Catching up, while waiting

for the LifeBook chat over at Victorian Rose Designs. You see, now that I'm actually sleeping most nights, I don't seem to hear the alarm when it goes off at 2AM, so I decided I'm going to try and stay up tonight and see if I can catch the chat!

I've been busy, both scrapping, visiting and spring cleaning. I also set the oven on fire, but I swear, that was not my fault! LOL.

Lets start with the scrapping, shall we?

Ann has a new kit coming out, and I'm very happy with the way the pages came out. The kit is called TeaTime Garden, and it is gorgeous! It will come out on the 18th, so I will post the pages Thursday or Friday.

In the meantime, and just because the kit may show up in the store early..... It's coming to her stores: 

Boo has been busy, as always. I'm slowly coming to the realization that I can not, and will not be able to keep up with her, so I'm starting to actually decline to work some of the kits. Not because I wouldn't want to, but because there is no way I have enough time in a day. LOL

She is making ready to plop pictures in albums, and I absolutely adore them. Sofar, there's  5. Two of them are not just templates, but quickpages. 2 are templates and one is the Synergy 365 album. I'm trying to use at least one double page per kit, but I noticed that I have very few pictures that would do the pages justice. I'll keep trying though :-)

The pages are from Let's make an Album #1, the kit used is the March Synergy kit.
Pictures are taken the first Easter we were back in Holland.

Pages are from Let's make an Album #5, the kit used is the April Synergy Kit.
Pictures are from our visit to the TutAnchAmun exhibit in Amsterdam. I'm not really happy with the page, but I LOVE the colors on the black background. Like I said, I don't have the pictures to do the pages justice.

The kit Japanese Whispers. I tried to take pictures of some of our Singapore pictures, but it didn't work, so I left the picture off. 

IvyScraps ..... The bingo pages are done, as well as one and a half of the pages for the Mini Pixels. Go check out the forum, and participate in some of the challenges.... It's fun! :-)

Now for the oven story.....

I was hungry, we were out of bread (unless you count the fuzzy things I found in the breadbox) so I wanted to make a  couple of bread rolls you finish baking in the oven. I did what I needed to do, and went about my chores, until I smelled something, and it wasn't fresh baked bread! When I walked in the kitchen, I saw a flickering in the over, and knowing it's an electric oven, and I wasn't burning a candle anywhere.... it freaked me out severely. I can't work the fire-extinguisher we have, so I contemplated throwing water on it, baking soda, or just leave the oven door shut, and hope it would die on its own.....

So I left the door closed, and stood, wondering if that was really the best action.  Between the flame and the bread rolls was a layer of silver-foil, and the tray was on the lowest setting, so it didn't have a whole lot of room, or anything left to burn. I have still no idea how a couple of breadcrumbs on the heating-bars would ignite like that, but I won't have to explain that as soon as the oven was cooled down, it received the cleaning of a lifetime!

I'm wussing-out on the chat, and going to bed afterall. I'm so tired. Have been overstretching capabilities this week, and it's catching up with me. Had a headache for the last 2 days, so I'll call it good, and catch you up properly tomorrow, or Thursday on the parts I missed tonight. Mike and kitty left hours ago, and should be well established in dreamland by now so I'm going to see if I can catch up. Seems a shame to give up this close to chat time, but I can hardly keep my eyes open, or concentrate, so........... night all :-)

Hugs,

Pauli

I'm bummed!

I just found out, that a research friend of mine has passed away.
I had been sending emails and never heard back, which was odd for him, but I also know that time has the unhappy habit of slipping by faster and faster, so I didn't put a whole lot of thought into it. Tonight, I had a question, and sent an email, and it came back as non-deliverable. Since he has had the same email for as long as I've known him, I googled him and found 2 sentences under his obituary.
His name, his birthdate and death date.

For a man who has spent his lifetime gathering and sharing information on family, hangers on, in-laws, step- and adoptive branches of his family tree, this just seemed somehow wrong on a level I cannot put to paper.  I checked on Find A Grave, and there is nothing there. I tried the newspaper of the town he lived in... nothing there either. If I didn't know better, I would not know he existed. so.......... with good memories and the sincere hope I may one day have a website even half as awesome as yours.....

Rest in Peace Steve Lawson 

July 2, 1938 - June 29, 2011

God Bless

This is all I wanted to say tonight. Don't forget to hug that loved one!!

Hugs,

Pauli

PHEW!

I'm going to, really fast, post the pages, I'm running behind on... Please forgive me for the quick hit and run. It's Mikes day on the computer, and he left it un-attended, so I jumped on it to fill you in on these. With a little bit of luck, he'll get hungry, and starts lunch, and I'll have a little extra time .....

I absolutely LOVE Boo's One Page Wonders. They are so much fun to play with. I just pull the whole thing onto the page, and start pushing parts around until I like what I see :-) I think she's up to 30 now, with new ones coming up next week. I have NOT played with all of them, but I'm seriously working on it. LOL

I ALSO figured out how to use Styles in Elements, and I am sooooooo happy I can play with them again! As a result, I'm sure, for the next few weeks, I will use as many as I possibly can, without going "goudy"!

One Page Wonder #27
(The style on the Title is an old "rust", but I have no idea who's it is, as it is not included
in the filename, and it was downloaded before I wanted to know :-)  )

One Page Wonder # 26
All the pictures used are scans from the box of slides I borrowed from dad.
The colors had gone a little to the weird, so I tried to fix them in Elements.

One Page Wonder #28
The picture I received from my sister. 

One Page Wonder #30
I took this picture on our trip to Lottum, during the Rose Festival in 2012

One Page Wonder #29
One of my mom and dads wedding pictures I scanned.

Boo also has some mini kits out called In Bloom. I had a chance to play with a couple of those........
I mixed them up, just because we could, but mainly because it's fun to do.

I just love the way the picture matched the kit.
I used two styles on the title. First the glitter from the February Synergy kit, and as a second the Orange from the "Barely There" styles #3. The picture was taken at Keukenhof..... It's so nice to be early enough for the dew to still be on the flowers.
This is made with only 1 kit. In Bloom 4

This page mixed In Bloom kits 1 and 2. The picture is from a painting set I saw in the exhibit hall at the Keukenhof.
I just liked the looks of it sitting propped up against the table, and it was the Holland I had missed. I did not have enough sense to ask the artist for a card, so I could remember who it was, so I hope I'm not getting in trouble for using it.

I used In Bloom kits 3 and 5 for this.

Ok, I'm out of here. Mike is back :-)

Don't forget to hug a loved one!

Pauli

It's been a while.....

not intentionally, just the usual thing. Time got away from me again.

Nothing big happened, We both had some kind of bug and it snowed!!! ACTUAL WHITE STUFF, and it stuck around! Big flakes, 3 days in a row! For a total of probably 5 inches...... Not Iowa snow, but snow none the less. LOL
It's really weird how it works here. You wake up to falling snow, it warms up late afternoon most times and it's all gone. Go to sleep and repeat. I don't care. I love it! Went over to the place I have been trying to get a 4-season picture of the same spot. I have 3 but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get the final season. There are going to rebuild the castle and farm ruins. The crane was sitting on the property right before the last snowfall, as were the containers. As far as I can figure from the website, the castle and farm will be rebuilt with the tools and materials of the original (1752-ish) which I think, is AWESOME! however, it kinda puts a kink in my project :-) According to the plans, they'll start on the bridge to the farm, so maybe I have a chance to take the last picture of the series in the spring... If it gets here :-)

If you have any interest in history, go here. If you want more information, in english, I'll be happy to translate some, or all, of it. Just let me know:-)

The page designs is from Boo's 365 album. I know the page is completely "not done" but you have to start somewhere, right? LOL

Castle ruins SCHAESBERG in Landgraaf. Just a little down the road from us.
I'm sure once the rebuilding starts, there's not a whole lot of peace and quiet to be had out there, but for now......
It's a little bit of heaven for me.

I may have been absent from the blog, but I haven't been sitting on my hands. (unless they were really, really cold)

ANN has 2 new kits out since my last post.

Gilded Theater. ALL ingredients for this page are from the kit

Passionata

Both were very nice to work with. But I'm running out of pictures! That's the main reason there are no pictures on the Gilded Theater page.  Both are for sale here:

Not sure what happened here, but the link is still pointing to E-Scape and Scrap :-)

Ivy has had the March Mini Pixels out for a bit. BUT, they also have a VERY worthwhile charity kit running this month. Proceeds benefit Autism Awareness

I am very happy to say that when I offered to make some quick-pages with the kits, it was accepted. Taking my cue from Boo, I turned the "couple of quick-pages" into an album, complete with front and back page. I hope you will go check out the kit, knowing it is for a great cause. It is absolutely humongous, and very, very, VERY reasonably priced for the size of it. I think it's a little over half a gigabyte on scrapping things!!!

As a tease/incentive (I hope), I'm putting the front and back here.... For the rest, you'll have to go check out the kit :-)

Front

Back

My pages for the Mini-Pixels are: 

Polarbear cubs

Over at my sisters place there's a zoo. They had cubs in November, and first introduced to the public when it snowed. How fitting :-) They were soooo cute! And we were soooooo cold. LOL 

(My camera stopped working because it was too cold.......)

Butterfly by DBA

rose, carnation by JLW

baby's breath and branches by Mariandale

green leaves and green paper by LDD

WordArt by PBS

paperclip by MDS 

frame by AC scroll by MM

 These pictures are from our first Easter back in holland. 

Page is put together with mixed mini's from March over at IvyScraps

The frames are from MM, merged with paper by LDD

Background paer, branches and baby's breath by Marandale

Postage stamp by MM

pink ribben and white flowerb ranch by AC

Violet by RSC

WordArt by Gloria Valverde greenleaves and dangling tags by LDD

Boo has been Boo... I just can't keep up with that girl! LOL

She has 2 albums out, besides the one that covers all the months in beautiful 2 page spreads. And a lot of kits, I haven't even played with. She also has her new series: One Page Wonders. These kits have a more limited amount of "stuff" than the regular kits, but more than enough to make several pages. And at the price, it is VERY doable to get a couple and mix and match! 

As CT's we are encouraged to mix them up a bit, but it's so nice not to keep track of what came out of which kit, that I haven't done that yet. I DO have, however, some pages made. The caption will have which One Page Wonder you're looking at :-)

One Page Wonder #22

One Page Wonder #25 

One Page Wonder #24

I'm still working on a couple, but figured that I've kept you long enough.
Hopefully, I'll be a little bit more "on the ball" and will keep you updated on "Life in Limburg" more often than every 6 weeks. LOL

I TOLD you......

I forgot tons of things! LOL

Boo has a new series of kits out. If you want them all, you'll have a year to collect them :-)

This quote is just perfect. The pictures are the last ones I have of my sisters pup.
I thought the word art fits the early picture, the older picture and the picture of how
the picture came to be. I had found the old picture my sister had sent me and we tried as good
as it would go, to recreate it. The kids are a lot taller, so they didn't quite fit beside the kitchen cabinet anymore, but
on a whole, the picture came out very cool.

Every month, Boo will have a new kit, over at The Studio.(with a challenge attached) At the end of the year, you'll have every month, date, weekday and year to keep you scrapping for years to come, This is great if you make a series of albums, covering several years because they can all have the same base elements, but you can also use the kits to highlight a couple of things per year, in between your regular pictures. However you want to save your memories.... You'll use the kits over and over.

January 2013 kit used for these 2 lay-outs.....

Sweet Caress:

Our old neighbor from Hiawatha just had her babyboy... a month early.
He has a good name. LOL

IvyScraps

I'm now officially the Bingo Page Maker for IvyScraps! WHOOHOO. I absolutely LOVE to make these. Too bad that only one person can use them. And a lot of times, I don't even know who won, because the pages usually don't get posted in the gallery. So I sometimes wonder if the person would have rather gotten something else, but in general... I enjoy thinking how somebody might want to use the page, and it helps me make pages other than "mine". I'm glad I get to do it. 

I haven't seen the February mini pixels yet, so I cannot tell you about them yet. As soon as I know.... you'll see them here. However, I CAN show the pages for january..... if I can find them.

You see..... I tried to clean off the computer, so we could figure out why Mike can't play The Sims anymore, and I got a little carried away. (nothing new there, right? LOL) I was on a roll, and missed a couple of times where I dropped things, so if I need something, it may be easy and right where it should be, or it may turn into a full scale man-hunt. 

On the upside.... The sims is installed and playable without any problem. Mike hadn't been able to play the game since sometime last summer and was displaying serious signs of withdrawel. I kept finding pieces of paper scribbled full of room dimensions, roof pitches, garden designs and complete house-plans everywhere! LOL.

Haven't found the pages yet, but wanted to finish this post. I will look a little better/faster/more organized after I'm done with this.... :-)


ANN has a new store over at CU Digitals. It only houses Commercial Use products, and I'm almost sorry I'm not a web-designer, so I can use some of it! I went and looked at the store and found lots of things I had no idea she had made.... That included Tattered Books. The bookworm that I am just had to let her know how much I liked them, and before I knew what was going on, I found the download links in my mailbox. I was floored. As a CT, you already receive so many gifts, and to just get one sent your way with no other thought than for you to enjoy.... is very special. The books also gave shape to an idea I have been fooling around with for a while. I want to build another Family website. Just not sure how to go about that yet because of the massive amount of information I want to put on it, but I played with Anns kits yesterday, and came up with a pretty neat looking first page.....  (no, I didn't break an arm, patting myself on the back. I just really like the way it came out. LOL)

The header and title of the site. If I can find a way to "slide it over" the body, that would be soooooo cool!

the body

Haven't figured out how to do the other pages yet, but given the amount of information that needs to go on them, they will stay pretty simple. Just couldn't help showing you the initial thought.....  At first I thought about using it as blog-wear, but I haven't found a blogging site that will allow me to put my own things up, hence the family website. The blog will get there, with the same title, to hold my thoughts, such as they are, on the research and finds of information, and hopefully people, just not with this lay-out. As far as the website goes..... The last count, if I put the pages in the site I would really like to put in, was 150. If I condensed them by say families and historical, I came out at 68, but the pages would be so awful long that I don't think anybody would ever make it to more than halfway down........ I think I may just have to start, and see what happens.

Ann also has a new kit out. Passionata. I have it, just haven't played with it yet. As soon as I do, you'll find the results, right here :-)

Wel, Mike will be off tomorrow, and I promised I would have a doable to do list ready, so I better get to "sorting chores" into bite size pieces...... One of them will be to have a sit-down breakfast instead of a hit and run bite, to celebrate our 24th aniversary :-)

Have a great day, and don't forget to hug that loved one :-)

PS: I started this Sunday, and forgot to post it...... You rush, and that's when dumb things happen :-), so we just got done with breakfast, and Mike has been playing The Sims since 5AM............... The boy is bound and determined to catch up on his play time I think.

Hugs,
Pauli

Thought about it......

I seriously considered closing down the blog, but .... I couldn't do it. I decided that the opinion of one person cannot and will not be a reason to stop doing something that keeps me sane. In my heart, I know that whatever the reason for the venomous email, that I have done nothing wrong. How I spend what functional time I have, is nobody's business but mine. I never intentionally ignored anybody, and even though the email hurt me very much.... everybody is entitled to their opinion. So...... I'm back!

I made a list of things I'm going to do this year........ (as I do every other year, I'm sorry to say.) I have however cheated a little this year. I made it in parts. HAVE to's, SHOULD do's and LIKE to's. LOL
I also drug my sister into it. Once a month,  we go over the list, and see where I'm at, and why. There will be no consequences, as such, but it will serve as an extra push to stick to things. I know, I have no willpower when it comes to a lot of things, but the HAVE to's, are very important this year. I'm going to get in shape, lose a couple of pounds (little bits don't freak me out, so I'm going for a pound or so a month), eat healthy/cook from scratch and I'm going to get a handle on how to get noticed in the jobmarket. I want to go back to work, even if it is physically only possible to go part time. I have the list organized in timeframes and "due dates"........... and I'm hoping if not too many things hit the fan at one time, I stand a better than good chance to get all of it done.

The SHOULD do's are a little trickier. They involve cleaning off the computers and organizing the tera-drives, organizing the boxes with genealogical information, setting up a  home network, so we can print from everywhere without dragging the computers closer to the printer so we can hook it up, and going thru the cabinets and left-over boxes, take stock of what we have vs what we need and have room for and deal with things accordingly........ None of it is really lifesaving, but together they will make life a little easier in the finding things category as well as in the clutter department.

The LIKE to's is really a very short list. It consists of a couple of things. Help Mike get his bloodsugar under control and maybe get him off some of the meds he's currently taking, that is, if he'll let me. (Hense it being in the like to category). The thing is, that he does everything the doctors tell him to do, and is beginning to give up, because it's not helping, so I'm hoping that with cooking everything from scratch from the have-to-list, and finding a good mix of good carbs, lower fat and loads of vitamins we can get it to a good level, without him realizing that I'm doing it. Get the peace of mind that I'm healthy (never thought I would have to get used to that idea, and how hard that would be) and go back to school to learn a trade I can actually use here, that does not require a whole lot of fine motor skills.

Sounds like a plan, doesn't it? LOL.

My designers have been busy, and I've been trying to keep up, when not in pain because of a severe toothinfection. It's getting better, I can eat solids again, so I'm less cranky and short fused. Which is a blessing for everybody in the household. LOL

ANN has an awesome kit out. It's called Painted Ladies. No, it's not what you think LOL. Painted Ladies is what the old Victorian houses are called, because of the colors on them. Remember last year when I borrowed one of her pictures to put into her Forest Fantasy page? Those pictures are what the kit is made around. There are so many different things in the kit, that when I first looked at the pages from the other CT's, I had to go back in the folder to check out what I missed. I thought I had REALLY looked at all the parts, but in every page I looked at, there was something I didn't think was part of the kit......... very strange..... but they were all there!  I really liked this page. I would have never thought to do this. That's one of the fun parts of CT work. You get to see different ways of using the same kit.

I'm not sure which CT member made this page, but if/when I find out, I'll update this caption,

I made one page with just what was in the kit, and one with some of the extra's included. 

kit only

kit plus frames, borders, freeby!!! and Word-Art

The kit is available in all 3 stores:

BOO has finished moving house! As I understand it even the internet is on board now and she is working like a madwoman to catch up. LOL.

I also noticed that I haven't posted some of her December releases yet, so I will add them too......

Parfum Jardin.
I know this is a spring kit. It has the feel, for sure, I just couldn't help to upset the apple cart a little, and make it a fall lay out. LOL. The kit has soft colors and bright colors in just the right proportions. I cannot think of any spring picture, that would not perk up with this kit. It works great with garden pictures, but it would be equally at home with Easter celebrations....... or fall pictures :-)

Picture was taken in the fall (DUH! LOL) on sisterday.

Now for the kits I missed......

Winter Wonderland:

White Christmas Dreams:

The tree is ours from last year, but everything else is from the kit.

I think you may be up to date on things, but I'm pretty sure I forgot a bunch, so if you find another post later today, or tomorrow.... blame it on the blonde!

Don't forget to hug a loved one, enjoy the season, family and live in general and stay safe!
Hugs,
Pauli

Well, well.....

Have you ever done something completely normal, well intentioned, and got kicked in the teeth for it?

I just did. I sent Christmas cards today, by email, as it has become a custom for me, since my handwriting is so bad these days, I wouldn't wish it on anybody to try and decipher. I got some sweet wishes back,  and than I got an email I had been looking forward to getting, until I actually opened it.

To say that the floor dropped out from under my seat, would not quite be accurate. It was bizar, to say the least. Let me give you the abbreviated version.... It was implied that I was using having cancer as an excuse for not keeping in touch. (THAT was definitely a first!),  I didn't care enough to get a paper card and mail the darn thing, and with all things I supposedly don't have time for..... I DO have time to maintain my blog! Life wasn't all fun at their end either, but they didn't complain to everybody in emails about it, and the only reason I EVER emailed in the first place, was probably because I felt guilty about not keeping in touch!

I couldn't believe what I was reading. I haven't kept up, personally, with A LOT of people......  No reason other than that life has a way of getting in the way. Nothing personal, no ill will intended. Shit just happens. I haven't seen my dad more than 4 times since we got back. Nicky a little more, but it's still a whole lot less than what I think to be normal.
Does it mean I don't care, or that they don't? No, it means everybody has a life.
Does it hurt that we don't stay in touch as much as we should? YES!
Am I worried I may run out of time to catch up with them? YES!
If I had more time/opportunity/energy/brainpower etc would I be more "on the ball" and around people? YES!

I hoped that by writing the blog, everybody could keep up with what was going on, but apparently I need to revise that thought.  So, to everybody I have neglected over the last 3 years during my struggle to get my life back.... while maintaining my sanity (more or less)

I AM SORRY THAT I DIDN'T KEEP IN TOUCH!!!!
I LOVE YOU ANYWAY, WHETHER I TOLD YOU LATELY OR NOT
I WOULD LOVE TO PROMISE I WILL DO BETTER NEXT YEAR, BUT I WON'T, BECAUSE IF LIFE HITS THE FAN AGAIN, I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP THAT PROMISE.

I AM SIGNING OFF UNTIL AFTER NEW YEAR.

Merry Christmas and a Blessed 2013!

Don't forget to hug that loved one!
Hugs,
Pauli

Well, this day was fun......

It started out sucky, and didn't get better with time.

I'll tell you about that in a little bit. I just got around to checking email, and I have something REALLY REALLY cool to tell you.

                                              BOO HAS A BUY MY STORE SALE!!!!

Over time, I have bought her store twice, and believe me... it's worth it!  I'm very happy that I'm on her Blossom team, and I hope that if you have liked the pages I made with her kits sofar, you will at least check out her store over at The Studio. Just an extra thought here..... for the price of 5 super bundles at regular price, you can have them all............................  If you don't want the whole store, most of her collection is on sale, with some awesome discounts!

Now, if you want to stick around for a couple of minutes.... I'll tell you about my week.

Mike has been home with the flu, which he got from a coworker that refused to go home, and passed it on to me by Wednesday, so in my "infinite wisdom", I decided he needed to see a doctor, which he came right back and told me to make the appointment for both of us. I didn't want to, but I did. She checked him first. It is the flue and because of his diabetis, she didn't want to perscribe any meds. She told him to stay home, and take his time to recouperate, take lots of rest and if things didn't feel better by Monday, to come back in.  Than it was my turn.... I started to get really dizzy, queezie and asked to lay down before I fell down, and that's when stuff started to hit the fan. She checked my bloodpressure, but couldn't find one, my heart rate was on the low side and she couldn't listen to my lungs, because I was laying down. So, she called in another doctor, who also couldn't find a bloodpressure higher than 80 for the high number, so they called the ambulance to take me to the emergency room............. That was a shocker! She didn't even want us to drive there. I'm not sure if it was because we would probably never show up in the ER (I really didn't want to go, and I think she picked up on that) or the fact that Mike was not feeling good either. Either way, I got there, they hooked me up to all kinds of wiring, checked my bloodpressure again, and it was fine. Took a heart film, that was good, and took 5 viles of blood and left me alone to sleep. Mike had followed the ambulance to the hospital in the car, and was sitting on a chair (bolted to the wall) on the other side of the room. We both nodded off, and after 2 hours doctor came back to tell us that everything was just fine, to go home, take it easy, and let things take its course..................................  We're bothh very happy that all turned out ok, (because of the speed that she decided on the ambulance we were both in a panic) but I have this sinking feeling of extra costs that we won't be able to pay, and the fact that they don't give you ANY leaway in paying (If it's not paid in 2 weeks, you're going to collections) and I'm still realing from the dentist bill!

I haven't scrapped at all this week, and I'm missing it, but sitting up to do it just isn't an option right now. I'm on the couch, tucked in like a mummy, with the laptop. I had to check mail, and when I saw Boo's announcement from the 12th, I just had to post. It's only fair :-)

Well, enjoy the weekend, I probably won't be back until somewhere next week.

Don't forget to hugg the loved ones!

Hugs,

Pauli

Happy Tuesday :-)

Too early for Christmas wishes, and I couldn't think up anything clever....
It's been a strange couple of days. I'm still nursing my jawbone infection (with the corresponding shooting pains, more than normal sleepless nights, and just general cranky-ness) BUT, I finally got the ok from the insurance, and re-made my cancelled appointment for a root canal. Never in my wildest dreams had I figured to be happy to make that appointment! LOL. It's after Christmas, and I'm not entirely sure whether that's a blessing or not but eating does NOT hurt.... so maybe it's not so bad. I was not aware of one thing though. A root canal consists of 3 appointments here, and than a years wait before they put the crown on. First they clean the roots and get the infection cleaned up and pumped full of medicine, than they wait a while for that to clear before they actually fill the rootcanal, and if that works out, they put the filling in.....
That they are taking care of the infection felt good. It freaked me out when she said it was severely infected. All my fear senses (And I have quite a few, believe me) went on high alert, and I kept thinking of the idiot in Texas, that told me... "We don't know what it is, it's an encapsuled infection of some kind, but it's not cancer". I do this everytime I hear the word, and sometimes I wonder if that will ever go away...... Oh well, you didn't come here to hear me moan, so...... Good news is..... Between December 27 and sometime next year.... I won't have a tooth-ache anymore :-)

Haven't started my page for the scrapping things yet.... still on the fence about that. I'm also still trying to clean off the I-Mac so we can take it somewhere to be checked.....Although I don't believe it's the computer, the fact remains that Mike used to be able to run The Sims, and now it won't even install.... so it needs to be checked why it's not "playing nice" anymore:-)  Clearing email, one mail at a time, if you have about 15-thousand of them is quite a daunting task. Atleast I started to throw stuff out as I get them, but I'm  not making much of a dent in the rest of them. The Tera-drive is getting fuller, and I'm trying to figure out a system that will catalog the contents on the drive, and I won't have to do it everytime I hook it up to a different computer. I thought I had a good start, on my mac, untill I tried to find things on the Imac, and it came up with absolutely nothing. I aliased kits to elements, papers, animals, flowers, and than again by color and I had a pretty good search result when I did that. I hook it up to the Imac..... nothing. When I just started, I made Picaboo photobooks, splitting them into books of papers, full kits, masks/brushes/styles, quickpages, temples etc, and that was ok, but with a tera-byte of stuff, that's not really an option anymore.... so, like my genealogy filing system.... I need to figure out something that works, and find the time to redo the current system! So, if you have ANY ideas in this directions.... bring them :-)
I realised the other day, that unless I work with a kit, and only that kit.... I spend 90% of my scrapping time looking for things. I know what I want, but unless I know the designer... I'll have to do a search of all png files. Besides the time it takes to do the search, I can spend hours looking thru everything. There HAS to be a better way!

The new mini's at Ivy Scraps are in. I haven't played with them yet, but I'm hoping to be able to do so on Thursday.

The Point In Time challenge over at the Studio, will be posted by end of week, and will run thru January.

Booland Designs is still having a huge sale over at the Studio, and we've been told there are lots of good things coming up, so stay tuned...... But untill the other cat is let out of the bag.... She still has an awesome sale going to the end of this month.... in her own Bargain Bin.....

StarSongStudio's has a new kit coming, but I haven't had time to play with it either.

She also has a freebie on her blog, that was made with her latest release: Winter Wonderland. go take a look. The kit is great for pages, or bookmarks, or greetingcards... if you can think of a use... it will handle its execution, flawlessly!

I started to put a snow picture behind the window, but decided against it. I love the snow piled up in the window panes, and wanted to show it off a bit.. The only way to do that, was to put a non-snow picture in it.......



I come away with one thought, after putting this post together..... I have a lot of things I need to take care of this week!

For now, I'm going to see if I can catch a nap in what's left of the night, and get a fresh, if frantic and time crunched, start around 6 AM. That will give me a good 3.5 hours.... That's do-able, right?

Hugs, and talk soon.

Pauli

Magical......

That's what it looks like outside. Just a dusting of snow, nice pink sun-up bouncing off ice crystals and colder than the inside of the freezer. LOL

First things first. I heard last night, that if there is a even the hint of a thought that you want to start a cookbook, or give out the recipes to those home made goodies...... You should seriously go look over at The Studio.

Booland Designs has THAT MAGIC PUDDING as the DEAL OF THE DAY!

Go to the store
NO, SERIOUSLY!.... GO TO THE STORE AND CHECK THIS OUT!!!!

This is for some incentive to go check it out.....

I had SOOOO MUCH fun playing with this kit. I went waaaaaaay over what the CT requirements are, and I'm still not out of ideas!  But there are more kits to play with and the Point In Time challenge to set up, so I had to stop. LOL

You may know by now, that I love winter, christmas and cooking. One, is never certain we will get, especially in Holland, one is a GIMME, and one is dependent on budget, health, space and opportunity. Now that I know that our little oven will "do" cakes, I'm on my way to trying cookies. Years ago, I found this Pillsbury cookie cookbook in the library in Hiawatha that had all the award winning recipes in it. I would SO love to have that, but it is out of print, and being where we are, I don't see that I'll bump into it in a secondhand bookstore, but I DO look regularly if it is available for download somewhere..... Maybe I should email Pilsbury....... (That Just got added to the TO DO list :-)..)
Anyway, I wrote out a couple of the REALLY REALLY good ones, and some of them ended up on my pages for the kit. If you're interested, I will ask Boo if I can give the page away "as is", if that's not an option, I will post the recipe as a pdf for download.

the plate with cookies is not part of the kit. They're the ones I baked. 

After posting this, I will be getting double dressed, grab the camera, and go wandering about the neighborhood. There is a wooded area about 2 blocks away that I've been wanting to explore, and today is a great day to give that a try...... These may be the only snow pictures I will get this winter, so I don't want to miss out on them. Later, when he's all napped out, if it is still light when that happens, I will take Perky for his first ever walk in snow..... although I was hoping that it would snow on a day that Mike is off, so he can do the leash-thing and I can do the camera-thing, and with a bit more snow so it's not just cold, but actually fun for the fuzzy roommate to go out in ........ so maybe I will wait on that for a bit and instead concentrate on where I want to put the Christmas Tree! I'm running late. The weekend after Thanksgiving, my normal time to set up the tree, things just didn't go as planned, and it was one blur of running around. Last weekend, I had Sinterklaas at my sisters, and this week..... I'm not sure what happened, but I DO know what didn't happen .... right.... decorating for Christmas. So, I will sit down and do some planning! Oh boy.........

Well it's time to get going for me...... don't forget to hug that special one at least once today!

Hugs,

Pauli

I hit a little snag

in the Christmas shopping department....
Mike only wants 2 things, so I thought..... Done in 5 minutes!
I really should know better by now, but what can I say, I'm an optimist LOL

He wants Black Knight Rising.... not a problem, it came out yesterday, and I'm going to base tomorrow or so and I'm sure they'll have it. If not, there's Amazon :-)
So I have  4.5 minutes left, right? NNNNNOOOOOOOOOO!

He wants a work shirt, like the one he used to have in Iowa, that he can wear to work, without worrying it will tear, and that is warm that if he has to go outside for/with a customer, he's not freezing. You know, the flannel outside, with the nice warm fleece lining and a hood?  I went to Cabelas, thinking that they had wearable clothing. They HAVE to, right?! All I could find was somthing Kenny from SouthPark would wear, if he wanted to get trashed again. I think Plastic wear is in this year. What's with fashion these days? Not everybody is 16, and us old geezers need to wear clothes too? Trust me, you WANT us to wear clothes! LOL
EddieBauer is even worse. Unless it's checkered, or has some funky design, and god forbid you want a color other than grey............... forget it. Walmart, Sears/Target was next......... nope.

I think it's time to figure out if my sewingmachine works here, right after I find out if they have a shop here that sells material and patterns. There's one tiny little shop in Kerkrade (10 minutes by bus) but they mainly sells stuff to make dresses, and no patterns, thread, buttons, zippers or anything. I swear. I have no idea how people make a living having a shop here. The other place I HAVE seen materials, but again, no patterns of any kind, is the really huge Maastricht Market (hour and a half trainride). Since we accidentally caught it one day, I'll have to find out when that is held, and see if I can go there and check out what they have. For now, I'll have to ask him if he wants maybe something else for Christmas......

I'll get going on the the secondary promise.... I'm still working on the family cookbook, and planned on having it done this year, hopefully in time for Christmas. I hope, once it is dispensed to my sisters, I will get some recipe's in return, to add to it. Otherwise, it will be a very THIN cookbook! :-) I had it started with a certain look, but I think I will let everybody put their own touches on the rest of it, and make it truly a family collaboration. That way, I can also do a little bit creative scrapping on the other recipe's I want to put in it. LOL.

Don't forget to hug that loved one! My fuzzy roommate is on his blanket, right next to the keyboard, with his head on my hand, so please forgive the occasional weird words?

hugs,
Pauli

S N O W !!!!!

YUP!
It is snowing outside. Big, thick, fluffy snowflakes, gently drifting down, catching the light from the lamppost on the way ..... and melting as soon as they hit the ground....... I guess the weatherman was right. He's been predicting snow for a week now, and he finally got it to work out! LOL.

The only reason I'm still up, and enjoying the view out the window, is that I'm still trying to get organized. I'm going to my sisters tomorrow to celebrate Sinterklaas. Mike is not going, but I have the car. Now I'm wondering if I should be a good "Boy Scout", and be prepared to stay the night on the couch or if I should just plan on coming home..... I'll have to re-evaluate in the morning. I can't cancel (Don't want to either for that matter) because someone would be without gifts if I do. We drew names and I did NOT draw Mike. :-)  So, I'm still trying to get a poem figured out that is worthy of printing. Gifts are wrapped, awaiting the tags. One is going to be interesting...... I'll have to borrow a shoe, and finish wrapping after I get to her house.... I'll let you know how it all works out, but for now, it's back to the drawing bord for me. Perky has dibs on the blanket and my chair, Mike is already out for the count, and I'm getting tired, so I better hop to it.

Don't forget to hug a loved one and enjoy the weekend :-)

Hugs,
Pauli

CT stuff and other things......

Hi all,

I'm going to do things a little different. I am starting a page with special things from my Creative Team "duties". We all know that when we use the word "duties" for CT related things, what we really mean is "a license to play" After all, you committed yourself to doing this, and it should be done before the fun of chores, which are, in my understanding, optional, at best. LOL That these "CT-duties" are 99.9%  fun, is something that nobody needs to know.......

I will still talk about the designers and the kits, as well as the pages made, on the main blog, but I'm going to put the pages etc here (linked from the main page), and if there are special sales, or things, they'll go on the blog part. I was reading back the other day and noticed that most of the blog is "advertising" so I want to try this for a bit. Leave me a note with your opinion?

I'm working on the family tree again, and hopefully, I will fill those pages up a bit more also....

For now, I have an awesome kit to play with from Ann, that will be released on December 7th. I'm doing that, while I'm waiting for the Heritage Chat over at Ivy. I slept thru last months, so I figured I better show up for this one. LOL.

Don't forget to hug a loved one, and hopefully, I will talk to you on Monday. This weekend is Sinterklaas over at my sisters place, and I still have a couple of gifts to make, and try my hand at a poem or 2 as well........ OY!