My latest addiction: acrylic(and prize winner at the end of the post)

The first two photos are of a 12x12 acrylic cover and the title page for an album I am doing for the kids about E and me. This is the first of two since each of the kids have different relationships with us and so each album will be customized to that adult child. The second of the two is the acrylic cover open. ( I have just posted my techniques for using a large piece of acrylic as an album cover in the "Got Technique" at www.knkclub.com)

The next photo is of several things I have found work with acrylics using heart shapes as a 'canvas'. And the final two photos are of an acrylic cover tag book from Sunday International that I just completed a last week. It was such fun to do.

So, there you have my latest addiction...now at what lss is the 12 Step Program being held this week?...lol.


OH AND ANGIE IS THE WINNER OF THE STASH BLOG PRIZE...3 LITTLE SCRAPS/ E-MAIL ME WITH YOUR ADDY HON, AND I'LL GET THE PRIZE BOX OUT TO YOU ASAP. THANKS TO ALL FOR PLAYING ALONG. (eeickmeier@comcast.net or eeickmeier@hotmail.com)

The countdown continues

I think someone is going to win today....will it be you?

Blog Reward

I just looked at my site meter and, after I had to reset it about 6 mo. ago, I now have 49,900 clicks on my blog. I am going to host a contest and the reward will come from my considerable stash. The 50,000 poster (you have to leave a message), I'll send you something really nice and will get your addy if you leave me your e-mail or send one to me at eeickmeier@comcast.net.

So, who wants to play. And if you have trouble posting, remember that I have blogger and you have to open an account to post on someone's blog but you don't have to have a blog yourself.

Ready, set,...go!

Another perfect day in Paradise

I took this shot out at Howard Park on the beach a couple of days ago and wanted to share it with you. Today, as was that day, is a perfect reminder of why we moved to Florida to retire: the sun is out, the clouds light and fluffy, the breeze is briny from the Gulf.

I am thinking I'll scrap this picture and will entitle it "Perfection in Paradise"...if you can think of another title, let me know, k?

Hope your day is as lovely as mine is turning out to be (other than the pesky tooth problem)!

and this was only the first day.....

Jill's plane was on time and we headed back to the house Thurs, ordered a pizza from our favorite place, Queen's, and settled in for a nice catch up talk. We stayed up lots later than E and I usually do but enjoyed every moment.

Friday we hit the road running. We gave Jill the 1.50 tour of Tarpon Springs: the beach off Howard Park, Spring Bayou etc. and ended up parking and shopping our way down to Rusty Bellies at the end of the Sponge Docks. From there we hit Lime N the Coconut for a toddy, gator watched and sipped with our favorite bar keep, Susie at Snookers and one to Miss Vicki's on the Anclote for one last cold beer and some boiled peanuts in cajun sauce...yummmmmmmmmmmmmm. E fixed us supper while Jill and I floated in the pool and we all stayed up way later then even the night before watching part of an old John Wayne movie!

Sat. we picked up Kristen and we all headed to Safety Harbor for some shopping and a leisurely lunch at Fried Green Tomatoes Grill...the food was wonderful and eating out on the patio under the huge live oaks dripping with Spanish moss...relaxing. We walked a bit and headed home . But first, a stop for a dip of ice cream from Strachens (hand dipped and to die for). We hit the pool and again, our chef, cooked up a wonderful meal.

KIds are all due over around one today for bbq ribs and a swim and to spend some time with Jill before she has to head back to St. Louis later this evening. We did remember Friday to toast the working people!

Thanks for your patience during my absence! Have a great one!

I'm late, I'm late for a very impt. date!

Will have to be quick here as I am due at Kristen's school for volunteer work at ten. Those little second graders are so cute. Then there is the luncheon for the volunteers.

Will be back, baby (said in my best Arnold S voice)!

I love it when the house is clean and shiny!

but I sure hate what it takes to get it that way. I've been a hausfrau all morning and am about Pledged and Windexed out! E and I have always loved having company...he jokes it forces us to keep the house cleaned! lol

Back to work so I can scrap later this afternoon and add the finishing touches to my Scrapping Pets article for Scrapbooking.Com.

Later, gators

Wow...how much fun!

I was so thrilled when my arty blog, A Toast to Altered Art, was awarded the Arte y Pico and now this one has been nominated for the same award. Tam, who I met at one mb and who 'kidnapped' me to the Creative Scrap Shack nominated this blog of inspiration and creativity. Thank you Tam.

Here is how this works. I will nominate 5 others whose blogs I find inspiring and they, in turn, can nominate 5 others. So....Di, Suzanne (Bisous.Biz), Kip, Chris, and Pam B...consider yourselves nominated. For more details, please check out my artsy blog

Anyone want to take bets on if the paver guys show up today?

A brand new week...SOS

Before I rant, I wanted to post a picture of Rob, my son(36), and my great niece, Kaela who is six. Rob has the patience of Job and is so good with little kids. He sat with Kaela and played Cook Mama and a couple of other games with Kaela on her DS for hours, giving the rest of us a chance to chat. Kaela has had the biggest crush on Rob for the past two years and considers him her personal pal at our family gatherings. They are way too funny together!

Now for the rant. Harry, our main computer, froze up on me this morning. I followed the standard procedure for dealing with this and, instead of it reloading, it just keeps recycling through the Windows set up. We've called the cable company twice and are at least able to jury rig Minnie, my laptop, bypassing the router, so I can get on the internet. Rob to the rescue once again but we'll have to wait until Sunday before he can get over. Thanks to son-in-law, Chris, we at least have access to the internet and E won't have to go through Free Cell Withdrawal.

Chris has also been helping put up a retaining wall for us today.

Rant no. 2: the pavers didn't show up!!! We called and it was blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda...tomorrow! We could have all gone swimming yesterday w/o worrying about getting the lanai pavers wet! Argggggggggggggggggggg.

Ok, off my soap box and off for some scrap therapy!

A new week begins

When Jen and Tony visited with us before, they didn't have time to make their door sign so Jen set to work right before breakfast this morning and fashioned this cute Mickey door sign for them for the guest room. Then, Kaela, who loves to scrap, made one for "her" room too with some ballerina papers and stickers I found for her at Big Lots. Another cute door sign was produced by our to be scrap celeb, Miss Kaela! She and I am her mom scrapped about 5 or 6 pages yesterday of her trip with her parents to the Garden show at Epcot...lots of butterflies and ladybugs and topiaries!

Laundry is in, bed linens and towels washing and drying and almost ready for our friend, Jill Drayton to visit with us for a few days while her hubby goes hunting. Jill was my student teacher the year before my last one teaching and we have had such fun with her and her husband over the years. Jill and Kristen share ownership in two weeks at our time share resort and we are hoping they can make it down to use theirs. Jill is not an assistant principal in a high school outside of St. Louis. This has been her first year and I am sure the next one will be easier. See you Thurs. evening, Jill!

Off to do some catch up stuff...the pavers come back tomorrow to seal all the paving work and then we can start the landscaping in earnest. We found a solar fountain that will be perfect in the lower right corner of the lower lawn and will order that with some of our tax incentive money.

Tony,who was our realtor and who sold our house for us in Ft. Myers, reminded us we closed on May 30th of last year so our one year anniversary here is coming up fast. Now, how shall we celebrate?

Almost a year

It is hard to believe that as of May 3, we will have lived here for one year. When people ask, my quick answer is usually that we have been in Tarpon Springs for 6 or 7 months so I stopped to actually count the other day. Wow...where did all the time go. We have really worked hard (more E than me) to make this place our own and both of us feel we have made great progress with lots more to come.

It was only appropriate that I scrap our Home Sweet Home with the May KnK kit...and I still have tons of the kit left after doing this layout, a 5 page acrylic tag book and an album cover. WOW!

The path way to the lower lawn

The guys have been working hard since Tues and we are hopeful the entire project will be done before our company returns on Friday. Today they are sweeping more sand into the pavers and using a compacter machine. With any luck, they will get around to sealing everything tomorrow and we can us the lanai etc. a few hours later. If they can't get the sealer on early tomorrow, we may have to wait until Sunday and with a house full of company this could be a little rough. Cross your fingers please!

Off to the lss (have a coupon ya know) and to the library to stock up on evening reading materials but not much else on the agenda besides some scrapping. I am in a danglies swap at Quietfire and need to make some more of these fun little things...this is really art in miniature! I have a few posted on my artsy fartsy blog if you scroll down and they are not only addictive but fun!

Have a great one.

May kit is up at KnK

And it is a fantastic one! I've done two projects so far with this: a layout entitle "Home Sweet Home" which is up on the home page and an acrylic cover tag book by Sunday International which will be up later this month.

The add on kit is wonderful too.

The kids left for Epcot early this morning and then I went for my foot recheck at the dr. All seems to be aok but my blood pressure is acting up for some reason. Back to checking it 2x or 3x a week and going in for a follow up.

My sister did not come for the visit as she has a terrible cold. Good thoughts for her would be appreciated.

Have a great day all.

It is Tues morning in Paradise!

The paver guy is coming...the paver guy is coming. He called yesterday and said he'd have started then but we didn't return his call. Stupid land line didn't ring. Can't wait til we get that fixed. I hope he starts work in the back and E hopes he starts in the front...oh well. It will take about 3 days total he says for the work to be completed. (pictures to follow later today)

Have some small scrap projects brewing here and tomorrow is the KnK kit reveal for May...the kit is awesome and I've done a layout so far and a small tag book from Sunday International. I'll post the kit on here tomorrow!

My sister, niece, nephew in law and great niece arrive late this evening. We need to inflate the big blow up bed for my sister and I still have one bathroom to clean. Can't wait to see the family again. We have a special day planned for Sat. with good food and all of us together. Hope the solar kicks in and the pool is warm enough to swim!

Off and running. Hope your day is a good one!

Happy Monday!

Laundry and cleaning on the agenda here. It is a cool and overcast day here in Paradise and we have company coming soon. Hope it is warm enough by the weekend for Kaela, my great niece, to go swimming. We have a food feast planned for the whole family on Sat and it is nicer if we can eat outside.

My layout and altered project went live this weekend at www.scrapbooknewsandreview.com
This is a layout I did of my friend, Barb, called "Waiting to Exhale" and the magazine did a great job displaying my work. Right now the mag is by subscription and in on-line form but I believe that eventually the owner/editors hope to take it to paper format. I will be submitting to this one again. The staff is very encouraging and helpful.

I finished a layout this weekend for the May KnK DT reveal and a tag book with acrylic covers by Sunday International also with the kit. The layout will be on the home page on the 16th when the kits go live. The tag book will follow TBA.

Off to move laundry, make up some beds, dust and vacuum...just another fun day in Paradise. Hope yours is a good one!

Tarpon Springs Fine Arts Festival

We headed down to Craig Park on Spring Bayou yesterday for the art festival that everyone said is a must see...and they were right. There were about 250 vendors with everything from blown glass to hand made leather goods. We were so tempted so many times.

There was live music and a wide variety of food. We got the gyros and Greek salads and a couple of cold brews.

I love Craig Park on the bayou. The side walk meanders along side of the water with live oaks draped in Spanish Moss providing shade. I've heard this area referred to as the Golden Crescent as it is where the wealthy northerners built their winter homes. The house in the photo is just one of my many favorites. If I ever win the lottery, there is one that is up for sale that would make a great scrap retreat b&b!

After the fair, we headed home to float in the pool. The weather today has changed so radically, that I am afraid we'd freeze parts off trying to swim so will settle for scrapping the afternoon away. Rob is due over to see if our computer woes are 'mom induced' or if the cable guy will have to fix it.

Have a great day!

Computer connection woes

We've been having problems with our phone so we bought a new one and same problems. Have called the cable people to switch phone companies but now with internet connection problems, thinking it may be a wire or cable or something. The cable guy is due Tues. so if I am not around, you know why.

Posting when and while I can,

Have a great weekend.

It's Friday

and I got a great night's sleep for a change so I am refreshed and ready to plunge into the day. I have a major clean facing me here in my work room but I want to get it done so I can play. I got my DT kit from KnK for May and it is so rich and wonderous I can't wait to dig in!

E is taking some things over to the kids' tomorrow morning as they are having a garage sale and then we hope to head to the big arts and crafts fair at Craig Park down by Spring Bayou here in Tarpon Springs. Everyone tells us this is a "do not miss" opportunity so, if we can't make it Sat., we'll go Sunday for sure. We missed this by one month last year as we had not moved into this house yet.

Speaking of moving, on May 3, we will have lived here one year. Wow! It hardly seems that long at all...slow down time, please.

As is our custom on a couple of Fridays during the month, we will head up to Snookers in town for an afternoon toddy and to visit with our favorite bar/wait person, Susie! She is half the reason we go there as she makes us feel so welcome. We also like to watch the gators in the enclosure behind the tiki bar.

Off to start the day!

Happy Thurs.

What a wonderful surprise. I woke up this morning to discover my artsy blog (http:/jules-atoasttoalteredart.blogspot.com ) has been given an award. I'll post all about it later. It was for artistic content of interest....wow, huh? We're out of here this morning but wiill be back later.

Updated: I put all the info about the award on my art blog.

Where is that cleaning faerie when I need her?

First, one of our amazing hibiscus in full bloom. This baby has to be 5 inches, at least, across and is so pretty it takes my breath away. Next is one pic of the disaster I created today on my work table. I am down to my usual 2 feet of work space and KnK's newest kit just arrived in the mail. I have got to clean so I can play. And then, play I did today. Everyone needs to take an Experiment Day at least once every three weeks or so. Today was mine. Somerset Life and Somerset Home have the best challenges ever. I've been altering martini glasses as gifts forever now (and yes, Linda dear, you are right...I should offer this as a class. Heaven knows I have enough goodies for a big one). These are two I did today...took on the challenge and played with some new techniques. And then another shot of the mess on my desk. If you think I am trying to shame myself into cleaning up this place, you are so right!

Happy scrapping all.

Just another Wed. in Paradise

Had The Foot (as it is becoming known) x-rayed this morning. Because of our strange insurance policy, I had to go to New Port Richey at the hospital there to get it done rather than at the hospital here in Tarpon Springs (same co. run hospital too)or at one of the dozens of xray places near here. But, we did get to see how cute downtown New Port Richey is and found a couple of restaurants that look interesting so the morning was not a total loss.

We're been having major problems with our land line phone connection. We thought at first that we just needed a new phone but the new one is not ringing or taking messages just like the old one did. We're calling the phone company and, if they can't fix this, we'll drop our land line and go with our cells like Chris and Kristen and Rob do.

We're a bit overcast again today so doubt if the pool will warm up any. The solar heat works great but does need more sun than we've gotten the last couple of days. E has been working on the yard getting it ready for the workers coming (with any luck) next Monday who will put in the meandering walkway and the other work in the front. There were railroad ties all around a tree in the side yard leading down to the lower lawn and he had to remove these. It looks better already.

My sister, my niece and nephew in law and my great niece are stopping next week for one night on their way through to Orlando and then will visit a couple of days that following weekend. We'll have the kids over and celebrate a couple of belated birthdays. My great niece, Kaela, wants to scrap with her Aunt Julie...can't wait!

Jamaica layout: Coyaba Gardens

This was such a beautiful place: fountains and running streams, lovely tropicals and enticing colors. The Garden was a true Eden and our guide was such a sweetie! I will but the close up of the pressed flowers and the directions for the glittery Ginkgo leaves on my artsy blog (gotta love the Glimmer Mist and the All Purpose inks that I got from KnKclub.com) Thanks for looking.

Monday Morning Blahs

I have far too much on my To Do list for one day and all I really want to do is mix it up with paper, glue, pics and embellishments. Life is interfering with creating! lol

This too shall pass. I hope to scrap later today and will post anything I finish. Off to jump into the day!

So Sad

About eight or nine months ago, Tam, a friend I had met on-line, steered me to a fairly new site, Creative Scrap Shack. It was a warm and wonderful place to hang out with creative and friendly women. I made some great friends there and even made the DT which was also such fun. Recently, the wonderful owner, Carman, has had some medical emergencies in her family and announced today that she is having to close the site to devote her full attention to her family and rightfully so. I am asking all to join me in good thoughts and prayers for Carman and her family. She is a an amazing woman who created an amazing site and who cares so much for her family and all of us. She is doing what her heart tells her she must.

Martha tagged me...

And I am tagging three people who cheer me up and make me smile and they have to tag 3 others so here we go...(and there are more than just these 3 but the tag says 3 so if you are not mentioned, your name was printed in invisible ink, k?)

I tag Pam, Roz and Barb from KnK! Go forth and tag!

Still looking for my land legs...

I was glad to hear that I was not the only one from our cruise who still felt like she was swaying a bit as if I were still on the ship. It has almost abated. The first pic is the view from the cross over from our side of the ship to the other looking down the Promenade. This is where the two parades were held both of which I missed. One shot is of me at the falls in the garden we visted in Jamaica and the other of me playing the slots one of the two times I visited the Casino. My mom loved the slots and so I gave them a few spins just for her. I am not a big gambler by any means as anyone who knows me can testify about. When we first entered the Windjammer (a restaurant that was like a huge cafeteria), these carved foods caught our attention right away along with the ice carvings. One of the last pics is of our beautiful dining room. We have the most darling waitress, Ana, from Romania. She called us her "Mama Table"! lol

We picked out our pavers for our garden walk way, the extension on the drive way and the front porch yesterday and work is scheduled to begin a week from tomorrow. Yeah! I can't wait to see how this looks. I keep humming an old childhood song, "White coral bells upon a slender stalk, lilies of the valley deck my garden walk. Oh, don't you wish that you could hear them ring? That will happen only when the faeries sing!". We bought some beautiful blooming plants yesterday and E will plant some today. One of the most beautiful ones was foxglove (digitalis) in two colors. We placed them all outside of the lanai as these are poisonous to our cats and if any cat would eat at these, it would be The Boys!

Hope to finally scrap tomorrow. The kids are coming over to swim (weather permitting) and for an early dinner today. Have missed them one and all and have small gifts for them from the cruise!

Have a great one!

P.S. Quietfire is having a couple of very cool contests. Check them out with the link

Back to Blogging

Jill changed her flight plans so we can stay here in Ft. Myers and play a bit longer. We are off soon to show her Beall's, Bell Tower with the Mole Hole and our other favorite, Wilford and Lee. It is shop til we drop day for us and then off to the airport to wish Jill bon voyage.

The cruise was on beyond description...the scenery amazing and the laughs seldom stopped. Not sure what order the pictures loaded but there is one in the hot tub which was located in the adults only section of the pool deck. Next year, I plan on spending more time here for sure! It was Pam's birthday and the liner provided her with a lovely little cake and sang to her...such fun! The four gals were our balcony buds, G-a and Barb, my roomie, Jill and me. The views from Jamaica were the most amazing and I'll probably fill the next couple of days with these...we went to the most wonderful garden, took picks of Dunn Falls through the fence and the ship pictured from high above were of our liner in the harbor below.

Stay turned for more photos tomorrow! Missed you all.

Almost home

We laughed our way across Alligator Alley and decided not to end the trip yet. Jill and I are spending tonight with Barb in Ft. Myers after we shopped our way through Bonita and visited with our pal, Janet, who left her sick bed to open her lss just for us.

The cruise was amazing! I will post pics when I get home tomorrow...pinkie promise. We had the best guide in Jamacia (waving to you Hudson)who showed us all over the island and found us the perfect place for jerk chicken! Kip has an eye for finding great guides for us.

Grand Cayman was fun too...the shopping a tad upscale but I managed to find a few goodies. The cruise crew was wonderful and I spent many starry evenings on the balcony wishing everyone not with us could have been. Jill and I had coffee on the balcony every morning (thought of you, Wild Flower Child!)and watched the world go by.

We're taking Jill to Beall's tomorrow and Bell Tower here in Ft. Myers. I miss this tons...Bell Tower is one of my favorite places to eat lunch and Barb and I are so excited to share our love of this place with Jill.

Great fun with great friends...missed you all!