A New Crafting Room

I am so excited! Eventually I'll edit this and add a picture or two. But, for now...I just wanted to share my excitement. I have a crafting room! Since I started making my greeting cards and gift boxes almost a year ago, I have been working in my living room. It cramped things a little and really always annoyed me that I didn't have a better space to designate as My Crafting Room. Today, after sort of an impromptu conversation with my hubby, we decided that one of our spare bedrooms would get a lot more use if I turned it into a crafting room. So...I did. I disassembled the queen sized bed and I moved this and that behind that and this. Then I started the arduous task of moving all of my crafting supplies, table and just general stuff, up the stairs and into "My Crafting Room"! It is fantastic. I do want to add to it in the future. I would like to add some shelving and some more storage but...it is, at last, my room for all things crafty! I think I will eventually replace my crafting table too. The one that I have is ok but, frankly, if I had the crafting room when I first bought it, I would have gotten something different. The one I have has wheels. I bought it because my plan was to be able to close it up and move it into a little space off of my foyer when I wasn't using it. Eventually, my supplies got so cumbersome that moving it wasn't really an option anymore so, I moved the Sofa Table from one wall in my living room, to another one and crammed my crafting table against that wall, allowing me some 4 feet (if not less) of room in my living room with which to work. I have a really pretty living room. I'm not bragging. I just like it. It is cozy and it makes me feel like home. But, when you add my crafting table, it becomes something less. Even though he never said it, I found out today, after a sigh of relief from both of us once my crap was all in my "Crafting Room", that both the hubby and I were not at all happy with my crafting stuff being in our living room. It...and this is my quote..."crapped it up", and the hubby agreed.

So...now I have a cozy place to chill and watch some TV. And I have a cozy place to craft...and make as Craftacular as I want! Yay!

Ready, Set...Take Off!

I am so excited! About 2 weeks ago, the woman who got me interested in being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and making my own greeting cards and gift boxes, emailed me to ask me if I wanted to take over her clientele. She has a full time job and is a very busy woman because she lives a very social life. She hosts and demonstrates for a Stamp Club once a month and she asked me if I wanted to take it over. She is exhausted and has been thinking about retiring her Stampin' Up! business. I am thrilled! I have had a few of my friends buy Stampin' Up! products from me. I also taught one woman and her daughter how to make a card a few months ago. I've also had a few orders from people of cards and crafts that I make. But, it has been a bit slow. So, taking over for my friend is just what I needed! My friend asked me to demonstrate for her last Stamp Club in about 3 weeks. I already have one project I will be doing and am going to be meeting with her to hammer out the details on a second one. The card above is the one I will be demonstrating at Stamp Club using Stampin' Up! products. I designed it myself. There are similarities to another Demonstrator's card but, there are enough of my own ideas to call it at least half my own.

Then today, I got another email from another friend asking me to do a demonstration for her, her daughter and 3 of her daughter's friends for her daughter's birthday. She's the same woman I mentioned above. I taught her how to make a card which she now makes several of to send to her Father-in-law to give as Thank You cards. It was so fun when she and I worked together on that project a few months ago. I find that I kind of like to teach people. Not that I would ever want to be a teacher. But, I do like to help people. And, with something I am so passionate about, I really do love it! I can't wait!

So...that is what I've got going on right now! Wish me luck!

Bruno Mars - The Lazy Song [Official Video]

It's been a little while...or a long one...since I posted anything fun so...without further ado, here is something so fun that I have watched it 3 times in the past hour or so! Seriously...this is my new favorite music video of all time! I love Bruno Mars! Love his music, his sort of outside of the box style and...because I happen to think that a good sense of humor is an outrageously sexy trait...I love his sexy!

Enjoy! I know I did, have and will!

If You Get Away With It...

I don't know why the show Sister Wives bothers me so much. Well, I guess I do. But, the thing is, I do pride myself on being pretty open-minded. But, there are just some things that are so rooted in my knowledge of right from wrong and, I think that plural marriage is morally wrong...and illegal. So, when I watch that show and I see Kody Brown boo hooing and trying to garner sympathy from his viewers because he might go to jail for breaking the law, and his family might be separated, I can't feel sorry for him. Where does it stop? If you get away with breaking the law, shouldn't other people get away with it too? If someone kills someone else, they broke the law so, shouldn't they get away with it if you can get away with breaking marital laws? I know that is a pretty extreme comparison but, it is how I see it. So, let's go a little less extreme. Kody breaks marital laws, gets caught and gets away with it. I break into someone's house and get caught having broken the law of Breaking and Entering. It is just as much of a law as the one against plural marriage. But, if Kody can get away with breaking that law, why can't I get away with having broken into someone's house? We have laws for a reason. They protect the innocent. They maintain balance in society. By breaking the law of singular marriage, Kody has caused pain to his children...a.k.a. "The innocent". They are hurting and struggling with the fact that their father might go to jail and that they may be separated from the kids that they have grown up with as siblings. It's simple...don't break the law to satisfy your junk, have some 18 or whatever kids, brag about it on TV and just assume that you can get away with shitting all over the laws that are the foundation of this country, and you won't go to jail. And for God's sake...don't cry about the results of the bad, law breaking choices that you have made and look for me to feel sorry for you.

Yes...I know this is judgmental as Heck but, I obey the simple laws of this country so, I feel justified in passing judgment on this particular case.

Kody, either love the ONE you are with or dump them and start over.

Choking on Hypocrisy

Ugh! Have you ever had a day where you are proud of something but others keep ruining it by their hypocrisy? So...I thought I was done with this subject, at least on here. But, I have so much to get off my chest. Again, I want to reiterate that I am so very truly deeply proud of the military. Fantastic, outstanding job on taking down Osama Bin Laden. There is no way for me to show my gratitude to its fullest extent other than to say 2 simple words...THANK YOU!

But, again I think that our President deserves some credit. However, instead of swallowing pride, Republicans are practically screaming at his supporters to give credit only to the military. I have repeatedly heard that Obama had nothing to do with it simply because he didn't shoot the gun that took Osama out. So...let's go with that train of thought since you seem to want to argue. If that is the way you feel than the military shouldn't get the credit for it, one man and one man only on this entire planet should get that credit because one man gave the kill shot. So, let's step away from that argument because, I don't believe that. I believe that it was a collective effort by our government and the entire military organization. So, let's go down another path of argument since, it doesn't end as far as the Republicans go. In one breath they say that Obama doesn't deserve ANY credit. In the next breath they say, "Thank you, former President Bush, for staying the course, getting this started, and following through with the promise to bring Osama down". So...am I to understand that you can't give any credit to our current President because all of the credit belongs to the military...however, Bush deserves some credit because he started the war? What the fuck? Here's another nugget I have heard for the past 3 years, since the day Obama took office..."get our troops back home". Obama has taken the blame for us being at war. Obama has taken the blame for everything that Bush started. Obama has been give shit for not getting our troops home yet. Fine. I want them home as bad as anyone else. But, really? Fucking really people? It was ok that they were at war when Bush was in office but, as soon as he was out, it wasn't ok anymore? So let's dissect this...they are still there for so many reasons. One reason was as part of an effort, because it is what Obama was trying to have happen, to take down Osama. So, if he had pulled our troops out, they wouldn't have been there to take down Osama. Let's go deeper. Now it is good that the troops were there BUT they weren't there because of Obama. They were there because of Bush. FUCK YOU ALL! What more does our CURRENT President have to do to make you happy? Let me tell you something, Bush started the war. He broke the economy. He jacked shit all up in all kinds of ways. He isn't in office anymore. He doesn't have any control over our military anymore. He doesn't get a say in a damn fucking thing as far as our government goes ANY FUCKING MORE! Obama did this. I will give credit where credit is due. Bush put things in motion. But, Obama OBAMA finished it! He gave the command to our military to take Osama Bin Laden out. That phone call...that correspondence...that command did not come from the lips of former President Bush. If you want to give credit to Bush, that is your right, but you really should give some damn respect to EVERYONE that was involved over the past 10 years in the efforts to bring down that mass murderer. Get over yourselves. It shouldn't matter that you wish that there was a Republican President in the Oval Office right now. All that matters is that our current President was instrumental in taking down Osama Bin Laden as he is the current Commander In Chief over our military. Stop hating. Open your hearts. Realize that what you are saying, how you are acting, is making you look ignorant and frankly, a lot less grateful than you are trying to come off.

THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS EVERYONE WHO HAD A HAND, OVER THE PAST NEARLY 10 YEARS, AND EVEN AS LONG AS 20 YEARS, IN RELIEVING THE WORLD OF THE DANGER IMPOSED BY OSAMA BIN LADEN. And, I do mean EVERYONE...regardless of what side of the political fence they sit on.

Osama Bin Gotten

The first thing I want to say is THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! To our military for taking care of business and putting an end to the most horrible person to ever walk this Earth. As the men from one of my favorite shows "The Buried Life" said on their Facebook page last night "Osama Bin Gotten". To the men and women of our military, do your thang! You deserve a Klondike Bar, a drink, or even just a nice long nap. What I really want for you is to be able to come back to your own country but, there is still much work for you to do wherever you all are so, for now, I wish for you whatever comforts you want and can get wherever you are.

That being said, I want to also credit the man in charge of our military for his role in this American victory. Thank you to President Obama! I know that the fact that I think he deserves some credit is not popular with those on the other side of the political fence but, if they could set aside their hatred for him, which is based only on the fact that his political affiliation starts with a D rather than and R, they could probably see that he deserves a modicum of credit. No, he didn't pull the trigger and fire the bullet but, he gave the command. It was under his leadership that our military took care of that business. Believe me when I say that I am not only crediting our President. It was our military who sacrificed so much. It was their expertise, training and dedication that got the job done. But, President Obama had a hand in it as well. His dedication and expertise was necessary to help get it done as well.

So, all I ask...all I want...is for everyone involved in this victory for America, to get their due credit. Stop hating for no reason. Open your minds and your hearts. I can guarantee that if Bin Laden had been taken out under a Republican President's leadership, the Republicans would have been happy to give him or her some credit along with the troops.
And, I would have been happy to give a Republican President a pat on the back for a job well done. I could do that because I know that it takes a cohesive unit in any business to get a job done and to do it well. Guidance, many fields of expertise, hard work and dedication may start with one person but behind one person is the same kind of guidance, expertise, hard work and dedication of everyone around them that lends its supportive hand to ensure that the job is completed. I literally don't know a single business in the world that is made up of only one person. So, failures and achievements are shared by everyone in a business.

Ok...to avoid any other rambling, I'll simply say this...Thank you to our military, and our President for doing what was necessary to keep us safe and to end Osama Bin Laden. You are loved. You are brilliant. You are strong and courageous. You fill me with pride. God Bless you and congratulations on a job more than well done!


Note: I made a wordart file on my Mac to use as a picture for this post but, I haven't been able to attach it, no matter how hard I try for the past hour or so. So, just know that it was awesome and I would love to share it with you but, I can't...at least for now.

Crafting For 3 Days

This took me 3 days to complete but, it was so well worth the time. While I don't know what I want to do with this just yet, I can use it to hold some of my handmade cards for future use. Or, I can put some photos in it and use it as a photo album. I could also use it as a recipe book if I wanted to but, I don't really think that I would want this near food where it could get messy. I will likely use it to store cards that I make until I send them out and then I'll just keep refilling it after each card I send out. I might make a different themed card for each tab. So, one tab will be for Birthday cards. One will be for Sympathy cards. Another for Thinking of You cards. Another for Get Well Soon cards. Maybe one pocket can be for stamps and labels. Seems I might have just worked out how I am going to use it! Thanks for letting me brainstorm.

Anyway, I found the video on how to make this on Youtube. One of my favorite fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrators made one very similar to it. Here is the link to her video: http://www.youtube.com/user/dawn5377#p/u/0/xafbBQ3kdh4 I hope that works. I've had issues figuring out how to post links in the past but, fingers crossed that I got it right. If not, go to YouTube and type Dawn5377 into the YouTube search engine near the top of the screen and it will take you to her YouTube channel. She is really talented and I often look to her for inspiration.

I used several similar elements but, I also incorporated a lot of my own. Most of the items I used in mine are from Stampin' Up! Every stamp and ink pad I used was from Stampin' Up! But, I used a few punches, some paper, a few stickers, some beads and one other effect from my local craft stores.

I had a blast with this project and I think that I would like to make more in the future to give away. I actually think that they would be great to make as a way to package a pack of greeting cards for friends and family when they ask me to make cards for them to give to others.

It is intricate. There are a lot of details. But, for as intricate and detailed as it is, it is also really easy to make. I think what took me so much time to make it was that I was trying to decide what elements I wanted to incorporate. It took me some time to figure out how I wanted to decorate it. What stamp sets, embellishments, colors, stickers, paper and punches I wanted to use, took time to choose. It is all a part of the process. I often wonder if it would help me save some time if I worked out a little blueprint of my projects before I actually dive into making them. But, then again...that could take just as much time so, perhaps I will just continue to fly by the seat of my pants.

Anyway...I hope you all enjoy this. It is one of my favorite creations so far. I am super proud of it and don't mind bragging! I MADE THIS! :)

Thank You!

I believe in making amends and giving thanks when it is due. So, I am sorry for being so vulgar and vicious in my previous post about my government. And, thank you for making things right, working things out and doing what was necessary to ensure pay for our military! I knew my faith in my government and my president wouldn't be failed. But, I had steam to let off and so I did. While I won't apologize for the fact that I let off that steam, as I feel it is my right, I will apologize for the words I chose to use in blowing off that steam. It was vulgar, immature and disgusting but, I let my temper get the better of me and for that, I am truly sorry. From the bottom of my heart, the tip of my longest toe and the top of my head, thank you so much for making sure that my friend gets the paycheck he deserves and he can take care of himself and his family this month. And thank you to my president, for showing me that I can count on you when the chips are down. Thank you for not failing me. I helped put you where you are today. It is nice to know that my trust is valued and warranted.

Shit! Why?

I love my country and I love my President. I voted for him and was so joyful when he was elected. But shit! I have friends in the military and now they aren't going to be paid? Fuck! I want to continue to support my President. I genuinely think that he has made some improvements. The job market has improved bit by bit. The economy has gotten better. I have said before that he had a huge mess to clean up so, it is ridiculous for the naysayers to continue to expect him to have been the immediate solution and it really pisses me off when some insist on blaming him for it when he didn't start that fire and he is basically a dang one man fire department.

But this son-of-a-bitching shitty crap about the military not being paid because the government has to shut down because they mismanaged the budget? What the fuck people? How about you don't pay yourselves? Or...if you can't pay someone, then you bring them the fuck home from their deployments. I am not going to be another sheep following the herd about the 3 wars we are in now...or is it 4? Who can count anymore. Again, I say, he didn't start 2 or 3 of those fires but he is now in charge of putting them out so, try attacking him on the inability to end it and not rewriting our country's history and blaming him for starting the wars that dude man jackass started before him.

I AM FUCKING PISSED OFF right now. I just want things to be right. I know that life isn't fair but, people can make things acceptable and not paying people who have set aside their own comforts, time with their families, holidays, and sometimes their lives entirely to protect our freedoms is the worst slap anyone could ever give anyone else. Fucking cut your mismanaging paychecks. Sit in your comfy office, work your asses off, make things right and don't get paid for it for one month but pay our men and women who would lay down their lives to protect your stupid fucking irresponsible asses.

Again, I love my country and I really want to support my government. But they are breaking my heart for my friends in the military, and of course for those I don't know. And, with any broken heart comes anger. Raging, irrational, vulgar, cursing, spitting, fighting mad angry venom.

Please...PLEASE...make this right. Do the right damn thing and take a cut to your wallet, not to the wallet of those who serve us our freedom in our warm beds at night while they sleep behind a rock in the cold desert.

Please stop breaking my heart and my spirit. Please don't hurt my friend. Please give him his well-deserved paycheck so that he can take care of his family and himself.

PLEASE!!!!

Screw Yesterday!

Yesterday sucked. My mom called me crying because her best friend's boyfriend died of a heart attack on the treadmill. He was 66 and in good shape and he just died. My mom and dad were really close to him as well. They were all about as thick as thieves so it was a day full of tears for both of them. They are older than both the man who had the heart attack and his girlfriend so, it was hard for them as it forced them both to look at their own mortality.

It is hard for me to handle my mom crying. There is nothing more heartbreaking than hearing my mom cry on the other end of the phone and being completely helpless as to how to cheer her up and comfort her. I've never been good at comforting others. As compassionate as I am, I never have the words to express my sincerest sympathies, nor do I have the words to help them feel better. I don't really think that there are words anyone could say to make a person feel better when they experience loss. I've experienced my fair share. When I was about 18, one of my friends died in a car accident. I was inconsolable. Just a little over 6 months ago, a friend of mine from college passed away suddenly. I don't know how he died and have not felt comfortable asking his widow, also a friend of mine from college, and there wasn't anything specific in the paper or online about how or why he died. So, of course there is speculation which only makes me feel worse about his death. I've lost all of my grandparents. And, like most people, I've lost pets. I know in light of human loss, some might think that something silly for me to mention but, I feel as strong of a bond to my pets as I do to any human, and sometimes and even stronger bond to my pets than some humans. So, for me it is as natural to count pets among my losses as it is to count relatives and friends. And, along with my parents' loss of their friend, one of my friends had to put her cat to sleep yesterday as well.

It wasn't just my mom and dad that felt the loss of their friend. My brother had grown close to him as well. They all hung out together at the marina where the couple and my parents all dock their boats and, that included my brother and his 3 year old daughter. So, while my parents were forced to face their own mortality, my brother was faced with something much more innocent and almost on the opposite side of the spectrum. He must now figure out how to explain death to his 3 year old as she often asked him when they could go play in their pool and hang out on their boat.

To put it as bluntly as I can...death sucks. Especially when it is senseless. How does a man who takes great care of himself just pass away while literally taking good care of himself? How does a guy who was maybe a year or so younger than me die? How does a teenager who has never even left the state in which he was born and hasn't even gotten to attend his prom, graduation or put his first step into college die driving from point A to point B? I'm pissed. I'm sad. And I want to understand the impossible to understand. But, for now, I guess I'll just have to settle for getting it off my shoulders.

A New Feature...

In case you didn't notice, I added a new feature to my blog...right up there. As a way to incorporate one of my favorite things in life, Facebook and Twitter, I added my version of a Status Update titled "On my mind now...". So, now you can all get a feel for my mood every day...aren't you lucky? ;)

For those of you who are my friends on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, you know that one day I may be having sort of a Bi-Polar Status Update kind of day. What I mean by that is, I may post a few different updates throughout the day because, apparently, I have a lot going on in my little noggin. Then, I may go a few days without changing it at all. Anyway, it may change a few times a day, or it may only change a few times a week. I guess you'll all just have to come back and see.

So, I hope you enjoy getting a better feel for who I am on a day to day basis!

I Am Disgusted...

Ok...this pains me to mention because I pride myself on my ability to remain open-minded. I really try to look past what is on the surface and find the shine in everyone and everything below. But, I can not accept or tolerate Polygamy. I watched the first season of the show "Sister Wives" on TLC and am watching the new season now, and I constantly find myself shaking my head in disapproval. I know that I am being judgmental about something that I don't really understand and can't relate to so, I should probably just shut up and view it for the pure purposes of education. But, I feel that I have every right to voice my opinion about this topic. If the Brown family feels comfortable with putting their lives out on TV for public ridicule or acceptance, than I feel that I am entitled to express my view as I see it.

For anyone unfamiliar with this show, it is about a family of Polygamists. One man legally married one woman and then had ceremonies to marry 3 more women. They have many children whom he has fathered with 3 of the 4 women as he only just married the 4th last season and, while they are corrupt in what they see marriage to be...and yes...I do believe their idea of marriage is corrupt...they do hold old traditions as important, such as no premarital sex. Anyway, the show follows them in their day to day lives. And, it leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.

The worst of it all comes right in the beginning montage. The husband, Cody, says "Love should be multiplied, not divided". That statement is wrong in two ways that I can think of. One is the fact that he believes that because it serves his purposes. Of course he thinks love should be multiplied...because he's letting his freak flag fly with 4 different women. He is multiplying the crap out of his sexual urges. The second reason it is wrong is because, whether he gets it or not, love is being "divided". The women are dividing his love up amongst themselves. They aren't dividing themselves amongst one another or even other men. They are giving themselves to him entirely while he is spreading himself around like horse shit...errr, I mean...fertilizer. And so, that begs the question I had last season that Cody answered in one episode. One of the wives asked him how he would feel if she were giving her attention to another man. He told her, in total honesty, that he wouldn't like it. Well then...I guess that says it all. He wants his cake and to eat it too and that makes me sick.

I have so many more thoughts about this show and their lifestyle but, this is all I care to say about it...at least for now.

Testing...Testing

This is a test. I found a Blog App on my phone the other day and I am curious to see how well this works...of at all. It would be kind of cool to be able to blog on the fly. Especially if I have and idea while I am far away from my laptop. So...here goes!

This has been a test of the blogcast system. 

Mystery Unsolved

I know this is random but, it has me flummoxed so, I am going to mention it. My hubby and I went out to lunch yesterday. We were gone for maybe a bit over an hour. When we got back home, we walked in to see one of our oven mitts on the kitchen floor, in front of the sink. When I picked it up, it was more than damp but less than soaked. I felt the throw rug it was on and that was dry as a bone. There wasn't any water in the kitchen sink, and no water, or anything spilled, anywhere else. There wasn't any odor on the oven mitt. We don't even really know how it got on the floor. It hangs on the knob of one of my cupboards. One of my cats could have pulled it off of the knob but, it is on there pretty secure. But, let's say that one of them did pull it off, I don't know why they ever would have as they never have in the past. And, even if they did...which I really believe they did, it still doesn't explain why it was wet. Needless to say, given that I use it to move hot food about, it was tossed because, I don't know what was on it and, even if I washed it, I would always worry about what was on it and if any of that was still on it.

So, the mystery still stands. Scooby-Doo, where are you?

Feeling A Little Good

I just realized tonight that I have 3 paid projects in the works. I make greeting cards, gift boxes and other fabulous crafts and, I have 3 projects in the works as of today. I am thrilled. I have struggled for a long time to find my niche in life. I love a lot of things in life. I love fashion. I have been told I have great decorative sense. I like photography. And, obviously, I like to write. But, I have really had a hard time figuring out where my lot in life is. And, I still may not have found it but, at least for right now, I feel a sense of purpose and, it is with something that I have fun doing and that gives me a great sense of pride.

The first project is for Birth Announcements for a friend. I still need to finalize some things with her but, it seems to be a forgone conclusion that I will be making her Birth Announcements once her baby boy is born.

The next two projects are for one friend. She wants me to host a crafting party for some of her daughter's friends. I'll teach them how to make a little purse box that I made recently. She came over today so that I could teach her how to make a duplicate of another person's handmade card. We had a blast and her card came out so beautiful! She brought her daughter and I helped her make some invitations for a Valentine's Day card making party she will be throwing in a few weeks. And, while they were here, I showed them a few other things that I have made and that is when she asked me to host and demonstrate at a party for her daughter's friends. And, she also asked me to make one of my Cupcake Gift Card holders for one of her daughter's friends for her birthday. I am so thrilled! I may actually be on the brink of my own business here. I also have some ideas about local businesses that may help me sell my crafts.

Admittedly, the very thought of my own business scares the daylights out of me. But, it also thrills me. I don't have a mind for business so, I don't know how far this will go. But, I do feel pretty great about my clout as a crafter today!