The Bloglandia Ball!

I'm so excited to have an invitation to the Bloglandia Ball!

This wonderful event today under the light of the full chrysanthemum moon is being presented by Elizabeth Bunsen at Be... Dream... Play...

I do enjoy a party!

Please take the journey there and visit Bloglandia - many things to see and enjoy. Be certain to read the invocation to set the mood.

I learned of this event through ArtsyMama's Blog Her Artful Blogger Party was my very first post! She's already there... I'd better hurry up or I might miss some fun!

The only requirement for entrance? A gown. It could be made of any medium: fabric, paper, words, song... I put together the following ensemble - I hope no ones wearing the same thing! How embarrassing!

My piece is the first entry of my official new art journal. The base to my gown is made of some lovely blue paper flecked with white which reminded me of a starry night. Speaking of a starry night - the spectacular background stamp is a version of van Gogh's Starry Night. I water colored the image.

The bodice is adorned with jewels of peridot and amethyst. As I understand it, these are worn together to signify purity and morality... Peridot is considered a stone of lightness and beauty and a protector against negative emotions. It is also my birthstone. Amethyst is used in healing and to instill a focused sober mind for meditation. It is said to bring calmness and to remove negativity. (Sensing a purpose here?) Amethyst is the birthstone of both my sisters.

The skirt is decorated with peacock feathers. The peacock is associated with many Goddesses - often those of fertility. Appropriate for a harvest ball! Although they are often accused of vanity for their plumage, in reality we know that the male birds are only protecting the nest by drawing attention to themselves and away from those who could be harmed.

I have also added wings - why not fly?

The words present on the page are not my own - but rather a portion of those in a song by my favorite band, Tool, lyrics by Maynard James Kennan. The song is called Reflection and the lyrics in there entirety are below. It is a reminder to be that although we have a light to shine, it isn't only ours - we are a reflection of those who would teach us and those we would share with. The flame burns in all of us that is put there, and everywhere by our Mother.

I have come curiously close to the end, down Beneath my self-indulgent pitiful hole, Defeated, I concede and Move closer I may find comfort here I may find peace within the emptiness How pitiful It's calling me... And in my darkest moment, fetal and weeping The moon tells me a secret - my confidant As full and bright as I am This light is not my own and A million light reflections pass over me Its source is bright and endless She resuscitates the hopeless Without her, we are lifeless satellites drifting And as I pull my head out I am without one doubt Don't wanna be down here feeding my narcissism. I must crucify the ego before it's far too late I pray the light lifts me out Before I pine away. So crucify the ego, before it's far too late To leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical, And you will come to find that we are all one mind Capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable. Just let the light touch you And let the words spill through And let them pass right through Bringing out our hope and reason ... before we pine away.

Are you still hear?! Get back to the Party!

blue and white paper - this was my first purchase at Hollo's the paper Mecca of North East Ohio; Starry Night - Stamp Camp; Stampin' Up! classic inks for water color; Jewels - Target and JoAnn Dollar spots; peacock feathers - never got to meet him, thanks and rest in peace.

Did you feel it?

Apparently, this morning, Sunday, September 23rd, at 5:51am, while I was fast asleep, Summer ended.

There should have been a shudder, or maybe a sonic boom. I am sorry - but no one asked me if this was okay. I had a long list of things to do this summer and I did not get to everything.

♠ I had some wonderful trips away with John: Windsor, Toronto, Milwaukee...

♠ I saw Roger Waters, John Fogerty, and Ian Hunter in concert...

♠ I stood in line with Barb to purchase the final installment of Harry Potter and read it in under 24 hours...

♠ I Walked for Wishes and went to the Cleveland Zoo....

♠ I saw the Indians play...

♠ I saw fireworks...

♠ I got to spend some time with my big sister Diana and her girls, even if it did mean that Breanna was in the hospital...

♠ I visited Denver and Minneapolis...

♠ I ate at Sonic...

♠ I went to the Geauga County Fair and John got to win me prizes at games of skill...

♠ I attended some fine Happy Owlers with my Chi Omega Sisters...

♠ We grew some peppers in the garden and cooked wonderful meals with them...

♠ I had some lovely chats with my new 'pretend online friends' and even hung out with them in person...

♠ I finally went to Hollo's...

♠ I rocked out to Custard Pie...

♠ I enjoyed the Summer television season, I love 'The Closer', and 'Monk', and 'Psych'...

♠ I started a blog...

But we were going to go fishing! And have some picnics! I was going to sit outside on the shaded patio in the warmth and the breezes and take advantage of my amazing wireless internet capability. I was going to visit my parents and my son more. I was going to read some good books. I wanted to create some art.

Do you have any idea how long and hard I had to look to find a changing leaf for the opening photo? I guess I'll put those things on the list for Fall. Plenty of time.

After all - It is harvest time right?

Did I mention....

...that I'm a demonstrator for Stampin' Up!

If you are not familiar, Stampin' Up! is a company which offers rubber stamps, paper, embellishments and tools for card making, scrapbooking, and other papercrafts. I enjoy the opportunity to share these products with others who want to express themselves through handmade art. You may visit my Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Business Website any time by clicking the link in my right side bar. But for now, I want to let you in on a few things happening in my business:

Fall Frenzy!:

September 1st - 30th

Celebrate Fall by receiving 30% on 6 of our popular sets for the season. Simply purchase $30 in regular priced merchandise and you can purchase one each of the following sets: Bitty Boos, Haunting Halloween, Thoroughly Thankful, Autumn Fest, Elementary Essentials, and Stem Silhouettes (from the 2007 Holiday Mini~Catalogue).

Choose Your Family: August 10th - September 30th

Who wouldn't want to do that?! If you've ever considered becoming a demonstrator - this is an excellent time to do so. In addition to the wonderful starter kit you would receive for signing on with Stampin' Up! you will also receive a set of 12 classic ink pads in the color family of your choice. Click the sub-title link above, or visit my web site in the right side bar to get more details.

World Card Making Day:

This is a new opportunity to share the creation of handmade cards with others. It will be held on October 6th, 2007. In honor of this event Stampin' Up! will offer their exclusive "Simply Sent" kits for 20% off from October 4th through the 8th. Click on the sub-title link above for more details from the Stampin' Up! website.

Click HERE to view our Fall Winter Collection 2007 Catalogue

Click HERE to view our Holiday Mini~Catalogue for 2007

Let me know if you'd like more details!

Scrapfest 2007 Second Helpings

I'm almost recovered now from our trip to Scrapfest at MOA. Back into the swing of things at home and work. Just wanted to share a few more things we saw and did while we were there! First I want to add that most all of the booths provided a "shopping list" of the products used so that you could march right up to Archiver's and buy them. Or at least know what the heck you did use when you got home and dumped everything out on the living room floor! This was a new practice this year (I think) and it was very well received, at least by me! Also, apparently I overlooked a few make 'n take booths that I really should point out in all fairness. When I looked back over my "I Scream for Scrapfest" entry , it occurred to me that I subconsciously purged all of those vendor stations which included competitor stamps! I really don't think I did it on purpose... but I'm not sure what Mr. Freud would have to say about that theory! Stampendous Here we made a clever little book using several funky stamps. The paper and acetate cover was pre-cut for us, but we got to use the bind it all to punch the holes for the ribbon binding. Project featured shiny dot sparklers and Hallowe'en phrase stickers. They also passed out "I Stamped with Stampendous" buttons - if you were caught wearing one, you won a prize of a groovy little paint can filled with goodies including stamps, stickers, and other fun stuff. I'd show you a picture.... but I never got caught! No fair - I even jumped up and down. Good thing I wasn't trying for a spot on the "What do ya know" quiz!

Hero Arts Unfortunately, we ran out of time and did not make a stop at this table. This made me especially sad when I found out that our new friend Tami had been working as an instructor at their booth and I missed her! However, up at Archiver's they were passing out really helpful idea sheets and they of course sell the stamps there too.

I found many sets I liked, but here is a set I think I'm going to have to purchase at my next trip to my local store! These little birds are everywhere lately and these are a nice compilation.

Stampers Anonymous & Ranger Ink Oh my. What can I say. They pretty much just gave us free reign here! Ton's of their cling mount stamp designs to play with anyway we wanted using Ranger's Distress Inks. I'd love to show you a picture of Tim Holtz hard at work demonstrating Ranger's new line of products Crackle Paint- but the area was always three people thick and I never got close enough! I find these stamps very unique and I'd grab up every single set if I could. I made a little montage with their "Anthology" set along with the sentiment from "Pattern Pieces". (Shhhhh..... Anthology may be coming home soon as well!)

This year we did some advance planning and signed up for some classes. From what we had head from the year before they were a lot of fun, the instructors are often some of the hottest freshest faces in the industry, you do terrific projects, and often a mind-blowing amount of freebies. Keep in mind, many of these classes sell out within the first 10 minutes of on-line registration! Back in July (the day I flew out for Stampin' Up! Convention as a matter of fact...) we began registering. All told, we signed up for three classes. Celebrate with 3M! (3M - Scotch Brand ®) You have to appreciate 3M products. Even though they don't have beautiful papers like Basic Grey or Daisy D's, have no impressive stamps like Stampers Anonymous, or any of the fibers or embellishments we go ga-ga over - they are one of the most critical part of our creative process! They hold stuff together! The class itself focused around using their templates to cut out shapes, and then applying glitter with their glues, and then laminating them the pieces to make cards. A really polished look in the end. But! The best part of this class was the free product give-away! We received a craft stick, scrapbookers glue, pop up foam squares, photo corners, and a roll of decorative tape. Due to an issue with supplies not being ready for Edwina - they graciously provided her with double product and an entire set of their shape templates as a consolation. Very unexpected. One lucky class member walked away with a laminating machine like the one used in the class - lucky her! Although the 45 minutes provided was not enough time to complete the projects - they gave us instructions in full color to make it simple to finish when we got home. It was extra nice to work with 3M - Scotch Brand® since we recently learned that they will have a partnership with Stampin' Up! and feature projects with our stamps, paper, and embellishments on their packaging. We love 3M! Hallowe'en Accordion Album (Doodlebug Designs & Xyron) What a charming little book we made! They provided us with a Doodlebug 3x3 black and white polka dot album, alphabet and tags & tabs sticker sheets, instructions and supplies to make a complete book. We had enough goodies left over to make maybe 3 more! We were able to use the Xyron design runner (very cool!), the 2" adhesive runner, and the create-a-sticker. (I already have a Xyron Creative Station 500 - love it!) Again - the 45 minutes for this class was not enough, so I worked on them as well at the hotel in the evening - didn't want us running around the town wild did you!? I was fortunate to win a 8x8 Doodlebug album and Edwina won a Xyron 2" adhesive runner - lucky us!

Bling Ring Book (Archivers) A glamorous girly project for sure! I knew it would be when I read the description for this class and the companion purse class offered separately. I had a plan to include pictures of the women in my family: me and my sisters, their daughters, my mom and her sisters, both of my grandmothers and their sisters, and even my great grandmother and her sisters! Can't show you a completed picture - because it's not quite done yet. Because of the unusual shape (which we didn't know before we got there exactly) I didn't have the perfect photo for some of the pages. Now my printer thinks it wants more ink! With luck you can get an idea of how it will go together. We used paper form Basic Grey's Phoebe line - a personal favorite! - as well as their Perhaps line. We got to paint, stamp, use a Crop-a-dile (still warming up to that creature...), and got lots and lots of embellishments, sparkle, and ribbon. Another 45 minute class. Are you getting the picture that you should be prepared to be awake, attentive, speedy, figure out which tools you must use before you leave the area, and be prepared to finish up at home? I must say though, that the instructions were nicely written, very detailed, and included color pictures once again.

We also heard that classes offered by Bazzil and Die Cuts With a View gave mega give-away stuff..... Next year! Are ya coming with us?!

I Scream for Scrapfest!

Wow what an adventure! Grab a glass of something and read on! Before I even begin - I want to say that one of the best things about this trip was meeting folks from all over. It is truly a small world and the crafting community includes some of the nicest, most helpful, generous, splendid women (and men) you will ever meet! A shout out to all the folks we met in line, on the shuttles, and at the hotel... especially Kristina and Tami! This is the second time I've been able to attend this remarkable event sponsored by Archiver's. Bright and early last Friday, I flew to Milwaukee from Cleveland to meet up with my pal Edwina and we continued on to Minneapolis, Minnesota and the Mall of America (MOA). If you've never been to MOA, it is the most ginormous mall you've ever seen: four levels, amusement park complete with giant ferris wheel and roller coaster, lego land, full size indoor aquarium, possibly secret chasms beneath where alien space ships are hidden like at Area 51.... getting the picture? Totally boffo!

<- Me & Edwina at the Archiver's make 'n take table There were 30 different scrapbooking and crafting vendors who were available for product information and make and takes. Word of this event seems to be spreading far and wide as more and more folks show up every year to participate. Lines were long, but over all very worth the wait. Even though we were there from Friday through Sunday, we did not make it to all the booths. Here are some highlights, some of my favorite projects, and possibly some suggestions for things you can't live without - so stop reading now if you don't want to have to get in your car and drive immediately to your favorite craft supply store! Creative Imaginations This booth was amazing. Creative Imaginations, in case you don't know, is a collection which contains many lines and artists. The display was great and showcased ideas from the 'bare elements' line as well as lots of paper and embellishments. They offered a different project each day and we completed the stations both Saturday and Sunday. Didn't quit finish my photo cube since I didn't have any pictures with me. They let me take a few items away to finish up with - they're swell! The girls here were very well organized, very helpful, and very positive - even though they had more challenging projects and the longest lines!

Kolo They offer some wonderful scrapbooking album products . This year they gave away a 4x6 album which they showed us how to embellish. This was a very popular stop as well! The books are very well designed, and include side loading page protectors. I'm not sure I've seen that on a 4x6 album. Totally cool.

Plano Have you seen this craft storage line they call 'creative options'? Oh my word, it is so nifty spiffo! Fresh colors, fun shapes, just delicious! I'm gonna have to get the 'make-up case,' embellishment tote, and ribbon holder at a minimum.... (by the way I couldn't find a website... but they were selling the goods at Archiver's!) And they gave away free tote bags!

SEI Same project as last year, but they showcased their iron-on embellishments. Love these!

K&Company They presented their Hallowe'en line by making a treat gift bag that could not have been cuter. Even without the treats inside I could eat it up! Reminisce More totally too cute Hallowe'en stuff - a Hallowe'en bag for collecting goodies! Their 10.31 paper is really fun and just a little wicked ...and the spider isn't scary because it only has six legs. That's what I'm telling myself anyway!

KI Memories & Love Elsie I just love the 'love Elsie' line that Elsie Flannigan has created for KI Memories - and may I just say that Elsie looks to be really a swell girl? If I needed a little sister instead of my two older ones - she could apply for the job! Even if she did steal my pen. She gave it back. It was an accident! We used some of the paper and embellishments to make a little playing card book. Neatest thing though is the adhesive fabric paper. Very easy to work with as evidenced by using it as a binding for the book. Also, according to Elsie, it makes a nice Band-Aid!

Die Cuts With a View These guys presented a very cute little die cut box made from their 'luxury stack' paper. A simple project, but their paper is so fabulous, I had to give them a shout out! Just buzzed over to the website and it says they have a new glitter stack out this year just in time for Hallowe'en? Didn't see it at Scrapfest - but I'm gonna need it!

Daisy D's The project didn't do their paper justice (just a simple card but cute) ....and Dudettes! Put your NAME on your booth! I know and absolutely love your paper, but other folks may not remember when they get home and look at the pictures! They also had small 4x4 idea squares for scrapbook page layouts. Very cute and helpful.

Me and My Big Ideas Cool new projects every day and they didn't skimp on the give-a-ways either! A whole pack of alphabet stickers! Sparkling rhinestone bling! What more could a girl ask for! Most especially the folks running the booth were fun people! (And we aren't gonna talk about the fact that I went to Archiver's and bought almost the entire 'sanctuary line.' Most marvelous!)

American Crafts They provided supplies to make a little birthday flip book. Paper, chipboard, and rub-ons. Very nice products to work with. Didn't quite finish mine because I wanted to actually keep it and add my own pictures! I give their rub-on's a high five.

Sandy Lion Known for thier stickers, their project was no exception. One again a very generous booth. They provided two whole stickers sheets to embellish a small metal box they designed as a photobox. The project was a back to school theme. Since Ian is like, um, old now? I decided to use the stickers in a different way later and retain the box for a special project you will hopefully see here soon! This booth got rave reviews from many folks we talked to. A++ to Sandy Lion!

So many more things to talk about! Many more vendors were represented and had very cool make-and-takes. Many tools like the Sizzix embossing and die-cutting lines, the Scraparatus by Karen Foster, the bind-it-all, the scor-it, too many to go into here.

Well worth getting up at 4:00 a.m. to go to the airport! I'll have another post soon about the classes we took!

I'd like to buy a vowel please, Vanna

"C _ l _ b r _ t _ Y _ _r L _ f _"

Since time immemorial, somewhere on the planet there have been those who fought to gain what was not theirs, those who would protect others from harm, and those caught in the crossfire of their passion.

Today is a day for reminding ourselves what a gift we have and what a gift others have given. Here are a few vowels to help you fill in the puzzle...

show your Appreciation for your many gifts

Educate yourself - take a class, read a book, watch the history channel - we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past if we do not study them

Inspire someone with your talent - what ever it is

Observe the world around you ... there is so much beauty, as well as pain - take it all in

seek Understanding... there are two sides to every story, find out what the other guy's is

June, 2ooo view from the World Trade Center Plaza New York, New York: the little church in the shadow of the towers.

Now most importantly, go show someone you love them.

Patriot Day 2007

Major Tom to Ground Control

Just to see if anyone might be listening, I thought I'd sent out a ping! Are you there? I really had planned to be a little more frequent with my posts. Out there floating in my tin can I suppose. Just in case you want to know whose shirts I wear, I thought I'd post a recent 6x6 scrapbook page I created to share in a swap with some of my wonderful online friends.

Paper is by Basic Grey - Phoebe Line

The A to Z of Me... (as listed inside the flap...) Adult Swim, South Park & Bump In The Night Books Are Awesome! Cheerleader in a Previous Millennium Devil’s Advocate in Any Discussion Energy Provided By Caffeine Full of Fascinating Info and Trivia Good Fast Food: Chipotle, Panera, Quizno’s, Roly Poly Hot Wheels Redlines! Ian is my Son - CCAD Student John is my Husband - March 16, 2002 Karma Baby - Everyone & Everything Is Connected Let’s Go Fishing! M&Ms, MalloCups & Snickers NPR Listener & Member Optimistic Puzzles, Brain Teasers, & Word Games Quality Assurance Chemist for Nestlé Rock and Roll, Baby! Bang Your Head! Stamping & Scrapbooking Traveling the World Is On My To Do List University of Toledo Graduate Violin and Piano Wild Child – Cocktails Anyone? X Ω Women’s Fraternity Youngest of Three Girls Zoom! Me and my Car Love to GO! Planet Earth is blue and there's something you can do... Hope your spaceship knows which way to go until next time! (...with sincere apologies to Mr. Bowie)