Ranger Memory Items - Blitsy!!

Blitsy has the Ranger Memory products today! I have been wanting to get some of these but didn't want to pay the price for them at the scrapbook store or big chain stores. I ended up ordering some of the slides, frames and capsules in various sizes.

I want to use them to make charms for scrapbook layouts and altered items. My friend Sandie gave me the most gorgeous chotchke she made out of these when we were on the cruise.

Here are some examples of some things I want to try with these products!!

I'll try to continue Cruise posts tomorrow!

To Be Continued...

Due to career related work I will continue the cruise posts tomorrow, or at least try! LOL

Day 3 - Cozumel

Day 3 of the cruise was spent docked at Cozumel. The weather was really overcast as you can see with this picture of Wendi being excited about arriving in Mexico. We weren't really sure what we would do while there but we did know we would get off the ship and at least look around. Which was about all we did there. We soon found out we were on the wrong side of the island to hit a beach. There was a private beach but it would have cost us around $50 each to go in and enjoy it so we opted to just walk around a little and then go back to the ship.







We ran into Danita Kinney and her husband Keith while walking in Cozumel. Her husband had went to rent a jeep for them to drive around in and I guess they had quite the adventure as they got lost and ended up doing a U-turn in front of some type of military complex. We all were laughing until our sides hurt and she was explaining how the men had guns and were laughing at them as the men realized that she and her husband must have been lost.


 

BFF Karen, Shirley, Wendi, Sand

One of our tasks was to find sand from each location we docked. We got some sand from Senor Frogs and called it good. This is a picture of our ship as we were going back to board and enjoy the pool while most people were ashore.

Wendi and Sandie

Once we got back on the ship we had a little lunch and then hit the pool. We found Shirley Schaeffer there and enjoyed her company while soaking up some rays. Wendi jumped in the pool and said it was cold and she came back out really quick. 

The evening was spent doing our first project which was an apron and we learned how you cut fabric using the Cricut. Class A was given the choice of choosing a black apron or a white apron. I chose the black one. When Group B came in most of the black apron's were gone and Danita was wanting a black one so I gave her my finished apron *okie thinks she can be nice sometimes, but not often*. I forgot to take a picture of my apron and had to get a hold of Danita and she was nice enough to go take a picture of the apron and email it to me so I could post it. I did find it was very easy to cut fabric as long as you use decent fabric that has a good thread count. We were told to make sure you first adhere the fabric to Heat And Bond and then cut. We were given the file so we could cut the fish and turtle ourselves. The flower was already cut for us and that made it easier to finish the project.



We also received the coolest little Cricut rolling totes that had a little Cricut plushie in it and also the new Cricut Scoring Tip with Housing! I can attest that these little bags are quite durable since I toted it all over the Grand Caymans and Jamaica! I also know it will hold two liters of alcohol, clothing, crafting supplies and water bottles on the side, because that is what I had in it when I got ready to go home. Boy did that little rolling tote come in handy!

I was able to snap a picture of Jennifer and her sister Leila proudly displaying their new bags. During open crop the project was a washcloth bunny head. I worked on the layout kits I brought so I could at least say I accomplished something. I will have to post those at a later date.

Next stop...Grand Cayman!

Day Two of the 2012 Cricut Cruise

Karen, Wendi and I ordered room service for breakfast so we could sleep in a little later and not have to rush around getting ready for the day and going to one of eateries.

We had a Gypsy class at 9:30, and I don’t think I learned anything I didn’t know and I still don’t care for the Gypsy. BFF Karen did work with my Gypsy a little bit. She kept saying I was going to break the screen and I told her "I have to bang on it like that for it to work". I don't think she believed me until she tried it herself *okie felt so vindicated*. 

BFF Karen & Sandie at Meet & Mingle

After the Gypsy we went to the Meet & Mingle that was hosted by Cruise Critic and Royal Caribbean. They gave us some nice cheese and fruit for a snack and talked about the entertainment and shopping on the ship. They did a raffle and several people from the Cricut group won some prizes…I was not one of them, but at least I did get free cheese! We headed to the buffet for lunch after the Meet & Mingle and ate with Danita and her husband. We actually thought the food was better in the buffet than what we got in the dining room the night before. 

The next class was the Imagine class. We were late for that one due to eating lunch but I didn’t mind since I don’t have an Imagine and don’t care to have one. I know there are a lot of people that love theirs and that is great, I just really like my pretty paper. I think I spent most of the class looking around at everyone and dreaming of finding a beach the next day at Cozumel.

Dan being frustrated with network problems

I was so excited about the Cricut Craftroom/Cricut Mini Machine class but was quite disappointed. I thought we were going to be able to follow along using our own computers while they taught the class but this was not to be. There were two large screens for us to watch as the instructor taught but the one on the side of the room where we were sitting was not focused and hurt my eyes. I did move to the front on the other side of the room but still found it hard to go along with since I couldn’t do the hands on with the program on my laptop that I toted on the ship with me just for this purpose. I will say Dan worked hard getting everyone set up but there was some type of network problem and he wasn’t able to get everyone set up. I think I would have enjoyed learning if I had been able to have it up on my own screen and follow along and might have learned something. At this point I was feeling CCR is not worth my time and would be sticking to my Design Studio for the rest of my life.

BFF Karen, Me and Wendi

We all met for a group picture, since it was formal night we were all dressed to the nines, before dinner. Okay I will be honest and say not everyone was dressed up since there was a couple that came in with t-shirts, shorts and ball caps on their heads. I was rather shocked that they allowed them in the dining room dressed that way since last year a man was not able to get in on formal night without a tie, but I guess each cruise line is different. I was having problems keeping "the girls" in my top but a little ATG tape took care of that problem. Who said that dang ATG gun was for crafting only? It was a little hard to remove from my skin afterwards but I just had to be careful to peel slowly to get it off.

I think there might have been a class after dinner, I can't really remember. You always think you are going to remember everything but since so much happens in such a short period of time it makes it hard to remember. We did attend the nightly crop that night and the Make And Take project was a little frame that included a title of "Mexico".

Lined up for Make N Take supplies

Here are some of the ladies lined up to get their supplies for the Make N Take project. The instructors were great with working with the crowd of crafters and answering all the questions and made sure each person had some personal help and time. I tell ya Provo Craft must give their employees some Valium or something because they were always so calm and even keel *okie thinks she could have used some Valium a few times to deal with some of the rude passengers on the ship*.

Brianna and Richard, AWESOME!

I got to visit a little with Brianna and Richard during the crop that night. Richard works for PC as a graphic designer and he was so super helpful and sweet. I did find out he also had a great sense of humor. His wife Brianna must surely be a saint because I think Richard has quite an ornery side!

All the folks that came representing Provo Craft were friendly helpful and amazingly patient! I know there were a few times I think they thought I was upset when I couldn't get something to work and I would just say "I can do it at home, it's fine" and they would say "it's not fine". I guess I should have explained I love to socialize during such things and am too dang nosy to finish anything I do and always have to finish projects at home where I am undisturbed and can concentrate. My friend Linda, aka LGuild, can surely attest to this as she has seen it for years. I never care if I get anything done, I just want the project and want to be nosy and visit! *okie falls out chair laughing*

We were very lucky not to have to tote our belongings back and forth from the conference center to our rooms if we chose not to do so. They were able to lock up the room so no one could get in. Since PC had several thousand dollars worth of supplies in the room I figured my hunderd dollars worth of supplies were probably safe but just to be sure I made a little sign to make sure no one touched my CHIT! HA HA HA HA HA

This was the night we were all given a certificate saying we would be receiving the new Cricut Art Cartridge Ole, which will be great to do some layouts of our trip to Cozumel...which will be my post for tomorrow!

First Day On The 2012 Cricut Cruise

Karen, Wendi and I arrived at the port around 1pm, when the letter we received told us to arrive. We waited in line to get checked in for 2.5 hours. The rest of the Cricut group  arrived earlier and told us they got on the boat without waiting in line like we did. We were told that it was immigration day, whatever that meant, and it took longer to get checked in. I did notice that every once in awhile one of the check in people would hold up a passport and it would say MEXICO on it and then they would have to call a another person over and it would take longer. We would later find out that it was Spring Break in Mexico and that was the reason for the hold up as probably over half the guests were non-US citizens and their passports were all having to be checked out very carefully. I also found out that many of the teenagers were super rude and the small children ran around unsupervised quite often which made for an irritating experience to say the least.

After finally making it on the ship we made a mad dash directly the Muster Drill so we could learn how to put on our life jackets in case the ship started to sink. Poor BFF Karen was totally irritated at this time and surprisingly, I was nice and calm *okie thinks this surprised Karen and Wendi at this time, and also surprised okie*. We finally made it to our room. By the time we made it to the room I had one of my bags but poor Karen and Wendi didn’t have any. It was time to go to dinner and it was casual, thank goodness because we sure didn’t have fancy clothes! The only saving grace about dinner in the dining room that night was the company! We were seated at a table with Treva, aka TP98, Sharon I2BZ2W8, and Richard from Provocraft and his wife Brianna. The food was mediocre *okie thinks the taste was quite similar to likes a microwave meal* and the service was terribly slow. The waiters were not very friendly and I found myself wish I had my service staff from the previous year's cruise. I spent part of the time going from table to table looking for Karen Silva aka flyswhistle and mingling with many of the other Cricut guests. I never did find Karen but found out later she was seated away from us since she had booked through another company.

After the dinner we went back to our room to check on our luggage an luckily it was in our room. Our wonderful steward was a lady named Ingrid, and was at our beckon call about anything we wanted or needed. She had a heck of a personality and a great sense of humor. She told us she was there to “spoil” us. We changed clothes and since we finally had our toiletries we put on some make up and headed to the Sail Away Cocktail Party.

I took time before leaving for the Cocktail Party to snap a picture of BFF Karen on the balcony. Karen and I have decided we will not cruise without a balcony again if we can help it. It was nice not to have to have to leave our rooms if we wanted to look outside and enjoy some fresh air. Most mornings we went out in our nightgowns to greet the morning and it was great for when we were in port to be able to see out before we got off the ship.

At the cocktail Party Dan Larsen from Provocraft made a few announcements, one being that the last Golden Cricut would be given away during the cruise. He also announced that each person included in the classes would receive a quarterly membership to the Cricut Circle. I quickly told BFF Karen “girl you will get a free cartridge for that!”. I did finally find Karen Silva during the party, or she found me, and we had a great time catching up. Dan had each person tell who they were, how long they have had been using a Cricut and where they were from. I think I got hushed a few times due to my loud voice due to the 4 margarita's I had during the course of the evening *okie won’t mention the few other drinks she had as well* and luckily the ones who were saying hush didn't hear me say "oh kiss my butt, I'm having fun" or maybe they did and that's why some folks decided early on they didn't care for me *okie cracks up laughing*. I was able to finally meet the two Canadians, Jennifer and Leila, that I had been wanting to meet, along with Danita who is from Georgia. I also got to talk to Margie, aka bleedingcricutgreen, for a bit and let me tell you that woman is hilarious!

Danita, Jennifer, Leila, Shirley

After leaving the Cocktail Party a few of us found the lounge Bolero's and decided to partake in a "slushy drink", as my new Canadian friends called them. We shared quite a few laughs and once we finished our drinks we went back to my room where we found Karen, Wendi, Sandi and Sandy. 

I believe I vaguely remember Danita telling us something the next morning about how she couldn't hang with us anymore....but she did *okie grins evilly*.

 

Jennifer, Danita, Sandy, Leila

Being the good hostess's we were, we showed our guests the view from the balcony and told them they were welcome to come visit and share the balcony with us. A few did come and visit a few times during the cruise and it was nice to be able to sit outside and not be crowded in a room. 

I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures, this one showing a few of our guests on the balcony.

We all decided to go to the casino and hang out for a bit. Somehow we ran into the Pirate Parade. In my mottled memory I remember us trying to go up a staircase and being told we couldn't until after the parade and that is when I noticed some folks sitting around in their best pirate attire.  Since pirates are not something I tend to see I did get a few pictures and good thing because that is the only reason I remember the pirates *okie makes a mental note to remember that Royal Caribbean does NOT skimp on the alcohol in drinks*. We finally made it to the deck that the casino. Danita told us she was going back to the room to get some money and would return, she never returned and it was the next day we saw her...HA HA HA.

In my usually style of wandering around being nosy I had lost everyone else and decided to go back to the room. It took me what seemed like forever to find my dang room! I kept walking up and down the dang hall reading the numbers and then I would look up and down the hall and think "I know there are not 300 rooms in this hallway!" Come to find out I was on the wrong side of the ship. Luckily I remembered my room was close to the library and after crossing the library I was able to find the Barbie display and I knew I was close. BFF Karen and Wendi were already in bed but not asleep. We discussed the events for the next day but none of us remembering exactly what were were suppose to be doing and when. When I finally laid down to sleep I was hoping I would at least remember I was on a dang cruise ship and that I had something that I was suppose to be doing the next day!

 

To Be Continued…..

Back Home And...

I IS TOO TIRED TO POST! HA HA HA

Actually I am tired. I made it home around 8pm and was able to get my suitcases unpacked and stored away. I didn't get all my goodies packed away as I was just a bit too tired to bother with it tonight. I will be posting pictures and stories later this week!

Once again ProvoCraft hosted an fabulous cruise but I am glad to be back!

I'm The Featured Blogger Today...

At Crafts Unleashed, which is the blog for Consumer Crafts. They contacted me recently asking if I would be interested in doing some guest blogging for them featuring scrapbook pages, layouts or altered items. How could I say no when I use their products all the time? Of course then came the panic of was it good enough *okie is so self critical* and evidently my first project was since it is featured today. To see the project just click -->HERE<--.

Sorry I haven't been posting much. I have been busy with work and trying to get ready for the cruise. I think I have all my clothes picked out, now just to wash some  last minute stuff and get to packing. I did have to buy a few things since most of my clothes from last year are too big, which is a good thing! Tonight I will be busy with doing laundry and ironing. I am going to try and get everything laid out so I can get it packed tomorrow night. I will have everything packed and sitting by the door Friday night so Wendi and I can just hop in the car and go Saturday morning. I so hate getting ready for a trip *okie sighs deeply*.

Blossom Sunflower - Card

I made this card almost by accident. I was playing around with my new Mixed Bunch stamp set and Blossom punch. I wanted to make a sunflower but it didn't look quite right to me. I posted a picture on Facebook and it was about a 50-50 vote about it looking like a sunflower. I decided I didn't care what it looked like since I thought it was still pretty. I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the card, the sentiment on the inside reads "it takes a long time to grow an old friend". I sent one of the cards to my friend Amy, aka Scraparazzi, and she loved it. She always comments about how she would keep a card if I ever sent her one so I guess we will see! LOL


Supplies Used:
Stampin Up Blossom Punch
Stampin Up Bird Punch
Stampin Up Mixed Bunch stamp set
Stampin Up Cardstock
7 Gypsies Pattern Paper
Colorbox Chalk Ink
Gingham Ribbon
Grosgrain Ribbon

I stamped one of the flowers on the yellow cardstock and then cut with scissors around and down the middle of the petals. I did a double layer of this and then I punched out a yellow flower for the base. I added mounting foam between the layers. I also cut the flower center out with scissors because I thought it looked better than just using a circle punch. I used the branch from the Bird punch for the leaves.

You're A Hoot! - Card

After finishing up my stamp catalog I wanted to make something but wasn't sure what I wanted to make, I just knew I didn't want to look at a stamp and I didn't feel like breaking out the Cricut. I looked over at my punches and decided on the owl punch and got to work.

Supplies Used:
Stampin Up Owl Punch
Stampin Up Bird Punch
Stampin Up Decorative Label Punch
Stampin Up Scallop Circle Punch
Stampin Up Circle Punches
Stampin Up Cutie Pie Paper
Stampin Up Cardstock
Woodgrain Cardstock
MS Word
Stampin Up Markers
Signo UM-153 Gel Pen
Colorbox Chalk Ink

I used the Decorative Label Punch for the cut out on the tree. Mounting foam was then applied to the tree and the owl for dimensional effect.

I had completed the card and it didn't look quite right. I kept thinking it needed something and I thought about the bird punch that has the branch on it and thought I could punch the leaves and add. When I did that I felt it was just what the card needed! I punched out two different colors of green 

The sentiment was done with Microsoft Word. I used circle punches and then the scallop circle punch to finish it off. I added white dots with the gel pen. 

I left the inside of the card blank so it can be used for any occasion.

25% OFF - CONSUMER CRAFTS!

Just thought I would give you guys a heads up on the 25% off the entire site at Consumer Crafts!! I love their products and their customer service is awesome! If you are wondering what I order from here, I get my Core'dinations from them and the picture frames I like to alter. If you have tried them you might want to go check them out.

Just used the code: FANDF12 when you check out. The only exclusions are Cricut Machines and Copic Markers, everything else is up for grabs!!

Stamp Catalog - COMPLETED!

Okay almost completed. My friend Wendi is going to bring me a few sheets of cling foam so I can finish my background stamps but other than that...it's all done! I have been posting about  my progress on Facebook since this has been quite an under taking and I thought I better post the complete process, along with pictures on my blog.

First off, I use the Stamp Storage cases from Stampin Up. I have scoured the internet for a cheaper source and while I did come across some there were none that were as easy and convenient to obtain. Manufactures in China want you to order thousands, and preferably each month. I have quite a few stamps but not that many. I did find a source in the UK but they never got back to me on shipping costs, etc so I am giving up and just sticking with Stampin Up.

I cut sheets of paper at 5" x 7" for the front and back of the cases. I would cut stacks at a time so I didn't have to stop and cut frequently. I had already had my stamps pretty well organized before I decided to catalog them all so it was fairly easy to just take them out and do them again. I was able to rearrange and use the space more efficiently by using this method and it did require slight adjustments in organization but works out much better.

I arranged the stamps  on the sheet of paper and it was much like putting jigsaw puzzles together to get maximum efficiency. While I did get frustrated a few times it was worth the extra effort and work.

Once I had the stamps in place I put my large stamp block on the stamps to keep them positioned. This sheet wasn't full. On the fuller sheets my stamp block wasn't quite big enough so I would also use my long rectangle block to pick up the stamps that didn't fit on the large square block. I loved being able to stamp multiple images at once and it saved a TON of time.

Here you can see the images stamped on the sheet of paper. I still have room to add more stamps at a later date if I need to do so. Since this sheet is Christmas I am sure the space will be used in the future at some time.

For the catalog I stamped on an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper showing the stamps that are on either side of the stamp storage case. I would do the 5" x 7" first and then stamp on the catalog page immediately afterward. My friend Linda copied her sheets but I decided that Memento ink was a lot cheaper than printer ink and since I could stamp multiple images at once it wasn't that much of a bother and I didn't have to get up and walk over to the printer every time I made a new catalog sheet.



Here is the catalog page with both sides stamped off. It is easy to see where the stamp is in the case just from looking at the catalog sheet. Notice the area down the middle that is open, I will show you later what I did there.

As I got each catalog page done I placed them in sheet protectors and put them in a 3 ring binder. I just got a cheap one at Staples for $2. Once all that was done I knew I needed to figure out a way for easy indexing. I already had my spines on my stamp storage cases so I just printed them off again and placed them in the middle of the sheets.

For even more clear identification purposes I added a small round sticker to the bottom of each page. I used a method of "A1, A2, B1, B2" etc. The reason I went with this method was because my stamps were already arranged in alphabetically order according to category. It will be easy to add cases this way as well if my collection grows *okie wonders if anyone noticed her saying if instead of when*. So instead of having to change everything I can just add "B17, B18" to the B catergory or "A3, A4" etc.

 
 

Here is a close up shot of one of the pages. I took it so you can get  better idea of the letter number system and also point out how one side is blank. Since I use a thin mounting foam I can get stamps on both sides of most of my cases. If the stamps are already on mounting foam I arranged them so all the thick foam ones were on one side and thin foam or acrylic were on the opposite side. In some instances I was only able to use one side of the case, but that was rare.



 

Here is a picture of the case from the outside. I opened it so you can see both sides of the case. You might wonder why I chose to use brown ink instead of black and it was just a matter of preference, and I like the color brown *okie cracks up laughing*. One thing I do like about making my own covers is that all the stamps are equal to the eye now. Before I acrylic, rubber, mounted, etc being seen through the case and it was difficult to see the image clearly due to all the other images. This way the images are seen easily.
 

This is a picture of the stamps on the inside of the case. The stamps are aligned with the images on the front. This makes it easy to find the stamp and return it to the case when it is used.

And the final picture is off all my stamp cases indexed and put in order. You can see the small stickers at the bottom identifying them according to the small round stickers on the catalog page. 

I can fit 11 cases in each little cube but I find it hard to pull them out with 11 so instead I just put 10 in each one and it is a lot easier to slide them in and out this way.

The wood blocks in the bottom right hand corner are the background stamps that I need to unmount. I already have their cases and catalog sheets ready so once I get the foam from Wendi it won't take but a minute to get them in their cases and correct spots in the system. I will say this about unmounting background stamps...it is more difficult and not for the faint of heart. If you are concerned about messing up a big stamp then you might want to leave them on the blocks. I however am a crafting daredevil and decided to go for the gusto. I just used the same method as I do for my other stamps but did find placing them on the cling foam was a little more tricky due to the large area.

Now that this time consuming task is done I think I will treat myself to a vacation and go on a cruise! HA HA HA It's only 9 more days until I will be getting my butt on that big boat! Can't wait to spend a week on the high seas with some awesome people!

***UPDATE***
My friend Sharon from Australia commented on my Facebook page "Hey I discovered that the cuttlebug c plate makes an awesome stamping block when you need a larger surface =)". I never thought of that and it would have saved tons of time from using the two blocks since the C plate is larger than the 5 x 7 area I was stamping. Oh well at least I know for future reference! Thanks for the info Sharon!!

Working Frantically On...

I haven't posted anything in a few days since I have been working frantically on finishing my stamp catalog. I finally finished it last night! I now have all my stamps stamped off for their cases and then on a sheet of paper so I can easily find what I want to use.

Several crafter's I know have said they have used this method and love it. I kept thinking about it and then thought about what an undertaking it would be to stamp them ALL. After Linda did hers and talked about how easy she can look through her stamps and find stamp she wants to use I figured I better bite the bullet and do the deed *okie thinks that sounds so nasty and the remembers all the inky fingers she had and realizes it was a nasty deed*.

I still have to figure out how I want to label the pages and the cases for easier identification when I want to use them. I thought about numbers but since I have my stamps in alphabetical order and if I add to the certain themes it would throw off my numbering system I feel like I need to find a different method where I can expand without redoing half the system.

I will take some pictures tonight and try to get it all posted tomorrow so you can see my awesome stamp organization!

I worked hard on this as I wanted to get it done before my cruise. I am not sure why I felt I needed to, don't think not getting it done would have had me so stressed that I wouldn't enjoy the cruise...just weird that way I reckon *okie watches for someone to say something smart about that comment* Go ahead, say sumfin! I DARE YA! *okie rears her hand back in smack mode*.

Happy Birthday - Stamping On Pattern Paper

One thing I always forget about is stamping on patterned paper. I think it can give such a nice subtle classy look to a card. I found this layout on Pintrest a few weeks ago and went through my stamps to find something that would work.

Supplies Used:
Stampin Up - Front image/sentiment
Sugarloaf Stamp - Inside Sentiment
K & Co. Patterned Paper
Various Cardstock
Black Memento Ink
Colorbox Chalk Ink
Brads
3/8" Grosgrain Ribbon

The inside sentiment is one I came across when I was reorganizing my stamps, oh by the way I am working on cataloging my stamps now and will post later, and thought it would work for this card. I chose the colors because I thought it would work for a man as well, even with the ribbon and it was more classy looking than most of the cutsie cards I make.

I cut the layered the strips of paper similar to the one I saw on Pintrest and the multi-layers seem to work well together and while the birthday sentiment is small the layers focus the eye to it *okie thinks that sounded so professionally artisty like*. The stamp of the flowers went below the strip across so to avoid having the image show at the bottom of the strip I laid a piece of paper across the pattern cardstock where I didn't want the image to stamp.


 Okay that's all I have for you today. I gotta go get dressed and get ready to head up to my aunt's house in Seminole. My cousin Betty Lou is wanting to make a big dinner for everyone and I am sure we will have a house full. I called my sister yesterday morning and told her that she needed to go to Aunt Betty's so her and her husband will be out there as well. I also have to stop by Linda's and get some punches she ordered for me. Busy, busy day....but what a lovely way to spend a Sunday!!

Family Visits...Momma Would Be Proud

I went out of town yesterday to my Aunt Betty's house. My Uncle Richard, Aunt Janet and cousin Betty Lou were in from Ohio. My aunt and uncle are going down to Texas for their granddaughters graduation with her Master's Degree and were able to stop and visit at Aunt Betty's.

I had told my daughter earlier, like 3 weeks ago, that I would be going to Seminole on the 16th to visit. Yesterday she calls and wants to know what I am doing...*okie rolls her eyes*. When I told her were I was she remembered and then said she wanted to come up, it's about 35 miles from where I live. I told her she needed to work and not being able to do what you want when you want is part of adulthood. She asked how long I was staying and that she was going to have a friend bring her up, her car isn't able to make such a trip but that is a whole different story,  and wanted to ride back with me. I was actually going to head back home but being the dutiful mother, and also not wanting to face the wrath of my Aunt Betty, Aunt Janet and cousin Betty Lou I decided I better agree to stay so they could see her and visit for a little bit. I was a little perturbed at her lack of responsibility of taking off work and not thinking of the consequences of possibly the employer getting upset about the request and her losing her job. She later explained to me that she had worked out a deal with her boss to go in on her day off and make up the hours she would be taking off.

My mother and her sisters were always close and they passed it down to some of us kids. While Betty Lou is my mother's first cousin I have always felt she was more like one of my aunts and she has always been close to "Gertie's girls", Gertie being my grandmother. I stay in regular contact with some of my cousins even though we are spread over the United States. My mom passed away in 2001 and I know she would be proud that I always hightail it up to Aunt Betty's when the relatives are in. When she was alive she would always call me if someone was coming in and would stress "they are only stopping through so you will need to be here (on whatever day) because you know they will want to see you". Never once did I tell her I couldn't make it. I did whatever rescheduling I needed to do to make it up to visit. As I sit and think about this I have to actually be proud of my daughter for doing her rescheduling so she could see her great aunts and cousin.

My daughter was almost 10 when my mom passed away and she and my mom were close. Shiane started going on over night trips to my mom's when she was about 6 or 7, once the visits started Momma would call about once a month to ask if Shiane could come up and spend the weekend with her, this worked into my daughter going about 3 weekends out of the month the last year and a half of my mom's life. I sit here smiling now thinking of how my mom would be proud of her granddaughter for realizing how important family is, and how she might possibly chastise me for being upset with my daughter in the first place. I can hear Momma now, telling me "well now Shirley, you always felt family was important and you changed your schedule anytime family came in so Shiane is only doing what her mother did and what she should do" *okie wipes away a tear streaming down her cheek just imagining her mothers voice*. While thinking of this does bring a tear it isn't a sad tear, but one knowing that my Momma would be proud of her "little Shiane".

Oh and by the way,  my daughter informed me that we are going back to Seminole on Sunday after she finishes up her make up hours so she can visit again. I, of course, can do nothing but conform...*okie smiles feeling a little pride in her daughter for wanting to spend more time with her family*.

I am NOT OCD...

Truly I am not! I know a lot of people think due to my constant organization in my craft room that I am OCD. Believe me I would know if I was OCD, after all the great state of Oklahoma has deemed me qualified to give out such a diagnosis, and I am not clinically OCD. If you could see the rest of my house you would completely agree with the fact that there is no basis for me being deemed OCD.

Just this week my sweet friend Enfys, most of you guys are probably familiar with her from Going Buggy, informed me in one of her emails that she is concerned about me. Well here is part of her message, and I quote "this obsession of yours for organisation is worrying, have you thought about a 12 step programme?" *okie still gets tickled at how her Britty and Aussie friends spell words a little differently*. Now this might not be too concerning that a friend would express worry but considering that Enfys is in the UK, it does make me a little apprehensive that my obsession of crafty organization is now worrying people globally and does have me pondering if there is something wrong with me!

*okie sighs deeply* But as you can see by the picture the hard work as paid off. I now have ALL of my stamps organized. This includes my Stampin Up, Close To My Heart, and various other brands of stamps. The only ones I don't have in stamp cases are my background stamps, although I have given a little thought of unmounting them but can't decide at this time if I want to do so  *okie resists the urge to go over there right now and rip the stamps off the blocks and put them on cling foam and slap them in the 3 empty cases she has left*.

Linda *okie wonders if she ever even needs to explain who Linda is anymore since she is mentioned in posts so frequently* has just about convinced me to catalog my stamps as she has done so I can find my stamps much easier. She did hers last week and she said she loves it. If you would like to see Linda's stamp organization click --> HERE <--. And while Enfys did voice concern for my "obsession" as she so put it, she also has a method for organizaing her stamps. If you would like to see how Enfys organizes her stamps then please click --> HERE <--. Oh and just so you don't have to spend time counting there are a total of 66 labeled stamp cases. Please don't ask how many stamps I have because I am not so obsessed as to count *okie thinks it will be easier to count once she does the cataloging and can write down the number on each sheet in the bottom right hand corner so they can be easily tallied*.

Since I am not OCD but yet there does seem to be some issue that I suffer ailments from I will at this point in my life admit to suffering COA....otherwise, and here forth know as Craftroom Organization Addiction.

*okie stands behind a podium, clears her throat and starts to speak to the crowd*
Hi, my name is Okie. I am powerless over the need of organization in my craft room.
I admit that I cannot control my behaviors, desires, and thoughts of organization as it relates to my craftroom.
I admit I can not overcome this problem on my own
*okie stops for a minute, eyebrows knitting together as she goes into deep thought in how to finish this declaration*
Um...I am sorry folks I think I need to be more honest.  
*okie smiles broadly and finishes her little speech on the podium*
Who the hell am I kiddin folks? I absolutely know what I am doing with all this organization crap. I understand I love to organize. I love being able to go to any section of my craftroom and get what I need. If I suffer from some sort of affliction then I choice to live in denial!! *okie runs from the podium gleefully laughing heading off to color code and label something*

A Good Patio Day...

One of my favorite places to sit at my house is out on my patio. I spend many, many hours there when the weather is warm and during the cold weather I long for the times when I can get back out and enjoy the fresh air and watching the activities, animals and people in the neighborhood. When the weather first starts warming up after the winter months I relish standing at the edge of my patio with my eyes closed and my face turned to the sun, just soaking up the warmth that is thawing the chill of winter. I know when I see the buds on the trees and the redbud across the fence getting it's little violet blooms that spring is starting to set in and regular warm weather isn't far away. Some patio days are better than others of course. Some days the heat might be too much to bear or the bugs might be bombarding, then other days you can have the sweet smells of nature wafting through the patio as the wind gently makes the wind chimes tinkle out their tune. I guess it is all in how you interpret things if it is a good patio day or not....*okie thinks she looks for interpretation in way too many things in her life*.

Patio sitting probably isn't that exciting to most people but I do get a few folks walking down the alley to watch, the squirrels that are playing, the robins building their nests...and even one time the wild parakeet that I tried to catch without success. Come to think of it the only thing I succeed at catching was a stone bruise from running on the gravel of the alleyway. Of course watching Lucy chase the squirrels is one of my favorite things to watch and if anyone would see me out there then they would likely think me crazy as I am laughing at something that no one else can see unless they are in the backyard with me.

I was sitting on my patio the other day, well late afternoon actually, when I saw two people going down the alley on motorized wheel chairs. I live not far  from low income housing where a lot of people with disabilities live so seeing motorized wheelchairs in my neighborhood is a frequent sight. I wondered how they were going to fair when they got to the garage apartment across the alley as the dirt had been dug up recently and was likely soft. I watched the man go over the area, with his little dog following and the woman stop hesitantly.

I watched as she backed up and then would go forward, turning her chair a little to the right and then she would stop and do it over again. The man didn't get probably 10 feet from her when he stopped and turned his chair around. He hollered at the woman "are you okay sister?" and I couldn't hear her words back to him but whatever it was he sat and waited patiently. The little dog would run over to the woman as if to say "come on now, you can do it". I sat and watched her repeat this about 4 times. The little dog kept running back to the man and then back to the woman as if to say "hey, do something".

Each time the woman would move her chair backwards the man would ask her "do you need some help?" and I would hear her say something but never could quite figure out what was being said. I was about to go to the back of the yard to see if there was anything I could do when I heard the man say "hang on sister, I'm coming". He moved his chair out of the way of the evidently fairly clear path in the alleyway and then he slowly got out of his chair. I could tell by the way he winced as he got up that it must be painful for him. He took the approximately 5 steps very slowly and then stepped around behind his sister's wheelchair. I heard him speaking to her and her nodding. At that time he gave a push and was able to assist her getting through the softened soil of the alley. I watched him walk behind her until she hit the pavement of the street, the little dog jumping up and down next to them like he understood what was going on and was so excited for the woman to be at the safety of the road.

Noticing the man had to walk about 10 feet to his wheelchair and I wondered how much pain it must cause him. His sister was saying something to him, but with her being softer spoken I still was unable to make out what she was saying. I did see him turn to her and smile and say "It's okay sister, I'm okay" even though as he turned his back to her his face once again winced with pain. He did make it back to his chair and was able to make it next to her on the road without a problem. I saw them speaking and then the woman reached out and grabbed his hand, gently shaking it and smiled at him. I knew she must be telling her brother thank you for helping her. I am sure she understood the physical pain he must have felt but he was able to endure it to help his sister get past her obstacle. I saw him raise his hand, while smiling, and give her a little wave of "oh it's nothing" and down the road they went.

As I got up and went to the edge of the patio I leaned against one of the posts and took a long deep breath, as I held my face to the sun I smiled, exhaled slowly and thought to myself "what a good thing to not only feel the warmth of the sun, but to see the warmth of love and support between a brother and sister". That was a good patio do for sure!

Only 19 Days!

I only have 19 days until I will be aboard the Mariner of the Seas and heading toward the Western Carribbean! I can almost smell the ocean air...almost...

I finally did get my passport in and in the paperwork it said "The World Is Yours". I think since the world is mine I should be able to go anywhere I want for free and I should have minions *okie still so wants some minions who show faithfulness and delight in serving okie*. But alas, I don't anyone else will go for this. I thought about suing the passport folks for making such a false statement! But since I am now legal to go anywhere in the world my miniscule bank account will allow I guess I will just settle for knowing I can go *okie knows after all the money for the cruise she will barely afford to be able to go across town much less out of the country again for quite some time*.  My friend Wendi was getting a little nervous because she hadn't received hers yet. I had sent off for mine a few days after her and we figured she would get hers before me. She did let me know yesterday that it arrived. BFF Karen, being the worldly traveler she is, already had her passport so she was good to go.

I had made a Facebook group for this years cruisers to get to know each other and ask questions and while it has come in handy I think a few of the cruisers are way over thinking and stressing the whole situation. Although, I did do the same thing last year HA HA HA. The good thing about going with BFF Karen and Wendi is that none of us are "keep to the schedule" kind of people. If we get there we get there, if not then we find something to enjoy along the way. Of course we will make sure we keep to the schedule about being on the boat when it gets ready to leave the dock and visiting ports.

I think the one thing that is making me a little nervous this year is that I won't be able to talk to my daughter for a whole week. We have never gone a whole week, even during times we were arguing and she didn't want to speak to me ever again, without talking! I have looked online for calling cards but not sure how they work. I thought maybe I could at least check in with her while at Cozumel. I guess I will have to see what happens.

I talked with Karen and we agreed that we don't really want to do any shopping, we didn't do that much last year. I am not a tshirt kinda person so I don't have to have tshirts from every port but I do want to check on getting one or two more of those thin material beachy dresses. I don't know what they are really called. I got one last year and wore it all the time this summer and loved it. It was great for those terribly hot summer days we had last summer. Other than that there isn't much I want. My friend, aka fake fiancee, asked if I would pick him up some Ginger Beer, which evidently is a soft drink and not beer at all *okie believes that is false advertisement*, and I told him I would if I saw some.

We haven't signed up for any excursions and I doubt we will. I am a person who likes to just check things out on my own and prefer not to be lead down a primrose path by those wanting to overcharge tourists. Well that and to tell ya the truth I am just way to cheap to pay the money for such things. All I care about is going to the beach and seeing a few local sights so I can say "hey I have been there before". I think last year I was in the water more than anyone else on that ship we were on. I love the water and was delighted with the clear waters to swim and was amazed at seeing the fish in the water. Here in Oklahoma you go swim in a lake and you feel yourself getting nibbled on but ya never are able to see what exactly is biting at you and just always hope whatever it is ain't poisonous!

I scored a cool vintage Steamstress to take on the cruise with me. Linda and I went into Salvation Army a few weeks ago and came across the cool little appliance and she told me later "if you go in there again and they have it you should get it. It won't burn your clothes and would be great for the cruise. I have two and I love them". So when I went back in I did get it, paid a whopping $2 for it. I have tried it out and it works great. It is very light weight and will be wonderful to knock out some wrinkles if needed. It only takes a little water and a pinch of salt and you get awesome steam!

I do think I need to get my suitcases out and start making my list of things I am taking so I don't forget anything, oh who am I kidding...I always forget something!

Language of Friendship

When I had my online Stampin Up party a few months ago I had planned on ordering this stamp set but I didn't have to since it was in the Sale-A-Bration catalog and I was able to get it for free!

Supplies Used:
Stampin Up Language of Friendship
Stampin Up Bird Punch
Stampin Up Patterned Paper
Stanpin up Cardstock
Stampin Up Markers
EK Success Large Oval Punch
Colorbox Chalk Ink
3/8" Grosgrain Ribbon
Brads

The bird punch is one of the Stampin Up punches that have several cuts in one punch and while this makes it nice it can also make you waste paper. What I do is measure the particular item I am wanting to punch and then cut strips of paper to put through the punch so I don't waste precious paper *okie looks over at her Ikea unit and wonders if wasting a little would even matter*. I punched the branch/leaves out of green and then colored the branch with Chocolate Chip SU marker. I pop dotted the bird off the branch for dimension.

I didn't put a whole lot of thought into the card and it isn't one of my favorites. At the time I made it I was just wanting to try out the stamp set with the punch.

I Don't Even Know...

What to title this post of this card! I thought this was a really good idea for a pretty card but when I got done with it...well, it just looks like a basket of Easter eggs exploded! *okie is just glad the card doesn't smell like exploded Easter eggs*

Supplies Used:
Stampin Up Blossom Punch
Stampin Up Scallop Border Punch
Stampin Up Mixed Bunch Stamp Set
Stampin Up Pattern Paper
Stampin Up Cardstock
Stampin Up Rich Razzleberry Ink
Stampin Up Markers
EK Sucess Large Daisy Punch
Colorbox Chalk Ink
5/8" Satin Ribbon
5/8" Button
Twine






I stamped the image on the yellow cardstock and then punched out with the Blossom punch. I then stamped the image on some light blue cardstock and punched out with the EK Success Large Daisy punch to get the layered effect, using mounting foam in between the layers.

I do like how the image looked layered and I might try this again with different colors. I have a feeling this design color combo will sit in my card box a long long long time!