Hello My Crafty Friends!!

Hey guys, I wanted to share with you an album that I am making for a friend.  It is the first year of her son's life.granted he is 20 years old, but you gotta start somewhere!! The pages are not real elaborate, but I am only getting paid $5.00 per page, so I have to reel myself in, and not go crazy with the embellishments. :(  I also am posting a picture of the card I made for my daughter after she had her breast reduction. I couldn't believe that none of the card makers make a card for that.  IMAGINE!! LOL   Here they are, I hope you like. Karen♥     

Hey Everyone!!

I wanted let you all know that I have been sick, my Lupus, and Colitis, are not happy, and I am being punished!! Although i have been sick, and not crafting, I wanted to share with you what happened the other day.  Does anyone remember the 3:00a.m. Crash back in January?  Well it happened again!!! We had a hurricane a few weeks ago, and our roof leaked, so the insurance guy came out to check out the roof, and take pictures. Seems like that would be fine, what harm could come of that?? Well I will tell you, The guy got his ladder, and climbed up on the roof, but unfortunately he decided to bang the wall in my craft room, where I had a bunch of cubes on the wall, and when he put the ladder up on that wall to get on the roof, the bang from the ladder must have loosened the cubes, and as I was getting a drink, I heard that awful familiar CRASH!!!! Yes, it was the buttons!! I have about a gazillion buttons in jars, that all came crashing to the floor!! The jars luckily did not break, however the covers all came off, and the buttons are everywhere!!! I think I have learned my lesson, and I am moving where I store my buttons!! I will be back one day this week!! Miss You, Karen♥

Hi Everyone!!

You know, there are times when we as parents just need to brag about our kids.  I find that this is one of those times!! 2 of my 3 kids are very involved with the Y.M.C.A and their youth groups.(I am not sure what happened to the my other child, none of us are perfect) Anyway, my 15yr old son spent Sunday morning on a walk for Autism. This is something that my 2 children (again, I can only try) have done for a number of years. When he came home, I asked how it went, thinking I would hear stories about the children with Autism that they met, and what he did to help out.  The answer that I got from my 15yr old son was, I saw Becka, now Becka was his girlfriend untill last week when they decided to break-up, because they live in different towns, and she has dance 4 days a week, and it was too hard to see each other because neither of them have their license, and how he was really upset, but they have decided to be good friends for now, but he saw her and she looked so beautiful! Now as most of you are wondering as was I why am I hearing this, all I wanted to know was how was the walk, how did it go making the cotton candy ect., yet this is what I get.  I blame this on my self teaching my children about being honest and open with us as parents.  Be careful what you wish for my friends!! My daughter Amanda who has been with the Y since she was in the 7th grade, and then went on to run the group all through high school, and it helped her to get into college, because the College she goes to is also the founder of the Y.M.C.A. This weekend my daughter Amanda spent her Saturday volunteering, for the show Extreme Home Makeover, who happen to be in the city where she goes to school.  You have to understand where she goes to school, that we pay $37,000.00 a year for her to go, as you make your way to her campus, there are burning cars on cinder blocks, graffiti everywhere, bars on all the windows and doors.  Then as you turn the corner to enter the campus, it is like the garden of Eden. The president of the College's house, is nicer than any house that I have seen on any Houses of the Rich and Famous!! It is the strangest thing I have ever seen, The kids on campus are not allowed to be out on certain days, such as Halloween, they are all locked in their dorm's because it is gang initiation bight in the city.  Gang initiation night!! That's right!! Anyway, they were doing the show in the city where she goes to college, so all the girls in her suite all went to volunteer. Now if I didn't know my daughter better, and know her volunteer history, I would say she was going just to get on t.v. So they dolled themselves all up, and picked out the cutest outfits, and headed down to where they were taping.  She called me later that night to tell me how everything went. She told me how they were exhausted, how they were there all day, how they had to stand around for hours, until finally they were needed.  so they gave them the shirts, to which my daughter and her friends, had to make them "cuter" I have no Idea how this was accomplished, but I believe that it was a success.  They were then all given hard hats, that were not "cute" at all but the rule was that they had to be worn while "on set" a t.v. term apparently.  So they followed some guy who them put them in a room where all 10 of them were given their jobs. Now I am picturing in my head, my little girl and my adopted girls all wielding hammers, building walls, putting in windows, you know, jobs like that.  She proceeds to tell me that they they had to get water for the other workers.  That was her job, getting water!!! I guess everyone has their part.  Then they did a scene with Michael the designer, and that was the end of the day, and they were going to return the next day to yell "Move that bus!!" So I called her to Sunday night to see how things went, and she told me that they all got up, and got dressed, (as cute as possible) and headed down, excited to see how excited the family was going to be. When they got there, it was packed, there was hardly room to breathe!! They all got in with the group that were packed in like sardines, ans she informed me that she was so "hung over" to stand there all day so her and a couple of the girls went home! Now, here is where the open lines of communication with your not quite legal child come into play!! I am proud of the work that I have done, that my baby feels that she can tell me how she was so hungover, she could not stand, and yell "Move That Bus" now I have never actually yelled at a bus to move, but I am thinking it can't be that difficult, hung over or not.  This is where I am wondering why I did not leave well enough alone, and savored Saturday night's phone call, and left it at that, but no, I had to call to hear what more of how wonderful my child is. Especially when I need 2 of my children to make up for the other one that I am still trying to figure where we went wrong.  So my friends, the moral of this story is keep the lines of communication open with your children, and leave well enough alone!!!!

Good Monday Morning All!!!

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend!! The weather was so beautiful!! This week I am going to be working on a card for my sister, she is turning "50"!!  I can't believe it, only because I am following behind her in a few years!!  I am trying to decide if I should make it a funny card, or just a regular card, or something in between.  I know she is not happy about it, so I am thinking the best way to go is funny.  I will keep you posted, and of course I will share the end result with you.  I would love to see if any of you have made a card for a similar occasion.  I am still trying to figure out how to put the Mr. Linky up on my blog, so it will be easier to share your work, and for challenges, and contests.  I have faith that I will be able to do it!!  I also had some questions that I want to answer on the storage bins for the Cricut cartridges that I posted about on Friday, so lets get to it!!  "Cherie" is going to be moving, and wanted to know if the bins take up a lot less room than the boxes do?  The really do, you can fit 16 in one case so the case is about 14 x 15 x 1-1/2' " wide. So picture how much room 16 Cricut boxes take up and you can see that the bins take up a lot less room.  Tisha saw these bin's at an Expo, and she wanted to know how they were working for me?  I love them, I have them all alphabetized, and I even find that in the bins, I seem to put the cartridge away right after I use it, where before, I would just put it in the box, and push it down on my table, till they started falling off the edge hahahaha. I think that it is because the bin is a little big to keep on the table, so I put it away when I am done.  You all know what a sloppy crafter I am, so you can imagine what a help that is!! The only think that I miss is the box. I really love those boxes.  I love looking at the pictures, and I don't know I just love them.  Please don't worry, much to my husbands dismay, I have kept all the boxes in a box, in the basement, and he doesn't seem to see how this is taking up less room, "husbands" huh what do they know?  Oh I also wanted to thank Carri from Doubleclick Connections, I had asked if anyone felt that if I decorated these little wooden coffins that I bought at Joann's for my little neighbors and put candy in them, if they would be o.k.? My hubby thought that it was gross, and scary, but Carri says it is o.k., so I am going with it, because , "husbands" what do they know?? Thanks guys for the questions, and comments, and I will post pictures as I get things done!!  Karen♥
              

Hey Everyone!

Well I didn't get to jump back in like I thought I would, but I can tell you that I just received an order that I placed for some supplies and one of them was some of those containers that are made by Art Bin are made to hold the Cricut Books, the silicone overlays, and the cartridges.  I love them!! They hold 16 cartridges, and all the other stuff.  The trays come out of the container, and you could probably store a couple of tools in there also.  I have put a picture up to show you what they are like.  I was thinking that I might give one for the next challenge that I have!! So, I hope you all have a nice weekend, I know I am going to try, Very Hard!!! See you all next week!! Oh, Heather, please let me know when you receive your Your Story, it should be there by Tuesday!!!!  Karen♥

                                                         

I AM BACK!!!!!!

O.K. I know that alot of you are saying to yourselves, " Wasn't she back last month?" and you would be right.  It has been 1 crazy thing after another.  I was even thinking wow that lady is a mess!! Then I realized, that is ME!!  So now that my daughters surgery is over, and Thank You all so very much for your thoughts and prayers.  Even though it was an elective surgery, it is still a surgery.  For those of you that did not know, my daughter, Amanda who is 20, had a breast reduction.  She was sadly cursed with my family, or should I say my female family's chest size.  Now I know you might say, "Karen, people have to pay for a plague such as Big Boobs." to which I would say, (I am not going to keep putting the quotes in, o.k.) thanks. Big boobs are great, if they are man made big boobs.  People that have big boobs, will tell you the truth, and that is.... When you are 13 and all of your friends are getting their little training bras, that you don't fit in them, so you have to go to the older teens dept. to get "real" bras that your friends think are cool, but that is because they don't have to go with their mothers to buy them.  When they get a little older and are ready for the teen bras, and you have to go with their mothers to the womans dept. because they don't make your new size in cute lkittle teen bras in like Victoria Secret, they might say that they carry your size, but what they call a "D" at Victorias Secret, is really a size "G", and yes there is a such thing as a "G" in the real world of Big Boobs, sadly.  When you have Big Boobs that are naturally Big, they are not the same as man made Big Boobs. Man made big boobs are not even on the same region of your body as natural Big Boobs.  When you have natural Big Boobs, they start off on your body at the right place, but then at some point, usually around the point where you get pregnant, they start to move south, and end up resting on your thighs, and that is only if you never gain more than 10 pounds at one time in your life. Usually if you ngain more than 10 pounds, you gain it right in the Boobs.  Some people might come to work on Monday and say I ate so much this weekend, I think I gained 10 pounds, and then there are the people with Big Boobs that just come in on Monday and you just see their Boobs and say huh, now she, gained 10 pounds. Because when you have Big Boobs, everybody knows when you eat more than a grape over the weekend.  I had my breast reduction almost 4 years years ago, and it was the the thing that I always wished for, and dreaded at the same time. I was afraid of it, but the thought of it was scary too.  When I found out that Insurance would pay for it, my husband said you should do it, and I made the appt. I was also afraid that people would think that it was a vain thing to do, but if you don't have natural Big Boobs, you have no idea how miserable your life is.  When your friends are all buying their bathing suits, they go to Target, whern you have Big Boobs you go to Target and but the bottoms, and you go to Lane Bryant to buy the top, and that is if they carry it, Lane Bryant usually only go up to a "DDD"  the other sizes you need to buy online.  It really is a sad  thing to watch.  Especially if it is your daughter, and you have to watch the disappointment time and time again. Don't get me started on Prom Dresses. When you finally find a dress that fits, and doesn't look like a Grandmother of the bride dress, you  now have to find some kind of a bra to where underneath, to which you wont find one, so I would have make one, and then pay extra money to have a piece of fabric to close the cleavage in the dress, because she is so un-comfortable whearing it otherwise.  It really is sad to watch. So, now that she has had it, it has only been 3 weeks, but I see a whole new Beautiful Girl emerging. As a mother it is the happiest thing in the world to watch!! I threw her an  "Out With The Old And In With The New Boobs Party"  It was so much fun!! There were,  " Hope you feel better" and  "Congratulations" Balloons, (the guy at the store was confused to say the least) haha   There were cup cakes that were shaped like boobs, and NEW BRAS!!!!  We had an old Bra Burning!!! It was great!!! So with all that said, There is really a reason I call these Random Rants!!! You just never know where they will go, and what I mean when I say you, is me!!!  So this is where I have been, and I do apologize for not being here, but I will tell you guys now, that my Family does, and always will come first, I will do my best to do both, but my Family is first.  So I also want to say Thank You to Heather, she has been so Patient with me during this whole thing, and she also told me that Family always comes first. Heather won the Your Story in my last Challenge, and Heather because you have been so patient, I am going to throw in some extra Candy for you!! I wont tell you what it is, but it will be GREAT!!!!  So thank you guys for letting me rant, and I hope you look at the next person that you see with Big BOOBS with a little bit of empathy, not sympathy, but empathy I feel that now you will feel some compassion for what we, and I feel I am still part of that club, (yes there is a secret card carrying, club, there is even a secret handshake) go through on a daily basis!!
Karen♥

Hurricane Irene!!!

Hi everyone, so sorry I have bben gone for the past week, 2 weeks.  We just got our power on, since Irene came to visit us!!  I cannot explain how much we all depend on electricity!! Half of our town, still have no power!!! So.....  I will be shipping out Heathers Candy on Monday, and I hope to be on here A.S.A.P!!!!! Thank you Heather for your patience!!  Hope everyone is well, and I can't wait to come up with a new challenge!!!