Wanna Win a PRIZE?

Okie Dokie I have a neat contest for this week and all it takes is some imagination.

A friend is hoping to open a Pawn Shop soon and asked me to think of some unique names but seeing as I've only been to a few out in Arizona I thought I would ask for your help. Just leave a comment with your suggestion of a name and you can enter as often as you think of a name.

I will draw a random winner on Sunday and the prize will be a Fiskars 45mm rotary cutter from their coastal collection. Great for you sewers but also works on paper, vinyl and cardboard for those scrappers like me who don't sew much.

Good luck and can't wait to hear your names! If you have any good pawn shop stories to share please do!

GiddyUp Little Horsie

Yesterday we went with a group of friends horseback riding to a place that just opened up the week-end before called K R Stables. Talk about a cute place.............it was picture perfect (must have been if I printed 85 pictures at Walgreens already). It's probably been 15 years since I rode a horse and this was Kevin's 1st time! That must explain why I'm a little sore and stiff today especially in the legs.

The owners Kurt & Kay Ross just opened their dream last week-end. Here is a picture of them in front of their guest house cabin. Inside was so cute including 2 beds and a loft bed over them, mini kitchen, wood stove etc. It would be my "dream cabin" if it only was on a body of water so I could fish. It paid to keep my eyes open as different animals were showing up all over the place. I saw a llama, sheep, donkey,pony, kittens and of course lots of horses.

It was a perfect fall day even tho the temps were almost 80 by the time we got back at noon. You sure can tell how pretty the leaves are when you look at the chicken coop. I'm not too fond of outhouses but this one with curtains on the window and candles and potpourri burning inside was really nice.

Here is a picture of just Kevin & I after our ride and then a group shot of some us. I must not have gotten the memo about wearing cowboy hats & boots. Kevin actually traded in his golf hat for a straw hat borrowed from Chris.

Kurt (the owner) had the wagon hooked up to his big beautiful Clydesdale's "Bill" and "Bob"! What a great picture they made especially with the 3 "cowboys" driving. Notice how the leaves are just starting to turn too.

Here's a picture of Kevin on his horse and the owner Kay is holding the reigns. They own quite a few acres so it was fun following the trails thru all their woods and the scenery and weather could not have been more perfect.

1

I can definitely see scrapping this adventure. It sure was a fun time and it was only $20 for a trail ride that was a little over an hour long. Could really see doing this in the early evening and coming back and roasting marshmallows on the campfire.............couldn't you?

9/11

Some days stick in your mind forever and this is one of them. I can remember where I was and how I found out and thankfully I did not lose anyone I knew that day. My heart goes out to all those who did and I'm glad we all take time to remember this day every year.

I seem like I have been very busy this past week just trying to catch up from the Labor Day week-end. My brother Andy and his fiancee Genne came up on Friday and stayed until Tuesday. The guys did allot of fishing and we women did allot of shopping. When home together we played croquet, yahtzee and grilled out. We also watched some good movies on our new tv. All in all we had a really nice visit and it was very relaxing. Speaking of our tv...........here is a before picture of our BIG projection tv that took up allot of room and here is another of our new tv hanging on the wall. Quite the difference...........and boy do we love the clear picture, the awesome color and high definition with surround sound. It is an anniversary gift that we will

enjoy every day for the next ten years!

Course after company goes home then it is back to the real world. Cleaning, laundry, paying bills, yardwork and now I hope to find some time to do some scrapbooking. I actually have been keeping track of my scrapping and so far this year I have made 107 cards, 85 layouts and 19 projects or mini books. June was my most productive month and April was my worst. I've never kept track before so this will be nice to see how each year progresses.

Our 10 year anniversary

I wanted to make something special for this day and I found this neat 6 1/2" board book with 16 pages and windows. Wasn't sure how easy it would be to work with all those windows but actually found it quite fun! The first thing I did was distress the whole book with some chocolate brown ink and then I picked out the coordinating paper (Black Market Paper Society), ribbons, brads and embellishments. It is all done in teal, brown and a hint of green.

The ribbon I used on the front was a perfect match and wider then I normally use. The flowers were velvety soft and I used flower brads for the centers. The word Love I made with Thickers. This is the first window which centers on the picture from the next page. Neat huh?

This is the back of the cover and you can see the blank window too. I continued that gorgeous ribbon around to the back of the book and added jeweled brads to the center of the prima flowers. Then a few rub-ons to finish it off.

This is the page that you see through the window of the cover. I used thickers for the words and added a small jewel to the center of the wooden embellishment. This picture was taken shortly after we first met................ahh to be so young and lovely again LOL! Yes I was wearing contacts too!

Wedding pictures............we all love them and I love the paper that I used to display them. The picture on the left is Kevin & I on the riverboat waiting for the ceremony to start. My parents are sitting behind us. I added corner embellishments to the picture and a family rub on. On the other side is a picture of me the next day in one of those dress up studios. I use thickers for the numbers and punched out hearts with my Fiskars squeeze punch.

Here's a couple of pages of wedding pictures. Don't ya just love the wedding cake brad in the center of the flower? The flowers and leaves on the bottom are actually soft like velvet and I used a small brown heart brad for the center. These were all taken out in Arizona.

This has to be one of the best pages in this book. I took this picture of us at my son Todd's wedding and put teal mesh behind it and used a fabric tag on the bottom. The other page has a neat rub on and I used thickers for the numbers. 2 great events..........a wedding and Disneyland!

Ok here is another page with a picture window. I added some ribbon and rub-on's and it was done. The other side is one of my favorite pics of my dh at a craft show (Yes he does have a crafty side to him too). Added that neat arrow, ribbon & a rub on to finish it.

These next 2 pages are of our trip to Reno. I did use the 2 mini windows and then used brown & white Prima flowers and then glitter brads. I'm glad I distressed the book as I really like the way this window page turned out. Only thing special about this next page is ribbon and rub-ons.

On the final page I used a wooden flourish embellishment and added a mini flower to the center of it. On the other page I criss crossed ribbon behind the picture, then added some mini Prima flowers on the corners with a mini brad in the center of it. I liked this effect.

On the back cover I used my new Cuttlebug folder and in the frame I put our years together. I just love that folder...........love the swirls and love the versatility of it. But more then that I love my wonderful husband and can't wait for another 10 years with him! I love you Kevin!

hand made flowers RAK----Winner

Well I guess my flowers weren't a big hit as I only got a few cards for our 10th anniversary tomorrow. By the way they were all very lovely and special to me. Winner drawn was Lorraine...congratulations and I will get them out very soon.

Watch tomorrow and I will post pictures of the mini book I made my husband! It is really nice!

A fun visit with our granddaughter

Yes, we had Allayah for 3 days last week and had a marvelous time! It's amazing how much she has grown this year. Grandpa had to take off her training wheels so she could ride her bike and she was great on 2 wheels!

Speaking of Grandpa........Allayah was so happy to see him when he came home from work she jumped right into his arms to give him a hug. While we were grilling out she had to play a little golf with grandpa too.............she's getting better everytime she comes up. She even decided to wear a golf glove and here she is carrying her clubs!

Allayah still loves to play with the Barbie dolls & her baby dolls. We have so much Barbie stuff and she sets it all up in the rec room and plays so nice. She has 2 baby dolls that look like they are about 3 months old & we took them to the park and played with them on the swings. Someday (a very long time from now) she will make such a good mommy!

We got to do allot of swimming and her new swimming suit barely fit! She is one girl who could and does spend hours in the pool diving for toys or playing volleyball or games with me. That is a good thing too since the 1st day she was here it was raining.

We had to do some crafting of course so I taught her how to use my Cuttlebug and she not only made a birthday card for her cousin Alex but she made a bookmark and some images to take home and color. She loved using my new "toy" and also my glitter pens. Had to send a few home with her so she would have some to color with at home.

Our 3 days went fast and we had so much fun. My only regret is I never got one picture of her and I together but I did get a bunch of her to scrap. I also made a collage at Walgreens of some of the fun things she did here, framed it and sent it home with her. She loved her Hannah Montana backpack I got her for school and this has to be the first time that she loved all the clothes I got her and took them back so she could wear them to school. We can't wait until she comes up again!

Where have I been?

Sorry about the delay in blogging...............don't think I have ever gone that long without blogging but it has been an eventful week.

Right now I am involved in a Fiskars online crop...............challenges, questions and just plain fun. This group has meant allot to me and has become an extended family. Not only do we share our love of scrapbooking, crafts and gardens but we are there for each other when we just need someone to listen or care or even get advice from.

Speaking of Fiskars they are planning another warehouse sale next month...........that means more shopping and more bargains! I can't wait! I'm even hosting a get together on the night before it starts since there is a group of Fiskateers coming down this way from Illinois and spending the night at my place. We are going to have a pizza/pool party, do some crafty stuff and just spend time getting to know each other in person since most of us have only met online. It should be a ton of fun!

Today is a special day too as my grandson Alex turns 8.............sometimes I just wonder where did that time go? Here is a picture of him and his cousin Allayah from yesterday when we stopped over with birthday presents. Aren't they the cutest? While I was visiting with my son Travis they both drew and colored pictures for me to take home and hang up on my fridge. That was the end to a perfect day.