Political Science??? NOT.

Your Vote Score: 67% Republican, 33% Democrat

While you don't always agree with the Republican party, it's a pretty good match for you. Do be sure to research each candidate. A conservative Democrat or independent candidate might fit you better at times.

Should You Vote Republican or Democrat?

The Soccer Mom comes out to play

I'm so lucky my DS's jersey goes great with this paper!!

I used papers and elements from Pillowgirl's Beautiful Day, a page template by Yin, and embroidery effect by Atomic Cupcake.

DD and her friend ignoring DS's soccer game, LOL! I used paper and elements from Pillowgirl's Beautiful Day, a template by Lindsey Jane Designs (modified by me), and 2 effects by Atomic Cupcake.


*later edit* Evidently I have a 39% chance of surviving a zombie apocalypse, but it was also messing up my text formatting? Don't get it, but I hope erasing it helps. :D

For Mom

For my mom's Christmas present, I made my mom brag book pages. Unfortunately I haven't been able to print or bind them. That's for later. :)




I used Michelle Pieters' A Gift of Gold brag book. Fancy! Hope you like them mom!!!

Blinkie Collection

I just thot I'd share my blinkie collection with y'all so I could link to it. :) Maybe I'll add more later.

It's almost here!

To celebrate the arrival of Christmas, here's something I did last week (I'd show more, but that would spoil my mom's Christmas surprise. HI MOM!!!):

The photo was taken a year and a half before my father passed away, and is one of my favorite Christmas memories. I used Seebee's Festive Christmas paper pack and one of her swirls from It's a Swirl World. I also used beads and wire from ScrapGirls and a page template by Andrea Gold.

Speaking of memories (I'm waxing nostalgic), I think I'll share one more. Clear the kiddos from the room because this is a SANTA SPOILER!

The first Christmas after my father passed away, my mom brought me in on the secret (I was 9). Santa needed an elf. I don't recall being disappointed, but thrilled that I got to sneek out of bed after everyone was asleep and stay up late. How cool is that for a 9-year-old? We'd wrap presents, put out the candy, and stay up and watch the old A Christmas Carol. I loved those nights!

Oh well, time for bed. See y'all later!

Class Work

I've finished the Design Styles class at Scrap Girls, but not the classwork, LOL! Here's what I did for collage style:

And now graphic:

Flaming orange is a huge departure for me, but it was fun to get out of my box! :D

Thanks for looking!

Wacky Wonderful Week

It's been another wacky week here in AJ Land. I spent most of the week driving around in my minivan. It's good for me to get out of the house but it's sapped my energy and creativity. It normally doesn't take 3 days for me to finish a layout,and all the Diet Coke in the world couldn't help. LOL!

Last night was Family Portrait Taking Night. This doesn't happen every year, more like every 5. But here is my beautiful family, sure to be featured in future work:

So cute huh? It wasn't as much work as I thought it would be, having lived through 3-3-year-olds.

OK what else have I got? Oh yeah, more Christmas!

I used Michelle Pieters' new Joy: Fruit of the Spirit kit, found at Gotta Pixel. I love the bright colors~ they really highlight the fun my kiddos are having. I also used a frame by Lindsey Jane Designs.

This page features Seebee's gorgeous Holiday Cards set 2 found at Digitals. I love how set 2's cards have more than one picture~ it works especially well for people who can't decide which picture to include with their card (like me!). All other elements are from Michelle Pieters' A Gift of Gold kit. Title covered in gold through Atomic Cupcake. :D

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand here's more of Michelle's fabulous Gift of Gold! This stunning kit features glittering gold elements and rich papers. Go snag it here at Gotta Pixel. I also used a template by ABCDelf and actions by Atomic Cupcake.

OK now I feel like creating more. Catch ya on the flip side!

Some Holiday Fun

I've got a few fun holiday websites for y'all to try out:

Elf Yourself: I can't get it to work tonight. Don't know if it's my browser, it's down or just busy. But it looks like a lot of fun!

Snow Globe: This is one my mom made (Hi Mom!). I've got to get over there and try it. Here's their blurb: Pepsi will donate up to $50,000 to America’s Second Harvest - The Nation’s Food Bank Network to help provide food for those in need based on the number of snow globes created.

And finally, I couldn't resist a holiday Blogthing:

You Are Rudolph

Sweet and shy, you tend to be happiest when you're making someone else happy. Why You're Naughty: You sometimes stick that nose where it doesn't belong Why You're Nice: Christmas would be a sad affair without you!

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

More News :)

I was invited to join a new CT! I have the honor of creating for Pillowgirl aka Elizabeth Blust.


Here are a couple of pages I created using her Christmas Dreams kit:


The first used a template by Shandy Vogt and the second used a template by Amy Fenner.

Pillowgirl's designs can be found through her blog store or at Stone Accents Studio. I know I'm going to enjoy working with her!

College Football and LO's!

College football fans are abuzz with this year's bowl schedule. I think the bowl schedule's been messed up since the BCS was established, but that's another subject for another time, if ever.

This is my favorite article I've read on it, to date, over at Deseret News (based in Salt Lake City, UT). I won't say which of the teams it talks about is my fave, but I think the sentiment rings true for all, LOL! And if it doesn't for you, that's OK too. ;)

And now, more artwork by me, Seebee, Michelle Pieters, and a few others. :)

This page features Seebee's Swirlflakes Brush set, found at Digitals. I resized then stamped them on a paper from her Opulence kit, and reduced the opacity to 35%. I also used one of her Holiday cards. The big snowflake and title have Atomic Cupcake's glitter effect on them. The supersized brad and pin are by Pillowgirl. Ribbon by Cindy Doerkson.

This page features Michelle's It's a Bling Thing Swirls, which you can snag over at Gotta Pixel. I also used one of her Misty Blue papers and ribbon from Just the Basics. Frame cluster by Lindsey Jane Designs. Effect on title by Atomic Cupcake.

Mom's Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the schoolplayground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows whenI'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,

MOM...

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.

New Layouts!

It's been a loooooooooooong week~ "a week of Mondays" as one of my friends put it. Meaning every day felt like Monday, the day no one I know of looks forward to. Ugh. I'm glad it's almost over. :)

Tonight begins our annual round of Christmas parties. I think we only have 4 this year, plus 4 musical performances. I'm the type of person who dreads going, and ends up having a good time (except for once, when we "lost" our son for an hour or so~ long story). So ho ho ho and here I go!

This one I made for Michelle, using her new Bling Flowers. I also used pieces of her Misty Rose kit and Glass effect by Atomic Cupcake (on the title~ love that place!). The journaling is most of the lyrics of the Rascal Flatts song, "My Wish." I'm not a big country music fan, but I love this one.

I signed up for a class on Design Styles at ScrapGirls.com. Love that place too! This is my page for Shabby Chic. I even used all ScrapGirls products. :D I used 2 papers, pin, stitching, button, and chipboard tile from the Refresh kit. The top one I "cut out" with KSC's Timeless papers, then I used the same paper as an overlay, reducing the opacity. The title is from the Timeless brush set. The photo frame is by Brenda Peters. Oh, and the alpha is called Enchanted, by Erica Hite(?).

Heroes

I recently bought the movie Spiderman 3. I didn't get to see it in the theater, and I liked the first 2, so I figured "what the heck?" It was great! I'm a sci fi/fantasy nut, and superhero movies fit into those genres somewhere. It got me thinking about superhero movies in general~ there have been a lot made in the last few years, and they've been popular (with few exceptions). But why have they been so popular?

It seems like every time I read or watch the news that the world is in constant chaos and evil deeds abound. Sometimes it seems hopeless and that very little good happens. The world could use a few heroes like Spiderman or Superman to help save us regular mortals from ourselves.

And that's why I think superhero movies are popular these days. They give us someone to put our hope in, even if it's just for 2 hours and 13 minutes. We get to escape into a world where people are saved by those stronger than us, people who try to do the right things, people who put others before themselves.

While I do love watching superheros kicking butt and taking names later, I DO know real-life heroes. Like my mom, who raised 7 of us by herself. Or my DH who, in his Air Force job, does tasks not related to his training. Just because he loves our country. There are plenty of others I know who would bend over backward to help if you blow a tire on your car or lose your kid at Wal-Mart. I choose to believe that most people "out there" are basically good, hardworking people trying to do the right thing in this crazy world. I have seen too much to believe otherwise.

Blah

Ever have one of those days where no matter what you do, you don't feel like doing it? Or anything? That's today. Oh well.

I did get some pretty things done yesterday, so I will show off those.

These are both from Michelle Pieters' Hope Brag Book. I love the colors~ they seem to match my photos of sunsets and sunrises. Sunrises in particular give me hope, because it's the symbol that the sun DOES rise even when everything else stinks.


Also, I have funny quiz results. Everyone can use a laugh, right? It's amazing how these silly little quizzes can be so darn accurate.

You Are More Yin

Feminine Devoted Forgiving Fall Winter Afternoon Moon Time Passive Metal Honey

Are You More Yin or Yang?

The wonderful world of pie baking

It's that time of year again, pie baking for the holidays! Among my extended family and various friends, I am well-known for my pie baking. It's not something I've sought, but I enjoy it anyway.

See, I've been baking the pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas for about 20 years now, and I've gotten dang good at it (you'd think I would be, after that long). It all started when my mom asked me to help her in the kitchen. She was swamped with turkey preparation and the like. So began my fabulous holiday hobby!

Today was pie baking day, because tomorrow we'll be journeying south to enjoy Turkey Day with my in-laws and their in-laws (don't ask, they just consider us extended family~ hey, it's the South!). I've spent half the day with the oven on and me covered in flour. The results are a made-from-scratch apple pie, cherry-blueberry (I didn't find another cherry pie filling can until after the thing was cooling) pie, and 2 pumpkin pies. They look dang nice (and yummy) if I do say so myself.

My DH (who does 99% or more of the cooking in our home) said to me the other day (he'd been chatting with aforementioned in-laws) that it was requested that I make pies and bring them. Other family members also attending said feast asked what kind of pies I'd be making. OK! Guess I'm a celebrity, or at least a dessert kinda hero. It's so bizarre.

So what is it that makes others drool over the thought of my pies? Sure my crust is light and super flaky, but I've got no secret recipe. It's just Betty Crocker's. Is it the contents? Nothing special about the apples I've used or the cans of pie filling I dumped unceremoniously into the shells. Regular old Comstock brand! And I do different ones every year? Is it the *LOVE* I bake into them? Not consciously, lemme tell ya! Soooooo I think I will just pipe down and enjoy the 2 times a year I can serve others with delicious treats I make myself. :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Apple

Cherryberry

Pumpkin

HI Mom!

My mom said I should post some of my latest work! I bet she didn't expect me to change my template, LOL! OK Mom!

This page features Seebee's Harvest Hues kit. I also used a layout template by Shirley Schmitz, and frames by Manu70.

Michelle Pieters has been busy creating LOTS of bling for us! The next two feature overlays from her Bling Overlays 1 and 2. Princess Ane here also uses Michelle's Misty Rose kit.

For this I also used one of Michelle's Amazing Art Basics paper and a template by Nicole Sheppard.

Busy Me

Well I have been a busy little bee lately! I'm getting a lot done, but plenty is still fallling by the wayside. Like posting in my blog and visiting my favorite haunts. :D

I've been preparing for my latest Close to My Heart party. I'm always a bit afraid of walking into an unknown group of gals, wondering if I'll get along with them. No problem today! I had a great time! :D

I can't leave digiscrapping out! I don't think I could ever give up my paper completely, but I loooooove manipulating the digital realm! :D Here are a couple from Michelle Pieters' new kit, Love: Fruit of the Spirit. She's been even busier than me, and has lots of new things in her store at Gotta Pixel.

This one also uses a crumple action from Atomic Cupcake and a template whose creator I can't find. I love it, whoever you are! :D

I don't think I could ever get tired of scrapping my BFF's wedding pix. They are just too cute together! I used another action by Atomic Cupcake on the postcard (burned edges) and a template by Gerti.

Fabulous Art!

I've been busy again working with fabulous new paper created by Michelle. :) I wish she'd tell me how she does this to the paper . . . but I'll settle for playing with it! LOL!


She calls the paper Amazing Art- Floral. It's beautiful to look at by itself! She also made a companion Kit called Amazing Art- Basic that has solid colors from the Floral pack, but still artsy. :D Hop over to Gotta Pixel and grab them both!

Laws Other than Murphy's

Murphy overlooked these for some reason....

Law of Mechanical Repair: After your hands become coated with grease your nose will begin to itch or you'll have to pee.

Law of the Workshop: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

Law of Probability: The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.

Law of the Telephone: When you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal.

Law of the Alibi: If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire.

Variation Law: If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will start to move faster than the one you are in now. (works every time)

Bath Theorem: When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.

Law of Close Encounters: The probability of meeting someone you know increases when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

Law of the Result: When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.

Law of Biomechanics: The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

Theater Rule: At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle arrive last.

Law of Coffee: As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

Law of Lockers: If there are only two people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.

Law of Dirty Rugs/Carpets: The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face down on a floor covering are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet/rug.

Law of Location: No matter where you go, there you are.

Law of Logical Argument: Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.

Brown's Law: If the shoe fits, it's really ugly.

Wilson's Law: As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it.

Wide Wide World of ?

The last few days have been a kind of foggy haze for me. My DD has been waking up around 3 am the past few nights. We haven't figured out why exactly, only that she demands stories, potty stops, extra blankies, etc. So if I make even less sense than usual, that's why. I did have 2 naps, but I'm not sure how much they've helped.

There have been bright spots! I've been able to play with Michelle's Misty Blue kit. It's fantastic!


(For this bottom one, I based my design heavily on a template~ there's no name on the file, but I love it!) B&W's look sooooo fab with Misty Blue! Zip over to Gotta Pixel and snag it!

And for a little fun:

Your Halloween Costume Should Be

An Alien

What Should You Be For Halloween?

Easy Personality Test

Your Personality Profile

You are dreamy, peaceful, and young at heart. Optimistic and caring, you tend to see the best in people. You tend to be always smiling - and making others smile. You are shy and intelligent... and a very hard worker. You're also funny, but many people don't see your funny side. Your subtle dry humor leaves your close friends in stitches.

The World's Shortest Personality Test

This is all pretty accurate! ROFLMBO!

And now for some scrappable pix. DD and I went on her preschool field trip to a pumpkin patch at a local farm yesterday. We had a blast!


She was scared of the scarecrow! But she did enjoy picking her pumpkin and a bit of cotton too. :D