the lime green door

It's been a long while!

Bear with me, I have come out from under a huge burden and will be posting more regularly now that this albatross has "flown the coop"!   

This blog is that of my artistic endeavors, however you will also find some fun and info in the other blogs that I host:   Kelley's Soup du Jour ,    Kelley Cooks , and  my crafty class blog:  Bee-ing Crafty

Click on one of those links and you will be taken to more creative goodness!

I'M GOING TO DISNEYLAND!

I am absolutely blessed to be going to the CHA Winter 2009 Trade Show with Moxxie. They are just too wonderful and generous to me (A HUGE thanks to Jennifer and Jen!).  The show is in Anaheim, California the 25th thru the 28th of this month. We are staying at a place named Candy Cane Inn--how Stinkin' Cute is that!  This boutique hotel is 2 blocks from the show and 250 yards from the main gate of Disneyland!  HOW COOL IS THAT? Here is a pic of the hotel grounds....beautiful, and the weather has been in the 80's (which absolutely beats the 11 degrees we have right now!)

1.19.09 Moxxie Sneak Peeks! They are here!

As most of you that read my blog know, I am a DT member for Moxxie, an awesome, themed scrapbook paper & embellie manufacturer.  Well, it is CHA Winter 2009 in Anaheim, CA Jan 25th-27th, so Moxxie is counting down the days to the show by "leaking" sneak peeks of their new product. 

Wanna see?  Here they are!

 

 

 

 

 

Wanna see more of Moxxie?  Moxxie's Website and then see more of Moxxie's Design Team's work, classes, samples, challenges and more? Got Moxxie Blog  

1.5.09 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Texas Longhorns

I definitely don't want to talk about it...1-8-09. 11:30 p.m.

       

It happens tonight!  

GO BUCKEYES!!! 

Texas will be a hard team to beat, but have at it!  I will be glued to the TV starting at kick-off at 8:20 p.m. EST!

1.1.09 Happy New Year!

It is finally here!  2009! My start of 2009 is of course, resolutions, the taking up kind, rather than giving up...I am making a plan to practice GRATITUDE and THANKFULNESS.

It is so easy to get caught up in the rush of life, rudeness of people, not being or seeing the people that you love and care about.

Time flies by, and we miss out on all the moments that we will never get back, and wish we could have, would have, or should have been there or done that.

I am slowing down. Taking time for things that MATTER. Things that are bigger than me. Things that need to be appreciated, that were previously overlooked. Things that are right here in my own backyard. My home, my husband, my family, our finances, our health, our pets, our friends, others who are in need of help or have no others to turn to. 

Even though the state of our overall economy is in dire straights at the moment, GRATITURE and THANKFULNESS need not cost anything but a feeling, an emotion, and time. 

Here is a part of my plan...

1. Keep a Gratitude List or Journal

I plan to write down at least five things each day that I am grateful for in list form in a journal of sorts. Want to try this with me? You might think that at first, it would be hard to come up with different things each day, but even I was surprised at how expressing gratitude in this way caused me to recognize that I have so more to be thankful for than I ever could have imagined. I keep this little journal with me so that when I have a few moments, I can jot down things when I have a moment.

2. Express Your Thanks Out Loud

 

Tell others that you are GRATEFUL or THANKFUL for them. Do it while you're eating dinner with your family or friends, go around the table and share one or two things that you're thankful for. What's especially great about this simple habit is that your actions may  inspire others to see things they had not seen before or that it may start a pay it forward, where others start expressing their thanks out loud. Try not to take the efforts of others for granted. Thank them for their kindness and helpfulness in your life.

3. Write a Letter of Thanks

When you feel thankful for certain people in your life, be bold enough to say it out loud or put it in a letter. One of the great tragedies in life is that, too often, we just don't know what we mean to others. You can take one small step toward changing this by writing a letter of gratitude to an old friend, co-worker, mentor, or friend. Just recently, my DH and I lost a very special person in our lives, and had not told him how thankful we were for his kindness and work with others.  We are pledging to not let this happen again.  Shout it out loud, drop them a note--need to keep writing those Thank You cards!

4. Be Grateful for the Challenging Times

In the last 6 months, our lives have changed a lot, financially, healthwise, work wise. We are grateful that my DH has a job, while I do not have one. We have learned to be thankful and grateful for what does come our way. We do not let these snippets of work with misc. income sources go by without a huge debt of gratitude. Share with your others some of the challenging times you've gone through in life that you're also grateful for. We have had lessons in creative meal planning, not wasting food, the priviledges that we do have and many of these lessons have shown us alternative ways of coping without being sheltered, strapped, or leaving us with the feeling that we are being punished! We have rediscovered the local hiking trails and parks (free) the library (also free) and other fun things to do that are either free or low cost, that we might have otherwise passed up before! How have you grown through your most challenging experiences, and what good has come out of them?

5. Make it a Habit

Learning to be truly grateful can change your life. One way to continue a new "attitude of gratitude" is to create a habit around your thankfulness. For example, you might set aside a certain time of day to reflect on what you're grateful for. Sometimes it can help to do something ritualistic at the same time, such as make yourself a cup of tea. Then, as you're sipping the tea, consider what you're grateful for. Each time you make a cup of tea, reflect on your gratitude. Over time, this will begin to seep into your everyday thinking, and you'll realize that you have much in life to be grateful for! Whatever you do, keep practicing gratitude and thankfulness.  You will start to see a happier you, a less stressful you, and a joyful you!

 

 

10.9.08 It is gorgeous outside!!! 70's temps, here we come!

It has been a crazy time, so to speak...so many places to go, so many things to do...I need to catch up so that I can enjoy my favorite time of year. I have been horribly absent in blogging on my own blog--i have been setting up a blog for a company as well as spending enormous amounts of time cleaning out the house--everything is going!  I have been listing on ebay, giving away things to friends, siblings, neighbors, etc.  We have to unload everything that is in storage by the end of October, and nothing is coming back into the house! 

I did decorate our front porch, dual holiday, more of a Fall theme, and i had so much love for the mum's I found (thank you Toni G for the tip on Pandy's!) that my outdoor decorating went from the front porch to the side of the house to the mailbox! 

loving the weather this week, it has been sunny and warm with the exception of yesterday, it rained most of the day.  I am basking in sunshine right now!

I am off to the church today, need to teach the youth group how to make corsages for the senior ladies--the youth group puts on a "senior prom" dinner and dance for the elderly in our parish, and it is this Sunday.  DH and I were recruited to help to prepare and cook the meal. 

ta ta for now!

08.18.08 Geez...Am I bad about posting!

inexcusable...so bad to not have posted for a month, and so much has been happening.  My sister and I attended the Summer 08 CHA show in Chicago, i lost my day job (sorta), have totally revamped my studio, been to the beach, playing with my DH, dog sat for a week (that was a hoot!! Riley has a true "sister" now!), went to a Cleveland Indians game, spent some time being sick, spent 2 weeks doing nothing but scrapbooking, and just been so busy!

I am pledging to update and post a ton of new stuff this week! I PROMISE!!

7.12.08 Pittsburgh Zoo...Good Times

My DH and I took my nephew Jake to the Pittsburgh Zoo this past Saturday, as a birthday event for him.  We try to do something with each niece and nephew rather than purchase toys at birthdays.  We did have a lot of fun, although it was so stinkin' hot!  We were dripping with sweat, the animals were lazy and sleeping because of the heat, but we got to see the brand, spankin' new baby elephant, Angelina!  This was amazing, such a huge animal and so very interesting to learn about how the baby needed to be accepted into the elephant environment.

Jake loved the meerkats, even though there were just 3 of them, they had tunnels that the kids could crawl into and pop their heads up into the meerkat environment for a close up look at their habitat...i think we took 50+ pictures of just those cutie pie meerkats!

We also got to watch the giraffe's mate.  Really!

I will be posting more zoo photos in my albums gallery, most likely once I get back from the CHA show in Chicago...off to go do some more work for my boss!

OMG!! I GET TO SEE WICKED!!!!!

My sister and I just booked tickets to see the Broadway musical "Wicked" while in Chicago for the CHA show...I am SOOOOO Happy about this, I have wanted to see it since I first saw the reviews! Yippee for us!

Layouts made with Moxxie...a "reveal" of the new lines, and what you can do with them!

Here are just a few stinkin cute layouts using the lines Moxxie will be debuting at the Chicago Summer 2008 CHA Show...

 

What is it about sunshine...

that makes one feel healthy? I feel sooooo good right now...it is hot!  (finally!) and after lugging about a dozen loads of laundry up the steps this morning to hang them out to dry, I decided that I needed to go swimming this afternoon!  My Auntie M has a pool and we kinda just show up and float....which is what I did!  I am so sunburned on my face though---took a cold shower and slathered on the face cream and lotions!  I will try to at least not peel. 

I feel so healthy after being wet and in the sun--my body feels good, my skin is loving me, on top of  feeling soooo relaxed, it should be a crime how good I feel!  Aaaahhhh...the beach....the water....the sun!

I am not a sunworshipper or anything like that; I spent most of my life in the sunshine as a lobster (I had blonde, blonde, blonde hair all my life up until 2 months ago) so being blonde and fair skinned was a Rx for sunburn...I never knew what "being tan" was until a few years ago.

Only if I had a margarita and my DH right here, right now, life would be PERFECT!  (I am too relaxed to go down to the kitchen and make a margarita, and my DH just left for class and will not be home until about 11 p.m.)  So I am off to go relax with a book for a while! 

More Moxxie Sneak Peeks...

Moxxie sneak peeks!  My favorite so far is the Roughing It line...camping, backpacking, park, trails, bon fires, scouts---so very versatile...

Then there are baseball and softball...those who have seen me working with the sample papers for these lines all want them like yesterday!  they will be popular!!!

Moxxie is so AMAZING! Look at the Summer 2008 CHA Sneak Peaks!

Moxxie just gets more amazing each month.  I am blessed to be a part of their design team--we are a bunch of girls with moxxie!  Moxxie has come out with so many new lines to be dropped at this summer's CHA show in Chicago (did I mention that I am going!)  Here are more sneak peaks!  You can click on Moxxie to see more details!  This is my favorite, since I am a huge Halloween Fan! Here is Moxxie's "EYE OF NEWT" line...lots of little witchy feets!

WINTER WISHES---Snow, winter, snowman, and snowflakes, with paper that reminds me of hot chocolate in my favorite mug!

Here is their Tie the Knot/Wedding release...so pretty!

And here is their So Blessed/Baby, Twins and Adpotion line...

 

Also, for the fall sports, here is their Cross Country line...i know that the kids at our high school have already begun practice for this year's cross country teams...

Click on the pictures for a FULL SIZE view, and don't forget to ask your LSS for these fabulous papers from Moxxie!

6.23.08 Summer 2008 CHA Sneak Peeks from Moxxie!

Here is a sneaky peek at the one of the many new lines that Moxxie will be presenting at this summer's CHA show in Chicago. Click on Moxxie link directly to their site...click on this picture for a larger, clearer view of this YUMMY paper and embellishments...stay tuned for more sneak peaks!

70's...back in style?

Our friends had their annual summer party tonight, with a twist...dress for the 70's (which is when most of these lovlies were born!).  Although I was born a wee bit earlier than that, we still showed up rockin' the 70's!

Sandy (l) & Michelle (r) sisters, and the party was at Michelle and Dennis' home.  Michelle has been my sister Julie's best friend since about the 3rd, grade...sometime in the 70's!

These two were the most colorful!

This is Michelle and I...I was going for the Stevie Nicks headscarf look!

DH Eddie (l) and B-I-L Dave on the right.  Not sure what Dave has going on, I did hear that he mixed the 60's with the 70's along with Jimmy Buffet, Elton John (the glasses) and "Mini Me"!

Eddie told me that he was dressed as his dad did in the 70's--he said his dad always used to dress like this---plaid shirt, shorts, sandals.(but he did not wear socks with the sandals!!!)