Thursday, December 6, 2007

Shopping Terror

So horrified by yesterday's shootings in Omaha--sooo glad that all our scrapping friends are safe and praying for the families of the victims. It's so much harder when you know the place and have friends in the area.

And then I thought about it again as I walked across the parking lot and into the store to work this morning. It could happen here. It could happen in any retail store in any town or city in America. A very sobering thought.

I think it's time to go to the studio and start on my Christmas journal. I've got ideas in my head; just need to assemble. I've been sketching and journaling notes so hopefully I can make some progress.

More later,
Janet

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Happy December

Can you believe it's December already???? Time for shopping, wrapping, baking, Christmas cantatas, etc. etc. etc. And of course, time for Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas!!!! Have great ideas in my head, just need to sketch them so I can actually do the pages later.

Thanksgiving was a nice peaceful day---just the four of us--- and then the leftovers on Friday. On this past Monday, I had a new experience--getting a wisdom tooth which I had chipped a piece off right before CE--extracted at the oral surgeon's. Wasn't as bad as I had expected, I actually had minimual pain even after the novocaine wore off. I didn't even take any Advil. Now to make an appointment to have a crown done on the tooth next to it.

I've spent the week weaving panels for a banner I'm making for our Ladies Retreat. The theme is Tapestry of Love and I'm sort of been commissioned to create this project. I'm thrilled with the results so far! It's really "an as-you-go" piece! I promise I'll post photos when it's a little further along.

Got our Secret Santas and Secret Sisters for ScrapEtc. this week as well as signed up for the page swap. And then there's that great collection of teal/brown/pink fabrics I bought for another signature quilt. Oh the projects!!!

Had fun on Friday doing high tea at the Mulberry. Sandy had a gift certificate that had to be used so the ladies had a tea party. Love that!!

Well it seems Blogger doesn't want me to add photos just now so I'll try again tomorrow---

Time for bed--that 7am meeting comes early!!!

Enjoy,
Janet

Monday afternoon--I added the photos!

Monday, November 19, 2007

Off for a Few Days....

I'm actually off from work until Black Friday. How cool is that???? Needed to use up my last two vacation days of 2007 so I'm just trying to get a bunch of odds and ends around the house done. The list is LONG; some fun, some not so fun so I'm trying to mix it up. Spent the morning cleaning out the closet; have a whole bag of "donate" and a whole bag of "throw out". Switched the summer and winter items. And I'm working on questionaires for ScrapEtc Secret Sisters and Secret Santas. Thinking about my Shimelle "Journal Your Christmas" album. Need to start working on a tapestry/mixed media banner I've been comissioned to do for our church ladies retreat in February. Have to finish the label and mail the Pink-Green Quilt. And shop and make my contributions to the Thanksgiving feast.
I seem to be collecting quite a few of these great mannequins----it's my current obsession!
More later,
Janet

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Where Did October Go????

I'm getting like everyone else......I don't seem to have any time to blog. Well,maybe if I stopped reading everyone else's and started writing!!! It's finally fall here and today I got some great shots of pumpkins at Johnson's Farm after church.

Life here is hectic.....shortstaffed at work...quality of applications not good....should be an interesting holiday season. Had semi-annual inventory a couple of weeks ago. Got all our stock of holiday CD's and DVD's on Thursday...gotta love those guys in brown!

Spent a wonderful weekend in Omaha with Becca and our girlfriends there at Crop for a Cause. Had a blast, got some cute auction items, stayed AWAY from the paper at the garage sale, and enjoyed Becca's mom's baking! And we drew the winning ticket for the Pink-Green Quilt!!!!!

Went to two marching band competitions early in the month....it's probably been 25 years since we had watched bands do their thing and alot has changed. It was lots of fun and we'll probably do it again next year. Went to the ballet twice as well...love being a city girl. And we managed to get to the King Tut exhibit before it closed at the end of September.

More later,
Enjoy!
Janet

Sunday, September 23, 2007

More CE Photos






Must learn how to do photo collages--this way is annoying!!!
Enjoy!
Janet

Creative Escape 2007

What a great experience! After the nightmares with registration, buying someone else's extra seat, and the lack of advance communications the event itself was WONDERFUL!!!! It was so great to finally meet all the sisters we had come to know from the Yahoo Board and to reconnect with old friends.

Tuesday: Left home at 4:45 am for our 6:25 am flight---no problems at all and we were in Phoenix by 10 am. Picked up our car and were off shopping---first stop was a Barnes and Noble for a Phoenix area map book!!! By then we were starving and decided to check out Crackers and CO. Cafe (a Polka Dot Chicks recommend!) and then it was onto Scrapbooks Etc. to get gift cards for our secret sisters. We also visited Mystic Paper where we ran into Margie Romsey-Aslett who remembered us from CKU, and Annalis Scraptique. Had to hit Target as well for wrapping supplies and cases of water and iced tea for the week. Checked in at the hotel and eventually went out again for dinner and then just crashed out after a long day!


Wednesday: Breakfast at the hotel since we finally got "Golden Tickets" for the 9 am Bazzill Tour. Fun times on the bus with Amy T. and the campaign for Hot Totty Orange. The new Bazzill warehouse is huge and Doug Jones (Mr. Bazzill himself) showed us around. We watched them cut and package paper as well as process orders for customers. The warehouse sale was a blast! WE both filled 2 pizza boxes with card stock and I counted later--about 110 sheets a box which makes the paper about 14 cents a sheet. It was on to Scrapbooks Etc. where we did some serious shopping!!! Then back to the hotel and time for the Lazy River!!!!


Thursday: Did some shopping in the morning at Scrap Happy Sisters and stopped at Staples to run off flyers for the quilt. Registration, Technique Boutique, Trunk Show and the Welcome Reception followed. And then the Yahoo Dinner poolside at the North Pointe Pool!! I didn't win anything, but Sandy did!


Friday: Nice breakfast in the courtyard and ballrooom and off to class at 8:00AM--ROSES ROCK!!! Our first class is Tracey N. from K & Co. Love their products anyway but this creative folder/book project is AMAZING!!!! If this is the quality of the projects, OH MY!!
Lesli S. was our next class and was 5 different cards, cute but IMHO not the level of project I would have expected. After lunch we moved on to Rhonna F. and a very artsy art journal for The 21-Day Challenge. While the instructions showed lots of examples, and I will create a great book, all we did in class for the 1 3/4 hours was stamp the pages. Our final class was a layout class with Heidi Lynn. Actually it was 5 layouts and a calendar and the instructions for the remaining pages. We left early as we had a bunch of things to do and I'm not sure how I'm going to use this stuff yet! After a Mexican buffet dinner, we started on the Friday Night Extravaganza---lots of fun with all the alumni teachers from 2006! Think "Shake Up Your Style" with a twist!


Saturday: We had first period free this morning which was really nice---then we were off to soldering class with Chris R. This was actually alot of fun but definitely an acquired skill. It was great being able to try the techniques without the investment in all the tools and supplies. After lunch it was time for the Purse Album with Jennifer W. This is adorable!!!!! Not hard, nothing too unusual, got to use the new Bazzill stitching templates, just CUTE ( I see Christmas gifts!) And finally we got Heidi!!! The project, a canvas memo board, is AMAZING!!!!!!! Love IT!!! Great banquet, beautiful flowers, lots of prizes, Alison Tyler Jones as featured speaker----all just wonderful!!!


But the best parts were all the fun stuff that wasn't the classes--all the swaps, the Let's Escape sisters, Secret Sisters, the fun at meals, the WooHoo girls (LOVE the Photo Dot Chicks!), the photos with friends and the pink and green quilt. Thanks to Becca, Lisa, Nancy. Jeanette, KelliDarr and Barbara; the NY-NJ girls--Kristen, Barbara D., Susan, Cindy, Kim and Liz; my Secret Sisters Kathy and Melanie; my Let's Escape Sisters Ali and Lysa and Suzanne and Sunny; and to all the other Roses and everyone else too.
Looking forward to more RAKS, seeing lots of you at Scrap Etc in April (where the Roses will continue to ROCK) and next year at CE08!
Enjoy,
Janet

Monday, August 6, 2007

Swapps and More Swapps...





....got my Secret Sis package out last week (I'd show you one of the things I sent but I think my secret sis sometimes reads my blog) and I know that she's received it. And I'm finishing up my Let's Escape basket tonight I hope!!!! And then there's the page swapp----or in my case, the many pages swapp. I signed up for 2 double page and 2 single page sets. This way I'll have at least 30 pages ready for my CE photos!! Sounds like a project to take to Becca's crop in October! Anyway I thought I'd add some pix of my pages here---hope you like them.
More later,
Janet

Monday, July 30, 2007

Fun in Valley Forge....

..... this past Friday and Saturday we had fun at CKC (that's Creating Keepsakes Convention for you non scrapbookers). We took four cool classes on Friday during the day, went to the supermarket and bought a big "birthday cookie", went to Bennigan's at the mall for dinner and then back to the hotel where all the CE'ers were staying for our cropping party. Did I mention the wild thunderstorm in the middle of it all???? Sandy and I got drenched getting back to the car from the front door at Bennigan's. And the NY girls were stuck at Bahama Breeze--- we waited at least 45 minutes in the hotel lobby. It was about 10pm when we took over the hotel's breakfast room----pushed tables together, brought in music and food; I think there was about 18 of us in all. 10 of us are going to CE; the others are part of the Staten Island Scrapping group that some of the CE'ers belong to. They were doing the finale of their secret sisters and there were all kinds of little gifts floating about!


It was so much fun to meet all of them --Kristen, Barbara, Susan, Liz, Cindy, Kim, Megan, and Mel before we all get to AZ next month! Met Leah too but she had to go home on Friday afternoon so she couldn't party with us! As the Birthday Officers we made sure to celebrate Liz's birthday at our little party. We left about 12:15 am to drive home--fortunately it only took about 30 minutes at that time of night!


Saturday we drove back up to shop the vendor mall after scoping it out on Friday. Can't say we were overly impressed; not a whole lot of newer stuff and the prices weren't any different than what you'd normally find. But we came away with two big shopping bags of stuff we know we'll never find here at home. Lots of Rusty Pickle albums, Technique Tuesday stamp sets and some items we've been looking for for BPS classes. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any of the things I was looking for for my Let's Escape sister and nobody was carrying any Heidi stuff :-(


Came home to Mom's "Schroeder Cousins Get-Together" where we were the help. Then a full day of Sunday stuff--church, lunch at the diner, and a wedding gown fitting at my boss' house. Then spent the evening finishing my sets of pages---I went to work today for a REST!


Enjoy!!

Janet

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

The Race is On...

...or so it seems!! The last month has flown by and there's only 6 weeks left until CE and the list of things to do keeps getting longer. Do I need a vacation to get ready for my vacation????? And what have I been doing these last several weeks, you ask???


We spent two lovely long weekends up in the Poconos at the lake house. Got lots of scrapbooking done; baked goodies for the family, and just enjoyed the serenity and lack of busyness. The first weekend I finished about 85% of my Junkitz "Elements of Style" album from CKU-Chicago last March. And the second weekend I did another 13 pages of my European vacation. I had so hoped to finish within a year of going but that's not going to happen! Can't see working on it again until well after CE.


Then of course there's all the CE stuff--Let's Escape #2, Secret Sisters, and of course the Page Swapp. Still working madly on all of these!!! And I'm trying to find time to make a bunch of stuff.


Still working on 2 wedding dresses--they're both progressing nicely but there's still work to be done!!! And more fittings!


Then I went and signed up for "The Colors of your World" class at BPS---I must be crazy!!! I've printed all the lessons so far and even did the chat last week; I've taken some pics and found others I want to use or need to take but haven't done any yet. And Sandy's doing 52 Pick-Up and Journey with Junkitz so I'll have them to do too.


And lastly, there's that boy wizard named Harry. Midnight magic was as crazy as ever; so many people and activities and costumes (yes I whipped one together the day before without any magic!) and SOOOO many BOOKS!!!! I'm still reading away---I was halfway through #5 on Friday night and as of today, I'm about a quarter of the way into #6 so hopefully I'll get to #7 in the next couple of weeks!


Must get working on my Secret Sis and my pages----then start thinking about what I need to pack in my supply bag for CKC-Valley Forge this Friday and Saturday. Looking forward to meeting up with all the East Coast CE girls--Kristin, Barbara, Cindy, Kim, Megan G, Mel, and whoever else we find!


Enjoy,

Janet



Monday, June 18, 2007

Father's Day...


.... there are times that we think everyone must think we are BAD daughters. That we don't love our parents ... and that's because we aren't a gift giving family. Never have been--never will be. Yes we do Christmas presents although never in the extreme and usually birthday gifts but that's it. No Mother's Day, no Father's Day, no anniversary, no anything else. And we get the strangest looks sometimes....

BUT what we have are great memories of vacations out west every summer as children, shared trips to Europe over the last fifteen years, hundreds of weekends at the mountain house, and time spent together. SO guess what I'll take the memories over the stuff anyday.

We did light the new grill (that was our Christmas gift from Mom and Dad) for the first time yesterday and did Dad's favorite, bratwurst. Just a nice Sunday evening on the back deck--Dad really tries to avoid being photographed but Sandy managed to get one!!
LOVE YOU, DAD!
Janet

Saturday, June 16, 2007

New Toy....



...every now and then it's fun to get new scrapbook toys. And that's what we got this week. Sandy and I had been talking about getting a Wishblade ever since they came on the market about a year ago BUT.... the $400 price tag really made us stop and think: would we use it enough to justify that kind of investment????


Fast forward to early May when good friend Kelly posts on her blog that she's bought the new pink model and is selling her "old" one for half price!!! We decide that it's perfect--we know it was well taken care of and if she's willing to ship it here from Nebraska---

It arrived on Wednesday!! Now all we have to do it rearrange the space around the computer so it will fit. And of course figure out how to use it--hope there's a good tutorial.
More later,
Janet

Friday, June 15, 2007

Reading....

there's that old story about the cobbler's children having no shoes--well that's how I seem to be with books. I see all these interesting titles to read; get advance reader copies of some, etc. and still can't seem to take time to sit and read. I guess it's because I haven't figured out to read and scrapbook or read and sew at the same time. And forget about reading in bed--I usually get through about 3 pages before I'm asleep!! Well, this is the current challenge: as the big posters at work proudly proclaim: YOU'VE READ 3440 PAGES, ONLY 784 TO GO!! That's my challenge--I borrowed and read the first 4 Harry Potter's before #5 came out (which I bought) and then got busy and never read it. Bought #6 but of course needed to read #5 first. And I just bought the first 4 so I'll have a complete set!

Now my goal is to read them all, all 3440 pages, before #7 arrives on July 21st.

Today was one of those catch-up days--had the car serviced, got propane for our new grill, did the grocery shopping, made the sample bodice for the wedding gown I'm altering, went on an old building photo shoot, and now I'm going up to the studio to scrapbook!

Enjoy the weekend,
Janet

Saturday, June 9, 2007

Sleeping Beauty...



last night was the last of our Pennsylvania Ballet subscription for this season. We love going; I guess it's been at least 10 years now--- we were trying to remember the last time we saw Sleeping Beauty and well, we remember trying to stay awake through it 10 years ago whe we went within a couple of days of coming home from Hong Kong (can we say heavy duty jet lag).

I really think this was a different staging of the ballet--it was absolutely beautiful! And afterwards we went across the street to Ovations for dessert. They have a great chocolate fudge cake!

Today we're trying to get lots of odds and ends done. You know, all those wonderful things that never seem to get done!


More later,

Janet

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Feeling Overwhelmed...



that's because I've been "slugging" lately. And I've all the sudden realized all the things I have to do and the deadlines. AARGH!! Want to get some summer clothes made--spent the evening at Mom and Dad's trying to match patterns with fabrics; got a couple of things cut out, some others matched up. You see my stash of garment fabrics is as big as my stash of quilting fabrics which is as big as my stash of paper. I'm trying to be good and work through them all but somehow something new always calls my name. :)

Then there's the 2 wedding gowns I'm working on for clients--I'm redesigning my boss' mother's gown for her sister and I'm "jazzing up" an Old Navy gauze dress for one of my staff whose having a very informal wedding.

And of course there's Secret Sister gifts, Let's Escape gifts, CE page swapps to design and order supplies for, RAKs and other fun gifts....

And the JDRF signature quilt.... and all those fun fabrics I bought for purses... and exciting stuff like getting the car serviced, making a dentist appointment, refinancing the mortgage, renewing my passport....

How am I supposed to find time to work 40 hours a week??? And when can I scrapbook or sew???


More later,

Friday, June 1, 2007

Sandy is Sad...



well, we're all sad because Sandy's BFF and family left this afternoon to return to their home in Germany. They've been here in the States for the past three months, visiting family, attending a couple of ministry-related conferences and connecting with supporters and potential supporters. And we've had fun with their now 18 month old daughter. We all had lunch with them yesterday and then Sandy went up to the house where they have been staying and helped transport them and ALL their luggage to the airport today.

So I made sure we had "comfort food" for dinner and of course we've checked the flight status several times. By the time we get up in the morning, they should be back home. It will be at least a year until we physically see them again---and Sandy is already counting the days and figuring out ways to get there cheap.
More later,
Janet

Friday, May 25, 2007

And the Winner is.....


drumroll please ..... Kathy Northup!!! As you can see, I had the very adorable Danielle pull the winning entry. She's our 18-month old adopted "niece" and actually didn't have too much trouble picking one out of the basket and giving it to Aunt Janet. Then of course it became a game... let's take them all out of the basket.


Anyway, Kathy your package will go postal on Tuesday! And of course I remember you from CKU-Chicago. Looking forward to seeing you and everyone else again!!!


Enjoy,

Janet

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Junkitz Goodness...






on Friday, Sandy and I were off to the Junkitz warehouse sale...as you can see from the photo you'd never believe this was the right place!!! Unfortunately it was not a nice weather day here in NJ so everything was inside instead of outside under tents. It was cozy and crowded!!! Lots of great stuff and great prices and they kept refilling the paper slots and racks...just missed meeting Kristin; she was running off with one son in tow and having to get back to pick up the other one at school....
In honor of my birthday and the Junkitz sale, I'm going to be giving away this lovely collection of Junkitz goodness to a randomly selected person who comments to this post. The collection includes:

Flowerz in acid green and pink
Stitched mini file folderz
Accordion mantel books--one is 5x8; one is 4x4
Paper from the Rhythmz collection--Pop Rock(pink) and Hip Hop(green)

In the comment, share where in the world you'd like to visit, either for the first time or a return trip. And just for fun, include your favorite candy. I'll be selecting a winner on Thursday night sometime after 9pm EDT.

And yes, I did bake that birthday cake; we surprised my Mom with it since yesterday was her birthday!!

Enjoy,

Janet