Kendalyn's Christmas Tree

Kendalyn wanted a tree for her room, so we got her one. LOL It's really cute. At 4.5 feet tall, it's just a little taller than K. She chose the ornaments (with a little encouragement from Mom ;) ) and we put it up tonight. K is SO proud of her little tree, she says she hopes Santa will come downstairs to take a peek at it, because it's "SOOOOOO pretty!"She's such a hoot.

Since the colors match some SU colors pretty well (Tempting Turquoise, Pink Passion, Green Galore and Only Orange) I'm going to make a set of cards using those colors. I can't wait to play, I think they will be super cool X-Mas cards ;)

Hopefully now that I found this awesome picture editing program, I'll be able to upload cards and pictures easier. I know it's been around forEVER, but I just now had the need to discover it. Picasa is AWESOME. It's SO easy to use. Anyway, I hope to get my stamp back on SOON! LOL Now that I'm online again, I don't have anymore excuses.

The View from my Porch

I promised a few friends some pictures from my new house, ummm back in July when I moved in.. uhh better late then never??? LOL Well here they are. Hey, at least I took the pictures!

The first pic is the view from my porch the week I moved in, back in July.



The second pic is the same view this weekend.



I still don't know why I ever left PA! It's really pretty here. Anyway there are the promised pictures. Maybe I'll get a chance to upload some pictures from Halloween as well as some of the latest cards I've made. Yes, you read that right, I actually made some cards! I know, it's been forever, but I have done a few. I'll try to see what I can do. Gotta scoot!

Finally, an update!

Whew, life has been crazy since I posted last! Let's see where do I start...

Kendalyn has started Kindergarten and is loving it! Here's a picture from her first day of school.



And yes we're suckups and those are apples on her dress ;) My Mom and I saw that dress and fell in love with it. K thought it was pretty cool too.

She loves her teacher and is doing really well. Shes the best reader in her class. She started out in the AM class, but because of the job I got, she was moved in to the PM class. That move just happened yesterday, but I think K will be ok with it.

So that leads me to my job. I am working as a child care teacher at Camp Adahi. I was hired for part time and was ok with that, knowing that the turn over and such is so high at these places that I'd end up with a full time position in no time. Well that happened FAR faster than I ever thought possible. I was hired on Friday and my first day was supposed to be that next Monday. I showed up for work and the director was walking down the walkway and she stopped me and we chatted for a little while. Later that day she came in and told me that I would get 35 hrs a week and that would make it so I could get medical insurance. Ok COOL! Well fast forward a week and the one girl that they hired for the 3 and 4 year olds quit. She was only there for 2 weeks. See what I mean about turnover!?! Anyway, that Monday I spoke with the director again and was offered more hours and an extra dollar an hour! Plus a day off a week. So Now I work M, W,Th, & F. 8 - 5. That's 36 hrs a week minimum. PLUS, she's trying to get me on the medical ins after only 30 days rather than the 90 that's usually the case.

I forgot the best part!!!! I get FREE child care! That's going to save me close to $250 a month. That in and of itself makes the job worth it, but the other benefits are nice too.

It's going to take a lot of patience to deal with some of the people I work with/for, but I think I can manage. Oh and the other thing... the teacher for the 4 and 5 year olds is leaving in a couple of weeks and she wants me to take her job. Who knows if that will happen or not, but I think it's a good possibility. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Other than that, I LOVE my apartment. I LOVE my neighborhood and I am SO happy to be back in PA.

I miss my online friends, but I'm hoping to have internet access at the apartment after the 1st of the year. I need to build up a financial cushion to help keep me on my feet before I agree to any extraneous bills (cable and internet! LOL)

So that's what I've been up to lately.

Checking in

Ok so this is so strange to me. Here I am sitting in Panara updating my blog. Until I get a job and can afford to get internet at home, this is going to be my only way of checking in and communicating with the world. I haven't been without internet in over 10 years, so this is really weird. It's hard to concentrate with K bouncing around on the other side of the booth as well as other people discussing their business all around me. Oh well, I guess I'll get used to it. It's all for a good reason.

Just to let everyone know, the move went off without a hitch. We got to PA just fine and got the truck unpacked in 2 days. Getting the boxes all unpacked will take FAR more time ;) K and I really like the new place and as soon as I get a chance, I'll post some pictures of the gorgeous view I have from my back porch! It's so much nicer to walk out there and see mountains rater than corn fields!

K has almost the entire 2nd Floor (ok technically 3d floor)for her playroom/TV room and she LOVES it. I do too!

And to answer everyone, no I haven't even started to unpack my stamp room :( It's last on my list, even though I'd really like it to be the 1st!

Next on the agenda is to find a job. My friend Jay has a couple of leads for me, which is great!

Ok time's up, I'll try to check in again next week.

Cracked Glass Lovely

A group of my friends and I have started challenging each other on the weekends. Last week was to use the Basic Gray Blush 6x6 pad and a certain sketch. This week is to make a card with the cracked glass technique.

Ok, I'll admit it, this is NOT one of my favorite techniques. I do like the results, but it's so finicky to get good results. I usually have to go back and add a couple extra layers of UTEE because inevitably the cracked part will crack too much and piece will fall off. I actually received a card in the mail once with pieces of UTEE floating around in the envelope, so ever since I've been pretty careful when I make a cracked glass card. I would really hate for someone to get one of my cards that was falling apart!


Ok so to the card...



It's pretty simple. I stamped the flower in Basic Gray (Thanks Danita!) and watercolored it with Blush Blossom, Groovy Guava, Certainly Celery, and Wild Wasabi. Than I sponged on some Basic Gray, using a sponge that was kinda of damp. It changes the way the ink plays when the sponge is wet.

Then I started the cracked glass bit. About 4 layers of UTEE and a 20 minute rest in the freezer and I cracked it, and of course a piece fell off :( GRRRRR Well it wasn't too bad I couldn't do my next step and fix it later, so I rubbed some Sahara Sand over the cracks to accentuate them. Then I did another layer of EP (I used regular clear and not UTEE for this layer). It rested again for a couple minutes then I cracked it again. This time was better.

I made the card to open at the top, and there's a little bit that doesn't open. (I can't remember what that's called). I masked off that top strip and stamped Paisley in Soft Sky. Used my Threading Waters punch to punch the white strip for the top. Some silver embellies set it off.

Oh yea I almost forgot! I MUST enable you! LOL I bought the Tim Holtz Design ruler last week and have only had a couple of chances to play with it, but OMG it ROCKS! I LOVE the Mat Pack by SU, but was always disappointed that it wasn't even as long as the short side of a card. That part of it was just poorly designed. The Tim Holtz ruler has holes for piercing every 1/8 inch and it's a full 12" long! I LOVE that! It's also a centering ruler and it has a metal edge so you can use a craft knife without worrying about cutting into the plastic ruler! This thing is AWESOME!

I'm single again!

So my divorce was official as of 9:30 this morning. I am officially a single Mom. It's been a crazy last year, but I'm glad it's all over.

I'll be moving at the end of the month and I can't wait! PA here I come!