Look I actually got some pages done. I still don't have my files in place, but I just had to scrap. Emotionally I just needed to create and then get frustrated. lol. If you're a regular reader you know that I'm rarely happy with my pages. But I'm learning to scrap for me and not be so self critical. Good luck, bwahahaha. So here are my two masterpieces I finished last night.

Credits: Heather Manning- keep your eyes open for more info to come.
I'm sure that most of you know what this is. This is my page for the Flergs CT competition. I'd be happy with a guest spot. There have been over 1000 downloads of this kit. I don't envy Megan on having to go through all the entries to choose people for her CT. While working on this, I found that a few of Megan's freebies I'd collected aren't on my backup and I don't think my disc either. Bummer. The butterfly and flowers are from her Caramel Pudding and the journaling strips are by Jessica Gorny. (I got those on sale at OAKS- there's still time).

I'm really hoping I can get back on the ball and get more done for my Christmas book. I have 9 out of 20 pages done. I also went to Target yesterday and got 2 of the Shutterfly codes for 8 X 8 books to print out some of my layouts. Now I'll need to resave them all and resize some of them. Oh yeah, I got the Shutterfly codes for $15 each. And they had the calendars down to $10. I may go and get some more of those just to have. I'm a sucker for a sale.

Gotta go get dressed for work. Thank God it's Friday!! Even if I do have to work for a bit tomorrow. Hope you all have a great day and enjoy your weekend!

It's short today

2008-01-17T08:21:00.000-05:00

Mornin all. Hope today finds you well and scrappin happy. I'm still working on getting files back to where they need to be and real life has prevented me from doing any scrapping. I am falling way behind on my CT and challenges. Such is life though. I quit worrying about it. I just hope that my mojo doesn't get too lost in the process.

So have you checked out Prima yet? I never paper scrapped so I really doubt I'll do any hybrid stuff. I am in awe of paper scrappers though. I see some truly fabulous paper pages over at Scrappers Daily Dose and I wonder how they do that and how can I get my pages to look like that. I so need to figure out how to adjust drop shadows on PSE5. The generic shadows just aren't getting it. Anyway, I did go check Prima out but not sure if I'll end up doing any shopping there.

Ok, fess up. Who watched American Idol the last two nights? I used to love the audtion shows. Much like watching a train wreck or reading the drama threads that really don't pertain to you at DST, you just can't stop yourself. I've been a little disappointed in the show so far. Nothing overly outrageous so far. It still amazes me that people who go and audition and are horrible, have no clue that they are that bad. They either are clueless or just really good actors. Now the borderline people, I can understand. But did you see the guy who sang "Go Down Moses" in Philly? Just bad.... I guess everyone wants 15 seconds of fame. I was on TV once. Entertainment Tonight. Way back in the 80's. But that's another story for another time.

Keep an eye out for a new grab bag from Heather. Should be available shortly. I downloaded and unzipped it last night, but haven't played with it yet. But let me tell you, it's FAB!!!! I'll let you all know the minute it's available.

Hoping your day goes well and that I have more scrappin news next time. Enjoy your day.

Review sites for loans with less than perfect credit

2008-01-16T11:47:00.000-05:00

With the economy taking a turn for the worse, a lot of people are finding themselves in over their heads. It doesn't take much to take a good credit rating and turn it into a bad one. So what do you do if that happens to you? You still may need to refinance your home or find a credit card to use. Check out this site, bad credit loans and see what a great resource is can be to get you back on the road to good credit. Instead of taking offers that come in the mail, you can review several companies that extend offers to people with less than perfect credit.

Maybe you're looking into credit counseling or debt consolidation? Check out their page on that here to compare companies. Auto loans, credit cards, home loans; if you need to repair your credit, this is a good site to start at.

Catchin up

2008-01-16T08:37:00.000-05:00

Today is my catch up day. I looked at my recovered files a little last night. I would say that I only got about 1/2 of them from the online recovery. So I need to go back and load them from the back up discs. grrrrr. But at least I have those discs. Cuz most of my "good" files are going to be on them. None of the Christmas kits were on the online recovery. So since I'm working mostly on the Christmas book those will be the first files I find.

Monique had this on her blog for me the other day. Kristine had it on her blog for me the next day. I feel so loved. So I get to pay it forward.

1) Yen - Her photos amaze me, her little boys are just the most adorable little ones and she scraps amazingly. Thank you Yenny girl!

2) Cate - Cate continues to amaze me with her organizational skills and the way she cranks out layouts, challenges and takes care of her family. When I grow up, I wanta be just like Cate.

3) Andrea - Andrea was one of the first people to jump aboard when I started blogging. She's a faithful reader and friend.

4) Barb - As a fellow Michigander living in Ohio, I salute you. I've recently found her 2 blogs and love to check them out on a daily basis.

5) Azrood - Another new blog I've found recently. The antics of her family amuse me greatly.

Ok, next award came from Yen. She is just the sweetest. Best Blogging Buddies award.

This I send along to Kristine, Heather and Cate. Not only are you good blog buddies, but great friends. Thank you so much.

Now I have several Top 5 Lists for you. This idea came from Monique's blog on Monday.

My Top 5 stores:

1) SBB

2) Ztampf!

3) Pickleberry Pop

4) SBG

5) Purple paper flowers _ While it just opened, there are lots of great designers there, several from OAKS which would have been in my top 5 hands down if it wasn't closing at the end of the month. Still have great sales over there. Go check em out.

Top 5 things I love to find in a kit

1) Ribbons

2) doodles & swirls

3) flowers

4) stitching

5) frames

Top 5 things I want to learn to do better in scrapping

1)Blending

2) photo actions

3) journaling

4) textures

5) font design

My top 5 scrap sites

1) DST

2) SBB

3) Scrappers Daily Dose

4) Purple paper flowers

5) Digital Scrap Garden

Top 5 designers that are new to me (of course my CT designers are my absolute faves)

1) Flergs

2) Kiki Halbert

3) ChereKaye

4) Birgit Kerr

5) Melissa Bennett

These are designers that I just recently found out about.

Top 5 Blogs for great freebies

1) Kristine - Wenchd Grafix

2) Kim B Designs

3) Andrea Gold templates

4) Lindsay Jane

5) Ikeagoddess

Come on share your fave 5's with us. Leave em here or put em up on your blog. They don't have to be the same topic as mine. I changed some from Monique's. That's what's so much fun.

I need to go jump the train before I go off on a rant about my unprofessional supervisor. Hope you all have a good day.

Affiliate Marketing with Pepperjam

2008-01-16T08:32:00.000-05:00

About a year and a half ago I tried affiliate marketing. It didn't work and I wasn't sure why. I don't know if it was because no one explained to me what it was all about or how to succeed at it. Now I find Pepperjam Network - a leading Internet marketing agency that is taking their years of affiliate marketing experience and putting to good use by taking what is wrong with the industry and making it right. Check out their latest press release:

"Pepperjam Announces Launch of Next Generation Affiliate Marketing Network Pepperjam, a two-time Inc.

Magazine fastest growing company and industry leading full-service internet marketing agency, today announced the launch of Pepperjam Network, a proprietary next generation affiliate marketing network.

If you are an advertiser or affiliate and would like to sign-up for Pepperjam Network please visit http://www.pepperjamnetwork.com/.

“Pepperjam Network represents an evolution in affiliate marketing. The creation of Pepperjam Network represents eight years of research and development and the combined ideas, feedback, and intelligence of hundreds of affiliate marketers and advertisers. Pepperjam Network will forever change the face of affiliate marketing by putting power back in the hands of affiliates and advertisers to build long-term, profitable partnerships through better communication tools and transparency,” said Kristopher B. Jones, President & CEO of Pepperjam.

Among a variety of affiliate marketing enhancements, Pepperjam Network addresses the two primary shortcomings of other existing affiliate networks, namely (1) poor, unreliable communication tools and (2) lack of affiliate transparency. With Pepperjam Network, affiliates and advertisers can communicate in real-time via Pepperjam Chat™, thereby providing a reliable communication system to build stronger, more profitable partnerships.

Pepperjam Network also provides advertisers with an unprecedented measure of affiliate transparency, which helps to establish trust, protect brand integrity, and lays the groundwork for open, long-term, profitable relationships.

Pepperjam Network also introduces pepperjamADS, which is a first-ever affiliate marketing widget that affiliates can use to serve customized contextual ads from one or multiple Pepperjam Network advertisers at the same time.

Pepperjam Network was designed to make the experience of affiliate marketing profitable and educational, with the goal of allowing affiliates and advertisers to truly understand and maximize the critical affiliate marketing channel.

Unlike the traditional networks, Pepperjam Network uses Web 2.0 technology to provide affiliates and advertisers with an easy-to-use, cutting-edge interface designed to facilitate and optimize the affiliate marketing process. For instance, Pepperjam Network offers industry leading source-level tracking and reporting - this robust technology is especially beneficial to search marketing and sophisticated super affiliates that want to take advantage of the most up-to-date technology available to track commissions at the keyword level.

Here is just a sample of what many industry experts are saying about Pepperjam Network: “Even after all these years using Commission Junction on the merchant and affiliate side, I still find it terribly clumsy to find what I want. With Pepperjam Network it is quick and easy. Pepperjam Network is what an affiliate network would look like if it were built from a wish list from both the affiliate and merchant perspective,” said Shawn Collins, Cofounder of Affiliate Summit.

“As both an advertiser and a affiliate, I am on the lookout for affiliate marketing systems that meet all our company’s needs. Pepperjam Network is without a doubt the most comprehensive, practical and useful affiliate marketing system I have seen to date. Pepperjam Network demonstrates that it is possible to combine style with substance in a network that provides site owners and advertisers with tools and resources to increase their bottom line,” said Joel Comm, New York Times Best-Selling author and CEO, InfoMedia, Inc.

About Pepperjam:

Pepperjam is an industry leading full-service Internet marketing agency offering marketing services and advanced technology in the areas of pay-per-click, search-engine optimization, affiliate marketing, and online media planning and buying. The company was founded in 1999 by Internet marketing expert, accomplished speaker, and published author Kristopher B. Jones. Pepperjam has received numerous awards and achievements, including recognition by Inc. Magazine for two consecutive years as one of the fastest growing privately-held businesses in the United States. Learn more at http://www.pepperjam.com/. "

Sounds very interesting and very profitable. I plan to look into it more. How couldn't use a little extra money in their pockets?

Disclosure: “Carjaziscraps - The Rants of a Buckeye Scrapper” is a personal blog written and edited by me. In it I write about things that interest me and/or that I feel need to be mentioned. From time to time I will be writing about products, services, websites and assorted other topics in posts sponsored by one or more advertisers.Any claims, statistics or other statements about a product or service mentioned on this blog should be verified with the manufacturer or provider thereof. The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own regardless of the topic and whether or not it is a sponsored postings.

Retrevial complete

2008-01-15T08:43:00.000-05:00

Well, my incredibly slow online back up system has reinstalled 401 of the 406 files it had in it's memory. They're all zipped files so now I get to go back and unzip and reorganize everything. I think I need a better system then I had before. I also found out that the back up files are only the most recent backup. So I figure it's about 2/3 of my files. The rest I'll need to get from the back up discs. But I learned a valuable lesson on that. So if you do use an online back up, check and see what it is backing up. There are some files that I have no idea what they are and then some that didn't get backed up because there's not enough room. My online backup only holds 10GB. I'm not sure when I'll get that chance to get everything unzipped and back to doing pages.

So I went to Digifree to see if yesterdays word art was on the freebie list. Maria is away on vacation I think and the computer has gone bizerke. There are freebies from last Oct on there. There are Halloween freebies, Christmas freebies. It's all over the place. I'm sure that most of the links are no longer valid. The funny thing is that there are only a few of the "usual" suspects there. It took me forever to get through them and no it wasn't there. Bummer. Cuz only a few people found it yesterday. I'll have a new one tomorrow.

Ok, I'm not much into mentioning what's going on in the news, but this caught my eye. Dozens in Texas town report seeing UFO. Now you can't tell me that there is not 1 digiscrapper in Stephenville Texas, lol. A good scrapper ALWAYS has a camera in their possession. All those people and not one photo? Me thinks the govt. is testing new equipment in the heart of Texas.

I was running way late today. I have a few top 5 lists and a pay it forward from Monique that I'll have on tomorrows post. Sorry.

So I couldn't decide between a cute photo or a joke. I think I'll go with both.

Dear Lord,I pray for Wisdom to understand my man;

Love to forgive him; And Patience for his moods.

Because, Lord, if I pray for Strength,

I'll beat him to death. AMEN

Have a good day all~

Time for your yearly insurance and financial checkup

2008-01-14T11:23:00.000-05:00

Every year right around tax time, I always take stock in my finances. I like to see where I'm at and where I'm going. It also gives me an idea on what I spent at Christmas. While doing this check up I also always re quote my insurance needs. I'm up for renewal on my auto, homeowners and RV insurance and I always want to make sure that I have the most economical pricing for the coverage I need. So I started surfing and found this site for FREE Insurance Quotes. In addition to auto, they offer home, life, health and speciality insurances. You enter a little information about what you are looking for and they match you up with a qualified, licensed insurance broker. That way you can pick and choose who you want to do business with. All information is kept in strict confidence between you and the agent. They will contact you at the number you list. No need to go digging through the phone book looking for insurance companies. The market is competitive, let them come to you. And do yourself a favor while you're sorting out your tax forms and receipts. Make sure that your insurance needs are correctly met, with coverages that will protect your assets and your family. A financial checkup is always as important as a yearly medical checkup. And with this website, it's very easy and less painful than finding out you're paying too much or don't have enough coverage to fit your needs.