Monday, April 30, 2012

Gift Bag - Margarita!

 I have been trying to use Cricut Craftroom lately, sometimes with some I am actually able to get something designed and cut...but most of the time I get frustrated and quit, going back to my beloved Design Studio.

There are some of the digital images I like and one of the new ones that came out is Mixed Drinks. Of course me being the big party girl *okie snickers* that I am I knew I would have to get this digital cart. The bad part is that I can only use it with CCR *okie gives an exasperated sigh*. My friend Linda, aka LGuild, sent me a link to Melanie, of Courtney Lane Designs, website where she had made a wonderful gift bag with the images from this cart. Lucky for me Melanie was nice enough to include the file. All I had to do was copy and paste the images so I could cut 4 designs. If you would like to see Melanie's version please go to - Courtney Lane Designs. I really loved Mel's ida of cutting the blender smaller and using it as a gift tag! INGENUOUS!!




I have so far made the margarita, mai tai, daiquiri and pina colada and will be posting those later this week. Here is the Margarita bag I made with Mel's file for CCR. I only took a picture with my cell phone so the picture isn't great.The gift bag came with the stripes on it. They were some I picked up at Michaels on clearance last year. I love making gift bags because I use them as prizes at my Christmas party and all the guests love getting them. I have been told that they do NOT like to use them which makes no sense to me.

I used some Glitter paper for the drink and the salt on the rim. I think it gave it some great sparkle. I also cut the salt rim twice and then pop dotted the layers.



Saturday, April 28, 2012

You Are Proving Me Wrong!

So yesterday I posted about how to apply for the Phone BFF position because I want to replace my current PBFF. Well not that I want to, but I am going to have to since she can no longer fulfill her duties. Ya know, kinda like when a beauty queen did porn in the past and has to be stripped of her crown and duties...something like that.

Anyway, PBFF Carmen told me that she was irreplaceable and that I couldn't find anyone. I told her I just knew I would get a few thousand applicants, afterall who doesn't want to be at someone else's beckon call anytime of day or night? I am highly UNDERwhelmed by the few applicants that casually mentioned they wanted to apply.

Let me say, this is a one person job. I can't have 3 shifts of PBFF! What if something happens during shift change and the new PBFF hasn't clocked in? Then I would be left hanging and that just will not do. Also I can't be repeating myself 3 times a day filling in each PBFF that would be too much like I was working for them instead of it being all about me! *okie knows it is always about her and likes it that way*.

Come on guys this is a simple job! My friend Carmen Scrappinbee did it for years, well until she started nursing school and I had to put her on temporary hiatus. Actually she and Carmen in Houston shared the position for quite awhile because I was afraid it was too much for one person but then when Carmen Scrappinbee had to go on hiatus and the job fell on Carmen Houston's shoulders, she never once complained. She just bucked up and took over the duties full time. It's not like it's a burden or anything! I am not asking you to pay all my bills, carry my fat arse across an interstate, raise my child, feed my dog....All I am requiring for the position is that you be there to answer the dang phone whenever I call!

Maybe I should mention that as the full time PBFF you will have access to my card stash, which if you look at the picture you can tell it is a little low right now. Carmen is able to tell me "hey I need two dozen cards" and even though she makes cards herself I always send them to her *okie won't mention that she bitches the whole time about how Carmen could make her own dang cards if she would just get off her lazy arse*. You also get to do personal craft shopping for me. If there is a good sale you get to call me and have me look stuff up on the internet and I will tell you whether to purchase it for me or not. I will then reimburse you per Paypal or pay you in cards, Carmen likes the cards. I guess I should mention you don't get to charge me for shipping, Carmen and I never keep up with shipping since we send stuff back and forth to each other all the time.

As you might be able to see now, there are a few perks that come with the job so it is not a totally thankless job! I often thank Carmen when we are talking *okie tries to think about if she is thanking Carmen or bitching at her and figures it is the same thing so it doesn't matter*.

Now that you can understand what a wonderful and fulfilling position this is I am expecting some serious applicants who make no excuses! *okie thinks she better get started on a formal application to hand out to the massive amount of applicants that will be rolling in over the next few days*.

Friday, April 27, 2012

In Search Of A New BFF

No I am not replacing BFF Karen, that just would never happen! I am looking for a special type of BFF and it is only a temporary position. And actually I won't be replacing the BFF I am talking about, I just need someone to take over her duties for a while.

You see my BFF Carmen from Houston *okie figures she better clarify so people don't think it is BFF Carmen from Florida* has taken the position as President for the Bearkadette Mothers, which is the group of mothers that organize stuff for her daughters dance troop at school, and will be unavailable to me as required as my "PHONE BFF".  This is Carmen and Dani when they went on the Bearkadette trip this summer to California.

I am happy for her daughter Dani, as she made co-major for the troop, which is equivalent to football captain and if ya know anything about high school...well that is some stand up and be proud kinda stuff right there! This is a picture of Dani getting ready for one of her dance routines.

Anyway, I am rather upset that Carmen did not consider her duties as the PBFF *okie thinks she will just use that instead of typing out the whole thing every time* when taking the position as the president of this mother's group. I know Carmen knew the duties of her new position were going to take up her time but we found out just how much this past week.

You see Carmen's duties as my PBFF is to be available for phone calls anytime of day or night, okay usually not after 10pm on weeknights unless it is summer or school is out the next day. She also has to be available on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for when I drive to McCall's Chapel to see clients there. This week she has missed phone calls numerous times because she was busy with those blasted presidential duties and I am just not liking it!

I have informed Carmen that I am going to take applications to replace her at this time. She is not liking it at all and says I can't do it. I told her I most certainly can and will! She even told me she gets to screen the applicants, which will never happen because she will find the slightest reasons to toss out an application.

The requirements are as follows:


1. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday morning phone calls for at least 10 minutes, hours vary from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm. You must be available during this time and answer your phone immediately and be ready to talk about any nonsense that pops into my head. Whether it be me whining about ungrateful teenagers or my love life - or lack there of, Lucy latest shenanigans, etc.



2. Phone calls during afternoon times, even if you are waiting at the doctor, giving the dog a bath, driving to Hobby Lobby, Joann's, Michaels, etc. If you do not answer you have to call me back within a 2 minute time period or you will be docked points and another applicant will be considered.

3. Phone calls during the evening time, this includes if you are making dinner, eating dinner with your family, talking with your husband, spending time with the kids. Now I am not a total hard azz and I will make allowances for you to tell me "hey I am eating right now" "I need to talk to my husband" and allow you time to do this chore and then call me back, but it must be within 10 minute time frame. Again if you fail to do so you will be docked points.


4. Phone calls at night and be ready to talk while you do laundry, tend to your family, work on projects, in bed, etc. And a very solid requirement is that you are ready to talk until 2am on weekends without complaint. The until 2am phone calls are not a regular thing but the midnight ones are so if this is a problem do NOT apply.




5. Since I have a headset phone, with speaker option, you have to be willing to bathe with me, go to bed with me, go to the bathroom with me, craft with me, do the dishes with me, garden with me, and any other activity I may be doing during the phone call. In case you are wondering, do not worry about be being intimate with someone while we are on the phone...that doesn't happen in my house, however you must be willing to stop being intimate at your house if your phone rings and it is me.



6. Your husband and children must not complain when I call. I also will require their numbers and will be texting and calling them as I wish and they must respond as well. 






7. Your mother must not me mind me calling her bad names, telling her she is gonna go live in the garage with the dogs, tell her she needs to get her lazy azz out of bed, etc. She must never complain about me calling at anytime and must welcome me with open arms when I decide to visit. It also helps that when I visit she doesn't mind me crawling in bed with her during a lazy afternoon to just talk.



8. You must be willing to be openly honest with your opinion and accept my opinion, we have to be willing to agree to disagree at times, but mostly you have to just agree with me so it leaves things uncomplicated and we can move on to subjects that are more important to me.

If you understand the cartoon to the left then you understand the importance this rule be followed and how to follow it.





Okay now that you have all the VERY SIMPLE requirements I expect the applications to be rolling in. You must remember that this is a temporary position and the tenure will be for the time limit of one year. At the end of the year you have to be willing for me to delete your number and you delete mine as my PBFF Carmen will be available at my beckon call once again.

All applications will be seriously considered and any applicants making it to the interview round must be ready for a grueling and enduring round of 5 interviews *okie sighs deeply wondering if anyone will make it past the first interview* before making it to the last round of interviews. Applying to be my PBFF is not something to take lightly. The pay for the position is the satisfaction of know I am happy and that should be enough for you, as it is enough for Carmen.


LET THE APPLICANTS BEGIN!!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Random Thoughts - April 25, 2012

I sprayed my yard with weed and grass killer before going on the cruise. I wanted to kill the weeds out before the Bermuda started growing, and besides this is what Linda, aka LGuild, told me to do *okie giggles at herself thinking about people believe okie always does what Linda tells her to do*. Of course some of the weeds do come back but not as bad and I will still have to mow. Truth be told, I wouldn't care if it all died out if we are going to have another summer like we did last year and since it is the end of April and we are already hitting close to 90 degrees the outcome isn't looking good at this point. But I am going to have faith that there will be cooler weather this summer than last summer.

I had to go out and mow since the grass did grow and some of the weeds came back *okie is now considering Linda's tale about a flame thrower spot treating yards...and believes her whole yard is a spot but isn't sure how she would convince the fire department* and  and when I mow my mind tends to wander off here and there. Actually my mind does that quite a bit anyway, but when I am mowing I am less distracted by other things...unless there is a SQUIRREL *okie cracks up knowing her Facebook friends will get the meaning of this one*.

While mowing last night I got to thinking about how I don't mind mowing until it gets hot. I remember years ago when my mom was alive I would tell her "every summer I remember why I need a husband" and she would laugh and tell me that is true but there are other good things about husbands beside having them to mow. I would have asked her to explain but I am afraid of what my mother might have told me and let's face it, there are somethings we never want to hear our mother's say! You can just ask my daughter if ya don't believe me HA HA HA, uh...but seriously, ya could! Oh and just to clarify, this is not a picture of my daughter but rather some random picture I found on the internet that I thought was too cute not to use to get my point across.

This little trip down memory lane lead me to thinking about reasons I have never been married. I actually think about this a lot, it's only normal since our society and nature is set up for people to be paired up. I have been paired up a number of times in my life but nothing that ever worked out. I started thinking about the relationships I have had in my life and what was wrong with each one and then I had an epiphany! Ya know the perceptive insight kind, not the appearance of a manifestation kind. There was nothing wrong with the relationship it is with my perception. I tend to see only the good in a prospect *okie cracks up at saying prospect but thinks it fits since the man is a "potential or likely candidate"* and then when the newness starts to wane I only see the bad. By focusing only on the bad I am then ready to let go and move on. I am trying to decide if I have a hard time compromising in situations and when it comes time to compromise I focus on the bad, which I don't think I honestly do, or if I just give up to easily because I don't want to put forth the effort it takes to make something work.


I suddenly felt like I was going to have a revelation in my life and then I noticed a callus on my hand and well ya know how my mind works.........SQUIRREL!! So I guess I will have to finish contemplating this thought the next time I mow.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Check out Crafts Unleashed!!

I have a project featured on CRAFTS UNLEASHED today! I was asked if I would make a Mother's Day project and Mother's Day is always hard for me to make things for since my mother passed away in 2001 and there really isn't any reason for me to celebrate that holiday. However I did come up with a project that I think celebrates just right!

I will be posting some projects later this week that I made using digital images from the Mixed Drink digital cartridge and Cricut Craftroom...NO ONE FAINT! Yes I really used the program! HA HA HA

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Cricut Cruise Closing Social

After dinner the last night there were Cricut Plushies on our beds and each one had a note stating we would be sent a Cricut Mini machine! Now had I been told this before the cruise I likely would have rolled my eyes and thought "oh great another machine I can't use because I have to use Craftroom" but since we had played around with Cricut Craftroom while on the cruise and I got a chance to use one I was rather excited!

We were to meet later that night for the Closing Social. We knew at this point that the last Golden Cricut Expression was going to be given away! I had told Dan "don't put my name in there, if I won it I would have to polish the dang thing all the time because I wouldn't be able to stand the finger prints!". Now whether Dan left my name out or not is unknown to me. However the winner of the Golden Cricut was none other than my friend Sandie!!

contributed by I2BZ2W8
Here is Sandie showing her new Golden Cricut some love. Somehow she managed to pack that thing in her bag and get it home. I don't think she trusted anyone to ship it to her *okie cracks up laughin*










Another big prize was the rather LARGE Cricut Plushie which my friend Treva won. Treva got such a case of the giggles about winning this and thinking of how she would have to buy another plane ticket to get it home. She just kept giggling and that made all of us start laughing as well! Treva was very lucky since this is the ONLY Cricut Plushie this size! I think she could catch a pretty penny for it on eBay but I have no idea what she plans to do with it or how she got it home.

Here is Christy Carson, one of the fabulous instructors from ProvoCraft giving the giant plushie a little love.




contributed by Danita Kinney

Senor Cricut and Senor Cuttlebug even showed up for the party! Being the suave bugs they are they danced with a few of the ladies! My friend Karen Silva can sure cut a rug as she danced and glided with the Cuttlebug! I will see if I can find a picture later of Karen dancing. I was totally jealous of her skills! A lot of ladies clamored to get their picture taken with the Rico Suave bugs!











There were many other prizes given away that night as well. People were winning Cuttlebugs, Quilling Sets, Cricut Back Packs, Imagine Inks and I don't even know what else. Not everyone won a big prize and those that didn't win were asked to leave while the ones that didn't win were suppose to stay. I thought this was very nice of Dan and the others with ProvoCraft to want to make sure everyone got a little something extra. I mean we had already won the Ole cartridge, a back pack, a scoring tip, got $25 in Cricut.com credit for completing a survey, a Cricut figurine, a small and large Cricut Plushie and a Cricut Mini...how much did they think we needed to win??

Let me tell you something about women and free stuff....it is NOT A GOOD COMBINATION! Well the generosity turned into a fiasco as women started grabbing stuff left to right. One woman grabbed 4 of the quilling kits as others were just trying to get one. People were snatching supplies from here and there off the front table. I offered to hand out the Cricut Mini mats because at this point some of the PC folks were starting to look a little frazzled at the chaos. I don't think they had any idea what ugliness would come out of the situation. There were a few ladies trying to snatch the mats out of my hands. Well if you know anything about me you should know that is never a good idea to try and snatch something from me. One lady told me "you need to put those down" and I told her "you can have them if you pry them out my cold dead hands because I am not letting go until a PC employee tells me to put them down". I knew there were a few ladies that had gotten NOTHING during the, well the only way I can describe it is...SMASH AND GRAB and I was going to go down with the mats if I had to but those ladies were gonna get some extra mats if it was the last thing I did!

The ProvoCraft group was nice enough to donate a tool kit and a cutter for the school where I work. I did actually ask since they had donated an Expression during a promotion a few years ago. I took the items to the school and they were thrilled to get the donation!

After most of the ladies left when they felt they would get nothing else *okie sighs deeply and rolls her eyes just thinking about the chaotic frenzy* some of us stayed to help clean up the room. There was stuff everywhere and we sure didn't feel like the PC folks should have to do it all since we knew they had to be tired as well. We started gathering what was left and tossing stuff in boxes and taping them up. Within no time it was all packed up and we were ready to go finishing packing up our personal belongings and get ready for the trip home the next day....

MORE TO COME! I will be posting more about the cruise and sharing links to blog posts by some other cruiser's. I want you guys to be able to get the experience from the point of view of others as well as I might be a little boring...oh wait, who are we kidding? That is one thing no one can ever accuse me of is being boring!! HA HA HA

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Day 7 - At Sea, Project 4

The last day of the cruise was a bit melancholy for me, I was feeling sad about the cruise coming to an end and having to leave my all my friends, not only BFF Karen but also the new friends I had made. I was wishing we could just have two more days to spend together where we had no classes or no plans but just time to relax and hang out together. I know many others were just ready for it to be all over, including BFF Karen, but then again she as stressed about just moving to Florida and starting her new job. Wendi was ready to get home and see her kids as she hadn't been away from them that long before. I think Sandie and I were the only ones ready to just stow away and spend another two weeks on board.

Our last project of the cruise actually took up both class times and the ProvoCraft team was great about not rushing us as we all wanted to make sure we got this one right because it was THE BEST PROJECT EVER! Although, I did accuse Dan of them stealing the idea from my blog when I had done a PHOTOTRAY when I was on Joy's Design Team last year.

Here is a picture of Christy showing us the project before we got started.

I swear that woman has the patience of a saint putting up with everyone in class. She seemed to fret, as did Richard and Sharon when I would sit and do nothing and tell them "it's okay" when I didn't have all my pieces or room to work. I guess I should have explained to them that I don't scrap well with others. Hmmm, maybe some thank you notes are in order! Sounds like a good weekend project!

Here is the example we had for reference. I would like to thank Annette, a fellow cruiser for allowing me to use some of her pictures. I am sure there will be others I will thank in following posts about the cruise since there were a lot of things I didn't get pictures of.






Here is the photo tray I completed, again once I got home. I did get some of the parts done during class but I knew I wanted to add pictures so I chose to finish up at home.

The ProvoCraft team pulled all the stops out on this one. We used pleather, vinyl, sand, and even did etching!!

We added sand that we gathered from the beaches on the words Mexico and Jamaica. This was done by adding Glossy Accents on the lettering and then covering with sand. If you try this method I will say don't over use the Glossy Accents or it will be hard to read the letters. We also added sand in the little bottles, one for each place we ported.

I wanted to choose pictures from each place that meant something to me so for the Cozumel I chose the picture of us in front of the ship when we were going to board.

I used my photo program to size the pictures to the correct space I had allowed. I love the passport embellishment!






For the picture at the Caymans I chose the picture of Karen and I with the pirate, it just seemed like a fun picture to use! It's a bit hard to see and you might have to click on the picture and make it bigger, the year 2012 is etched on the bottle of sand. I actually didn't have enough shells to finish this project from what I got on this trip but luckily I had some from my stash from last year's trip. I figure at least they all did come from the Caribbean Sea so it is still pretty authentic.



For the Jamaica picture how could I not use the one of me and our taxi driver? Although, I might have to cover his eyes when I take a shower or go to the bathroom!

The picture was a little more difficult to do because of the shape. I had put plastic over each of the pictures since this will find a home in my "beach" bathroom and I don't want steam messing up the pictures. I did finally decide that brads around the picture would hold the plastic in place.

The embellishment in this little area was designed so nicely and I absolutely love it!




I did add one other little special thing to my photo tray! My friend Sandie had made me this little chotchkey and brought it to me on the cruise. Since it had an ocean theme, it was given to me on the cruise and Sandie was on the cruise I thought it was a perfect way to display it!

I loved it so much that I ordered a bunch of the Memory slides, frames and other supplies from Blitsy so I can make some of my own!

Tomorrow's post will be about the Closing Social and the fabulous gifts we all received! So stay tuned, it isn't quite over yet!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Day 6 - At Sea, Project 3


Our project 3 was an Autograph book, although I am not sure anyone got an autograph in their book. I of course didn't finish mine until I got home. I didn't finish any project until I got home. Why you ask? BECAUSE I DO NOT SCRAP WELL WITH OTHERS! I am too dang nosy and too dang social to sit down and finish a project. I did work on my projects so at least I looked like I was doing something, at least for a few minutes I did. Then I would become engrossed in thoughts about one thing or another *okie knows she better not even try to explain her deep thoughts to folks or she will either be sent to a hospital for a nice little inpatient stay or be landing in jail*, or be walking around looking at what others were doing or just yakking with someone.

Luckily I do have pictures of the project since I did finish it at home!

When we were shown the project there was a lot of "oohs and aahs" going on for sure! I thought this one looked fairly easy and I would get it done during class...YEAH RIGHT! I did get some inking done and my flowers cut with the Cuttlebug and put together, but once again I had to bring the project home so I could finish it.

This is the book that was displayed for us to look and use as an example. Very pretty isn't it!!

We used the Chrysanthemum quilling kit to make our flowers for the book and they were simple to make, even though I was told by a classmate "oh you did your flowers wrong...but they are pretty anyway". Of course since it was my book I figured I could have artistic license to make my dang flowers however I wanted! *okie won't say she read the directions wrong...especially since she believes "there are no mistakes in crafting, only creative opportunities"*. Evidently I didn't cut my papers correctly or something because I had to make snips on each line with scissors. I think it was because my kit had cardstock instead of paper and it is more difficult to cut cardstock with the kit.



Here is my book finished. I did add a few things extra on mine, including stamping the "create" definition in the yellow area. BFF Karen cut a "K" out of the pleather *okie thinks pleather is such a fun little word* and added to her yellow area and it was really nice looking. I wish I had a picture to show you, but I don't.

I also added the bling and the little bird out of my own supplies at home.








In the close up picture you can see where my big flower has 4 layers, I think it was only suppose to have 3, if I remember correctly. I added some Liquid Pearl dots in the center of the flowers because, well I just love the heel out of some Liquid Pearls! I think the bling swirls really added a lot as well.






In this picture you can see the dimension a little better and also see the little closure ban that we put on the book. All the pages in the book are blank. I showed a picture of this to my friend Carmen, aka ScrapperDelighted, and she wanted to know if I was going to use this as a prize at my next Annual Girlfriend Christmas Party. I told her "I think I will keep it for myself", she sounded a little disappointed with that but I did tell her "ya know you can make your own dang book!".









Another "okie addition" was inking the book. It was white...just plain stark white, and in my world that just will not do! I dotted Chestnut Roan and Creamy Brown Chalk Inks on the back and then smeared, yes that is a technical art term, with a paper towel to get the effect shown in the picture.



The book was a lot of fun to make and I think BFF Karen was really proud of her book she completed. She was afraid of the flowers getting smashed on the way home but as far as I know it made it home safe and sound.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Day 6 - At Sea, Project 2

Our sixth day on the cruise was spent at sea and attending Cricut Project Classes. It was nice to feel like we had a little time to relax instead of running off the boat, enjoying off shore activities, running back to the boat, running to the bar, running to get ready for dinner, running to the bar, running to get ready for Cricut events, running to the bar and running to bed so we could rest for the next day! *okie hopes no one notices all the running to the bar*. I will be breaking down day 6 into two segments since we had two projects that day and I want to show off the great projects in a detailed way and feel each deserves their own post.


Due to the size of the group the classes were broken into Group A and Group B so there would be room for everyone to work. Group A, the group I was in had class at 9:30 am and 3:00 pm. That left us plenty of time to do other things in between classes, which we decided to walk around the ship a little and also enjoy the sun up on one of the decks.

Here is a picture of our room we worked in while on the cruise. I think it was by this time, or likely a few days before that some ladies found I was not their cup of tea. Not that I want to be everyone's cup of tea because that would make life boring wouldn't it? But there are some folks that don't condone to drinking, and I guess don't like people drinking in classes. I however feel it's my vacation and if that is what I want to do then I shall do it...and I did *okie smiles triumphantly*. Not that I stayed drunk the whole time, but when there is a different drink of the day each day I thought it rude not to try at least one or two of them during the day so I could give the bartenders my review on their concoctions.

To be honest I had not been excited about the projects and classes until this point, although I was still having a blast with my friends and the new friends I made so far! I did realize that most of it was not ProvoCraft's fault but rather issues with the server and some of us not being able to use the CricutCraft Room software, which was essential for doing the projects. But like I mentioned before, Dan was awesome and was able to get everyone up and running before we were buckling down to do the next few projects.  Our first project was a layout and when I saw the finished product they had as an example I thought "YES! THIS IS WHY WE PAID FOR THE CLASSES!"

As I said earlier I finished mine at home. I knew there were things I wanted to add to the layout to make it my own, and as most of my readers know...I am heavily addicted to embellishing with ink, glitter, pop dots, etc. This is the finished project. I would love to tell you the supply list but it varied greatly and I honestly just don't remember!


I did add the Cozumel title since I chose pictures from that stop to use on the layout.
 
The background paper on the kit was plain light blue and I just couldn't deal with the starkness of it so I used "SKY" paper I had in my stash at home for the background and it made the world of difference to me.








  
I did some variations on the second page as well and will explain those in the next few photos.
















I added the glitter to the clouds by running them through my Xyron and then sprinkling with Doodlebug glitter. Perfect Pearls and Stickles were put on the waves, they shimmer quite nicely now. I colored the orange on the smoke stacks on the ships as my orange pieces didn't make it home and I was too lazy to go back in and cut them when I could just use some markers and color them much more quickly.





 
I dotted some Liquid Pearl dots to the palm tree, birds and the sun. I inked the trunk of the palm tree diagonally.

The arms of the chair were orange and since I managed to lose them as well I cut them in white.I also inked in between the slats of the chair for depth. I know, I know, sometimes I have the tendency to over do it and simpler is better...but hey, this is MY project so I will ink if I want to! *okie cracks up laughing*.
 







That little cute Cricut head is very tiny and believe it or not, I did make it home with it! However, another cruiser didn't make it home with it and I mailed mine to her since I own the cartridge it was cut from and was able to easily cut another. I think it is adorable on the life preserver and definitely ties in the Cricut Cruise theme in the layout without being over powering!











I didn't have all the pieces for the sun when I got home and I did have to cut that again, it's actually smaller than the original and I am not sure if it is cut right but it works for me. There was a bottle cap the glitter center was suppose to go in, yet another item I managed to lose.












While I didn't finish my project until I got home there were plenty that did and I don't think there was one bad review about the Layout Project!

Tomorrow will be about the second project on day 6, the Autograph Book and learning to use the Cuttlebug Quilling kits!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Day 5 - Jamaica Mon!

Our fifth day on the cruise and last port stop was Jamaica. I had a mission in Jamaica of finding Ginger Beer for a friend of mine, other than that I just wanted to find a beach but once again we were not close to a beach and there is a story behind this one!

We had a great view of the port from our balcony and things looked so nice with the little shops and cobble stone paths. I thought this isn't the Jamaica I have seen on TV where people live in plywood houses with tin roofs! We got off the ship and shopped around a bit in the port area. The group of gals I was with decided that we needed to leave the immediate port area and see if we could find where a beach was. We stopped at the information booth and they said it was like $60 to go to the beach area. That just wouldn't do! Some how we lost the Canadian's in the quest but we gained Danita and Keith.

Danita showed us the beautiful bracelet she got, she was so proud of the gorgeous beads. I looked at the bracelet and then looked at her and said "nice marijuana bracelet you got there girl" and she was shocked and stated "I THOUGHT THEY WERE FLOWERS!". She then told us she had wanted to get a few more for her husbands aunts as presents. I think she was relieved that she didn't find more after she knew what was on the beads *okie falls out her chair laughin, picks herself up and catches her breath*.

This is a picture of Danita's gorgeous bracelet! *falls out of chair again*.





We left the compound, as I guess I would refer to it because it had walls and fences all around it and as soon as we left out there were local vendors wanting to braid our hair or sell us their wares and that is when we got to see the plywood houses with the tin roofs as well! Danita and Keith weren't sure they wanted to go to the beach since they had done a trolley tour. There were a few taxi drivers that came up and asking us if we wanted a taxi and we would refuse. Finally this gorgeous smooth skinned man came up and asked if we needed a taxi. I smiled at him and said "you are kinda cute and sexy ain't ya!". Well that was the beginning of a beautiful relationship, if ever so brief! He introduced himself as Michael Johnson and told us the company he worked for. He wanted $20 each for the trip to the beach. I flirted a little more...okay A LOT MORE, and he said he would take us to a nice beach and it was $5 to get in. Keith said "so you want $20 and then we have to pay $5 and $20 to get back?". Michael said the $20 was round trip. I kicked into the ever so Oklahoma southern charm flirting mode and got Michael down to $10 each round trip, and he would stay at the beach area with us so we didn't worry about getting back *okie smiles to herself remember how last year at St. Thomas she flirted her way into a cheaper taxi ride to Megean's Bay beach with Roberto*. I think what really got our fare cheaper was when I smiled so seductively at Michael and told him "Ya know I did come to Jamaica to get my groove on!". Of course it might have been him feeling sorry for me not wanting my old fat azz to be walking 20 miles to a beach, but I am going to choose to believe my version of seduction!

We had a 40 minute ride to Montego Bay and Michael was great telling us about the things we saw and answered all the questions we had. One of the cool things were the goats next to the road. He told us they come down from the hills during the day and eat the grass along the highway and then evening time they go back up to where their owners live. Keith asked if they ever lose a goat and Michael said "oh every now and then, just like we lose one of you" and we all cracked up laughing.


The beach area was gorgeous and there were a lot of people but not too many to make it crowded. We soon found a spot to set our towels and claim as our own. I didn't waste anytime getting in the water and looking at the fish swimming in the clear ocean. The other gals falled suit pretty quickly. Keith joined us after he went and watched the gals in bikini's dancing on the stage *okie isn't sure that is what Keith was doing but since he is a man she figures that was where Keith was hiding*. We got to see quite a sight while at the beach. There were two rather plump women swimming and they had on shorts and white wife beater T-shirts *okie hopes everyone knows what those are* and nothing under them. They came out the water and were all like OH EM GEE! Of course we had to point them out to Keith and I think I remember him shaking his head and mumbling something like "that just ain't right".

We stayed at the beach for a few hours and then found Michael for the ride home. Of course I had to get a picture of me and my new true love! he told me "put your hand on my heart so it looks good" and I am not one to be impolite and refuse such a nice person! *okie smiles devilishly remember it was a way to get even closer to him*.  I am sure some of you are wondering about the ring on his finger...well yes he is married and has two daughters. But I did make sure to tell him that if his wife ever leaves him to give me a call! Michael laughed and said "Shirley I love you!", and that ain't no lie, he did say that! *okie smiles and nods her head up and down* Michael did give me his phone number and I told him I would share it so that if anyone was in Jamaica and they needed a driver they could call him. So if you want a great driver while visiting Jamaica call Michael Johnson at 1-876-408-4107, he really was awesome and the rest of the group totally agreed!

We had to go through the security check like the other ports but at this one there was a slight problem. One of our duties was to gather sand and shells at the beaches we visited and BFF Karen got caught with hers and they took it. Well Sandie came back to see what the problem was and told one of the security people "That man over there let me bring mine in" and showed them her bag of sand....and then security took that as well! So there we were without sand! Once back to the cabin Wendi who was smart enough to keep her mouth shut showed us the little bit of sand she was able to smuggle in *okie wonders if Wendi is gonna have to be deported to Jamaica if this goes public* and luckily we didn't need a whole lot and were able to share it. To be honest we probably could have shaken out or bathing suits, shoes and towels and used that sand. So just a fair warning, if ya want sand from the beaches of Jamaica you better hide it in your shorts!

Our night back on the cruise was spent with the second Surprise Event which was Cricut Bingo. The winners got cartridges and I think there were a few other prizes as well but after Michael I just don't remember much *okie drifts of dreaming of her Jamaican man*. I didn't win at bingo, that much I do remember. We had open crop that night as well. BFF Karen, Wendi, Sandie and I went to The Savoy Theatre and watched the Late Night Adult Comedy and the comedian was pretty darn funny! We were ready for bed after that...at least I think we were.

The next two days were spent at sea and in classes doing our Cricut projects!!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Day 4 - Grand Caymans

Sorry for the interruption of the posts about the 2012 Cricut Cruise. I got busy taking care of some other things and haven't had time to post!

On the 4th day we stopped at the Grand Caymans. We had to be tendered, which means ride a little boat, over to the island. The boats were actually pretty fast so it didn't take long to get to shore.

We walked around a little while before heading off to find a beach. We all took turns getting pictures with some pirate statues. BFF Karen was determined to steal the man's rum while I, uh...well had other things on my mind! *okie falls out of chair laughin and refrains from saying the pirate statue was a little stiff*.






We were determined to hit the sand and sea since we missed it at Cozumel. We stopped at one place and they wanted $49 to enjoy the beach and we declined rather quickly. There were taxi drivers out everywhere and the cost to ride to 7 Mile Beach was only $2.  The beach wasn't too crowded and while we didn't have lounge chairs or other luxuries we still enjoyed the sand. It was pretty cloudy that day and we wondered if we would get any tan...I succeeded quite well! Here is Sandie, Annette and her daughter looking for shells while Margie floated in her blow up ring enjoying the cool water.

One cool thing we did see at the beach were some tiny hermit crabs! I came out of the water and BFF Karen was showing them to me. We put them on a towel to take a picture and was wanting to show how small they were so someone laid a dime out next to them. I think they said some little boy bought them over. I am pretty sure none of us would have seen them with our bad old lady eyesight!

That night was first Surprise Event. We didn't know what we were going to be doing as a surprise but soon found out we were going to play the Memory Game. Each time someone found a match they got a surprise and the person who got the most matches won a cartridge.

I didn't want to play because I actually suck at the Memory Game but I did find a match my first try. Of course it was because I kept moving around in the ring of people and was one of the last ones and I knew where one was. I actually found a champagne bottle and glass so that one was easy for me to remember! HA HA This is my friend Karen Silva playing the Memory Game.




After the Surprise Event we had open crop and the Make N Take was a washcloth bunny head. I opted to work on a layout kit I had taken but most of the women did make the bunny head. After that we met up with the Canadians at our favorite lounge, Bolero's for a round of slushy drinks as they called them. We had a lot of slushy drinks in Bolero's as they were Jennifer and Leila's favorites and we didn't like them drinking alone! That's my story and I'm stickin to it!


We were all ready for bed that night and excited about heading off to Jamaica! Boy did that turn into quite the adventure...but that is for tomorrow!