Sat. /Project 365 Girls' Weekend

We started our day with breakfast bread from Publix (the best), bagels, and fruit (compliments of Cathy and Natasha)to fuel us for our outings for the day. Cynthia met us here and graciously offered to drive us on our appointed rounds...thanks tons!

Our first stop of the day was Posh Scraps where we were welcomed by Michele and Louie. Posh has just gotten in tons of new product with tons of lovely glittery papers from My Mind's Eye, Webster's Pages, Graphic 45 and more and more. Cynthia found some pretty Teresa Collins papers for her crown Princess book, I bought some beautiful MME and the others also found fun things. No one left empty handed.

Our next stop was Rainbow's End, the amazing fabric and trim store in Dunedin. Michelle, the owner, always manages to find the more beautiful ribbons, rick rack and other trims. And, yes Pam B, I bought you a bunch of the much coveted hand dyed French ribbons. I'll put them in the mail for you so you will have them when you get home from vacation, I broke down and bought the other tool to do my felting. The Styrofoam I had been using and my overly enthusiastic punching had resulted in broken needles. I also purchased some replacement needles and had Michelle show me how to replace them.

I think everyone found some lovelies to put in their baskets here too,

Then, despite the rain, we forged onward to Dunedin's quaint downtown and shopped the boutiques that line the streets. I found some darling stocking stuffers for three friends' Christmas gifts, Ginni found the cutest water bottle holders for her grandchildren and Natasha bought some beautiful earrings and a bracelet to match,

The big find for Noreen was chocolate bread pudding from the cafe on the corner. Where she puts the food and stays as tiny as she is is beyond me but I'd die for some of her metabolism!

Then it was back home for some lunch. E fixed us a Cassoulet with Bacon, Andouille and Country Ribs that he had been simmering on the stove and then into the over for about five hours while we shopped. Oh, be still my heart.

Ginni had to leave us after lunch to attend the birthday party of her five year old grandchild and she was missed. It was so good to see her again. Poor Becky's roof had a leak in her bedroom and she had to miss our day out to clean and mop up the mess...we love you Becky and you were missed too along with all the other Project 365 gals who were unable to make this weekend.

We toasted to you all with Billinis that E mixed for us. Nothing refreshes like peach nector and sparkling Italian wine. It was a nice pick me. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening playing on our laptops, looking at albums and learning about Close to My Heart Studio J digi scrapping program. Noreen is a rep and we loved looking through her catalogs of course.

We were all so full still from our late lunch that we traded muffalatas for cheese, sausage and crackers and most of us headed for bed around ten if not a bit before, It was a lovely long day filled with shopping and the company of good women.

Kristen stopped by with the Twins and picked Noreen's brain on the trials and tribulations of raising twin boys. Noreen has two who have just turned five and living proof that Kristen and Chris will survive this. lol

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Friday/Project 365 Girls' Weekend

We started the fun with a glass of wine at my house and then on to Paul's Shrimp House Restaurant here in Tarpon Springs for supper. The group is Cathy, me, Sonya, Becky,Cindy, Ginni, Noreen and Natasha. The food was fantastic. Good choice, Ginni! After supper, we headed to the Sponge Docks for a short stroll and desert at Hella's Bakery,. This place has the prettiest (and tastiest) yummies. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Our last stop of the evening was back home where we stayed up chatting until 2am. For those of you who know me, you are probably doubting this as I am a 9pm gal! But it is true...2am. What a great bunch of gals and what fun.










Stay tuned tomorrow for the next exciting installment of Girls' Gone Wild in Tarpon Springs...lol

It's all about the customer service

The older I get, the more I expect from sales and companies or perhaps it is that I just tolerate less. I give every thing two chances but if I get poor assistance or less then sterling customer service, I find some place new to spend my money.

This being said, I want to tell you about two companies that have gone above and beyond the call of duty in my opinion: Glue Arts (the company that makes Pro Glue Glider) and Webster's Pages (one of my favorite scrapbook companies).

I had a refill that the glue kept coming off of but not in the manner it was intended for my Glue Glider. When I was at CHA, I talked to one of the salesmen who told me to send my old one to the company and I would get a refill ASAP. When he said ASAP, I thought to myself, uh huh, sure, doubting Thomas that I am. Within three days, I had my refill in hand. WOW Now that is good customer service.

And then there is Webster's who went even further. I am one of their biggest fans. Their papers are beautiful, the embellishments lovely beyond compare and they keep coming up with amazing accessories for their products. One of my favorite products is their Storyteller alphas. I buy them whenever I can find them. You get one big alpha and three small ones in great fonts and great colors. I had a problem with one sheet in that the small letters peeled off without the glue attached and I had to use my tiny glue pen to attach them. This had NEVER happened before so I wrote to the company yesterday and got an email response early this morning. My money will be refunded and I'll be getting a small gift for my inconvenience. WOW AGAIN...prompt reply, courteous thank you for drawing this to their attention etc.

So, thank you Glue Arts and Webster's Pages for your great Customer Service!

My ACOT reveal for Aug. Travel Album

I used the amazing Teresa Collin's Travel line of papers and embellishments to make this travel album for a friend of mine who does not scrap. Her husband, her, E and I are heading to the Med. in September and I thought this might make a nice gift for her.

To read the complete article for my reveal that includes a tech for cutting page protectors for inter active elements like pocket pages and photo flips, check it out here

http://www.acherryontop.com/articles/Off-to-the-Med-with-Teresa-Collins%27-Travel-line-11542

There are two parts to this so be sure to scroll down to the next post here on my blog. And thanks for looking!

ACOT Aug. Reveal Part II

BBQ at the guys' house

Rob and one of his house mates, Dave, invited family over yesterday for a bbq. The boys out did themselves with corn on the grill in the husks, backed beans, hot dogs and juicy Bubba Burgers. Oh, and did I mention the cold beer? The guys share this beautiful house with a third house mate, Steve, who was out on a friend's sail boat. The house is on the inter coastal and we enjoyed their pool and the view off their dock. It was nice meeting Dave's mom and her friend too and getting my third day in a row Nana fix.

Dave has one of the smartest dogs I've even met...within just a few minutes he had taught Abby how to eat corn on the cob. She doesn't just crunch into it but uses her teeth like a human. Dave demo'ed for her once or twice and two ears of corn later, Abby was full! Oh, and she prefers it with butter!

My reveal for ACOT is up tomorrow and I had such a blast working with Teresa Collins' Travel line of papers and embellishments to create an 8x8 of our upcoming trip for my friend, Jo who is not a scrapper. Hope you enjoy it tomorrow!

Happy Sat.

Kristen brought the boys over yesterday so E and I could get our baby fix for the week. She had them dressed in the cute little Cardinal baseball outfits that Steve and DeeDee gave them and they looked darling, of course! lol

We met Bob and Becky, Suzie and Justin at a tiki bar in Dunedin for happy hour yesterday. It was cool and breezy which it usually is out on the water but stifling once we walked into the parking lot. We had a couple of drinks, watched the boats on the water and listened to a very good jazz musician play. We headed to Grillsmith's for dinner and then home. Lovely evening with good friends.

And more time with good friends coming up today...I am off to Posh to the only part of the weekend crop I could make...today. Di is saving me a seat and Becky and Jean will be stopping by to visit . I have little goody bags with things from CHA for each of them and one for Jackie, who is still recuperating from her gall bladder surgery. Get better fast, Jackie...miss you!

Hope everyone has a great Sat.

Short post tonight

I've been cleaning and sorting today trying to get my room into some sort of order from the last month of planes, trains and automobiles...lol. I did get my desk top cleared and things put away off it and even did a paper bag album with one of the super cool Pennsylvania Bag Company bags that Pam and I were given at CHA (posted the mini I did on my altered art blog).

Looks like dinner club is postponed for a couple of weeks. I am having Girls' Weekend here next weekend but the last weekend in Aug is looking good.

We are heading up to Dimitri's on the River for happy hour cocktails tomorrow and then out to supper with friends. I love our weekends here in Paradise! Sat. is the crop at Posh and will get to see Di with Jean and Becky coming by for a visit while Di and I crop. and dear Jackie, heal fast...you are missed!

The Twins are coming over tomorrow so Nana Jules can get her baby fix and Little Mama has promised to bring the boys up to Posh on Sat so I can do Proud Nana!

Have a great weekend everyone

My ad challenge at the ACOT crop

I love using ads like sketches and this one caught my eye...it is clean, well designed and perfect for a layout. Here was the challenge

Create a layout from this ad. You may reverse it, flip it, turn it on end but you must retain the following elements: title across the top, three photos next to each other or one on top of the others and it must have journaling.








I am off to Weight Watchers weigh in today and then home to do some laundry and scrap. I am working on my reveal for ACOT for this month. I will be taking next month off as we will be gone most of the month on our Med Cruise. Our house sitter will be in place and we are so lucky to have Tom and his gf willing to house sit for us and take care of the cats.

Between now and then there is a lot going on...crop at Posh this weekend, bbq at Rob's for all of us, Girls' Weekend and then my class. Back in the swing finally!

ACOT super crop this past weekend...

Because of my dad's funeral, I was unable to get back in time to participate on Friday but did work with Pam Bennett on Saturday during the early shift. Pam posted a scrap lift challenge for the members and had asked the Creative Team to scrap lift each other as well. Sarah W. is an amazing digital designer and her layout of her cat, inspired me to do the one in blue of the twins. Thanks Sarah for the inspiration!

One of my two challenges (I'll post the ad one tomorrow) was called "Lemons to Lemonade" and read, " We all have those papers in our stash that we wonder what were we thinking/drinking when we bought them. Take one of your "lemon" papers and turn it into "lemonade" by creating a layout, card or altered project or an embellishment for a layout, card or altered project that is shown in its entirety".

Below is the silk paper that came in a package. I used many of the ones to create little notebooks for Christmas presents last year but this one can be summed up in one word, fugly! lol. But I really like how the "lemonade" layout turned out. All I have left to do is add the journaling in the space to the right. The white on the flowers is packing foam that I doubled over and ran through my die cutter using the Tim Holtz grungy flowers die. Wonder how these would look Glimmered? hmmmm.







Hope everyone has a great day...and roam on over to A Cherry on Top for tons more great challenges. You have until Tues to submit your entries for some great prizes.

Spent the day with incredibly handsome young men

This baby fix was long over due...so glad I get a double dose. Everyone but E took a snooze today...Kristen with Colvin and Nana with Landon,much needed for all concerned.

I love the shot of E holding Colvin (they were watching golf btw) where Colvin's little hand is over E's big one...so amazing.

They are both at ten lbs or over right now; they have doubled their weight and firmly inbedded themselves into my heart!

Sigh!

A walk down memory lane

There is going to be a photo board at the visitation and I gathered what few pictures I have of my Dad and me and of him and his brothers and sisters. My baby book was lost in a move so I am rather limited in what I have but these are priceless.

What I want to talk about at the funeral is when my dad was young. He was 24 when I was born, a tool and die maker. I was born shortly after the war ended and there was a housing shortage. We lived with my mom's parents, and aunt and uncle, and my great aunt until I was almost five. We then moved to Wichita where my dad found work for an aircraft company.

My Nana's house was quiet and sedate as one could be with all of us sharing one bathroom in a five bedroom house. My cousin, Marcy, lived down the street and I believed for the longest time, her grandparents were also mine. Now, my Grandma Sears house was something else. There was always something going on...aunts and uncles, young and old, and food aplenty for any and all occasions. I love both equally each household for its own reasons.

My dad is so young in these pictures...he has hair! I remember stories about how he held a second place title for wrestling in the state of Iowa in high school and I can still hear my Grandma's voice telling me how he use to take her for boat rides and go so fast, she would wet her pants. He really was a tease.

He tried to help me with my math (hopelessly), was an amazing wood worker as I have said and I credit my creative streak as much to him as I do to my mom. He could not sing to save his life (guess I inherited that right along with blue eyes).

So, here is my walk down Memory Lane...Cheers Dad!

The Twins at 8 weeks

Landon and Colvin have doubled their weight and are developing such distinctive personalities. Kim came for a visit and whispered to them both GAK loves you best...(Great Aunt Kim)! lol

I love the backs of their necks, their tiny toes and just watching them play longer and longer periods of time without fussing. They have found their arms and hands and are endlessly fascinated by them.

Nothing can compare to sweet babies.

And congrats to Jill and Kelly on the birth of their very own son, Liam Kelly!

Heading to St. Louis soon

First and foremost, thank all of you who have sent your hugs, love and condolences via this blog, facebook and through emails. I can not begin to tell you how much less I feel alone and bereft because of all of you. Bless you!


Here is my dad's obit

Sears, Russell J. fortified with the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church on Friday, July 30, 2010, peacefully with his family present he passed at the age of 87 after a 2 year battle with cancer. Loving husband of Joyce Marie Sears (nee Tetrault); beloved son of the late Joseph and Mary Sears; devoted father of Thomas (Sandra) Sears, Michelle (Michael) Toohey, David (Karissa) Sears, Julie (Gene) Eickmeier and Janet Sears-Mallory; treasured grandfather of India, Elizabeth, Broden, Kristen, Robert, Jennifer and Jeffrey; cherished greatgrandfather of Kaela, Landon and Colvin; dear brother, uncle, cousin and friend. Russell was a member of the St. Peters Woodworker Club, an usher at St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton, a Republican Election Judge, an avid reader and enjoyed travel especially worldwide cruises. The family would like to thank Dr. Luedke, Dr. Walsh, Dr. Garcia and the SSM Hospice Nurses for their excellent care. Services: The family is being served by The BAUE Funeral and Memorial Center, 3950 West Clay Street, St. Charles, MO where visitation will be held Wednesday, August 4, 2010 4:00 - 8:00 p.m. Funeral Service 12:00 p.m., Thursday, August 5, 2010 at Baue Funeral and Memorial Center Chapel, 3950 West Clay Street, St. Charles, MO. Interment St. Charles Memorial Gardens. Memorials may be made to American Cancer Society . Share your condolences and memories at baue.com.



and here was what was left out: normally the children are listed oldest to youngest but that was not the case. It should read : Julie, Janet (malloy not mallory), Tom, Chelle, David. My sister and I are not the "add on" children. .

My father was one of eleven children: two died in infancy but the rest remained close. My father was survived by my Aunt Rita, my Aunt Fran, my Uncle Joey, and my Uncle Mike who just happens to live in the same town as my dad. These brothers and sisters deserve more than "beloved brother".

My father's one abiding love in his life was his woodworking. He loved that like I love paper arts. His shop was amazing and he invented tools for small detail work. He was published numerous times in woodworking magazines and had won many many awards. He built me a doll house when I was four...it is probably still in my grandmother's attic. He may have been an usher in his church and an avid Republican but I KNOW he would have given them both up for a day in his shop.

I KNOW that Teresa Brewer was his favorite singer and he and I use to sing her song, "Music Music Music" together. I KNOW that he helped my mom sew all my dance costumes and was a better seamstress than her even. I KNOW that I use to dance on his shoes and he could throw me so high when I was young. I KNOW he loved his brothers and sisters and his mother dearly. I KNOW that he always made tomato soup with milk not water and that he had regrets that far exceeded mine. He and I may not have been close but these things I KNOW.

I was talking with a friend who buried her mother a year or so ago and she assured me that funerals, rather than bringing families together as they should, often show people's true colors. I am hoping for the best.
In the words of my wise and oh so missed Mother," This too shall pass!"
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