A very happy fourth!

We watched fireworks this evening with some friends and Joal's parents. This was the best fourth of July I think we've ever had. It wasn't outrageously hot or humid...it was comfortable in fact. Friends and family...that's what it's all about.

It made me think of my brother in AFG, who sees a different kind of fireworks too often for my liking. I'm counting the days until August. (Godspeed little brother.)

Have you used the QK Exotic Island font yet? I ordered it tonight for the 08 Cruise book...can't wait to get it. Speaking of my cruise book project...I am so overwhelmed by it right now. This big stack of photos is just looming over me like a basket of bricks...I can't seem to pick it up and get started. Maybe a new QK alpha will help. :)





I have a bazillion things to do next week, the most dreaded of which is to clean out my MSN mailbox. I've had my MSN address for years...like maybe 6 or 7. It has thousands of emails in it.


Yes, I said t-h-o-u-s-a-n-d-s. Some I need to keep which means they have to be forwarded to my new account. Some can be trashed. Ugh. Tediousness makes me nuts.





Anybody need some ribbon? I have some ribbons that need new homes...leave me a comment telling about your favorite use of ribbons and I'll send you some ribbons. :)

Make It Home

I can't figure out how to disable the auto start on my regular playlist, so you'll have to manually stop it by clicking on the first small button with the two vertical lines...then start the Mark Shutlz video.

Happy Independence Day...

Pretty Colors

Yes, I gave in to the pretty colors.
Even tho it has Martha Stewart's name on it and it's sold at Walmart...I had to go there for something else...and this just was too good to pass up.

So hang me.




Closed Circuit to my sister, Deb-- this is the car I was telling you about. Whadda ya think?

Did you know that July is National Ice Cream month?
Yep.
And we celebrate it heartily at the Dev...household.
Truth be told...we don't need a reason for ice cream.
I took some schweet pics to day of the boys "celebrating" with Nutty Buddies...I share them when I get the page done.

Really.
Could there be a better "holiday"?

Hello Mr. Goody. You misnamed your store.

We have the most interesting and entertaining conversations in the car.

Here's an installment from today:

Me: There's the Goody's, but I sure thought there was a Ross over there too.

Little Dude: Can we go to Goody's?

Me: Why do you want to go to Goody's?

Little Dude: Because I need some goodies.

Me: Really? What kind of goodies do you think Goody's sells?

Little Dude: Umm. Idunno.

Me: Goody's is kinda like Khols. They sell clothing and shoes and bags and stuff.

Little Dude: They don't sell goodies?

Me: Umm, well not really.

Little Dude: Well, why is it named Goody's?

Me: I think maybe becasue it was started by a man named Mr. Goody. I'm not really sure tho.

Little Dude: I wonder if we could meet Mr. Goody?

Me: I don't know.

Little Dude: He should have named it 'Clothes and Shoes-s'. Since he doesn't sell any goodies.

--------------------

I tried to keep the laughing to a minimum.

I really did.

It wasn't easy.

:)

We never did find the Ross store we were looking for. I was hoping they would have some "goodies" for the wedding. LOL.

Stopped by the produce stand on our way home...picked up an out-of-this-world watermelon, a bucket of tomatoes, a bucket of okra and a bucket of peaches. I am introducing my children to stewed okra and tomatoes tonight...can you say "Mississippi Soul Food"? My arteries are clogging up as we speak.

Just after college, I worked at Kroger, in the floral shoppe. (You should probably know that Kroger's flower shoppes in Mississippi are a big deal. Way bigger than they are here in Tennessee. I was surprised to learn that when we first moved here 9 years ago. My local Kroger flower shop has one part time person...my flower shop in Mississippi had a staff of 4 full-time people and was responsible for a full 25% of the store's sales. Not that this really has anything to do with the story.)

Next door to the Kroger was a tiny "meat-n-3" eatery that had been there for 40 years. It was quite a ledgendary local place! The lady who owned it was a traditional southern black lady (named moma bee) who started working there when it first opened although I'm sure she wasn't a cook when it opened. When I became a regular there, she was the owner and head cook, and might I say that she was ancient and sassy and all about good southern food. When she hugged you, you saw your life pass infront of your eyes. :) One of her special dishes was stewed tomatoes and okra--made on Wednesday mornings and sold out by Wednesday night. My mouth waters just thinking about it. A quart could be had for $1.29 and came with 2 sliced of cornbread. And let me tell you, I had many a quart. Oh. my. goodness. It was positively healing.

Anyway, while I am perfectly inept at measuring up to Moma Bee's stewed tomatoes and okra...what I can do is manageable. A little bacon, a little bacon drippings, a handful of chopped onion, chopped garlic, a can of whole kernal corn (drained), roughly chopped fresh tomatoes, chopped okra and some broth for it all to swim in. Cook on low for at least two hours. Salt. Hot sauce is optional. Don't forget the cornbread to sop up the juices. :)

As a side note, I went googling for a recipe and found one that called for Extra-Virgin Olive Oil in the place of beloved bacon drippings. That just seems wrong. Check. That *is* wrong. Heretical maybe. Stewed tomatoes and okra is not a dish that should be "fancied up" with EVOO. No hig-falutin' oil here. Go bacon or go home. :)

My honey is in Nebraska for a few days...and is having a hard time finding a hotel because the Olympic swim trials are happening there. How cool is that?

So now you know.

PS See that thing on the right side of my blog that shows where people come here from? In theory, it's a cool idea to know where your readers are from...in reality tho, it's driving me up the wall. It's sending my curiosity into overdrive. It may not stay for long.

I didn't react very well.

I am the mother of two boys.
I should know better.
I should expect these things.
I forgot.

Big dude and little dude were playing outside.
I was intently writing on the computer.
They came in very animated and loud.
Big dude runs over to my space and thrusts out his arm.
"Look what we found, Mommy." he says loudly.

I couldn't help myself.
There was a neon yellow Caterpillar inching it's way up his arm.
It was furry. Yellow.
Huge.
(((shuddering)))
I heard myself yelling "Get that things away from me right now."
"But Mom, look." he pleaded.
"I can't look. Get it outside." I say in a weird freaked-out voice.
He complies, begrudgingly.
Deflated.

I hate myself.
I am the mother of two very boyish boys.
I should be used to this stuff by now.
He just wanted to share his "find".
I have made it a practice over the years to act cool even when I don't feel cool about creepy things.
And I never actually feel cool about creepy things.
Never.

I feel this intense need to go take a bath.
It was furry, for cryin' out loud.
And yellow.

I lost my cool.
My fake cool.
Gone.
Right out the window.

Over a Caterpillar.
Ugh.

After a moment, I grabbed the camera and did what I do.

Yadda Yadda Yadda

Wanna guess where this "S" came from?

So what's up with you?

Me?
I'm a bit bored.
It's hot and I am so not a fan of hot weather unless there's a beach nearby. :)

Joal worked a few days in Houston this week--did I mention how green with envy I was for this trip? Houston is the home of Tracy Keith's little scrapbook establishment. I want to go there so desperately. But I digress.

His plane was late getting in last night, so everything got pushed back. We didn't go to bed until nearly 2am. Which threw us all into an exhausted, grumpy state for most of today.

Now of course, I drank some Diet Coke this afternoon and now, even tho I am tired, I am so amped I can't sleep. ((Sigh))

*Jennifer McGuire's got some really cool card/stamp videos on her blog. I really like this one.

*And this collection of tags made me want to go to town punching up some scraps.

*My sweet husband is leading worship at our church this Sunday...and I get to be there. I think I'm more excited than he is. He plays acoustic guitar with the band pretty regularly, but this week he's leading. Leading. the. whole. shoting. match. The worship pastor (I forget what his official title is) is out this week, as are both the senior pastors, but they've left the morning in very capable hands. I had forgotten how much work it is to heard volunteer musicians. :) I can not imagine having the wherewithall to get up and lead hundreds of people in worship...it's all I can do to sit in the middle sometimes, but Joal--man Joal loves it.

*My Quickutz binders and baskets are in a mess...totally. If I don't clean them up, I'll never find anything. Does anyone need some foam? I seem to have an excessive collection of 4x4 foam sheets. If you need some, let me know.

*My in-laws are coming down from PA for the 4th. I'm excited about that.

That's all for now. Happy Saturday.

History

"History, Agnes always told her students on the first day of school, was
not a matter of dates and battles, but rather one of stories. She would tell
them stories, she announced, and they would listen. But as Agnes put her pen and
paper away, she wondered this: Is imagination dependent upon experience or is
experience influenced by the imagination"

I'm reading a book from which the above comes. I'll tell you more about that later--when I've finished the book, but I just had to write down that quote and question.

Local.

If you are a local scrappy person...and you would like some scrapbooking magazines...free....we need to get together.

The scrapping yard sale was a really good idea--I should have done that years ago. I'm happily spending some new cash and feel like I've got a much better handle on my space and the smaller amount of stuff in it. I also met several new scrapbookers from my neighborhood and a lady from my church (she recognized Joal) who's part of the home school community.

But of course, I have the luck of ...well, let's just say that I am perpetually unlucky. I chose to have my yard sale on the one Saturday of the month that proved to have 9 other sales in my neighborhood and 2 huge famous church tag sales on our side of town. Ugh. I missed the best yard sale day of the year...because I was having a yard sale!

In an effort to make myself feel better, I attempted to get Joal to agree that I should officially be allowed to add the $$$ I *didn't* spend at the other garage sales that I missed to the total I brought in. That's sounds perfectly logical to me...yes?

I did finally get rid of that stack of horrendous non-Bazzill cardstock I've been storing for years. One lady took it all (the whole 5" stack) for use with her Sunday School classes...or at least that's what she said. I hope they enjoy it.

I also have a couple of totes that didn't sell...if anyone is interested in totes. At a really good price. But you must come get them. I'm not into the shipping thing lately.

Aren't these note papers gorgous? I bought these today for half price at TJ Maxx. Found here...

Happy Sunday, all.

I can't think of an appropriate title for this post.

My favorite little scrapbook store is closing it's doors at the end of the month. I can't tell you how much this saddens me.

I've been processing this news since Saturday and I don't seem to be getting anywhere with it.

Scrapbooking is a hard business.
OK, truthfully, any independently-owned small business is a hard business, but especially scrapbooking. There's lots of competition, the industry is fast-paced and fickle, customers aren't loyal and they are pretty demanding. Times are changing and I think this loss of small businesses is a sad but inevitable reality.

I wish it had ended differently for Scrap'n Memories. It was my honor to teach there and I will miss it.

It's official now...I live in scrapbooking-no-man's-land again. (That's a story for another day.) The nearest store is 38 miles away! And the store with the best Scenic Route and Quickutz is about 50 miles away. Fifty miles each way. Ugh!

Picture me, stomping my feet, and sticking out my lip, like a child, saying "that's just not fair."
It's just not fair.

In other news, Heather, my friend...you have to see this!! Is there something you need to tell me???

Make a Card Monday...and stuff.

It's true.
I've been missing out.
DSL has allowed me to be able to use YouTube for the first time.
Can you hear the angels singing?
What a cool thing!

My favorite, by far, is Make a Card Monday. I've watched every single one.

There are other crafty, cardies on there, but MaCM is the best. Most people who do ste-by-step directions...seem to do too many directions. Let's face it. If you are watching a crafty person on YouTube, the chances are great that you are crafty. Or they hem n haw around. Get on with it.

I like this.

and in other news, last week the dudes and I trekked over to Arkansas to spend a few days with my parents. It was a good trip. Mom and I took the boys to the Discovery Place...











And if, by chance, you love Gerainiums, as I do, you must see SuzieBeezie's post from April (yes, I'm just now catching up on some missed blogs).

Praying for today's weather to carry into Saturday for our scrapbooking yard sale...

In other news...

Churches.
When did I become a church-cynic?

I've had reason to check out several websites belonging to different churches lately and I have to say...
get a clue.

Why would a church build a website about itself and not use any pictures of itself or it's people. What does it say about a church that they use stock photos on their website?

Online giving...h-a-t-e this feature. Kill it. Auto-drafted giving is bad enough. Seriously. Giving is not a function. It's an act. Do not steal the joy of giving by making it a brainless, thoughtless, purely functional act done by computers. If you are too busy to make it to church to make your donation in person, perhaps you are too busy.

If you can't keep it up to date, don't keep it. 'Nuf said.

What's with all the lingo and abbreviations? Is there no reason to believe that non-members may be perusing your site? How will they be able to know what's going on if every sentence is laced with abbreviations and church-ese. Please. Write it out.

If you are going to have a testimonials page (which I think is a fabulous idea), please please please have testimonials from folks in every age group and stage category. Unless every single member of your church is a 67 year old male, please don't let his be the only testimonial on your page. Find some others. Bribe them if you have too. Perspective. People want perspective. Lots of perspective.

And finally, when you have your website in place, ask a few of your friends who are not members of your church to take a moment and browse your site. Get their feedback and perspective on the "outsider" take on your site. You might benefit from some additional perspective.

I'm available...and will gladly tell you what I think.
LOL!

Something about Color.

I'm picky about color.
I think perhaps that's why my attraction to Bazzill is so strong--I can be picky about my color selections in Bazzill paper because they offer so many blooming choices. :)

But sometimes being perpick-ity about colors makes one (me) feel indecisive. Having so many options means color selection can become a time-consuming process.

To combat this, I've been looking for a way (or a few ways) to speed up the process...some alternative to using the same faithful color groups all the time. My little town library offered up this book that was perhaps the worst idea book I think I've ever read.

I finally came to realize that there is a very easy way--a very obvious way--to make color selections without an act of congress.

((((drumroll please)))))

seriously

this is big

worth waiting for

are you prepared

maybe you should sit down

ok

here we go

my big reveal

prepare to be amazed

dutdutdutdut tah dah dah!!!!

----the Stampin' Up catalog and the Close to my Heart catalogs. Sheer color genius at work. All I have to do is copy it.

Yeah. I know. I let you down. Smack me in the forehead. It's OK. I've already done it for you. :) But seriously, the color groupings in these 2 catalogs are consistantly right on the money. Easy to use...no thought needed.

Who knew?

OK so that was a rhetorical question. I get that everybody and their brother probably already picked up on the usefulness of stamp catalogs for color groups...I'm always late to the party.

Look at this!

So you know how much I love to see examples of scrapper's who get inspired by everyday items, right?

Well, even if you didn't know...I do.

Love it.

Especially this colorful GEM by digital scrapbooker (and pea) Kim Riverton.

In other news, I'll be blog-less for a few days...taking some time off. Enjoy.

The Book I Should Have Written

I've always fancied myself a writer but I'm much too impatient to actually sit and write a whole book (other than the one I wrote *by hand* in high school). So, I've taken to collecting titles of books other people have already written that sound like something I would have written, if I could focus for that long. (I know you are waiting with baited breath right...)

So here's my list...

of the

B O O K S I S H O U L D H A V E W R I T T E N

The Hair-Raising Joys of Raising Boys by Dave Meurer

Trespassers Will Be Baptized: The Unordained Memoir of a Preacher's Daughter by Elizabeth Emerson Hancock

Make Your Creative Dreams Real: A Plan for Procrastinators, Perfectionists, Busy People, and People Who Would Really Rather Sleep All Day by Sark

The Bacon Cookbook: More than 150 Recipes from Around the World for Everyone's Favorite Food by James Villas

Quit Your Job And Move To Key West : The Complete Guide by Christipher Shultz

and finally, for those days when you just don't feel like being a sentimental journaler... Unjournaling: Daily Writing Exercises that Are NOT Personal, NOT Introspective, NOT Boring! by Dawn DiPrince and Cheryl Miller Thurston

So now you know.

Classic Supplies

So I was over at Scrap in Style this beautiful morning and I noticed in the boutique that there's a page called *All Time Classic Products*. I've always wished for stores to do this. Seriously...there are just some things that are really classic and will never go out of style.

On my personal list would be:

Close to my Heart leather albums --just can't beat them.
Zig Glue pens
Buttons
Black and white check ribbon
Van Dyke Brown Ink
Bazzill paper
Circle punches or dies
Fiskars Soft-touch scissors (both sizes)
Making Memories silver brads
Scenic Route Background papers
vellum
Fiskars trimmer
paper piercer
tape adhesive
Xyron "X"
Heidi Swapp chilpboard letters in jet black (even tho they don't stick)
ric rac (any color, any size)
DYMO label maker with black tape
Kraft-colored cardstock
black and whilte polka dot paper

What's on your All-Time Classics list?

And now a bit of house-keeping: After eons of dial-up, I have upgraded the current surfing capabilities to DSL with Bellsouth. Oh. my. goodness. It's the technological equivalent of going from outdoor plumbing to a bathroom at the Ritz Carlton. Or from a bike to a jet plane. There just aren't words.

Why do I resist technological advancement so much?

Oh well...we'll ponder that question later and get on with zoom zoom zoom...

Closed Circuit note to Heather: I can watch YouTubes now...instantly. LOL!

One Shot Wonders

I've been feeling really bad the last couple of days...sleeping alot...trying to feel better. Today Joal had a great day at work by 10am so he came home early to be with us. One of the things I had to get accomplished this week was to get an Immunization form from the health department for G's school. To get the form, I have to go downtown...something I hate doing. So Joal decided we would take care of this together today. Essentially, he took care of it and the boys and I rode in the car with him.

Yes, I'd rather be the one sitting in the car with two boys than have to deal with a government agency and their paperwork.

But I digress.

While we were waiting in the car, I started looking back at the photos I have on my (new) camera--taken over the last few weeks. There's some pretty good stuff on there, if I may say so myself. :)

Here are a few examples:

I love stamps.

I love stamps.
I own a decent collection.
I own quite a few stamp catalogs.
I read many many stamping blogs regularly.
I admire stamp artists.
I have designed stamps and had them made.
I read stamping magazines.
I know alot about stamping.
I browse stamping sites and boards.
I own an embossing gun and embossing powders.
I have attended stamping conventions and taken classes.
And yet...

Oddly enough...

I almost never actually do any stamping.

In fact, I stamp so rarely that most of my ink pads have given up their goodness.

I'm not sure why. I just don't think of actually doing it very often.

I was drooling over this stamping blogs this very day...what visual candy!

But I don't stamp.
Why is that?

It was a good weekend...

We had a great weekend--I hope you did too.

Joal worked part of Friday and came home early.

Saturday morning Joal attended the funeral of Maria Chapman and while that's certainly not the way anyone ever wants to spend a holiday weekend, it was, from all accounts, a wonderful, beautiful celebration of her life. He came home so deeply moved and what he shared with me was so redemptive and loving. I am so constantly amazed by the power of God's grace--there just aren't words.

Later on Saturday we had some friends over for a traditional cookout. Six adults and six children (and 2 babies on the way) in addition to the 4 of us...it was quite the adventure.

The menu consisted of:

Grilled Hamburgers and Hot Dogs, with all the appropriate trimmings
Grilled Herbed Vegetables--Potatoes, Squash, Onion, and Zucchini
Fresh Black Bean and Corn Salsa
Cole Slaw
Shells and Cheese
Fruit and Spinach Salad with Vinaigrette Dressing (made by one of our friends)
Fresh Fruits

And for dessert, another friend made a banana pudding that was not only beautiful but also delicious! (I'm thinking we should make Banana Pudding Lance's standing contribution to all future gatherings!)

It's possible I am pickier than most people about entertaining at our house. See, I was raised by a woman who truly demonstrated the gift of hospitality to so many people all throughout my life and she taught me well. It's a big deal to me to put together a gathering. I plan and plot to make things just so. I make lists. Honestly, it's exhausting but I do so enjoy it. It means a great deal to me...maybe because we don't live close enough to our family to get together with them very often and I miss that. Friends are an important part of our circle (especially these particular ones) and I am renewed by being with them.

We ate together, and we played together. The children who range in age from 12 (Julian) down to about 16 months get along remarkably well. They enjoyed lots of bubble-blowing, chalking on the patio and throwing around the balls. I took a ton of pictures with the new camera and got some great shots. We had a time of singing, with Joal playing the guitar.

It was a great afternoon shared with our favorite people.

The rest of our favorite people will be coming over on Wednesday evening and we will do it all again.

Yesterday, I picked up my cruise pictures from the printer. All 320 of them! I've had a horrible time finding a new photo lab...I finally just paid the extra $$ and went to the local Wolf Camera. Prints cost more there but the quality is absolutely superb and far better than anything else I've tried.

Last night Joal and I watched a movie--Dan in Real Life. It was good...funny. Sweet. Steve Carell has a similar dry acting wit as Billy Crystal from the days of When Harry Met Sally. My only objection to this movie was that the main character's teenage daughter was allowed to be a complete yutz towards her father...more than we necessary. I would have smacked her. But in the interest of a good movie, we'll suspend the need to be a parent for a bit. Ya'll know that I n-e-v-e-r recommend movies because it inevitably gets me into trouble with someone...but I liked this movie. That's all I'm saying.

And surprisingly enough, Joal was the one who picked it. His movie-selection-credentials had previously been on the verge of being revoked due to severely lack-lustre choices he's made recently...but I'm thinking he may have been redeemed with this one. Or at least gotten on the road to recovery, although I'm pretty sure I'll never completely get over his choosing of Pursuit of Happyness. :)

So now you know.

PS I did get my space cleaned and organized. It's so nice to work in it right now. :)

We Remember

On this Memorial Day weekend, we honor and remember those who serve currently and those who have served their country--this great United States.

We acknowledge their great sacrifice and show our gratefulness always.

Happy Birthday Dixie Carter

Happy Birthday Dixie Carter!
I love her.
I think she totally rocks!
In a classy, southern woman kind-of way.
:)

Give Me Liberty

It's a good day.
I have Scenic Route's Liberty in my hot little hands.
I wish there was an auto ship program for Scenic Route.
Layle, are you hearing me?
Every new release, just send me a brick.
Seriously.
Surely, I'm not the only one.

In other news, I'm seeking a different kind of liberty or maybe freedom...from clutter. We are having friends over for a meal on Monday and I want my space to be completely organized and pleasant by then. Cross your fingers for me.

Can I order up another Saturday please?

What a day.
Got up early and hit some yard sales. It was the perfect spring Saturday morning for treasure hunting. Made 12 stops and found a handful of goodies: a large collection of vintage books (both children's story books and cookbooks), a hat, a zipper binder for Julian, a toy boat that Julian declared he needed, and a yard tool. All in all, a good day. There were many in my own neighborhood today...I like those that don't require too much driving. Otherwise, it kinda defeats the purpose, ya know. :)

The car was in need of new tires, brakes and a few minor upkeep measures, so the men and I trekked it down to Franklin to the Toyota dealership (the only one in the area open all day on Saturday). While we were waiting, we had lunch at Jason's Deli. I like going there and I wish there was one closer to us.

The car upkeep took a while longer, so I dropped Joal off at the dealership to wait on it and I brought the boys home. We totally intended to go over to the Touch a Truck event...but I forgot. Ugh. The boys would have loved it. We were right there...it just slipped my mind. Looney, I tell ya. I'm headed that way fast.

When Joal got home later in the afternoon, I went to pick up a new camera and a home printer. I'm hooking it all up right now...it's so exciting. Now I can print my own pictures. How cool is that? I never imagined...Remember when we had to mail off the rolls of film and wait for weeks for it to return? Not anymore. I know, I'm a little late with it...others have been printing at home for years...but I'm always a little behind the times with techno stuff.

Then after we got the boys into bed, I went to buy groceries. It's exhausting to go at 9:30 pm, but it surely isn't crowded and I don't have to contend with little people adding things to my buggie. :)

I got alot done today, but I sure could use one more Saturday to catch up at home. Anyone have an extra I can have?

So now you know...

Working on Cruise Stuff

This little place is on one of the inlets of Grand Cayman. It was FOR SALE when we were there in March. We saw it as we were leaving the island for our swim with the Stingreys and our Coral expedition. I took about 20 pictures of it...afterall, what more could a girl want in a piece of real estate? It certainly made my heart skip a beat. Palm Trees, shutters instead of windows, a three boat slip, a view of the ocean :) and of course, a guest house for a sister...LOL! Can you imagine the scrapbook retreat possiblities?



The Navigator of the Seas employs about 1200 people to staff each cruise. Two of those people are full-time food decor experts. Seriously. This kind of thing, along with ice sculpting is their sole responsiblity. But don't go thinking they aren't pulling their weight. These beautiful and ultra-creative food sculptures and carvings are all over the place in all the dining areas of the ship. Hundreds of these in all kinds of shapes and sizes are made for each cruise. Every day something different.

And oh my, are they fast. I took this photo following a demonstration of the food carvings and it took maybe 5 minutes to turn this out. It was amazing.

In scrapbooking news, check out the product review on this page at scrapbook.com. I think I have a new hobby...reviewing products. It was fun and it earned me ten dollars...which I promptly used on paper! Of course.

On an unrealted note, does anyone know where I can find a simple tutorial on how to apply a digital brush or frame overlay to photos without Photo Shop? I use Microsoft's Picture It for photo editing and I don't have time to learn Photo Shop right now. (Someday...) Any ideas? I just want to do some very simple frames around some of the beach photos...

Many thanks...and
Happy Saturday.

Iris

Come Meet the Child

Come meet the child
Who loves to be free,
Warmed by the sun
And kissed by the sea.

Come meet the child
Who watches each sky,
Searching for rainbows
Or objects that fly.

Come meet the child
Who hides from the dark,
Bees that can sting
Or dogs that will bark.

Come meet the child
Who’s eager for praise,
Told she is special
And loved many ways.

Come meet the child
Who’s so hard to see.
Come meet the child
That lives within me!

--Jean Warren
© Warren Publishing

Pre-K graduation last night...

Excitement on Briley

Monday, AM

So there we were driving along the almost deserted Briley Parkway in relative peace when out of nowhere the passengers in my backseat went absolutely beserk. Beserk. Bezerk. I have no idea how to spell it but you know what I mean. Crazy. They went crazy.

Like little girls seeing Hannah Montana.

They craned their necks and begged me to speed up as she passed. Um yeah. Might I remind you that this is your mother's 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 167,ooo miles and --lovely as she is--she does not do "catch up" with a Porsche. Ever. In a million years. Sorry to disappoint, my loves.

What were they freaking out about? A little blue Porsche. The world-famous "Miss Sally" from the movie, Cars.

Shrieks of "Mommy, it's Miss Sally!" could be heard for miles. It was the highlight of our trip to the bread store.

I wonder if drivers of blue Porsches (what's the plural of Porsche? Porschi?) know how special they are to children who love that movie. I suppose drivers of Porsches have always garnered a certain amount of attention...but now it's certainly a different kind of attention...like say smiles and shrieks and pointing from little boys ages 5 to 12 and their Jeep-driving Moms.

"Boy, you're in a heap o' trouble now."

Planted a boy...

So this happened in my backyard yesterday...these 2 are a constant source of craziness and their need for "playing in the dirt" constantly amazes me. It's one of those things that as a girl, I don't think I can ever completely understand.

Happy Mother's Day, all.

Bummed.

I'm just bummed.
Bad pictures printed at Walmart.
Whom I hate anyway.
Bad news.
Bad timing.
Bad deals.
Disappointment.
Chores.
Headache.
Just ugh.

Home Schooling Liberty at risk again.

Good grief.

For the second time in just a few weeks, the rights of Tennessee's home school community (past, present and future) are at risk of being chopped into tiny bits by our very own legislature. (The first time can be read about here.)

This time it's the Department of Education taking aim at all those who have received a high school diploma under the Category 4 - the Church-related School provision of our state law. This provision allows for the utilization of Church-related Umbrella Programs, as home school governing bodies.

According to a recent ruling by the DoE, suddenly all Cetegory 4 diplomas - which have been being issued since - are now WORTHLESS.

Home School Legal Defense hasn't gotten it up on their site yet, but here is the memorandum received this morning.

From the HSLDA E-lert Service...
================================
May 5, 2008
Tennessee: Calls Needed on Diploma Bill

Dear HSLDA Members and Friends:
We need your help now!
Tennessee homeschoolers are facing both a tremendous opportunity and a potentially devastating threat by legislation being considered this afternoon by the House Education Committee in Nashville.

Our friend, Representative Mike Bell, has proposed an amendment to House Bill 1652 which would require the state to recognize high school diplomas issued by homeschools and church-related schools. This amendment was necessitated by the current policy of the Tennessee Department of Education that diplomas from church-related schools are worthless and are insufficient for employment and admission to schools beyond high school. This is an opportunity to remedy an injustice and discrimination against the thousands of students being taught by their parents through church-related schools.

In reaction to Representative Bell's amendment, the Department of Education has proposed its own amendment which would prevent the vast majority of parents from even teaching their high school level children. This amendment would require that all parents conducting a homeschool and all teachers in church-related schools (Category IV Schools) have a bachelor's degree in order to teach students in grades 9-12.

This is a threat to your basic freedoms which must be stopped today!Today at 3:00 p.m., the House Education Committee will hear House Bill 1652 and consider these amendments. Please take time right now to contact members of the Committee and express your support for Representative Bell's amendment and your opposition to the Department of Education's amendment.

ACTION REQUESTED:(1) Please call or email (both would be better) at least one member of the House Education Committee with this message:

"Please support Representative Mike Bell's amendment to House Bill 1652 which would eliminate discrimination against graduates of church-related schools in Tennessee. Please oppose the amendment offered by the Department of Education which would require all homeschooling parents and teachers in church-related schools to have a baccalaureate degree in order to teach grades 9-12."

The contact information for members of the House Education Committee is set forth below.

If your last name begins with A-I, please call the following members:
Chair Les Winningham (615) 741-6852 rep.leslie.winningham@legislature.state.tn.us
Vice-Chair Tommie Brown(615) 741-4374rep.tommie.brown@legislature.state.tn.us
Secretary Joe Towns, Jr.(615) 741-2189rep.joe.towns@legislature.state.tn.us
Harry Brooks(615) 741-6879rep.harry.brooks@legislature.state.tn.us
Jim Coley(615) 741-8201rep.jim.coley@legislature.state.tn.us
Barbara Cooper(615) 741-4295rep.barbara.cooper@legislature.state.tn.us

If your last name begins with letters J-R, please call these members:
Dolores Gresham(615) 741-6890rep.dolores.gresham@legislature.state.tn.us
Beth Harwell(615) 741-0709rep.beth.harwell@legislature.state.tn.us
John Hood(615) 741-7849rep.john.hood@legislature.state.tn.us
Phillip Johnson(615) 741-7477rep.phillip.johnson@legislature.state.tn.us
Ulysses Jones, Jr.(615) 741-4575rep.ulysses.jones@legislature.state.tn.us
Ron Lollar(615) 741-7084rep.ron.lollar@legislature.state.tn.us

If your last name begins with letters S-Z, please call these members:
Mark Maddox(615) 741-7847rep.mark.maddox@legislature.state.tn.us
Michael McDonald(615) 741-1980rep.michael.mcdonald@legislature.state.tn.us
Gerald McCormick(615) 741-2548rep.gerald.mccormick@legislature.state.tn.us
Richard Montgomery(615) 741-5981rep.richard.montgomery@legislature.state.tn.us
Larry Turner (615) 741-6954rep.larry.turner@legislature.state.tn.us
John Mark Windle(615) 741-1260rep.john.windle@legislature.state.tn.us

To find the name and contact information for your state representative, use HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox at http://capwiz.com/hslda/dbq/officials .

(2) Please forward this email to other homeschooling families who are not members of HSLDA and ask them to contact a member of the House Education Committee as well. If you have any questions or concerns about that this bill would do, please do not hesitate to contact us for additional information.

Sincerely,
Dewitt T. Black, III
HSLDA Senior Counsel
--------------------------------------------

There's a meeting at the legislature today to consider a bill that will right this wrong step.

Here's a summary page of the laws of homeschooling in Tennessee.

It's a Beautiful Thing...

Our friends at pre-k are marketing geniuses. As a rule, I don't purchase school pictures. Given that I produce thousands of pictures a year of the boys in my crew...I usually have no problem declining the cheesy-grin snaps that are over-priced from the school photographer. Well, that is until today.

When the little dude came home bearing this monstrosity of an 11x14 black and white picture. It's even printed on matte paper, just like I like.

He looks so sweet...and the black and white is so perfect. How can I not, right?

I don't usually purchase music new...but I made an exception for this, and it has not disappointed. :)

Weird, I didn't mean for this post to be about what I don't usually spend money on...but now you know.

Crane & Co.

No more suspense. This was the birthday present - Crane & Co. Raspberry and Espresso 100% cotton note cards...no calories, pure luxury.

So now you know.
I love that man.
Happy Tuesday.

Hello Governor.

The following came in the email today from a friend...made me laugh out loud.

Three Things to Ponder:

1. Cows

2. The Constitution

3. The Ten Commandments

C O W S

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the state of Washington? And, they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give each of them a cow.

T H E C O N S T I T U T I O N

They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it has worked for over 200 years, and we're not using it anymore.

T H E TEN C O M M A N D M E N T S

The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments posted in a courthouse is this: You cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery," and "Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians...It creates a hostile work environment.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

And now for the political musing that strikes me every once in a while--Joal saw our governor in Starbucks the other day. I told him he should have asked him to stop spending money he doesn't have on behalf of the citizens of the great state of Tennessee.

See, I happen to think that our government should act like it's citizens. When things get tight or an unexpected expense happens, you find some place else to tighten up or you do something useful to generate more income. Something useful being get a job or sell something, not raise taxes. Apparently, our governor doesn't understand this basic principle of economics. Fiscal responsibility...what's that? It surely doesn't mean adding an addition to the house (the one you don't even live in) for parties, with money you don't have. Hello.

There was an article in The Tennessean last week talking about how the state budget may have to "take a hit" (which appears to mean "not grow so much" rather than actually make cuts) given the precarious state of our state economy. Well, I'm not in a panic over the economy...I really don't think it's as bad as some say...but I do know that it's incredulous for the state budget not to feel some shrinkage when it's citizens are also feeling some shrinkage. It's irresponsible of our government to act like a spoiled child in matters of fiscal responsibility. Somebody needs to do some hand-smacking and take a time-out.

So, I'm guessing it was likely a good thing it wasn't me who ran into the governor at Starbucks.

In other news, I thought this project posted at 2Peas was totally cool and link-worthy! Enjoy!

And finally, did you see the 4 (count them...4) new alphabets Quickutz is releasing on Saturday (in honor of "National Scrapbook Day")? I think I may need to take on a new client or three. :)

The Birthday Gift

Today is my birthday. There was a small celebration last night that included a stop-my-heart sweet gift from my husband. It's the kind of gift that say "I know you."

So what did he give me?
Here are some clues.

They are "raspberry and expresso".
And came in a fancy box.
With an embossed band.
I will use them exactly 20 times.
They are 100% cotton.
They are exquisite and indulgent, and a tad ironic.
They are traditional and classic and completely inedible.

Would you like to venture a guess?

Meet Chippie.

I've been trying for a while to catch a picture of our friend "Chippie" the baby chipmunk who lives in the bushes around our house...finally got it today. Drove into the driveway and noticed he was perched on the rock. Just happened to have the camera in the seat beside me.

Chippie (and his or her ancestors) have lived here as long as we have. We don't dare touch him but he plays in the yard and is a collector like myself...I enjoy watching him play in the mornings.

Hi Chippie.

Big Shanty Festival, Kennesaw GA

Joal had a one-day meeting in Atlanta on Saturday, so the boys and I went along and attended the 32nd Annual Kennesaw/Big Shanty Festival on the square in Kennesaw, GA. (Kennesaw is a small town just north of Atlanta.)

It was one of those happy accidents - we didn't even know about the festival until Friday. How lucky is that? I love small town festivals, especially one held "on the square". You may recognize something familiar in this picture...if you are a fan of the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes". :)

I so wanted to grab some lunch there but it was completely packed and there were people already waiting in a nice long line. I didn't want to stand around and be boring to the boys for an hour...just to say I had lunched at the world-famous Whistle Stop Cafe...so we didn't hang around. But oh how I wanted to.

You may also notice that in the pictures of Grey, it appears that he took the scissors to his own hair in the front of his head and mangled up his otherwise cute bowl-cut hair. Yep. That would be because that's exactly what he did. And then he had the gall to deny it.

Um.

Yeah.

Smart.

I'm over it. Every child does this at some point, right? It's a right of passage. (That's what I'm telling myself anyway.) Did I mention that he did this 2 days before Easter sunday?

I digress.

Highlights of the day include:

-hearing and seeing a Confederate canon blast by soldiers dressed in period costumes

-foot long corndogs...like at the fair, only better

-riding the mini-train

-arts and crafts

-climbing on board a train car and exploring it's machinery

-seeing belly dancers perform (yes, that was delightful..."Mommy, why are those wadies naked?") For the record, they weren't naked. Mostly.

-music...the music was varied and fabulous

And of course, the Southern Museum. I would really like to go again...I never feel like I get the full impact of a museum by just going thru it once.

In other news, we also visited 2 scrapbook stores: Archivers and Your Scrapbook Clearance Center in Marietta. Enjoyed both...there's nothing like half-price sb shopping! :)

I also picked up awesome paper from Fancy Pants "About a Boy" line...oh man. I love this one called PEACE and the ROCK one! Very cool.

And finally, this is the layout from Jessica Turner's painting techniques class that I took a few weeks ago. I did a little re-arranging. I printed the photo on Bazzill textured cardstock because I accidentally re-sized the photo down too small and it is no longer large enough to be printed without some pixelation. The texture hides the pixelation, for the most part.

So now you know...

The perfect activity for a beautiful spring day.

Today is stunningly gorgous outside and the boys are livin' it up!

Ship to Shore (Scrapbook Your Cruise! Class)

Just a glimpse of what we'll be doing in the *Ship to Shore* class, a week from Saturday at Scrap'n Memories. This class features product from Scenic Route and Quickutz, my two favorite companies and lots of ideas for scrapbooking your tropical cruise memories.

Kits are available if you can't make it to the class.

Happy Thursday!

Buttons, beautiful buttons

This row of pretty-ness is lining the shelf above my desk. I found a site - http://www.morebuttons.com/ and oh my...this page is particularly enticing. And having them all sorted and visible...happiness in jars, I tell you.

So now you know.

A look back at Paper Tearing

I've been the owner and playground manager of a website, http://www.scrapbookchannel.com/ for a million years. OK really only since 2001 but it feels like forever. It's most important function was to be the home of the Scrapbook Stores in TN list, and to serve as a photo-hosting spot for my private work for clients.

Well, as one can imagine, web hosting deals are much better now than they were in 2001 so I've decided to let The Scrapbook Channel go and start something completely new (read: free).

After making this decision, I started going thru all the old files that are stored at the site...and boy did some things really take me back to "the early days" and give me a chuckle.

Pictured above is the 2-page-spread that I created for the class I taught at the very first Simply Southern Scrapbooking Convention in 2002. It was my first time teaching that many people at a time (4 rounds of 24 in a class) and boy was it exhillerating and exhausting. The name of the class was "Just Rip It: the art of paper tearing". I had a blast teaching with Anita who was the best assistant a girl could hope for. :) (I accidentally deleted the original image so I took a new picture...can't bear to throw this LO away, even tho the "t" is missing and I don't own that Sizzix font.

Oh my...Sizzix. Remember the drama when that big red personal die cut machine first came out. It was huge and heavy and we thought it was *the coolest*. It was most definately a whole new level. Look at that marvelous tearing work. And those pen curls that I learned to do from watching Rebecca Sower at a crop.

Before it all goes away forever, here's everything you ever wanted to know about paper tearing (or not) and a bunch of examples:

Gallery One

Gallery Two

Gallery Three (called New)

The Class Handout

My favorite tear art LO

Check out some other vintage items I found...

A Day-Cation. Oh wow. This faux mosaic tiling technique was a total phase I went thru. I love those fishes...they were cut from cardstock and the covered in an irredescent tissue. The "reporter-style" journaling was obviously from before I learned that it was ok to write in the first person. I was there, afterall. :) Oh and no, I wasn't pregnant, although I do look it. Ugh. Bad sweater. (Yeah, that's right, blame the sweater.)

Gotta Do My Chores Is that the same boy who now stares me dead in the eyes?

Baby Sarah Can you tell I took up stamping with that famous "Fruit of the Vine" set by Close to my Heart? And loved jump rings? Isn't that a cute baby?

Ship Island

So now you know...I've been embraced by this hobby for many years and have done a little of everything. :)

It's all about the ribbon...

the black and white ribbon, to be exact.

Dunkin'