Happy 31st Anniversary!

To my parents Larry and Robin (aka Dad & Mom)!
Today they have been married for 31 Years. (Yikes- that is a long time!)
Happy day to them!

~Photos of the Studio~

Well I have been playing around in the Scrapbook Room\Studio lately and I figured I would share some pictures of it. It is still kinda messy but I have been trying to get it picked up. I will ONE day get the walls painted, but I still cannot decide which colors to use where and what I want to do with the rest of wall space. Any Suggestions??

Here is some of my regular paper storage\ shelf of buttons

Here is some small shelves near the door and closet door- In the little stand I keep most of my paints, stamps and extra "storage" containers (jars, buckets etc.)




Here is another storage area of mine. I have large cookie jars for my ribbon collection, MM paint on the shelf along with all my Prima Flower jars ( I have 11 jars up there I think) and some random art from time to time. If you notice the White Binders with the Names Ali E and Elsie F, those are binders of work they have produced that I have been able to collect. Nothing original unfortunately, but articles from magazines, or layouts that they have posted online. When I do not have the time or access to a PC and I need inspiration, I turn to those binders and I always am inspired for my next project or layout.





Another shot of my shelf of buttons. I also place random art that I make on this shelf. The Family one is a covered Canvas that I made into a layout, and you can kinda see my "ART" letters in the background. Those were raw wood letters from Wal-Mart and I covered them with paper, paint and ribbon for a fun project.

When more space gets cleaned I will post more pics :)

How Cute is this??

Here are some Ideas that I may try out this year for decorating. I am not huge into Halloween decorating- but i LOVE LOVE LOVE fall decorating. I love Pumpkins, gourds, leaves and all of it!

If I make any of these I will post pics :)
(Photos Courtesy of Better homes and garden (http://www.bhg.com/)

With this Wreath- I would skip the Black ribbon, and spooky stuff, and maybe stick with a nice fall color ribbon and some red Berries..... maybe....

Feeling a *bit* better

Well After work yesterday, I went to CPK and picked up some takeout dinner. I got 2 bowls of the Adobe Chicken Corn Chowder (SOOOOOO Good!) and took it home and kept it warm on the stove until John got home.

My night consisted of Warm Chowder, blankets, some Port, TV, and lots of sleep. I am feeling a bit better- still kinda chilled (it is supposed to rain today) but all in all- the R&R last night made me feel better.

Time to get back to work for me =)

Under the Weather.....

.... in more ways than one.

I think that I may be getting sick- I have not been feeling right the last few days- and today it has turned into a "super tired, warm head, chilled body, watery eyes and cranky temper" kinda thing.

Also- it it getting Ugly outside. The clouds have chased away all the sun today, and it is cool and getting damp outside. This is the perfect weather for turning on the heater, having some tea, turning on the lights in the middle of the day and watching some good classic movies and welcoming fall- and since I am feeling sick, that sounds even better than usual.
I was supposed to hike up Madonna Mountain today with Candy, but as the day goes along, i just feel worse and worse. I had to take a "rain" check (no pun intended) and will go home and probably make soup and tea for dinner.

Ugh- and tomorrow is a "big" day here at work. We have a monthly presentation that we give to the public, and it takes most of the day to prep for it, and it goes until 10 or 10:30 at night before I get home to bed- and then I have to get up at 6:30 the next morning for work- UGH! but that means that the weekend is near- whoo hoo!

My book club meets on Sunday and I need to finish the book- maybe that is what I will do tonight- just cozy up and read. I am reading "the Memory keepers daughter" and it is pretty good so far- sad but good.

Later!

Yep! It's Monday alright

Whew! I am SO feeling the Monday Blues today. It is more a black hole of one thing after another, but it is not depressing- just exhausting.

Had Lots of fun this weekend. Thursday and Friday night I spent in the Craft room Cleaning and trying to get it more organized. It is always a mess in there, but for the first time in a long time, I can see most of the floor, almost all my "extra" scrapbooking stuff is picked up (meaning there are not half finished projects all over the place, with all the "maybes" that I might use piled on top of them). It was nice to see everything start coming together. It went from mass Chaos and impossible to find anything, and now it is mostly clean and organized.

I then spent some time on Saturday at Walmart and a scrapbook store with my Friend Candi. (Candy, Candi... I am not sure how she spells it now that I think about it), and Yes, before you ask, I did buy more things to put in the now cleaner Craft room- but I am proud to say that most of it is now in it's proper place, and not in a pile awaiting use or placement. I also got a craving to Bake Cupcakes and decorate them, and so Saturday night I made a batch of cupcake and colored some frosting for some Sunday fun.

On Sunday Candi and I went Yard Sale\Estate Sale hunting in Pismo Beach\Grover Beach area. We didn't find much to look at (maybe next time we will check the paper first) but it was the thrill of the hunt that was so fun. We also went to lunch and drove around a bit after that, went to Avila Valley Barn and explored. I tasted Concord grapes for the first time and also my first flavored "honey stick". It was weird but tasty =)
I then went home and decorated some festive "fall" cupcakes. I wish that I would have taken pictures all weekend, but alas, I didn't.

Sunday night John and I went to dinner at Candi & Clarence's house. It was a huge tasty feast. Chips and my special guacamole for appetizers, and we together made Steak, Candi's awesome Salad, Corn on the Cob, Baked Potatoes, Wine, and then the Festive Cupcakes for dessert. At the time I didn't think that I ate too much, but in retrospect it was way too much! The scale was up 2 pounds and I woke up last night feeling like I ate a bowling ball... ugh... but it was good times.

But this morning Monday rolled around with a Bang. I was over tired and it was after my shower before I started to wake up. My stomach was still stuffed and I didn't even bother with breakfast. I walked out to my car to go to work and poof.... my car battery was as dead as a doornail. I caught a ride with John to work and we came home at lunch and had to buy a new battery for my car and install it before I was able to leave for my other job. I cannot complain too much- that battery has never been changed the entire time that I owned the car (and that has been 6 years so far) and so this one should last quite awhile.

Work is pretty decent for a Monday, but I just want to go home, make some tea and take a nap... oh well... there is always next Saturday (sigh).

Happy Monday all!

**Studio Friday**

Ok- I am a bit early, but this is the Studio Friday for this week. I have not been able to do the last few weeks due to a vacation (see post below for pics of vacation) but I am glad to be back.

This weeks topic was This week's topic for Friday September 14th: IN CASE OF CREATIVE EMERGENCY...
In case of a creative dilemma when you are unsure of how to proceed, what do you do? Is there anyone special whom you can ask for advice, call and talk to or go visit? That special person that believes in you no matter how crappy you feel and how afraid and doubt filled you are. Who is there to assist you and help you? Maybe you are still looking for that someone? If so, what does your wishlist look like for him/her?

(Text Reads: These are the Women that Inspire me. Without them my Art, Photos and Way of seeing the World would not be the way I see it now.)

Well- I am a blog Junkie- I read lots of Art Blogs and my 3 "go to" blogs are Donna Downey, Ali Edwards and Elsie Flannigan. they are Amazing. I have been SOOOOO inspired by them over this last year or 2. (and you can find links to their Blogs up on the right of this post under my faves)

Donna always has clean lines, easy to follow ideas, and such great ideas.

Ali has such a way with Items and Photos. She can take some old items, a old piece of furniture and a camera and make such captivating and inspiring art that I crave her artistic vision.

And then there is Elsie.

She is FunFunFun!! Bright Colors, fun shapes and can dress like the cool girl that you always wished that you were. She has inspired me to use color in ways that I would not have dreamed. I now wear Aqua with red, I am not afraid to carry a retro huge yellow bag as a purse, and I try to see things in my camera lens the way she does.

They Inspire me- not matter how "blagh" I am feeling, all I have to do is read the blogs, look at the pictures they take, and look at layouts they have created, and I am filled with such a creative rush that I usually cannot get to the craft room soon enough. They are the best!

***Back From Vacation***

Well we are back home (all safe and sound) and we had a great time. We Spent time in San Francisco, Oregon, Washington, and also made a trip to Victoria Island- BC in Canada.

Here are some shots of what we did and what we saw.

The One room Schoolhouse in Sequim, Wa

John in front of the Parliament Building in Victoria, Canada

Some Awesome Flowers at a house in Bremmerton, WA

The Local Free-Roaming Elk Heard in Sequim, WA

John and I made it for Levi's Baptism in Roseburg, Oregon

(left to right) Titus, Eden, Me & Levi, John and Esther, & Cana

View of the Olympic Mountain Range as seen from a home in Bremerton, WA (you can also see some of the purple flowers in the left hand corner that was in a above photo) (it was sunny when I took the other photo). This is where we spent Labor Day. John's Aunt and Uncle live in this amazing house that has amazing views all around and we spent the day out on the porch, drinking and eating, enjoying the view, and spending time with friends and family. We also sat on a front porch with heaters and watched the sun set over the mountains (it cleared up as the day went along) and we had dessert and wine as we watched the sky change colors.

Well that is just the tip of the iceberg of stuff we saw. I will have to add more pics later :)

We had a great time- but we are happy to be back home and getting back to normal life. But the sleeping in all morning and staying up late playing pool in the living room was a nice change from the average days we have when we are home.

On Vacation!

We Are on Vacation in Washington right now. Access to a PC is a bit harder than usual, and so Pics and stories are to follow in a week. We will be back home the 12Th, and I will have tons of things to share then :)

Ciao