Christmas Greetings!

Found a great new blog....

...and I will be stalking it often!

How Does She is chock full of tips and tricks and all kinds of Need To Know stuff for Busy Moms & Wives.

Amazing gift ideas, recipes, coupons, household tips, craft ideas & tutorial links, giveaways... I could go on and on :*)

My favorite so far has been the Neighbor Christmas Gift ideas! I am soo stealing these for the Secret Santa Swap I am in at work.

So love!

Makes me happy....

This song has been making me happy today! What makes you happy?
Say Hey

3 new items...

in my etsy.
I listed some Vintage Wallpaper Packs. The really yummy stuff with the raised paint. They just don't make wallpaper like they used to.

The first pack is in greens and blues. I especially love the dark blue paper with the blue flowers & green vines. That is gorgeous in real life.

Another vintage Wallpaper pack in peaches & creams.

and some vintage cotton darning thread, which is the very same stuff that is sold today as Baker's twine. This is a delicious chocolate brown and cream color. Can't wait to use some of it in my own art projects.

I'm brand new to this etsy thing, so I would love some feedback & helpful suggestions.

I am working on getting together some Scrapbook kits and Vintage paper packs and embellishments to list as well. Look for shop updates this week.

Finally...

...I have an etsy shop!

I am so excited! Ive been wanting to set one up for a very long time. Madison helped me create the cutest little banner on Photoshop. That girl is uber-talented. She really ought to make custom web stuff for people.

Isn't it adorable?!

Now, I just have to get some stuff listed.
I'm gonna start with some of the vintage wallpaper I found the other day..... so yum!

numinous...

(def.) full of divine majesty; feeling that you are in the presence of God or something greater than yourself, filled with awe or wonder.

Vintage...

...babies.

I don't know about you, but I am a sucker for vintage images. I adore them.
Here are a couple that you can use in your collage or other artwork.

Enjoy!!!

I am so jealous...

...of this wall!

Isn't it great?!? Ok, so great is not enough of an adjective. Perhaps fantastic or wonderful? No... I think delicious would be more appropriate. Definitely delicious!

But that's not all I am jealous of. You see, there's so much more where that came from.

This all belongs to Donna Layton over at Under the Red Roof. I am seriously sinning here, people. Thou shalt not Covet. It's one of the BIG TEN. So I am trying really hard to just be happy for her to have such a stash. But it is soooo hard!

I have been searching for years for Vintage wallpaper. Yes, years! I live in Podunk, USA, ya know. And here in Podunk, people do not save stuff like that. They don't put it in yard sales or antique stores or keep it in their attics until they pass for their relatives to sort through and auction off at an estate sale.

If I am lucky, I might be able to find a roll from the 80's. And really, who wants that? It's the vintage stuff from the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and even the 70's that I crave. You know, the pink cabbage roses, robin's egg blue damask and the flocked velveteen stuff that makes my heart whirl. Especially the red flocked. That stuff is so yummy I could eat it!


So surely I will be forgiven for spending a few hours drooling over Donna's compilation of the stuff. And wondering how in the world she unearthed so much vintage goodness? It seems incomprehensible to me. Was there a vintage wallpaper store with all of their inventory for sale at one time? I would really like to know some secrets about finding this stuff.

And yes, I know... You can sometimes find it for sale on feeBay or on etsy, but my budget does not allow for spending 50 bucks on whimsy. Wish it did. Nope. I need to happen across a barrel full of it at a yard sale or auction for about $1 a roll. What? You think I am unfounded? One can hope for a miracle, can't she?

Read them again...

...for the first time!


I just finished reading the Twilight Saga again. It has been a couple of years since I first fell in love with Edward. I read the series before all the hoopla. Heck, I might have been one of the main purpetraors of all the hoopla. I spread the love throughout my community. I begged my local library to order the books. They did. I convinced nearly all the teachers at the elementary school to get their hands on a copy. They did. Then I started in on the Junior High teachers. Now they have read the entire series as well.

So, I figured it was high time I visited Forks again. I gotta tell you, I loved all four books just as much the second time around.

Hands down, this is one of the best stories I have ever read. I am so in love.

I believe this is the first set of books I have ever re-read. I have never been the type to re-visit. I figured been there, read that. Not this time. I have missed the Twilight characters. I needed more. And since there are no more books, I figured, hey! Why not. Maybe I should just read them again. I am so very glad I did.

I've had my Edward fix and I am so very happy. Yup, he is just my brand of heroin.

So my plan is to read them again every couple of years. Definitely. They are that good!

If you haven't read them yet, what are you waiting for? And don't tell me you don't like vampire stories, either, because in case you haven't already heard, this is not your typical vampire story. Not even close. Like I told all my teacher friends, just give it a chance. I betcha you will be hooked. I haven't been wrong yet :*)

Oh, yeah. And the movie was fabulous, too! So if you are not a reader, spend a couple hours enjoying the condensed version on the big screen.
New Moon is coming out 11.20.09. I'll be there!

New look....

...Finally!!!!

It's been a long time coming!

I'd been wanting to use this layout for quite a long while. I finally figured out how to import all of my links into the new blogger layout. Geesh! I though the new layouts were supposed to be easier to use?!

So, I used a template from http://www.simplyfabulousbloggertemplates.com/

There are all kinds of really cool templates there. If you are tired of your old template, check it out. Best of all, it is free! And there are even tutorials on how to do stuff. (Like import html links) lol!

Goodbye, my dear... Hello, my love!

Goodbye, my Dear... I will miss you terribly.

My beloved iMac G5 became seriously ill on May 8. As this happened after downloading a dmg file, I thought she had caught one of the few known viruses that will attack the Mac OS. She began pixellating then spinning the beachball of death at every turn. I know something was wrong, I just didn't realize how serious it was. I knew I had to back up my photographs and do it quickly. So I began. I could copy a few files, then Boom! Spinning beach ball & lockup. Each restart proved more detrimental. She would start in safe mode, God love her, so I could begin the process of backing up vital files (including the last year's photos which I had neglected to back up). It seems she knew when my back up was complete, because immediately after, the real trouble began. After much prodding, fervent backups, erase and installs of the system, and other revival attempts with no good end in sight, even Safe mode would no longer work. Just a pixellated screen then blackness. Nothing. I finally took her to the professionals at the Mac hospital where she was pronounced dead. In the end, they found that some of the diodes on the Mother Board were bloated from high current electricity.

It seems the terrible storms that ravaged our area during the beginning of March and specifically May 8, found a way to fry her mother board. She held on, though. While I was trying to save her life, she was helping me save mine. I would have been devastated to lose all the files I hadn't backed up.

I hated to say goodbye to my precious Snow White. She was too young to die.

I learned some very important lessons through my loss of a dear friend.

First, BACK UP your files regularly. Once a month at least. Once a week if you upload photos. Seriously. I already knew this, but I wasn't faithful about it. You never think it will happen to you. Especially if you have a Mac. They don't just die. I just never considered the possibility that they could be killed.

Second, replace your surge protector often. Yearly would probably be best. Every other year would still be practical. I'd had the same one since I bought my iMac 5 years ago. Apparently, they fail after being in use for so long. I didn't know that could happen. It had never been tripped. It didn't trip this time. Perhaps it was faulty from the beginning? Who knows?

Third, it is probably worth the extra cost to buy a rider on house insurance to cover electronics. It would have been over $1000 to replace her brain. Then there was no guarantee that she wouldn't need more repair. Insurance would have paid much of the cost to replace her.

So, alas, I bid farewell to my faithful companion and put her to rest. She will be recycled by the good folks at Apple for free. Sleep well, my sweet. Sleep well.

So began the search for a new Mac. I considered purchasing a used one. However, with the great deals at Apple.com I decided to buy a brand spanking new 20" iMac in Aluminum.

Hello, my love!!!!


His name is iMaxx and I love him!

Seriously, even if he wasn't so SWEET, how could I resist when I got a brand spanking new iPod Touch absolutely free with purchase of a computer. Oh, yeah!


You just can't walk away from a deal like that. (Especially if you are in mourning and need some good retail therapy). Although I still want to cry over the death of my wonderful Snow White iMac, I am sure she would want me to be happy. Don't you think so?
I do.

Japanese Stab Binding Tutorial

I found a great Tutorial on Japanese Stab Binding complete with video at Vanilla Joy.

Snazz Out Your Walls....

.... or your laptop

.... or your car....


I just love the vinyl designs from lewasdesigns.com You can get your own at http://www.lewasdesigns.etsy.com

Of course, I love the Birdies the best!

Aren't these just gorgeous?!

It's the new Life To the Full Collection from Dayspring

I am loving all the happy colors & the script writing. Yup. I'm putting them on my wish list.

The Nester is hosting a give-a-way for 3 pieces on her blog.

While you are there, you gotta check out all her wonderful decorating ideas. I just found her blog yesterday & I spent over an hour reading & being inspired. I especially love her ideas for Window Mistreatments. Yup. Easy-peasy no sewing involved gorgeous window decor. Now that's what I'm talking about!

Encouragement.....

... from k.barteski. I am absolutely in love with these

I have been coveting these since I saw them on Ali's blog! I love love love all of them & it would be so fun just to put them in random places about the house for my family to find in unplanned moments!

BUT... I would definitely give the penguin one to my youngest daughter. She LOVES penguins! and I definately believe she is Awesome! Sometimes She might just need to hear it from a penguin.

The lab one would go to my Hubs (probably snuck into his lunchbox on the sly...) Aside from the fact that he adores our lab, Sophie, he really needs to know that I appreciate everything he does for our family and he should be proud of the husband and father he is.

The one with the deer would go to my oldest daughter. She is at the age where she is trying to find her wings. She needs to know that even if she makes a mistake, we will be there for her and love her no matter what. We think she is awesome.

I would keep the one with the bird for myself. Sometimes I need to be reminded not to ponder the "what ifs" and just know that I am right where I was meant to be. Every choice has led to HERE and I wouldn't trade HERE for anything. ever.

So... maybe the rest might find there was anonymously into a coworker's mailbox or desktop. Everyone could use a little encouragement now and then, huh?