Circle Journal Time!

While I was at Creative Escape this year I decided that I wanted to participate in a Circle Journal.(Actually, I had some friends joining one and we thought it would be fun to do together!) They're supposed to be fun right? That's what I thought until it came down to finding the time to make it! But I found the time and completed it and it's on it's way to Michelle in Arizona! Michelle will be very happy when it finally arrives there.

I thought that I would post some photos of my journal so that the others in my group would be able to get a sneak peek of what's coming there way. Or in other words, to get prepared.

A circle journal is a journal that you create about a topic that you want it to be about. The journal travels around a circle of friends, and each friend adds there own entry into the journal, following your topic of course. For my topic I chose, "Well, isn't that Special...5 Random Things". What's that supposed to mean? Well, what I wrote in my journal is that everyone has some random things that are around there house...or even on display. And I'd like them to share what they are, and why they are special. Now for my entry, I got a little carried away with the number of things and well, I went over the five items. But that's okay! It's my journal. And since It's my journal I also created some "Rules and Regulations" or Guidelines for them to follow. I can't wait to see everyones entry. When will I get my journal back? Next August when I go back to Creative Escape!

End of October....

And I'm tired, but I wanted to post some projects that I did for this month. Have a Happy Halloween!

Happy October!

October! It's starting to feel a little cooler here in Texas! Yeah!!! I LOVE it went it gets cooler...mind you I still walk around in my shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops!

I am basically about two months behind in things. And yes, I realize that. I have a LOT of projects that I have to get going, get caught up on and finish. Of those I have a circle journal to start (i.e., create), projects from Creative Escape to finish (Quote Swap Book, 7Gypsies Project, Heather Bailey Project, Carol Wingert Project) and a bunch of other stuff to get done which also includes Christmas Shopping.

In August I went to Creative Escape in Phoenix and before I got there I participated in a "Quote Swap". When I first heard of this swap I KNEW what quotes I was going to use! Isn't it funny how you can decide what you are going to do before you officially join a swap? Here are some photos of my pile of quote cards as well as the a photo of each of hte complete cards.


This photo is of all of my quote cards that I made. I thought it looked neat so I had to take a picture of it!


Yeah...everyone knows how much I love my pets! And this is one of my most favorite quotes, so it was a given that I would do this one.


This quote cards was fun to make. I LOVED this saying when I heard it on "October Road" (you rember that show don't you?). The lead actors mom told him this saying when he was growing up, and when I heard it, it sort of stuck in my head. So now, don't laugh, but you know everything is an adventure! And without hearing this quote I probably would have chickened out of going to the Grand Canyon by myself last year...I even went on the skywalk ALL BY MYSELF! Now that was an adventure!

What else have I been doing? Well Rusty Pickle projects of course! Here are my latest ones!


This photo was taken last year at her Choir concert. They were allowed to wear a nice dress to the concert and well, she wanted to get this dress and she wore it with blue Van sneakers...she looked really cute and a lot of the other girls there said they wished they had thought of wearing sneakers! For this page I used the "Girlfriends", Rockin' America, and Brass Knuckles line along with some chipboard, ink and glimmer mist.



This is a photo of my daughter that I took at Christmas while we were at the Gaylord here in Texas. There was this big glitter star and I thought it would make a great page! I used the Brass Knuckles line along with some rubons, glimmer mist and ink.


Okay, I think that Panama Jack has become one of my most FAVORITE lines from Rusty Pickle. I have been using it for everything! Everything in this layout is from this one particular line!

And I have one more project that I made using this line! I love to make album covers! And if I'm making a special album for myself the first thing I create is the cover because the decides how I am going to make (design) the rest of the album. Here is an album cover that I made for some of my cruise photos.







And finally, i really don't want to end on a sad note, but I wanted to say Thank You to my friends who thought of me last week (or two weeks ago really). The house is quiet without Joey cat, Snoopy is a little lonely without his friend, and his family really misses him, but we are okay. And we all realize that Joey is okay too...he was a very speical kitty cat, and well, he really is going to be missed. And it really was sad that it happened on my birthday, but you know sometimes you just can't help when things happen and this was one of those times. I've started to print out all of my photos of Joey, and i'm putting them into a special book that is just for him....

I think that's it for now....

Jill

Yes, Today is my Birthday....

And i should be celebrating. But as I have told my husband, this year my birthday has been canceled. How am I supposed to celebrate my birthday when today would be the last day that I got to see my Joey cat.

Yes....Joey is gone.

Last week I had to go out of town. Simon and I knew that Joey hadn't been feeling well, but I had to leave him in charge of things. When I was out of town Simon brought Joey to the veterinarian and they took some x-rays and found some things that were not normal. I'm not going to go into it...but it was bad.

When I left on Wednesday I was in the garage saying goodbye to Simon. I knew that Joey wasn't well, and I just had a bad feeling...I should have stayed home with him. But...I had made a commitment and well when I say I am going to do something I do it. The last thing I said to Simon when I left home was...."Keep Joey alive until I get back."

I was gone from Wednesday through Sunday...when I returned Sunday I thought that everything was fine. But then Simon and Sarah walked into the TV room, shut off the TV and sat down. Simon said "we need to talk about Joey". And that was when I was told that we had to put him to sleep...there was no hope for him and he was in a great deal of pain. Simon told me that the Emergency Animal Clinic was open until 8:00 the next morning and we could go at any time....but I didn't want to do it. I knew we had to, but I didn't want to.

I sat on the couch and cried (okay, so I'm still crying). And I told Simon that there was one thing I had to do. I need a paw print of Joey to keep. You see, Joey was "Special"...he was a Hemingway Cat and he had seven toes on his front paws. I told Simon that it was important to me to have this and that I needed it. He asked me where to go to get the things to do the print and I told him exactly what store to go to and where it was. You see...I knew that I had wanted this for awhile.

My husband, my daughter and myself sat at the kitchen table last night doing paw prints and presses of my cat's right paw. It's sitting here next to me at my computer. I wanted it so that I could look over it to see and so that I could remember the times that I had with Joey....

Later last night Simon came to me and said that he really didn't want to go to the Emergency Animal Center...he wanted to wait until today to take him to our regular veterinarian because they knew him, and would take care of him. I told Simon that that was what I wanted to. I wanted him to be with friends. And I knew that that was where we had to go.

This morning we woke up and talked to Joey, we pet him and told him how much we loved him. Then at 9:45 we all got into my car and drove to the vet's office. We were immediately brought into the patients room and the assistant came in. She asked us the questions of if we wanted his remains and the answer was of course yes. I have to have Joey back with me.

Then the doctor came in, explained to us what was going to happen and they gave Joey the injection. I pet Joey all the time, gave him a kiss on top of his and told him that I loved him. And then he was gone.

And that is how I spent my birthday.

I will always remember you my little furbaby....

Joey Cat dob: 9/18/91 dod: 9/21/09

Jill

Where did it go?

So I had this really, really long post about what's been going on here and I guess right in the middle of it when I lost internet connection is vanished!

So, I'll recreate it later! But, for right now I just wanted to post some photos of some projects that I did for Rusty Pickle!

So at our house we have one English Dude and one (okay two) American Chicks....so we really don't decorate for fourth of July or well, Thanksgiving either. But since Rusty Pickle came out with the New Rockin' America Line I decided to make a USA Banner!








On June 9th we went to see an Elvis Impersonator and these are some of the photos that I took. We're going to go back, hopefully in July so I need to remember to bring my good camera.



My daughter and I love animals. Especially baby animals! So whenever we see baby animals (okay, anything really cute) we take a picture! I used the Rusty Pickle Candyland Line for this layout.




I'll rewrite that previous post later....

{Jill}

It's Going to Be a Busy Week!

LOTS of stuff going on this week!

Today and Tomorrow I have to clean and get my house in order. I have a houseguest coming to visit for two week. Yep...it's Mother in Law time. Simon and I have LOTS of stuff planned and Sarah is going to even cook dinner for her Granny this Friday Night. Why you may ask is Sarah cooking on Friday? Well, Simon won't be home and well I won't either.

Wednesday I leave for GASC (Great American Scrapbook ConventionO in Arlington! I can't wait! This will be my 12th year attending this convention! I haven't missed a year yet!!! Then on Saturday is Sarah's dance recital. She's been dancing for 11 years and will receive her 11 year trophy on Thursday Night. Yes, she started to dance when she was 2 1/2. But she likes it so why should she have to stop! So next week I should have LOTS of photos from the Convention and the Dance Recital to share.

Just thought I'd post a few New Projects that I had been working on....

American Idol Sadness....

Yes, It has taken me a week to sort of get over my Idol Sadness. For the record I voted for Adam. Every Week I voted for Adam. The most votes I ever did on a Tuesday night was 141 votes...all for Adam.

On the final Tuesday I voted for Adam.

Wednesday I was SO excited because I knew that Adam would win!

Wednesday night the winner was announced and it wasn't Adam.

Friends have told me why Adam didn't win....I guess I was among the minority in my small group. The friends said that "America" wanted somepme who was Clean Cut...well that's not Adam. But, Adam has style and talent and that is what I was looking at!

I REALLY want to go see the American Iodl tour when it comes to Dallas in July (the 23rd)...but I'll be in Florida then. Didn't think about that when I was making my travel plan. I DID think of driving down to Tampa to see him on the 28th...but that's the day before I come back home. All I can do is hope that Adam will be back in Dallas (or close to it!) sometime in the near future.

Adam will be my American Idol! Okay dd's too! Okay, so my husband voted for him too....ALL of us! And when Adam goes on tour I will be there. Now I am off to Cafe' Press to purchase my Adam Lambert T-Shirt, and yes...I have also already joined Officialadam.com...Adam's Official Website.

{Jill}

Sometimes you just need to laugh....

Rusty Pickle Design Team Contest Update...

I thought I would post a reminder about the "Rusty Pickle Amazing Race"

From the RPDT Blog...

We have made just one change in the way we would like you to submit your entries. We have had a lot of questions regarding combining 6 images into one for the mini-album, so we decided to make things easier on everyone! The following should be submitted:

1 image of your 2-page layout

1 image of your altered project

6 different images of your mini album

Each image should not exceed 500K. All 8 images should all be included in ONE email with your name in the subject line.

Submit your entries to amazingrace@rustypickle.com.

The deadline for entry remains the same - Sunday May 31st at 12 noon Mountain Standard time.

Just a reminder - the mini album must be 8x8 or smaller and contain at least 6 finished pages. Projects must contain 100% Rusty Pickle product to qualify. (You may use paint, ink, thread, pens, cardstock, etc. Just make sure if RP makes a version of something, you use that. For example, Rusty Pickle makes bling, so use that instead of another manufacturer's. Rusty Pickle does not manufacture paint, glimmer mist, ink, thread, pens, etc. so you are okay to use those items on your projects.)

Hope that clears up some confusion! Please let us know if you have any further questions. We can't wait to see your entries!

First things First.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

It's my dad's Birthday...well it was yesterday! (May 18th). And yes, I sent him a card, not handmade though!

Hope you had a great day Georgie!!!

{Jill}

Three New Projects....

Yes, it's been awhile! Lots of stuff going on... (some scrapbook related and lots that's not scrapbooking related) Here are a few projects that I have completed in the past month.

The first photo is of a card that I made. This was fun! Everything is ink and pop-dotted. The Inside of the card reads "We're so Happy to Have to You Home! To be honest, the card looks a LOT better in person! I don't have anyone to send the card to, so I think I'm just going to put it on display in my room. Sometimes it's just fun to make things!

This is a wall hanging that I made. The paper inside of the box has little houses that are pop-dotted. I decided at the last minute to pop dot the ones on the outside. There is a sheet of acrylic that is in between the base and right behind the frame that is holding the "Home Sweet Home". The mini-clothespins were sprayed with glimmer mist and then had Stickles put on them.

This is a layout that I created especially for CKC Houston. I decided to enter a few contest while I was attending and this layout was for the "Inspiration" Layout Contest. Guess what...it won first place! I also made a card for the Papercrafts Birthday Card Contest but I didn't take a photo of it...too bad...they have it. And well...it won Second Place in the contest. I really wish I had taken a photo of that card....and to make matters worse I don't have any of the paper that I used to make another one...gotta find that paper!

Have a great weekend!

{Jill}

Rusty Pickle Design Team Call!!!

Good news!

Rusty Pickle is looking to expand our elite design team!

Ten finalists will be chosen to run an "amazing race" where their talent (and ability to function on minimal sleep ;)) will be put to the test. Of these ten finalists, five will be chosen to join the Rusty Pickle team.

The deadline for entry is Sunday May 31st at 12 noon Mountain Standard time. Please submit the following 3 projects for consideration: (1) 2-page 12x12 layout, an altered project and a mini album 8x8 or smaller with at least 6 pages. Projects must contain 100% Rusty Pickle product to qualify. Email all entries to: amazingrace@rustypickle.com.

Please limit one email per contestant with 1 project image of the layout, 1 project image of the altered project and one compilation image (six images) of the album (this compilation can be done using photo-editing software). The images are to be no more than 700 x 700 pixels. In the subject line put only your name. The ten finalists will be announced Friday, June 5th at 12 noon.
Thank you and good luck!

*Clarification on the 100% Rusty Pickle Product requirement* You can use paint, ink, thread, pens, cardstock, etc. Just make sure if RP makes a version of something, you use that. For example, Rusty Pickle makes bling, so use that instead of another manufacturer's. Rusty Pickle does not manufacture paint, glimmer mist, ink, thread, pens, etc. so you are okay to use those items on your projects.

Welcome to April!

Yeah...I thought I missed March! lol

Winter I think is finally leaving Texas! Well at least for today. It looks like it's pretty nice outside. But, I'm inside trying to get over this bug that i have! I just really want to go sit in front of my TV with my blankie and watch a good chick flick! Come to think of it! I think I'll do that after I go get Sarah from School.

Whenever I come to my blog I always go and look to see where people visit me are from. I think it's sort of cool to see that I have people come here from a BUNCH of different places! One of those places is Tallahassee, Florida. That's where my parents live and I know my mom (and dad) come here to see if I post anything interesting. Hi mom (dad)! I see you visited me a few days ago! lol!

So for the sake of my parents I'm going to answer a few questions:
1. I'm fine. .
2. Sarah is fine.
3. Simon is fine.
4. Both cats and the hamster are fine. (noone is sleeping)
5. Everything is fine.

Now my mom can say she's heard from me!

It's sort of funny when I talk to my mom. We can go a LONG time without talking to each other, yet when we do talk we can continue a converation that took place months ago! This is something that my dear husband can't understand! I mean, when I talk to my husband about something a month ago, he should be able to remember that conversation next month right? lol
Well truth be told he doesn't. Take for example this morning, he wanted to have a "talk" about something that is going to be happening in June...and he asked me to "refresh" his memory because he knew that he wouldn't get it right. At least he realizes these things.

So now that my Mom and Dad know that everything here is "fine" I'll entertain them with some of my scrapbooking!

Have a Great Day Everyoon!

Jill

Some layouts to share....

I was uploading some layouts to my gallery at 2 Peas in a Bucket (twopeasinabucket.com) and I thought that I would post them on my blog too! So, here they are!

Not much going on around here...just trying to keep busy! I've been working on some projects to put over into my Etsy store so that I can earn some extra money...it's either Etsy or Ebay...I'm leaning towards Etsy right now though.

So far I've made two little album and three layouts. For some reason I keep telling myself that I should put them into my Etsy store until I have at least ten projects done...Ten for some reason just seemed to be a nice round number...could be 15...but it's ten.

I bought myself a new scrapbook table from Ikea and I have to say I LOVE IT!!! I should have bought it much sooner...I have like twice the amount of space on the desktop so that I can fit a my Cricut, My MM Mat, and a whole bunch of other things that I think are necessary to have around me when I scrapbook. Snoopy the cat for some reason thinks that I bought the table for him. Every once and awhile he makes his way onto the table and says "here I am".

Speaking of cats, Joey Cat is meowing and wants some food so I better go take care of him and I think I'm just going to call it an early night!

Have a great one! (Oh, and Hi Mom!)

Jill

Okay, I thought it was funny...

So yesterday I was scrapbooking with a friend of mine and I came across this photo of a Bull that I drove by on my way up the Grand Canyon (or was is the way down?) Anyway, I thought it would be cute if I scrapbooked it so I was just playing around with paper and stuff and I just started to giggle to myself . This is what I came up with!

Guess I better explain the photo.

When I went to the Grand Canyon in September I saw all of these animals just roaming around. And well, this one looked at me (was I going to be dinner???) I know it's hard to see in the photo but right next to the O in the NO is a bull. He was just chillin' out, eating stuff and I drove by. What he didn't know was that just around the next bend was a tour van that had a flat tire. All of the tourists were outside taking pictures of the plants and stuff. Wonder what they would have done if Mr. Bull was up visiting them.

Have a great night!

Jill

New Rusty Pickle! CHA Winter 2009 Releases!!!

New Rusty Pickle Coming Soon!

Rusty Pickle has just introduced some new additions to it's product line! My Favorites are the Panama Jack Line and new additions to the Lucky Line (Well, okay...I actualy LOVE them all!

Funny Bunny



New Additions to the Lucky Line

Panama Jack

Rockin' America

Time Captured

Mood Swings Cardstock

Rockin' Angel

{JILL}