I’ve been a bad blogger.  It’s been busy around here to say the least.  Denny has been working on a project that kept him from home for two weeks.  I think I may be on Mommy overload.  Between homework and other activities my nerves are shot.  Then last week Denny’s Uncle passed away.  Which was a blow to both of us, obviously mostly Denny, but I had a vast respect for Uncle Bob and he was just one of the nicest men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.  He is missed.

I promised some photos of tiles that I had done over the last couple of weeks and just didn’t get around to posting them.  So, as promised here they are…

I’m trying to play catch up today and get the stuff done that I haven’t been able to attend to over the last week or two.  Wish me luck!

~j

Renee tagged me today.  I gotta thank her for that cuz I needed a good kick in the pants to get back to blogging.    So, thanks Renee!!

Here are the rules…

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog
2. Link the person you received your award from
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the girls or boys you’ve nominated.

Ok so rule one and two taken care of!  Now on to nominating 7 other blogs.  Hmm, ok I pick the following:

1. Jamie Harker – Well, just because the girl cracks me up more often than not.
2. Sarah Bolton – Umm, shes young and still has a footloose and fancy free life, so I get to relive my life, errr, 10 years ago, all over again though her.   Plus she’s a darn good babysitter.
3. Becky Fleck – I like the Page Maps.  Of course I’ve only used one once.  But, if I got the chance to scrapbook more I swear I’d use more.
4. Jana Walsh – Cute cards and stuff.  She seems to find other blogs that actually do technique ideas and I like that.  Again, something I’d put to better use if I made more time to scrap.
5. Emily Adams – She does this “Sense”-ational Sunday thing that I enjoy.  It’s totally not scrapbooking related, but cool just the same.
6. Tim Holtz, Because I learn somethign nearly everytime I visit.  FYI he is on QVC Sept 23rd.
7. Ali Edwards – Always something good over there.

Now I need to run around and comment all over.  Something I’m not going to do right now cuz Shelby is actually “resting” and I have other things I’d like to do with my quiet time.  Denny is not home this weekend so I’m on kid duty and I’ll take the break where I can get it.

In other news I’ve actually created some stuff over the last two weeks.  I’m working on a secret project that I can’t reveal until November.  Beyond that I’ve done two tiles and a clear acrylic album.  I’ll post some photos tomorrow when Denny gives my camera back.

Hmm, what other exciting stuff has gone on around here?  Well, my hairdyer caught on fire, lol.  It’s funny now, however not so funny in the moment.  The second I turned it on flames started climbing up the cord from the base of the plug.  Thankfully I had the good sense to yank it out and put the cord in the sink to put out the fire.  I called the company and they sent a call tag for it and are replacing it.  They said it’s “deffective.”  Gee, ya think?

Then yesterday Denny thought he was having a heart attack.  Turns out he decided that a particular medication he was given wasn’t all that effective, (I agree with him there), so he decided to wean himself off.  (Again, I’m ok with that.)  However…. weaning off requires more than THREE days.  Argh, so he basically stopped a blood pressure altering drug cold turkey.  Not a good idea.  So the racing heart, crazy blood pressure, lightheaded and tingly Denny with chest pains went to the doctor.  The doctor told him the same thing I did after an EKG and a chest xray.  That being said, he did actually have soemthing else wrong with him – a viral lung infection.  The infection was causing the chest pain.  Lots of excitement yesterday.

That about covers it for today.  I got up super early this morning so I am off to go vegitate for a few. 

~j

This weekend was pretty uneventful really. Saturday we went to Blakes Big Apple to pick raspberries. It’s usually a fun thing we all do as a family. Unfortunately Dylan has developed a severe phobia to all things insect. Argh. Well the second we got out of the car and near a raspberry bush a bug flew out and landed on the back of Dillys shoulder. The kid freaked out and ran screaming and crying. That kicked off Ethan, and he started screaming while trying to avoid Dylan. After what seemed like an eternity the bug finally flew off. However, the damage had already been done. Dylan spent the rest of the time whining and crying, nearly unable to move. I picked his share of the berries and at the end the kid wouldn’t even hold the carton of berries. Yeah, he was not a happy camper.

I spent the day Sunday running errands with Denny and working on my article for the next issue of Michigan Scrapbooker Magazine. I had ordered the photos for it on the 23rd and they just showed up the other day. Honestly, I work best if it’s done at the last minute, but I was getting a little nervous about not having the photos here. Anyway, I finished the layout and I’m just about done with the article. It just needs some tweaking here and there. This time around I’m also doing another article for another department, just filling in for someone else, so I’ll be wrapping that up today and tomorrow I think.

Shelby has her first dance class later today. She is so stinkin’ excited to “go dance.” I’ll be taking lots of photos. After doing the little boy routine for so long it’s refreshing to have a princess to have fun with. All new adventured for me. As a kid I hated dance, lol, so we’ll see how she does. She is a million times more girly than I ever was that’s for sure.

Happy Monday everyone!

~j

Day two of school went just fine. Both Dylan and Ethan seem to be doing ok. Ethan had some serious apprehension about it this year, which turned out to be all about the upcoming MEAP. Apparently he was worried about how he’d do. I think after my conversation with him we got that all straightened out. He came home yesterday pretty happy, so I assume it worked.

Yesterday after I took the boys to school and ran to the grocery store, I dropped Shelby off at my in-laws. I had a lunch date yesterday with my mom so my in-laws were baby sitting. I ended up with a few minutes to spare before I had to pick up my mom and created an altered tile. I have a bunch of them that I’ve done in all different sizes that hang along the soffit in my office/scrap room. They all start as just plain white glazed tiles. This one is 6×6. If you want to recreate the look, here are the steps…

Supplies you’ll need:
-Glazed Tile
-Alcohol Ink & Applicator
-Mask (I used a piece of Maya Road Petals and Leaves Sheer Sheet)
-Removable Adhesive
-Permanent Adhesive
-Cardstock (to mount your photo on)
-Photo & Misc embellishments (in this case jewels, ribbon and a flower)

The steps are simple. First make sure your tile is clean and dry. I’d suggest soap and water and not any type of chemical cleaner for this task. After you’ve dried it COMPLETELY take whatever you plan to use as your mask and apply some removable adhesive to the back. I used Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L E-Z Dots for this. Then apply the mask on to the top of the tile.

After applying your mask and getting it positioned where you want it, get out your alcohol inks. I used three different shades of brown for mine as I wanted to pull the brown from the color of Shelby’s shirt. Put your drops of alcohol ink onto the applicator and dab away over the top of the mask. Nothing has to be perfect here and alcohol ink is pretty forgiving… just dab back over it if you don’t like the application. You just want to be sure your mask stays in place.

Once the ink has been applied, remove your mask. Alcohol ink dries fairly quickly, but I did use my heat gun to help in along a bit. Again, make sure your mask is removed first so you don’t melt it. After the ink has dried, you can rub off any of the removable adhesive that may have transferred to the tile in the process.

No all that remains is embellishing and placing your photo. One this one all I did was tie some ribbon around, place a flower on top and put a jewel in the center. Then I matted my photo, adhered it and stick on the jewel “princess” title. Everything is adhered to the tile using a permanent adhesive runner, such a and E-Z Runner by Scrapbook Adhesive by 3L.

This is a quick project that looks like it took a lot more effort. I probably got this done in about 15 minutes or so max. To hang them I get plate hangers, which you can find at your local home improvement store, (i.e. Lowes, where I also get the tiles).

Enjoy!

~j

Current Mood: Happy

Ha Ha, my car! That’s what’s new. I got a call last week that my car was in and would be at my dealer Thursday/Friday. Yipee skippy. I picked her up on Friday. I’ll tell you what, I love it, and I do mean LOVE it. If I could live in it, I probably would.

A good friend of ours happens to be our car salesman also, (and now the salesman of choice for our family and friends). He is SUCH a nice guy, so if you are looking for a dealer that can get ya any GM vehicle, drop me a line and I’ll send you his way. Anyway, he says, “I’ll have them stripe it for you. What do you want?” Uhh, first, I assume you mean pinstripe. Second, I have no idea! He asked if I wanted flashy or classic. I told him I’m not too flashy really so probably more classic. He says, “No, you want flashy.” LOL. Ok, I guess that’s what I want. He told me I’d like blue and purple stripes, and frankly I wasn’t so sure. But, I told him that I trusted his judgment. I’m glad I did… it’s fantastic! (You like how I make all these decisions without consulting Denny?) Anyway, John at Rinke Cadillac – go see him!!!

The other NEW thing – today was the first day back at school, and the first day of school for Dylan period! Kindergarten, yeesh, time goes by way to quick. Seems like just yesterday I was taking Ethans photo before his first day of kindergarten, now today he started third grade. Here is Ethan on his first day of Kindergarten and then today.

And here is Dilly today just before we left for school…

Yes, I have a thing for plaid. Every single year for elementary school thus far… new plaid shirt and matching t shirt underneath. Yes, I know I’m neurotic. In my defense, Dilly opted NOT to wear what I picked for him. Instead he says, “Uhh, I’m not wearing that Mom. Don’t you have something orange?” Orange apparently is his new color. Orange shirt, orange backpack, and if he new Crocs weren’t too big he’d be wearing those too… also orange. So, he picked out the orange shirt, which happens to be one Ethan wore at one point, but there was no talking Dilly out of it. What can I say?

It’s nearly 11am now, and no one from the school has called to tell me I have a kid up there freaking out, so I guess it’s going ok. Shelby and I are enjoying the day without boys thus far. She seems to be the most excited about it. No one to share with I guess!

Happy first day back at school to all the other Mom’s out there!

~j