Where to start?  I arrived here right around 4pm yesterday.  If course I stopped at a local scrapbook store, (located right down the street), on my way here.When I arrived, I walked directly into the cropping area via the ramp and unloaded all my treasures.  The crop room has a spacious feel to it and is furnished with many tools for scrappers use…. Computer, Photo Printer, Sewing Machine, Die Cutter, Cuttlebug, Stamp Pads, Stamps, Punches, the list goes on!As for the actual seating area.  There are seats for 12 and each cropper is provided with a six foot table with a cup holder and executive chair.  Very comfy chair by the way.So I got to work right away and started my first masterpiece… lol.  Not long into my project I was served with a wonderful sparkling fruit punch garnished with a lime.  Woo Hoo for that right there!!  Of course, in true Scrap Palace style, the pampering doesn’t stop at the fancy punch.  Appetizers followed shortly after that along with an overflowing fridge full of just about any beverage you could want.A few hours later, and I’m in one page and a card by now, dinner was served.  Chef Amy made a fabulous meal, really, fabulous.  We were served in two beautiful dining rooms, and each place setting was grand in itself.  Ok, so what did we eat?  We were served with one of the best salads I’ve ever had.  Everyone took their time enjoying each bite.  As each person finished our plates were promptly cleared and we were then served with our main course… Lasagna, complete with garnish, and garlic bread!  Not just any Lasagna, but Amy’s Lasagna, lol, which is GREAT!  Nothing like how mine turns out, you know, where it runs all over the place when you cut it and try to serve it.  Did I mention how tasty it was?  Mmmmm…Of course, dessert, possibly the most important meal of the day for me.  :wink:  We had lemon ice, made at a local shop, garnished with fresh mint leaves.  Again served in elegant dishes, and very tasty.Ok, so dinner down, again I get to work.  Now I’ve started layout two and I’m moving right along at a pretty good clip.  I was worried I’d hit that creative road block that I had a problem with on Wednesday, but that wasn’t the case.  I credit it to the environment here at Scrap Palace, and Pierina and Amy, who have raised the bar for any retreat out there.  I really can’t say enough about them!Moving right along…. a little while later Amy came strolling into the crop area with a “snack”, if you ask me was more like a second dessert.  No complaints here!  Everyone devoured the snack, (croissants filled with a chocolate and hazelnut spread dusted with powdered sugar).I finished my second layout, and a card from my scraps.  That’s my new goal; to be more productive with my scraps.  I then moved on to a mini flips calendar for 2008-2009.  It’s a cute little thing I picked up at Paper Tales the other day.  I’ll share photos when I’m home.  I’m still working on it today, so we’ll see if it is picture worthy!After picking up my workspace, (yes I have to scrap in a clean spot, people seem to think that neurotic), I shuffled off to my room for a nights rest.  Again, Scrap Palace goes above and beyond… what do I find in my room?  The bed was turned down with a little chocolate mint on my pillow.   :smile:  Thank you to the chocolate fairy!!!It’s Saturday morning now, and about 6:30am.  I’m excited to start another day here, cropping, and of course eating!!  I’ll update you again tomorrow!!Cheers to another wonderful day here at Scrap Palace.~j

I started this layout yesterday and finished it up about 15 minutes ago.  It’s simple, but I think it gets the job done.  I’m pleased with it anyway, so that’s all the really matters right? 

The paper is from My Minds Eye.  It is a print from their Wild Asparagus line and I just picked it up the other day.  I had noticed that I was getting a lot of pink papers in my stash, so this purchase was an effort at getting something a little more masculine.

Besides the layout of the photos on the page I love the title.  I’m an awful stamper, I don’t like doing it, and I’m always afraid I’m going to mess it up.  So it was a real challenge for me to step outside of my “box” and use the stamps here.  The results were well worth the discomfort, lol.  I must admit that it did take a me a few tries to get it perfect, but I’m so glad I did it!

This afternoon I will be packing up my treasures and heading to Scrap Palace of Romeo.  I’m excited to get to go, and my Mom is going too.  I will be nice to see her do some scrapping that isn’t work related.  I had planned to pull paper and cardstock to match up with selected photos last night.  Then, as usual, something happened to shoot down my plans.  Just past dinner we had a big storm come though here and we lost power.  It didn’t come back on until after 9:30pm.  Well it is a little tricky to match photos to paper and such with no lights.  So that means I’ll be doing it today.  I’d like to stop at the book store today and see if I can find some new scrap magazines to read.  We leave Monday morning for Great Wolf Lodge, and being I don’t come back till Sunday afternoon, I need to get pre-vacation stuff done.  Thus the magazines for my 5 hour ride in the car.  I also told Ethan I would take him to the library today if he wanted to go, and if I could fit it in.  So I’m going to do my best to cram it all in.

I finally got around to taking our portable DVD player system back to Best Buy.  We have one of the Dual ones that mount on the headrests.  Well it broke shortly after we got it.  The plug was bad I think and we had to jiggle it all the time, until one day that didn’t even work.  Well it occurred to me that I didn’t want to be in the car for 5 hours with all three kids and no source of entertainment, so I took it back.  It was under warranty and they just gave us credit towards a new set.  I hooked it up and gave it a quick test on Wednesday, so we should be good to go.  Thank goodness for modern technology.  Of course it helps that my kids don’t watch tv much, so that when they see it they are completely mesmerized.   lol

I should get going now if I ever want to get all the things on my list done.  Have a great Friday!!

~j

I scrapbooked today.  Kinda.  I did a layout, and well, I don’t like it.  No matter what I seemed to do it just didn’t flow for me today.  You know, some days you have “it” and some you don’t.  Today was the latter for me.  I get in a creative funk from time to time but I hope this one is short lived.  I have a retreat coming up on Friday at Scrap Palace in Romeo.  I’m looking forward to it, and well, it would stink big time if all I could do was sit there staring at paper all weekend.  Cross your fingers for me.

I did this layout at my last retreat, the one on Harsens Island.  I took this photo last year when we had the Herbert Family over for BBQ.  This is Eric, Michelle’s hubby.  Shelby loves him and I caught this shot out of the corner of my eye and we lucky enough to get the shot.  Too funny.  Shelby enjoying a bottle and Eric enjoying his beer.

I used a mask on cardstock for the background paper.  I used a Ranger Dabber over the mask.  The circle of printed paper was actually designed with the outline on it and I just cut along with it.  Call me a cheater.  :razz:

The title is done with Lil Davis Clay Alphabet and Heidi Swapp Ghost Letters.  I stamped several small flowers on the Ghost Letters with black StazOn.  After it was dry I glued some jewels in the flower centers.

The ribbon around the entire edge of the circle cut out is from various sources, some of them I’m unsure of.  I’ve done a lot of ribbon swaps in the past and some of these came from my swap bag.  Each piece is anchored with and Queen & Company Mini Sprinkles.  Note to Queen & Company: you need to make those points a lot less lethal.  I can’t even tell you how much blood I’ve shed trying to set those things.  Note to other manufacturers:  Create a tool to set brads, PLEASE!!!  I am pleased to say that the swap bag ribbon what ironed to perfection using the Pebbles Inc. Ribbon Iron.  See, I used my latest tool purchase within the first month of purchase.

The next layout I think I really like.  I got some hand jounaling in there.  I’m always getting pressured to get more of my handwriting into my layouts.  The title is done with American Crafts Thickers (I love those things) and Sandy Lion stickers.  Yup, you read that right, stickers.  Just plain old stickers.  I used a label maker to draw attention to a few of the thinks I just love about Shelby.  The flower is a Heidi Swapp Floral with a ribbon in the middle.  I did set the flower once assembled on top of a Heidi Swapp Note Pad.  I doubt that is the actual name, but I can’t think of it right now.  It really is a simple layout with the focus on Shelby, right where it should be.

I’ve noticed the trend of simplicity coming back in, first slowly, and now it seems to be kicking strong.  I’m really happy about that.  I like the layouts simple.  I mean really, isn’t it about the photos and the memories?  I can see how if you had a poor photo that you might need a little more embellishment going on.  Good for me most of my photos are great and something I can and want to use.  It is really all luck and taking a ton of photos at one particular time.  You won’t need all of them, but your odds of getting a great shot are drastically increased but taking a ton of photos.

I’ve been up since 1:30 this morning.  I finally got my insurance to approve my Ambien, but I think the effect from the decongestant for my sinus infection really fought against the Ambien so poof, 1:30 and I’m wide awake.  That being said, I took it tonight and skipped the evening dose of the decongestant, so hopefully I won’t repeat last night.  My eyes are starting to get heavy, so that is my sign to draw to a close.

I do have one final note.  In a class, and I don’t remember which one, I showed off a few little tricks that I have learned through the years that make the life of a scrapper just a little easier.  So, I think I’m going to start sharing some of those here.  Belive it or not, I have all sorts of usefull tidbits up in that overworked brain of me.  So keep your eyes open for that.  There will be a tips/tricks tab at the top of the blog probably starting mid next week.

~j

So I haven’t felt very good for the last few weeks. I’ve been getting headaches at times when it isn’t normal for me to be getting them and I’ve had this other mysterious thing where my stomach just decides it wants to send anything I’ve eaten back up again. No nausea or anything, just the spontaneous need to toss my cookies and then I feel just fine. (I’m sure you all wanted to know about this….) Well, I have really been just ignoring it. I know, I know, it isn’t something I should ignore. But I did.

So yesterday I had the headache part, AGAIN. It has been an excedrin for breakfast kind of day for the last few weeks and yesterday started no different. However by the end of the day what I thought was a really bad allergy time ended up being obviously not just an allergy flare up. I caved about8:30 last night and went to the doctor. Turns out I have a sinus infection, and apparently have for some time now. They tell me the back of my throat looks pretty bad and that all the drainage it was is probably causing my other symptoms. After getting a diagnosis I hit the pharmacy and come home with four new drugs that should help with all the issues this silly infection caused. So sometimes a headache isn’t just a headache!

Now on to the rest of my life… I went to Paper Tales yesterday in Eastpointe. It is a nice store, and they do a great job rotating product really. I hadn’t been there in awhile, but even when I went more often the product always seems new in there. Basic Grey had come in shortly before I got there but it wasn’t on the floor yet so I’ll have to make a second trip on Thursday to pick up what I NEED. I did pick up some printed papers and a cute little flip calendar made by Prima Marketing. I hope to get to work with some of my goodies today.

This past weekend was our annual fireworks display here. The Herbert family comes and we hang out and watch Denny light stuff on fire. Always a good time!! This was the first year Shelby was really into it. It was so cute to hear her yell “Wow!” every few minutes. She is so stinkin’ cute!!

The next day we had family and friends over to watch Denny on TV.  HotRod TV did a special on the 50th Anniversary of the 57 Chevy and followed Denny on a build he did at Wheel to Wheel.  On top of that they also gave a lot of face time to another 57 Denny was doing at the same time for a customer in his garage here at home.   I can tell you how proud we are of him and how well he did.  It really was a fantastic show and Denny took it all in stride.  Good job Mister!!

My cousin Terri returned home yesterday.  We all will miss her and I do wish she lived closer.  It was great to see her but even better that she got to spend some time with our Grandma.  It has been years since Terri has been here to Michigan (I’d guess around 10 years) and I think my Grandma was very happy to see her and have some company for awhile.

One of the days she was here we went over to Metro Beach to visit the bench dedicated to the memory of our Grandpa.  I took this photo there.  He loved the water and spent a TON of time fishing.  So that bench overlooks the water with a plaque that reads “Grandpa Buckerfield, Gone Fishing.”  I don’t think Terri had ever seen it so that was one place we made sure to take her.  On a side note… it’s a real pain in the rear to get a photo with everyone looking at the camera!!  (Pictured:  front: Shelby, Grandma, Ethan, Dylan and Terri            in back: Grand Aunt Shirley)

I have a to do list a mile long today so I better move on now to my next task.  Have a great day!  Now go scrapbook!!!

~j

Well it is just about that time again.  Each year we have a little July 4th celebration here.  Personally I don’t think Denny is all that into celebrating our freedom, he just likes to set things on fire.  Last night we went and picked up all our fireworks.  We got a ton of stuff, as usual, and I’m looking forward to it.  The kids are pretty excited too.  :)   So that is all planned for Saturday.  Woo Hoo!

Sunday is going to be a different kind of fun, again revolving around Denny.  His Boxcar 57 program airs on HotRod TV at noon EST that day.  We have invited a bunch of family and friends over to watch it.  This isn’t the first time Denny has been on TV, but I think this show is going to be one that has a lot more to do with him than most of them have in the past.  Plus last time ESPN interviewed him he was a little less than prepared and I think he had more of the deer in the headlights kinda look.  This time around HotRod TV followed him around for a few weeks, so he had more time to perfect his tv persona, lol.   Anyway, I’m excited for him.  I’ve been telling him for years how talented he is and I think it has only been the last few of them where he has maybe started to believe me.  In the most modest of ways of course.

Today, after we hit the grocery store, I’m going with my mom and cousin to Mt. Clemens for the Stars & Stripes Festival.  The kids are looking forward to it and thankfully it isn’t too hot today.  I think the high is supposed to be 76 degrees and the humidity isn’t all that bad either.  This will be the first year for this particular festival, so I’ll have to let you know how it goes.

No big scrappin plans for today.  I NEED to get all my stuff put away.  I’d like to preplan some stuff for my upcoming retreat at Scrap Palace so that I don’t have to drag everything I own.  That however requires that I finish cleaning up after myself from my first trip.  HA!  I’m so very behind around here.  Seriously.

This layout titled “Create Art” is one that I did on my last retreat.  The journaling is hidden behind the one set of photos.  I do that a lot lately.  Covers my butt when I get near the end and realize a ran out of room and have yet to journal, lol.  The “create” portion of the title is cut on the Circut.  I shadowed it, adhered together and then stamped on it using VersaMark as my ink.  I then covered the dark green portion of the letters with Ranger Glossy Accents.  (A note on that stuff… I got it right before I left to try instead of my favorite Diamond Glaze.  Well I like the Diamond Glaze better.  That being said, the Diamond Glaze soaks into flowers and such and the Glossy Accents does not.  So they each have their own special use.  See, it’s true, scrapbookers really do NEED a little of everything.)  The word “art” is done using the new Queen & Company chipboard alphadots.  They are self adhesive and very cute.  I distressed them here.

Ok that is about all the inspiration I have for today!  I need to get my fanny in gear. :)  Happy Friday!!

~j

I’m home from my annual retreat. This year the girls and I rented a house on Harsens Island to set up “shop.” The view was beautiful, and we could not have asked for nicer weather!! It’s really nice to sit next to a bank of windows and watch the water and the boats go by. There was a lot of boat traffic due to Jobbie Nooner, which Michelle fondly refers to as Chubby Nooner. Jobbie Nooner is a wild and crazy party on Gull Island. Apparently it is as close to out of hand as you can get without causing any real lasting damage. And in my eyes, even that is up for debate. Not a party I’ve been to, nor one I ever aspire to attend if you know what I mean.

At any rate I arrived over there around 11:30 or so on Thursday and left in the morning sometime on Sunday. I guess I could have stayed all day on Sunday but honestly I missed my family. Yes, feel free to tease me… I’m over it. Between the missing my family and the gabfest with the girls I finished twelve layouts. I’m satisfied with that amount, so I’m looking back on my weekend as an accomplished one! I’m not sure what our plan will be for next year, but I’m looking forward to doing it all again!

Now I’m back to the old grind. I spent the day Monday prepping for card class. I went and have the cardstock all cut and scored at a printers when I picked up the envelopes. That saves a LOT of work. Then Monday night we went out to eat with my Grandma and Cousin. We went to Pizza Hut, lol, I know you were expecting some magnificent meal. After we came back home and watched the kids get some use out of the Slip ‘n Slide Denny bought while I was away. The best part was watching Denny go through it himself. What a riot.

Tuesday I prepped all day for cards… Do you see a trend here? I finished them a little after 3pm and I have the leave the house around 5pm to get to the store in time to setup. Yes, it was down to the wire. I think I may have had several freak out moments, but I made it. The cards were a big hit - thanks ladies - and that was a fitting way to end classes at Little Scrapbox. The store won’t be offering any classes, so I’m told, during the summer. So that’s that. I will be offering classes at other locations, so keep your eyes on the blog for updates on that. I’ve got some cool stuff in the works!!

Wednesday, uhh, I don’t remember Wednesday, lol. That happens to me a lot.

That brings me to today. It is Thursday and I took the boys to get bigger Crocs today before we leave on vacation. I’ll be gone July 6-8 on a retreat at Scrap Palace, and then we leave as a family for Great Wolf Lodge on the 9th and return on the 11th. So I needed to get moving on the shoes before all my spare time got away from me. That’s another thing that happens a lot. The boys were pleased about the new Crocs and even found some “Cars” Jibbitz to put in them. Then we stopped for a slice of pizza and came home to get some much needed picking up around the house done. Right now they are at the library with my mom and Princess Shelby is taking a snooze. Ahh the quiet. I can’t get enough of that!!

I slept in this morning. Not that I had much choice as I took that Ambien and that stuff knocks me right out. I woke up this morning from my solid night of rest to a nice little note from Denny. “I miss you already! Love, Denny” We are so cheesy aren’t we? Seriously, I think we get along so well most of the time that if you lived here it would probably disgust you. lol

I went to check out Scrap Palace the other night. Wow, what a fantastic house. If you are looking for a retreat spot be sure to check it out. I’ll share a little more about it in the next couple weeks when I have some more photos. I do have to tell you that not only are the amenities fabulous, but there is a ramp the goes directly from parking to the crop area. Yes girls… a RAMP! No more lugging totes up stairs, through the house to set up shop. Trust me, I can relate to the feeling of exhaustion just from unpacking. And if you aren’t usually exhausted from unloading all your treasures then you aren’t bring enough stuff. *wink* There will be an open house coming up pretty soon and I’ll post the date for that when I have it. That way all the area scrappers can go check it out and see how great it really is. I think everyone will find that Scrap Palace really runs on a grand scale and aims to please.

Ok well I’ve got a lot of catching up to do and I suppose my family is going to want to eat dinner today so I better get something started. I’ve posted a few layouts from this past weekend throughout this post. Enjoy!!

Well some of you may know that I was trying out for a Design Team position at The Scrapbook Stand.  Well the 4 new members were selected and announced on Sunday.  I’m super excited to say that I was one of the lucky four.  Now that the selection has been made I can start to share some of the projects I entered.

This is one of the layouts that I did.  I also did one altered item and a card. Anyway, this layout is done with all S.E.I. paper.  I have to say that I really like it and I haven’t cared for the S.E.I. product releases for the last several years.  I think I’m more into traditional prints and their stuff seems kinda out there lately and more along the comic lines.  Hard to describe, but it just hasn’t been me.  Honestly these prints are only two out of the bunch in this particular line that I even like.

The journaling, which I added after the fact is hidden behind the bottom photo with the Heidi Swapp floral as a pull tab of sorts.  The chipboard letters are Rusty Pickle.  I painted them, put foam squares behind them and embellished the edges a bit with ink and a white sharpie.

In other news I leave tomorrow morning some time for my scrapbook retreat.  The girls and I rented a house on Harsens Island this year to cut costs a bit.  I’m excited to leave and get some scrappin done.  The last layouts I did were the ones for the Design Team contest and I haven’t done a thing since.  Of course I have to pack up everything I own, lol.  So that is kinda a pain, but it really is worth it.  The packing shouldn’t be all that bad this year because I have the Craft Locker system, which I love, and that makes taking the vast majority of my stuff MUCH easier.  Pretty much just take them off the wall and go.  That system is a ton better than trying to wade through a ton of different boxes and such to try and find what I need.  Jeannie on the other hand has a billion different little boxes to store all her treasures in lol.  I don’t know how she can find what she wants when she wants it.  Of course we all have our own system and if it works for her, well more power to her. :)  My only real issue at this point is what cardstock to take.  I have a large cabinet full of cardstock but I obviously can’t take it all.  So I need to sit down at some point tonight and pick through what I want/need to take.  I have no idea where I will find the time to do that, but I’ll figure it out.

I left the house a little before 5am this morning and went to a car show with my Dad, Dylan and Ethan.  Ethan and Dad drove there in my Dad’s 1961 Corvette and I took his 1933 Ford Cabriolet with Dylan.  I think we all had fun.  Dilly was ready to go home before it was over, but I saw that coming.  Around noon the kid is just exhausted and usually asks to go to take a nap, so he was pooped.  I covered the kids in sunblock, (if you know me you know where this is going), but I didn’t bother to put any on myself.  Well I never tan, and I never burn.  It is a blessing and a curse at the same time.  My skin tone is ghostly white, so I could use a little color and I can never seem to get it.  Well, today I got home and felt a little itchy.  I went in front of the mirror to find a sunburn on my arms and face.  It isn’t real bad, at least I don’t think so, but it has been enough the bug the heck out of me for the last couple hours.  The last time I got a sunburn I was dating Denny and it was about, hmm, 10 years ago maybe.  So I guess I was due.

I’m waiting for Michelle to get here now.  We have pedicure appointments at 6pm.  FUN!!  I figured we could give our piggies a treat before we leave tomorrow.  I really could drop off into a nap any minute and it would not suprise me if I fell asleep in the middle of my foot soak.  My Dr. gave me some Ambien CR samples to try when I went in yesterday.  I don’t sleep.  Really, I don’t sleep.  It is just a fact of life for me.  I’ve tried Lunesta and Rozerm and neither was ANY help at all.  So the Doc suggested I try this and if it worked she’d write me a script.  Being I seem so resistant to all those types of drugs she put me on what I think she said is the highest dose.  Well I took it last night.  About 30 minutes or so later I was out.  I slept till about 1:30am when I woke up to the tv as I fell asleep watching it.  Then went directly back to sleep.  It was great!!!  I don’t feel hung over today, but I could use a little rest.  I think had I been able to stay in bed past 5am today I’d be fine right now though.  So here is to sleeping!!  I’ve missed it and I’m looking forward to getting some more of it, lol.

I’m off… if I have access to the Internet while I’m gone I’ll keep you posted an how I’m making out.  I intend to get a lot of scrappin done and I’m feeling pretty motivated!!  Wish me luck!

~j

I can’t believe it, really, I can’t.  Today, June 16, 2007 I finished my “Best of 2005″ album.  HA HA, yes smarty pants, you read that correctly… 2005.  Hey it was a good year and apparently deserved A LOT of attention.  Really all I had left to do was fill in the journaling, and although that went by really quickly, I had been putting it off for a long time.  Obviously!

The concept behind this album was to take some of my favorite photos from 2005 and journal the date and the memory that went with each photo.  One page for photo, and one page for journaling, and that makes up the whole album.  Simple concept really, thanks to Ali Edwards, who showed me how to make it all come together.

The album itself if a 7gypsies chipboard album cover with green paint.  The flower design on the top was done by placing a Heidi Swapp mask down before painting, so that the chipboard shows through.  Mind you I did this a year ago, lol, and that was probably my first time using the masks.  The rest of it is all made up of paper, stickers, stamps, ribbon, and transparency sheets.  Plop it all together, finish the darn journaling and TA-Da, the Best of 2005 Album.

Now that we’ve addressed that, let me tell you that with the exception of finishing that album the rest of my day stunk.  Denny is working today and has been there all day and will be there apparently into the evening.  I had a 14 hour corp today, which I made a 30 minute appearance at with Shelby, then paid my $50.00 crop fee and left.  Now I’m sitting here, aggravated and missing Denny.  He called and asked when I “wanted” him to come home.  Well how does he expect me to answer that, I mean really?  That is a no win isn’t it.  Kinda like when you ask your significant other if the dress you are wearing makes you look fat.  In my case, the real answer would cheese me off, and the fake answer would too, as I would know he was lying through his teeth in an attempt to spare my feelings.  So I have the smarts not to even ask those kind of questions.  So I said all I could think to say, “Do what you want?”  I’m sure to anyone other than Denny, that comment might have come off slightly obnoxious if not down right nasty.  Lucky for me, and for him, he knows me well enough to know that I have reached a point where I don’t care either way.  I mean my plans are already shot, and I’m most of the way through the day anyway, so what is a few more hours at this point right?  It was then that he informed me that he would be working all day tomorrow too.  :???:   Like I said, a stinky day.

On the up side I finished my album and my cousin is in town for Texas as of today.  I saw her a few weeks after Shelby was born when we were in Las Vegas for a trade show.  We meaning, Shelby and I.  Yes, I took her to Vegas.  No, she didn’t pose with any show girls.  But, she did pose with Heidi Swapp, whom mysteriously turned up pregnant a short while later with baby Capri.  Coincidence?  Shelby is cute, and Heidi made a comment to her hubby, “Aww I want another one!”  So think what you want about that, lol.  Anyway, so that was the last time I saw my cousin.  She was living in Vegas at the time and is now back in Texas.  As of today, she is here for a little while, although I have yet to get the chance to see her, but hopefully the kids give me that chance later on today.

Time to move the sprinkler, and then I’ll have to hunt for another “almost finished” project to wrap up.  Try it, you’ll be all impressed with yourself and totally in love with that accomplished feeling!!

~j

With my scrapbook retreat quickly approaching I thought it fitting to shine the spotlight on a local retreat… one that is just far enough away from me to be a real getaway.  Located in Romeo, Michigan pretty gosh darn close to a scrapbook store you’ll find Scrap Palace.  The house is fabulous, the accommodations are fantastic, and the owners are wonderful too!

I’ve been waiting for  the official launch of their website so I could share it with you.  You can check them out at www.scrappalace.com to learn more.  There you will find photos, more information on the locations and accommodations, and weekend rates.

There are four bedrooms at the Scrap Palace.  The master has a loft and bath and is designed to fit four guests.  The loft itself will accommodate another two.   The other three bedrooms accommodate two guests each with a bathroom right off the hall.

For those of you that appreciate quiet, like me, they have a wonderful porch where you can take a little time to relax.  If you prefer the indoors, the living room area is  also another quiet spot where you can soak in the pages of your favorite scrapbook magazine.

Now for the best part… the cropping.   Each guest will be pampered with their own six foot table complete with cup holder, executive chair and a waste basket to hold all those scraps of paper that will be flying off the table while you are being super creative. :)  Scrap Palace also has plenty of tools on hand that will make your scrapping all that much easier.  There you will find items ranging from die cut machines to paper punches.  Scrap Palace really aims to please and nurture your creative spirit.

I’m not 100% certain when they plan to officially open but I think the first weekend for guests will be the end of July.  You can contact Pierina or Amy for more details on that or anything else at scrappalace@comcast.net.

Have a great day… I’m back to the seemingly never ending photo sorting!  If you don’t hear from me in awhile I’ve been buried alive under a pile of unruly photos!

~j

Yes, go ahead and beat me with a wet noodle.  I’ve haven’t blogged in a few days.  Shame on me.  I have however been knee deep in photos, literally, and thus my absence.  Who knew that when I started to weed through photos that I would be this big of a task.

This whole thing started with me taking some photos out of friends children and passing them on to them as I figured they would have more use for them than I would… obviously.  From there I realized I have a ton more photos around here than need be.  I mean I take A LOT of photos.  This comes from photography classes where the instructor tells you not to be afraid to use a roll of film at one time, after all, some of the best shots come out of no where.  So that’s me, the wild photo taker.  The only issue with that is that I don’t always have the time, or desire to weed through them before I send them off for printing (when they are digital).  Soooo, I get a massive stack of photos from one event that I’ll never use, and a lot of them are what I like to call “defective” shots.  You know the ones, we all have them.  Only when the photo is obviously poor, which is hard to tell when looking at the little preview on the order screen, do I bother to deleted it before printing it.  That is problem two.

Problem two, leads me to yet another problem.  I have all these photos, which I’ll never scrap left over from events that I’ve already scrapped.  What to do with them?  Can I throw them out??  Maybe.  Could I store them at my Mom’s?  I’m sure she would be more than happy to let my boxes of photos join all the other stuff I never took out of her house.  NOT!  So what is a snap happy photographer to do?  I started to pitch some things, like obviously awful photos that I’d never use anyway.  I think from that point I might go get some photo storage boxes to put the “leftovers” in.  You know, the ones I scrapped, but still might come in handy when I need to make a last minute gift for a family member.  So that my friends, is my plan.  I’ve been doing little bits at a time… first the pitching of the yucky photos, then I’ll move on to the sorting and packing up.  Wish me luck on that.  It really is an intimidating task, and I find myself wishing I still had an assistant… any takers???

In other news, Denny has some permanent hearing loss from all those ear infections he has been getting.  Kinda odd for a man in his thirties to be getting ear infections if you ask me, but what do I know?  Anyway, so the ENT told him to start wearing ear plugs when working to protect what is left of his hearing.  To which Denny replied with “alright” and a nod.  Which of course really meant that he had no intention of doing it.  So that was Monday, as of today no ear plugs in sight.  The fact that I’ve become increasing annoyed by the constant need to repeat myself for the last several months apparently is of no importance to Denny.  It seems as if the only thing that comes out of his mouth is “What?  Stop mumbling!” and it is slowly driving me insane.  On the bright side, if you have something not so nice to say about him, say it while standing on his left.  :razz:

Saturday I have a crop at Little Scrapbox that I don’t think I even want to attend.  I’m tired, and it is a lot of work to pack up all my stuff, drag it in, and then back out again.  Especially considering I leave for my retreat on the 21st, and I’ll have to do it all over again.  On top of that my cousin Terri is coming in from Texas that day.  I’m already going to be gone for several days of her visit here (retreat time) and the crop is  just one more added to that.  Lastly, I have an all important hair cut.  I need it cut, and want it cut before I leave.  So I’ll be late to the crop, which means I will have to park in the street and lug all my stuff from even farther than usual.  I have a lot of junk, errr, treasures to carry.   Like I said, I don’t think I even want to go, but I’ve already committed to it.

Back to my photos,  which I hope to have cleaned out in time for my retreat so that I can be a little more efficient while I’m there… so I keep telling myself.

~j