Black Dog Mini Album

So I borrowed this Cricut, and then I had to buy one. And then I made a dog mini album. And the lender of the Cricut said I had to make an album for her big black dog. So I did.

 It's hard to make a black dog so I had to improvise.

 I used an assortment of papers that I thought the lender might like.

 And I kept it simple so she could add her own touches to the album.

 I think she'll like it. If not, I'll keep it.

 And I made this fleur-de-lis frame. I'm looking for the perfect picture and I have one in mind. I just have to print it, when I get it all done, I will share it again. And then you will think I'm more crazy than I you already think I am.

 I made a few mini purse. A girl can never have to many small bags.

This one has a handle out of black twill but it didn't want it's picture taken. I'm using paper from the box of goodies I bought off Andrea.

Cute things

 I'm putting my Cricut to good use. I have to because I promised Kerry I would. I spent the better part of yesterday cutting, scoring and assembling little boxes for my advent calendar class. Whew.  I'm waiting on my patterned paper I ordered to complete the boxes. They are so cute. Small, but they really only need to hold a couple chocolates.

When we went to the fall bazaar, we picked up fresh corn. I find it hard to eat a dozen by myself, I can do it over days but it's probably not the best idea. Kerry ate one and the dogs shared one. Kerry had to hold the cob because Sally didn't chew hers well enough years ago, and a cob in the tummy of a dog for 3 days doesn't make for great scents! 

 It was Dave's birthday and M-R is a vegetarian. So we thought it would be nice to get him a gift card for Johnny's Meats. I brainstormed and made this gift card holder for him.

 And on the way to their house, we saw this. A million crows/ravens flying over. We weren't the only ones standing on the sidewalk taking pictures. It was eery.

We are trying to decide what to dress up as when we go to Mickey's Halloween Bash. Providing Amy gets the tickets, I'm not sure if there's a huge run on them.  Any ideas?
Emily has already nixed...
- Flintstones
- Addams family
- Mad Hatter, White Rabbit
- anything frou frou

We can't have our faces covered, we don't want hot costumes, we must be able to go on rides or move in them.

PVR update

It's magical. But not that good. Kerry set it up for the Medium. And I was so paranoid, I watched it while it recorded. Years of having a bum video tape has made me that way. It worked just fine.
Did I mention 'we' opted to put it on my craft room tv because I'm the one that misses or even cares that I missed a show? Did I tell you I set it up by myself and only had to call Shaw once? Did I tell you they shut off the cable to the other box and we had to phone them 3 times that day?
Did I tell you we get the box for free for a year?
And I know I didn't tell you that Sunday Kerry checked to see what had recorded. And he was surprised to see Saturday Night Live was listed. He asked me if I'd done that, and thought I was pretty smart to think of recording it, we always fall asleep watching it. And when I said no, he thought the machine had thought to record it. After my little laughing fit, I told him that he did it, he must have been so tired the night before that he didn't remember going downstairs to do it.

Here he is at the St. Teresa's Church Fall Bazaar. Emily begged him to go on the tractor ride with her. He negotiated a ride at Space Mountain out of her. We might get that in writing!
I've booked the hotel for our trip. It's a bit sad that Shaun isn't going. I feel mostly for Emily as those two do so much together and she might be lonely hanging out with her parents. But other than that, we are mostly excited. We have so many lists!

I watch TV

I like to watch TV in the evening with Kerry and when I scrapbook. But because I've been so busy with classes, I have missed 79% of the season premieres that I normally would watch. Sure, I could say "Oh, well, it's just TV." But for me it's not. It's my downtime, it's my couple time, it's my crafty time. And sadly, sometimes it's my nap time.
So this morning I called Shaw and when the guy asked "What can I do for you?" I said "I missed all my good TV this week!" and he said he could help me with that.
You see, we have a machine called a VCR, some of you more mature readers might remember these machines. For whatever reason, ours won't work with the digital box and so I can't record anything anymore. It's been a tough 2 weeks.
I have missed...Criminal Minds, Big Bang Theory, Grey's Anatomy, 30 Rock, 1/2 of the Office, part of Glee, part of Community, and part of CSI. I missed Betty White on SNL, and on just about every other decent show, also part of Joaquin Phoenix on David Letterman and this was important to me because I saw him the first time and nearly cried about him retiring from acting.
It's my life, go ahead and judge me, I'll just change the channel.

I'm removing the digital modem boxy thing by myself, I'm driving, by myself to Shaw. I'm picking up the magical new box and hopefully installing it myself. And if all goes well, I won't miss Young and the Restless.

Let sleeping dogs lie

We don't usually find these to touching. Linus would love to cuddle with Sally, but unlike the cartoon characters they are named after Sally does not find Linus to be her 'sweet baboo'. But today I found them  on their 'dog couch' kind of snuggling. I have a feeling that Linus was there first and Sally climbed up and made herself at home. If you notice, she's relaxed, he's wide awake and probably scared.

Quick Positive update!

I have been taking Cold FX since the start of my sore throat and I'm fine.

Emily has not, and has a cold but she feels fine, just has the stuffed up head and sore throat.

Kerry woke up with it today. So knocking on wood is not a good health insurance.

Tuesday's Tasty Treats in point form again

1. I helped Karla make stick-in-your-teeth poppycock a la Jenn S.'s recipe.

2. I feel better in the day time, worse in the evening.

3. I must not look at ebay for Cricut cartridges anymore.

4. Dentist tomorrow, oh, joy of joys.

5. My Stamper's group that couldn't get enough people to sustain it self last week has reached maximum capacity, it's bursting at 9 plus me if everyone shows up.

6. Last week, I thought "Ah, Cricut, schmicut" and I thought I could live without one. I was wrong. Heather picked up the one she had borrowed to me and now I am lost. Until hopefully tomorrow, when the big brown UPS truck comes a-rumblin' to my door. I'm worried, I see by the tracking that it's 35 lbs. I don't think my kitten strength arms can lift something that big. And Kerry won't let me use my Harley Davidson wagon to haul groceries from the van, so I doubt he'll make me a ramp tonight so I can haul my wagon and my Cricut downstairs.

7. I watched Raising Hope, it was stupidly funny, it's on right after Glee. I love new tv show season!

8. Disneyland is getting so close, I can taste it. Oh, wait that's poppycock stuck in my teeth!

Positive Energy

I'm a firm believer of positive energy. You get what you give. I read the Secret, and I think it's possible. That being said ...

I should have known better when I said to Kerry "Since we've dumped the negatives, we haven't gotten sick!" He replied that he wasn't going to participate in the conversation because just talking about it would bring it on. And then he knocked on wood.

And ... I know it coincides with Emily going back to school which always brings new germs back to us. And I've been having more classes which means more people in the house. But still...Emily got a sore throat and then 3 days later I got it.

So in following my theory of positive thinking...I'm positive I'm sick. But just a little sick. I made a good decision to not go to bunco and infect everyone else, and that means I also didn't eat a bunch of things I shouldn't and I didn't stay up too late. And I'm taking Cold FX. I feel better today than I did yesterday but I also haven't done anything today. I had to work yesterday, but I didn't go for my walk. I'm going today, slowly, but I think the fresh air and fresh Karla will help. And maybe I'll give her my germs, I think if you share, you don't have it as long.

The rest of the week...dentist, blah, Cricut arriving, yay, and then nothing houseworky will get done, and Stamper's Group, yay! I can't believe how large the group will be this time around. 8 and counting!

Pizza Re-Visited

I don't think I blogged about our 'last big dinner before our trip'.

After the last wedding I shot, we met at Bordello's. We'd heard that it was THE best place for pizza but a bit pricey.

We got there just before 5 pm, when they open and at a few minutes past 5 they were full and turning people away. We all picked our pizzas, 12 inches ones and our pops, in a can with a glass, more than $2 a can. The pizza's started at $11 and went up to $20.

Was it the best pizza? No. Was it worth the grand total of over $100 for 4 12 inch pizzas and 4 cans of pop and a plate of 4 paper thin pieces of salami, 4 of cheese, 4 olives and 4 garlic knots (strips of pizza dough tied in knots)? NO.

We could have gone to Costco, ordered 4 large pizzas, and bought a flat of pop and dessert and still only paid about half of what we paid at Bordello's. And we would have been eating pizza for two days. The service was lacking, the waitress couldn't get our order of pop cans right.

This is my pizza, it's green olives, and cheese, it cost $17, it's the size of a dinner plate.

Cricut for Sale!

I'm helping a friend sell her smaller Cricut, it cuts 6x12 inch paper. It's in great shape, she's upgrading to the larger model. It includes 3 cartridges, one or two maybe be new in box if I remember correctly...Storybook, Sesame Street Font, and Zoobaloo font, new cutting mats, tool kit, manual, and machine. She wants $170 for the whole thing.

It's a great beginner machine. Good for cutting vinyl for signage and home decor, great for scrapbooking and cardmaking. It's so easy to use! So much so that I am getting one too!

Some things

1. We scrubbed and cleaned all tile floors in the house, and then sealed the grout.

2. Our house stinks of sealer.

3. I need a new vest. My MEC one is spewing feathers from some secret hole. And it's light pink and always looks dirty. I found a charcoal grey one today but then we said maybe we should look in the States when we go.

4. We are hoping to buy too many things when we go. Food, like Pumpkin Spice Hershey's Kisses, Vests, Winter Jacket for Emily, Cricut Cartridges, etc.

5. I bought a Cricut. I cannot wait for it to get here.

6. I bought some cartridges. I cannot wait to cut things out for no good reason. I have been using Heather's Cricut and making tonnes of cute things. I give them to my neighbour.

7. We won't be here for Halloween, someone will be 'here' but Kerry, Emily and I will be in Disneyland. When Emily said "For Halloween I will be..." I interrupted her and said "in Disneyland!"

8. I told the kids they have till 2 pm. to clean and vacuum their room. You would have thought I said they had to cut off their arms and legs and donate them to science. It's 1:30 pm. No one has started cleaning their room.

9. We had our first Trick or Treaters last night. 2 dressed as a Siamese Ghost and one dressed as a dog. I gave them Caramel Apple Suckers. I'll give them rocks if they show up again tonight.

Did a very stupid thing

I borrowed Heather's Cricut. I have been known to say "I don't need one!" I had a Silhouette that was great in the sense that I never had to buy cartridges, but it was not user friendly. It was noisy, over-heated, took forever to figure out the pressure of the blade, etc.

I plugged in the Cricut, watched the video, put a cartridge in and fell in love!

First I made a Linus...

Then I made a carrot box out of the cake box, then I made a couple popcorn boxes, and a nut box(?) and I put a penguin on the front of it and Emily was completely sold on getting a Cricut.And then I made her a unicorn, and before she left for school this morning, she told me to order one.

I'm thinking if a 14 yr. old thinks it's cool, I better buy it.

Sorry CLASS is FULL

I will be having a Halloween Treats class on Sunday, at 1 pm. $30 gets you the Witch's Shoe, Pumpkin and Milk Cartons. Treats included. Class of 6, with 3 spots available. Let me know ASAP if you are interested.

Forgive me

Boo Ya! I think it's the weather. I love fall most of all. And I'm feeling so crafty.The bat's tummy is full of candy.Karla wanted to make some of these witch shoes so I tried one out first. Lots of cutting.

Sadly, these are empty. There's not a decent candy in the house.

more cards

I purchased a box of product from Andrea, to use in my classes. I was pretty happy to see a sheet of this paper, it's one of the ones I've been hoarding. I think it has to do with the big sigh of relief every person lets out when they discover the test they are about to take is multiple choice! I'm not so big on vintage little kid stamps but I really like this set, I think it's because they remind me of the Campbell's soup kids.

This one uses some SU paper and some of my newly acquired Andrea stuff.

This one is Andrea stuff and a retired SU set. I love Boogly Eyes, it's my favourite Halloween set. I wasn't sure how a Halloween card would go over in class but they all loved it.
I hate spiders but I love this stamp!

Stamp-A-Stack

Classes have really be few and far between. People are busy, money is tight, so when I only had one person sign up for the SAS, I had to cancel it. But then someone said "Put it on Facebook" so I did. And within hours I had a full class. We made Christmas cards, it's never to early to start. I love these kind of classes because I always pull out the stuff I've been hoarding.


The best part, I had a newbie, Karla, and she did great, and now she's hooked. It was a great assortment of people, but I had them working so hard that they hardly had time to talk.

I'm planning more classes so keep an eye open for them.

Teenage Dream(with me)

I almost peed my pants laughing at this.

3 times a charm.

That's right! It says FOCUS, and it has a camera. I kill myself sometimes. I 'made' this today.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Shipping will be cheap, as My Neighbour Karla (anonymous) won the little camera charm.

I whipped these up this morning. Seriously, whipped them up. Super easy. Super yummy.

Quick and Easy Pretzels

1 tsp. yeast

350 ml warm water

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

850 ml flour

1 egg mixed with 15 ml water

course salt

Sprinkle yeast over warm water. Stir until dissolved with wooden spoon. Stir in sugar, salt, and flour. Dough will be sticky and soft. Knead 5-8 minutes (oh, kitten arms don't fail me now) until smooth and elastic, adding up to 1/2 cup of flour more. Cut ball in 1/2, then in 6's and roll into long worms about 15" long. Twist up pretzel like, brush with egg wash, sprinkle with course salt and bake on a greased cookie sheet for 425 degrees for 15 minutes.

Do not eat them warm. Do not dip them in melted butter and sprinkle parmesan cheese on them. You won't like that.

42!

That's about the number of days until "Kerry, Kelli and Emily's Big Road Trip". It is sometimes called "The Road Trip In Which We Show Our Inner Foodie Geekiness & Eat Our Way To California".I'll explain.

We love to watch Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. And I LOVE to cook, and eat. We were going to fly to Disneyland for Amy and David's wedding. But then we thought we'd drive to Seattle and visit Della, but then we jokingly said "Why don't we just drive the whole way?" and Kerry wants to drive the Oregon coast again so it was a plan. And then someone, me, said "We should eat our way there!" We got out our Triple D cookbooks and mapped our route.

We've added a stop along the way...Karen Russell recommended we stop at Voodoo Donuts, even if the line up is an hour long. Everyone agreed with that. So we will stop in Portland, Sacramento, see some sand dunes, Hearst Castle, Disneyland, Universal, the Wedding, Money Pit, In and Out Burger, Wetzels Pretzels, and possibly the Jelly Belly Factory.

I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Mini Camera Give Away!

How cute is this? Become a follower, post in the comments that you are following and Friday a.m. I will draw a winner!

Flipping Out!

Karla sent me the instructions for this little flip album. I wanted to see if it was easy enough for a beginner, so I made one. Then I made another.

And then another...this one is for my friend, Jenn. I was unable to make it to her wedding.
I used wedding invitation in the album.

And I'm making another one as I blog. This will be an upcoming class. It's so easy to duplicate!

Long Weekend in pictures

For the first time in 12 years, we have baby quail that visit us. I've been trying to snap a decent picture of them but they are sneaky.

I hauled out the smoker and did up some ribs. It was similar to dying and going to heaven. Kerry came home from work, as he walked in the door he said "Someone is having bacon for dinner and it smells good! And it's US!"

You can see the smoke in the meat, it's the red !
I had a photoshoot with my neighbour's dog. And then I made a little book for him. I did a poor job of putting the pictures together in a collage so that I didn't have to upload them all individually here.

Emily wanted to check out the new sculpture downtown. This is in the same spot I took some of the wedding pics last weekend, but the bear was installed 2 days later.

It's pretty neat, in the bear are little things like pears, apples, birds, trees, different things from the area.And then we went to Kasugai Gardens, one of Emily's favourite places.

Then I made her pose for some pictures. She's so unwilling for lack of a better word. I ran some actions and used some textures.

And that brings us to today! The first day of school! I love being back in a routine.