'Allo 'Allo......

I can't believe it, but I'm all caught up!

Ann has been quiet, I'm all done with the pages for Ivy for the month, the Point In Time challenge is posted, there is no BlogTrain to follow, that I've found at least, and I've played with the available kits over at Booland Designs!  

Darned!I should have planned this better..... now I have no excuse not to do housework! LOL.
Actually, It's a good thing I'm caught up. Now I can start implementing my plan to follow a schedule. You know, one that includes, housework, must do's daily, weekly, monthly and "when ever", sitting down at regular times and do bills, instead of when they come in so you don't forget, scheduling time for fun and keeping up with friends and family. I'll also have to take in account that I need time to follow blogs at least once a week, and keep up with CT requirements/updates etc. and write blogsposts. THAN.... I have to set a little time aside in the weekend, and do some family research, and get back to people I sent one or 2 emails to, and forgot that I had, and didn't keep in touch, but should have, as well as rescale the pictures I have of cemetery markers for posting on Find A Grave..........

So, if I figure this right... the hours in a day will be increased to 35, the days in the week to 10 and sleeping hours will be cut to 3 hours twice a week..... and I may just be able to keep this schedule! LOL
Maybe I should rethink?

For now, I'm going to show you some of the pages I made, and I'm going to do it right, and include shop-addresses. I'm trying to figure out how to put those on the sidebar, by designer....If you have any ideas on how to do that, please let me know?

ANN - StarSongStudio:

She has an AWESOME new kit out, that I completely missed, so I'll be doing some begging here shortly :-)    It is called "FROSTED" and is available as a kit, as a bundle and all parts seperate..... Since I have no page to show you on this one, I will show the previews she has on her blog  (PSSST! You don't want to miss the blogpost!!! :-)  Trust me)

She sells the kit and bundle at her stores:

I don't remember posting this one yet, so......

The kit is Autumn Reflections for both these pages.

As pointed out last month, Ivy is doing things a little different these days. Instead of one mega, there are new mini pixel kits each month. 

These are the kits:

And here are the pages I made with them, sofar :-)

I took this picture while in Chicago to renew my passport. There was really bad weather in the forecast and the nice day checking out this awesome city turned into a quick "hit and run". I took this picture while Mike was trying to dodge crazy drivers, on a road we had no idea how to get off of. LOL If you know which building this belongs to, I'd appreciate the feedback :-)

I took this picture while in Chicago to renew my passport. There was really bad weather in the forecast and the nice day checking out this awesome city turned into a quick "hit and run". I took this picture while Mike was trying to dodge crazy drivers, on a road we had no idea how to get off of. LOL If you know which building this belongs to, I'd appreciate the feedback :-)

I took this picture while in Chicago to renew my passport. There was really bad weather in the forecast and the nice day checking out this awesome city turned into a quick "hit and run". I took this picture while Mike was trying to dodge crazy drivers, on a road we had no idea how to get off of. LOL
If you know which building this belongs to, I'd appreciate the feedback :-)

If you're not into genealogy, this may seem a little strange, but you wouldn't believe how many connections I made in a cemetery :-) Besides that, it's a very peaceful place to gather thoughts, and enjoy each seasons beauty. this picture I took at the cemetery in Iowa City.

If you're not into genealogy, this may seem a little strange, but you wouldn't believe how many connections I made in a cemetery :-) Besides that, it's a very peaceful place to gather thoughts, and enjoy each seasons beauty. this picture I took at the cemetery in Iowa City.

If you're not into genealogy, this may seem a little strange, but you wouldn't believe how many connections I made in a cemetery :-)
Besides that, it's a very peaceful place to gather thoughts, and enjoy each seasons beauty. this picture I took at the cemetery in Iowa City.

This picture was taken on one of our many drives around Iowa. I severely miss, not just the drives  and the great companionship, but the open spaces, without being empty, the beauty, no matter what season it is and the variety in colors. Sofar, I haven't found the likes of it here, and I really hope that, someday, I will feel home again.

Booland Designs has been busy, as always. I will try and catch up here, otherwise, I will add them to the next post, as I find out what I missed :-)

This page was made with Autumnal Sun.

Kit used for the page is Autumn Dawn

Page made with Carnival.
This Lay Out was Gallery standout over at The Studio... Cool Huh?!

Picture was taken on a detour thru Monschau. There was no parking to speak of, and 2 way traffic on a goatpath leading to this castle wall. While Mike was waiting for the oncoming traffic to let up, I took this picture.
The kit is Merry Fall

This is my favorite picture of the day we spent in Valkenburg with my niece. Poppies are such a  happyt colorspot,  don't you agree?
Kit used is Fall For You

Picture was taken in my sisters backyard. I just couldn't resist....
Kit used is Thank Fall

On our trip back from Overloon War Museum when we saw these elk in a meadow, up an embankment. Luckily there was a small shoulder and Mike could pull over. As soon as my head popped over the embankment, the does started to move away, but the bull just stood there as if the does moving made him invisible. It was kind of nice to see that they were cautious, but not frantic. I marked the spot on the map, and we're going back in the spring when the calves are born.... so stay tuned :-)
Kit used is Last Fall

BOO sells all her kits at The Studio

Also over at The Studio this months Point In Time challenge is up... Go take a look.

I think you're all caught up. According to the new schedule, my next post will be Wednesday evening.... so. Enjoy your week, don't forget to hug a loved one, and I'll see you in a couple of days.

PHFEW!

Have you ever noticed that you miss things for a while, and when you get them again, you wished you would have enjoyed missing them a little more?
I know, this sounded a WHOLE lot more sane in my head, so let me explain a little. LOL.
All the years we lived far from any kind of family, I missed having them around on my birthday, and the longer it was, the more I forgot the balancing act to keep the peace. I grew up with only moms family around, and every birthday it was the same thing. As a kid, you don't really notice but the really blatant things, and as you get older the memories change and you DO pick up on the little things too. I love family gatherings, I just wished you could zap certain people into stases the minute they walk in the door, give them memories of an awesome party, and thaw them out when the rest of the family is ready to go.... Until than.... I guess you swallow hard and keep smiling!

It was STILL a great weekend, AND the house got a good going over in the process. Nicky came with her family and it was very nice to have all of them together, without having to work. (Last time they visited as a family, we fixed up the computer room, and the time before that, they put the flooring in the house). They had taken us to a V E R Y nice grill place about 30 km away last winter and we had a blast  and as a birthday gift, they gave us a gift certificate to go there.... so nice! It has great food, and a grill in the middle of the table. You grill as you're hungry, nobody bugs you about your order, and you can stay as long as you want, or until they close, whichever comes first. Not sure yet if we will use it for our aniversary, or "just because" but either way, I know we'll enjoy it very very much. My oldest sister and her spouse gave me a very sweet birthday gift. He brought the drill, and hung the coatrack and shoecabinet, so now I have more space under the bed for dustbunnies :-)  My niece came too with her hubby and 3 kids..... Sunday we had 11 people in the house, on Monday 5, and after everybody left, I just sat on the couch with a cup of coffee and enjoyed the quiet.... It's usually only the 3 of us, and neither Perky or Mike talk much, so it's pretty quiet around here. Besides the fact that I completely forgot how to entertain, to have that many people in the house, and keep track of everybody, talk to at least everybody for a little bit and follow conversations......it's tough. A nice problem to have, but still .... brain hurt!

Besides the gathering, I also did a little bit of playing..... I only sleep about 3 hours a night and that leaves a couple of hours of quiet time so Mike can sleep, so that's when I do a lot  of it. I also make A LOT of lists of things I need to do, think about, figure out and so on.... The stack of lists gets bigger, but the things on them don't change..... I need a plan to finish the plans! I wonder if I should put that on a list........... :-)

Boo has been busy, Ann has a new kit coming out (and there's a couple of older ones I haven't played with), I have to post the Point in Time Challenge over at The Studio and Ivy has the new mini pixels out AND a birthday celebration going on...... And one of my new  years resolutions was to get more involved in the sites, and better prepared for CT requirements/duties.

Sooooooo.............

I'll finish this up tomorrow, and see if I can get some sleep :-)

Don't forget to hug a loved one!

It's been a while.....

I feel like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland..... Always running, and always late!

Mike's birthday passed without much fuss, just the way he likes it. We had planned on a nice dinner, until I saw the bank-balance, and we stayed home. He absolutely hates celebrating his birthday, and even though my family is "not built that way" over time I managed to convince them of this so even the phone stayed quiet. The only concession he makes, is that the 2 of us celebrate, a little. And I truly believe, this is because I won't let him slide by without it! :-)  I had ordered, and actually received IN TIME, 2 books for 1$ each, so I figured we could do that, at least and I baked him his cake. Not the normal 9x13 but a round one. REALLY came out good. The oven is tiny, so a regular cake pan won't fit, and on top of that..... it's on the old side, so temperature and cooking times vary by day outside temperature and wind direction. LOL  I figured since the cakepan was 9 inch diameter, I would stick to the 9x9 inch cooking time, knowing the oven, I added 20 minutes, and was 45 minutes short! It should have took about 30 minutes to cook, it took an hour and a half....... BUT, it was worth the wait. Never made a round cake before.  Sometimes change is good.....

I haven't been feeling right. No specifics, just not right. Sleep in spurts, eat occasionally, which is reflected in my vitamins being off kilter, which probably is the reason for not sleeping and feeling off. I'm worried about needing to go to work, not being able to, and having a heck of a time keeping my sanity. After fixing one thing, I'll be happy for about 5 minutes, thinking it all is finally getting in some kind of order, when the next shoe drops, setting me squarely back on my butt. It's not the size of the hurdles I'm starting to have a problem with, just the sheer volume of them! It's hard to remember a time that everything went as it should and I'm sure I'm not alone, so please forgive the whine? I cannot do the job I have done for the last 23 years and, according to the powers that be around here, I lack the qualifications for anything but housecleaning jobs, and when I tell them that I'm not even able to clean my house, they just kinda look at me like I must be the laziest person they've seen in a long time. I'm at a loss on how many other ways to explain to them that it's not the "not wanting to", but the "not able to". I know it wouldn't be right, and surely wouldn't accomplish anything, but sometimes I have such a hard time not suggesting to them to try and walk in my shoes for a week, and see how they like it...... But, my mum raised me right, so I won't. Meanwhile, I'm stuck between a big rock and a huge rock.

I've done a couple of pages, but even the scrapping doesn't get me out of my funk. My camera is about to give up the ghost! The sensor is REALLY funky these days. I'm getting in the habit to take 3 pictures very close together. One will be too dark, one will be way light, and sometimes the third one will come out ok. I wasn't aware that they only last about 2 years...... Oh well. As long as I can fudge the pictures a bit, I'll be ok. Once it won't let me do that anymore, I will have a problem! :-)
It's really weird though. It will start out looking right, and usually right when I hit the shutter button, it turns either really dark, or really light.....

This concludes the cranky part of this post... On to the fun stuff!

Star Song Studio's  has a new kit out. MOUNTAIN WHISPERS. (and a new one coming called Autumn Reflections. I have a really nice picture in mind for this one, I just have to go take it! :-)...)

Ann's new kit: Mountain Whispers.
The page is going into the Family Tree. 

This is one of my favorite pictures, and I don't believe I will ever make another one like it. Everything was just right. Lets face it, more than half the time, what you see, is not what you get in the picture. I don't know why, but between the eye and the camera, it looses that special something......

To get the picture within the frame, I double layered the paper, and erased everything but the frame. Than I dropped the picture between the 2 layers. So... I guess this is my long winded way to say that the frame is not part of the kit as a separate frame.

The kit is available here: 

I did my pages, and the Bingo page for Ivy. The Themed Monthly Mega is no longer that. Instead it consists of several mini-kits with one color palette. It raises a whole new set of challenges for this CT member, let me tell you. Luckily for me, most designers were in the same mindset this month, unluckily for me.... I don't have many pictures of Halloween events.. I think you've seen all of them, several times. LOL
So, I still made the pages, just forgot the Halloween part...... kinda.

Boo From Booland Designs, has been extremely busy, and so she keeps us out of trouble :-)

I haven't been good at posting her kits, and I truly apologize for that. She is very generous in what she lets us play with, and I feel really bad about not praising her as much as I should.Believe it or not, I actually haven't worked all the kits she has out, because I can't keep up with her. I will share the ones I have made, and make a promise to get better at posting, and to learn "enabling".  Right after I find out what it is! LOL

The latest kits is called MISTY MORNING. I got to play with the collection, so there is a little bit of everything to use. I should have kept track of what was part of the original kit, and I will, in the future kits, but I saw that she has a killer sale over at The Studio

 I will forever treasure the morning I spent, traipsing thru the snow, after an ice-storm hit Hiawatha. Complete silence except for the crunching of boots on snow, cold air and squirrels and a cardinal almost oblivious to me standing there.....  And needing a day to warm up :-)

This picture came about almost by accident. It was in the castle at Hoensbroek, where they had put this little room together, to look like a skullery maid was doing laundry, by candle light. I thought the picture would be too dark to make anything out on, but when I got home and saw it on the screen, instead of the littlebitty window on the back of the camera, I was glad I hadn't erased it. It reminds me of the work of one of my favorite old masters, Jan Steen.....

One thing that cal almost always brighten my day, is seeing poppies in a field of grain. Don't know if it is the bright spot within the solid, or the fact that it's a happy color. I just like it. It was nice to see again.

TOUCHED came out earlier this month: 

I love the mix of colors, They''re all very soft, but not sickeningly sweet.  AND it had a teddybear! 

Somehow, I cannot put my hands on the other page. As soon as I find it, I will post it.

As did DARK NIGHT:

These pictures were taken in the middle of the day, after a very nice bright sun up. The longer we were driving the whiter the skies, and I silently hoped they would drop some snow, but alas..... just cold fog. We sat at the waters edge for a while. The window slightly opened, sipping hot coffee, enjoying the eerie silence around us. Very faintly could we hear the boats on the canal and the traffic on the road behind us, mostly we heard nothing.

AND BEFORE I FORGET AGAIN....... The Point in Time challenge has been up over at The Studio.....

So, I believe you're all caught up.  Talk soon, and please, don't forget to love that hugged one :-)

Pauli

I'm not sure what happened......

I THOUGHT I had everything under control, but I just discovered that I have to adjust that assessment S E V E R E L Y !!!!!

Cruising Boo's Blog for new releases and other information, I discovered that I hadn't sent her any of the pages I've made for the last 3 new kits she has out. THAN, I checked here, and didn't find them either. Checking the forum over at Ivy didn't help in feeling any better. I haven't posted those either, and October is aboutto hit with a new Mega to work. And being the optimist that I am, I figured I must have at least kept up with something, and got swatted on the nose again, because I slept thru the alarm and missed the LifeBook chat AND the posting!

So, there will be very little telling and a whole lot of showing in this post, and catching up on life later. Once caught up with the posting/scrapping I will sit down and figure out what else I missed and get my butt in gear.......

Don't forget to take time to hug that loved one! :-)

My favorite (and often used) picture of Perky. I'm going to use this page as cover page for "his" album
Kit used is Booland's TRULY

I spent a whole day (Really,no kidding) at the museum in Anamosa. Sadly, a lot of the pictures I took are kind of shaky, because of the angles I was trying to take them from, and the shaking of my hands as a result from being so tired, but not wanting to quit.
Kit used for this and the next page is Booland's  Antique Road Show

Very unexpected, I was asked if I wanted to join the Creative Team for Atria's Creation over at Ivy. After a little bit debating because of time and physical restrictions, I accepted. She has a halloween kit coming out tomorrow or so, so I feel pretty confident in posting the page here. 

Yeebitty, yeebitty, that's all folks! :-)

Well, well.....

it's been a while :-)
Been busy though. Made some pages, did a little family-tree research, visited with family, tried to work a job 2 days a week and keep up with the house.....
What I didn't do? Take enough rest, enjoy my fish-tank, take care of the daily cooking, take care of friends that needed a little extra TLC.
Not sure if this evens out in being a good person, but all I can say in my defense.... I have a thinking problem! LOL.

Serious though. Even though I am feeling A WHOLE lot better than when I started this blog, al little over 2 years ago.... I have a hard time getting some kind of a "regular" pattern going, mainly because I don't know what kind of a day I'm getting, until the day starts. This makes for re-adjusting plans, a lot, and rethinking how, when and how often things really get done that should be done more than once. Include Mikes schedule and my brain in the mix and you'll end up with a very "day to day" existence. It's not bad, really, but for me, being who I am, not having a schedule and too many things on the calendar for the functional time I have to do them in.... is frustrating. The good thing is... when I'm frustrated.... I scrap, or research :-)

Not sure where I was going with this, but.... I got some pages done! LOL Still looking for new pictures, but I found most of my photo-album bags, so even the older pictures are now being used :-) (When we moved, I stupidly took the photo albums apart, reasoning that just the pictures would take up less space than the whole album, so they're by "album" in a ziplock bag... AAAARGH!)

Ann has a new kit coming out, and I just got (kinda) done playing with it. It's called Nouveau Nostalgia. I can see it being use a lot in Mikes LifeBook album.  It's gorgeous! And I'm not saying that to advertise. I REALLY enjoy working with her stuff. She makes the kind of kits I would make, if I had the talent...LOL. Not sure yet where it's going to release (or I forgot) but her stores are

If you have time, check out her blog also... just to see what she's up to these days and to leave her a comment about her kits.

I've been looking for the wedding picture of my grandma and grandpa for a while, but finally found it the other day... right after I got the kit Golden Years from Boo. The kit will be out at the Studio on the 19th, so I hope she doesn't mind the preview, but I want to share :-)

This week also saw 2 new releases from her: Natures Charm and Last Summer. Both, as all her other kits, are available at The Studio

You already saw this, but since it's out..... I figure I remind you :-)

And, last but not least....

The new Mega over at Ivy is out. I had the Bingo page made, but forgot to send it in, and I'm still looking for the pictures I want to use for the other 2 pages... BUT, here's a preview of the kit

and you can find it here

Oh, and I almost forgot... the page I did with my sisters kids and the kit from Jessicas Sweet Nothings kit "Old Love" made LayOut of the Week over at Ivy..... Must have been the kids :-)

So, I think that's all the news from my corner of the world. I have some more scrapping to do, a little laundry to put away (which I REALLY think will keep till Monday) a fish tank to clean up, so I can clean the gravel in the morning, and a couple of episodes of America the Wild to watch..... Oh, what to do first...... the agony! LOL!

Don't forget to hug a loved one, enjoy the weather and I will "talk at ya" later :-)