It’s GymBucks redemption time, so this morning I tried to place my order online and my debit card wouldn’t go through.  I called the bank only to find that my account had been flagged for fraud and as a result frozen.  Apparently some upstanding citizen in ARIZONA was able to make a physical copy of my card, (I didn’t even realize you could do this), and decided to shop at the local Home Depot.  Clearly, I’m not in Arizona, although based on the temperature here, I wouldn’t mind if I was.  Now, I’m left with no working debit card and waiting 7-10 business days for a new one.  What may even be worse is that I now have to go into Gymboree and write a check *gasp*.  That place is going to be a zoo, and I’m going to look like I just crawled out from under a rock with my checkbook. 

Now skip to just a few moments ago when I was finally able to tell Denny what was going on.  (He is the master of NOT answering the telephone).  I knew exactly what he was going to say, and I was right.  “I told you technology ruins lives… blah blah blah.”  Keep in mind that the man listens to XM Radio and his station of choice is usually the 1940’s and he spends free time watching the history channelcuz he is obsessed with WWII.  I think he may have a 70 year old man trapped in his body.  Anyway, I’m fairly certain, although this is in no way my fault, that I’m never going to hear the end of it.  Crap.

Can I just go back to bed?

~j

Yesterday afternoon, as promised, I spent some time playing with Glimmer Mist.  I took a Bazzill Magnetic Frame that I bought awhile back at Archivers and sprayed away.  I have photos of the process, but wasn’t able to finish the entire thing due to dry time.  Even with a heat gun, it just wasn’t dry enough for adhesive.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get a few minutes today to finish it up.

Tonight I am taking a class at Scrap Tales in Brighton.  The class is all about Copic Markers.  I have a lot of them, but I’m pretty sure the problem I’m going to have is that I don’t have enough that are close enough in shade to properly blend.  Hopefully I’ll find out that isn’t the case, but I’m not holding my breath.

Let’s see, yesterday I found out that an article I had written awhile back for Scrapbooking.com was “stolen” and reprinted in a church publication of all things.  No one asked for my permission.  Honestly, if someone had just asked I would have been fine with it, but would have asked that they include my contact information.  Sadly neither of those things happened.  They took it upon themselves not only to take my article, but also to take the photos that went along with it, which of course were photos of my kids.  Gee, I don’t recall signing a photo release for that?!?!  Anyway, I’m a little miffed about it, and I’ve emailed them.  Not that I expect anything to happen, but an apology would be a nice start.

~j

I’m so happy the week is nearly over.  I’m exhausted and I’m looking forward to my class tomorrow night at Scrap Tales and a couple days of downtime.  Although I’m not sure there is ever really a “downtime” here, but for now the weekend is as close as it gets.

I got just about all of my cards for the January kit done this week.  I only have one more and then I’ll be ready to go once registration closes.  That’s a good feeling.  All around I got a lot done this week, and I’m great with that.  If that darn laundry fairy would stop leaving me laundry over night I’d be doing even better.  Ugh, it’s the laundry curse.  I could be scrapping, but then I’m busy folding towels.

I’ve got some new material to scrapbook, (as soon as I actual get to scrapbook), as Dylan lost another tooth.  Now both on the top are missing, and the bottom two only part way up.  I took this pic real quick last night with my phone.

Forgive the poor quality, if there is one thing I dislike about the iPhone, its the photo quality.  Oh well, what can you do?  I’d feel naked without my phone, so its a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

Today I’m planning a little fun time with some Glimmer Mist and a Bazzill Frame.  I got the frame on sale at Archivers, so if I destroy it, well it won’t be a devastating loss.  :p  Not real sure how it’s all going to turn out, but I’ve got some ideas, and a new brayer I need to break in.  I’ll post a photo once I’m done.  Wish me luck…

~j

In my internet travels I came across a website that has some great sketches.  What I really like about this, besides the sketches, is that you can download them in groups as a PDF.  So if you are into organization, this is a great thing.  If you aren’t into organization, well, get on it, lol.  Here is a link.

I think I just said how productive I’ve been this week, and I really feel good about it.  Yesterday morning I was able to get up before the kids, (which I always do anyway), and got a ton of stuff done.  I even had dinner in the crock pot before 7am.  It’s so nice to come back home and smell a nice dinner cooking.    Love that!  I didn’t have much laundry to do, a fact that I find refreshing in itself, but I got a load in and that always makes me happy.  (Not the doing laundry part, but the feeling that isn’t done.)

I ran to Archivers while Shelby was in school after meetign up with Michelle at Panera for our Wednesday morning gripe-fest over a snack.  Note: Michelle does most of the griping and I do a lot of nodding, and suggesting that we pass out tainted baked good to one of her enimies in particular.  LOL.  I mean that in the nicest way, really.  Anyway, so Archivers… if you are a American Crafts Thicker fan they have them 30% off and there are some new ones there.  I didn’t buy any *gasp* because I’m learning to resist my urges.  See, told you I was going to be better this year.  *wink*

Also paid a visit to Hobby Lobby this morning.  I went in for a particular thing, they didn’t have what I wanted, which wasn’t a big shock.  Some people just love this store, umm, I don’t get it.  I went when the one in Port Huron was open and wasn’t all that impressed then either.  Maybe I’m hard to impress??

Michelle did end up buying some yarn so that I could knit her a scarf.  Good luck with that.  I know how to knit, but I’m awful at it.  I must have too much pent up stress because I knit to tightly that near the end the stitches are so tight my finger tips are sore.  So basically it takes me a case full of yarn to knit a 4″x4″ square.  I started the scarf yesterday and so far so good, but I had to keep telling myself to watch it, so it certainly isn’t this relaxing stress reliever for me that it is for everyone else.  It does help that she picked out my favorite color – KIWI.  Woo Hoo.  I’ll take a photo of the scarf and it’s very impressed owner when I’m done. 

FYI – it’s still too gosh darn cold here.  Let’s all move to Hawaii… who’s with me?

~j

As of yesterday, all the kids in the Dera household were back at school.  Shelby gets out on Tuesday at 11:15, so the quiet is really short lived, but it’s nice to have a moment to actually hear myself think.  Then noon hit and I see the school calling on the caller id… never a good sign!  Dylan has a tummy ache the secretary says, so off I go to pick one up.  At that point I was fairly certain he was faking, but had I left him and he got really sick, I’d feel pretty bad about it.  Well about an hour later, after realizing if you are too sick to be at school, then you are too sick to come home and play, he asked to go back.  HA HA

I’ve managed to get a lot done already this week.  The cards newsletter went out Monday night, and I’ve posted some of the extra card samples for the January kit in the store.  Being I’ve been keeping up with the laundry so well, I’ve had some extra time to create, and that’s a great feeling!

Here is another peek, (head to the store for a bigger image):

That’s all for today, I’m about to head out to take Shelby to preschool and then I have to make a trip to Archivers to pick up some Copics for a class I’ll be taking on Saturday at Scrap Tales in Brighton.  I’m excited about a night out on the town, lol.

~j

One of my resolutions for the new year was to be more active in search for a new design team to apply for.  I’ve spent the last couple days looking around at all the calls to find one that might be a good fit and I think I may have found it.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

For those of you registered for the January 2010 card kits, there are a couple sneak peeks up in the If The Card Fits store.  If you aren’t already registered, you can do do via the website, or directly via the paypal link at the right.  As always we also accept personal checks.  Personal check registration can be handled via the If The Card Fits Website also!

Here is a mini peek: 

On another card related note, Andrea and I have some extra cards from past kits that are available for sale.  These cards are in LIMITED QUANTITIES and once they are gone, the are gone for good!  You’ll also find some of our seasonal cards at a deep discount on the site.

Shelby goes back to school today.  She only goes for a couple hours in the morning, three days a week, but she loves it and is super excited to go back.  Go figure.

Stay warm… it’s a cold one here!

~j

Holiday break from school is over for Ethan and Dylan and as I type this they are whining about going to school.  Honestly, I would rather go back to the days of no set routine too.  I’d still be out of bed about the same time, but for some reason it feels a lot worse when I HAVE to get out of bed.  It doesn’t help that it is freezing cold outside and I see snow.  YUCK.  (Yes Sarah, I said YUCK to snow.)

Speaking of snow, I’m curious as to what other schools have set as policy in regards to snow and outdoor recess.  If there is any snow, our school WILL NOT let the kids on the playground unless they are wearing snow pants.  Putting on snowpants on the boys before school takes an awful long time, and should really count as some type of aerobic workout.  To top if off the kids apparently are forced to eat lunch in their winter gear… which explains why I am forever washing coats that become covered in food.  (Last year a kid spilled chocolate milk on Ethan several times and then BBQ sauce, which does wonders for a coat you intend to pass down the next year.)  They don’t get much time to eat at school, and if you need to have the kids are dressed to go outside before they even start eating, maybe its a sign they need a little bit longer at lunch?!?!?  Thoughts?

Last night I made Chop Suey.  I had to do most of it in the crock pot because we had people over for Dylan’s birthday.  I usually simmer mine for about 3 hours and clearly with people over, that wasn’t going to happen.  Well, I go ready to eat last night and the actual croc itself cracked.  Nice.  Thankfully after a phone call today to Cuisinart, they are sending me a new one.  It’s all of two months old or so, so honestly I’d expect them to replace it anyway.  I do have to say that they open at 7am EST for customer service calls… woo hoo, nothing I like better than getting that kind of stuff out of the way first thing.  Only bummer is I’m going to have to break out my spare for dinner later in the week.

I also spent yesterday evening, (during Desperate Housewives commercial breaks), to surf around the Scrapbook Calls blog to see what type of Design Team and PUblication opportunities I could find.  I did see two that stood out, so that is on my list for today.  I’m going to apply and cross my fingers for good news to follow.

Happy Monday everyone!  Stay warm!!!!!
~j

Today is Dylan’s 7th birthday.  I gotta say this, (cuz I say it every year), why is it that the kid gets the celebrate the birthday and get the gifts?  Hello… I did all the work. ;P  Shouldn’t I be the one getting the gift?  I did give you life kid. 

Anyway, we are having cake and ice cream later with family and he can open his gifts.  Frankly, I don’t know why we even bother wrapping anything, all he ever asks for is Lego’s and usually that’s exactly what he gets.  I think the kids have spent ALL of the holiday vacation assembling Lego kits.  Seriously, Legos’ everywhere!!  (Take note… if you come to visit, I’d suggest slippers or something cuz the legos are KILLER on your feet when you step on them.)

I was sitting here working on a project for IfTheCardFits.com and thought I should have some scrapbooking goals for the year.  (I’ve made some financial goals for the year… like using CASH instead of a debit card, ugh, so it seems fitting to have other goals.)  I don’t know if I want to count pages finished, push to get published in another subscribtion based mag, or get on another design team, (cuz you know I don’t have enough things to do).  Does anyone else have some scrapbook related goals?  If so, please share, I need the inspiration!

Off to finish up my prototype project.  Hopefully it will be at a point where I can share it tomorrow. 

~j

First off – HAPPY NEW YEAR!  I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season.  Frankly, I can’t believe how quickly the holiday break went by, (neither can the kids).  Tomorrow is Dylan’s 7th birthday and then Monday school starts back up again.  Back to the everyday routine!

Yesterday I spent my day with Michelle and played with some Glimmer Mist and wrapped up some cards, and of course, had lunch.  Yum.  Heidi Swapp has started doing live feeds on Wednesday nights and this last Wednesday was a feature on Glimmer Mist.  I was really interested to see her work with it because I seem to have issues with “droplets” every time I use it, and really that’s why I haven’t used it a lot lately.  So, watching I found that I’m doing one thing very wrong… it’s all in how I shake the bottle.  After watching Heidi, I’ve come to find out that I don’t need to shake the bottle like I’m trying to kill whatever is trapped inside, lol.  (Who knew?)  I must not be alone in this because she specifically addressed how NOT to shake the bottle.  So yesterday, I went for a more gentle side to side motion while keeping the bottle upright… much better.

Another tip… Heidi uses a brayer.  So after it’s all sprayed on, she puts a paper towel over the project and goes over it with the brayer.  BIG DIFFERENCE in the results.

I’m not sure what the next topic is for the live feed, but if you are available on a Wednesday night, it is certainly worth the watch.  I got a lot out of it.  Hop on over to her blog and see what she has posted.  I know she managed to save the Glimmer Mist episode, so I would think she has a link there.

Today I got some layouts scanned and more importantly, put away.  YOu can check out the gallery for some of the most recent items posted.  It sorts oldest to newest, so the newer stuff is on the last page.  I’m not real sure if I can change that or not.  Seems like a silly way to list it doesn’t it?  Anyway, here are a couple of my favorites:

Starting Monday I’m going to work on being a better blogger.  Things get so busy and I get wrapped up in what is going on around here and then before I know it, well, time just gets away from me.  Call it a new years resolution if you want. 

Happy 2010!
~j

Just a quick post tonight to tell you about a pretty cool giveaway I ran across tonight while wasting my time away on facebook.

Quickutz is giving away a Letterpress system.  I want one, lol.  You should all know how much I love my Epic 6, and the Letterpress system works hand in hand with it.  I’ve seen some examples in person and they look great.  You can find the details hereспални комплекти.

Good luck everyone!!

~j