First Challenge?

Okay, so I will say when I read the first challenge I had a couple of thoughts through my noodle.

Good, easy....show off our partners and get our engines going with no pressure and specific instructions to follow

I mean...it is a lift, so in my case...eeny meeny miney mo

Sammie's gallery if full to the brim with goodness

......but then I started working on it

Oh...my....

How do you capture a friend on paper,
so that when someone else reads it

the get it. Should be easy for me....I write all the time

and Sammie is quite possibly one of the most endearing people I have ever met in my short time in digi world

well, met as far as a intercontinent, messenger, e-mail relationsip

will let you.....and we have done it enough times since we met
that it always feels like no time has passed since we last talked.

She is quirky, loving, a complete goofball that is completely dedicated to all things family

and always manages to make things seem like no big deal

Oh, I wish my OCD would let me live more like her....

and she would say the same about my life...
"organized, I need that"

We compliment as opposites while being alike in so many ways

Weird and a shame we live a gabillion miles from each other,

but the wine makers and our children should thank us
...seriousness.

I re-started this poor layout several times

Not the composition, that was set by the rule.

I was perfectly okay with that.

It was the telling part...

Should I write a letter about what her friendship means to me?

Do I do the usual series of tags with all those one word adjective/adverbed

text to make myself appear not vocabulary challenged?

Another easy part was her photos

I love how no matter the photo,

she appears always the same...comfortable in her skin.

So, back to the whole "how do I want this to read" thing.

Then, I just told myself....I am going to give a small view into

Sammie, without exposing the whole enchilada.

Give people a taste, knowing when they read it...

they too, are going to want to get to know her.

Pull out some of of quirk, but remind them and ourselves that

we are all in this friendship world together

...she could be you friend.

Easily....and your life would be richer because of it.

I have linked our race blinkie to my gallery, I think

Ndisb is a little different this year....ACK!

A conversation.....

Monday...here again in that continual cycle

Not that I pay much attention to what day of the week it is, other then to make sure the girl is up for school  and on her way to  pretend with all the others she is there to learn.

I had an interesting conversation with my little genius yesterday, that reminded me of how smart our kids are despite our efforts to dumb them up.

Why do boys and girls attach the word friend to the end, when you really mean anything but?

Girlfriend....Boyfriend

and how does the relationship change depending on how you use the word?

He is my boyfriend...She is my girlfriend

and why does society thinks it is okay to use the opposite term of what sex you are

but not the same if you accent part of the word when you say it?

I am a girl, she is my "girl"friend

deep stuff on the way home.....deep stuff from my brilliant girl

How do I respond without making it sound like my guidance is really just a way to impress on her how I think she should be and not giving her the opportunity to make her own way or have her own thoughts?

Would she formulate one regardless of what I tell her?
...she has so far.

The rub...the line you don't want to mark...life has so many

I am often qouted saying

"Life beats you up enough, why would you want to do it to yourself?"

I have for many years told my children that society has in place a system of social norms.

They do not work for everybody,

but are what most use as a guide to gauge how they are living in comparison to others.

We all do it, if you are honest.

Do I think they are right?

I was raised in an era where LOVE meant a whole different thing than it does now

....Thank God for the sixties and seventies

So I tell her this.......

I am thankful we can love who we want despite their

sex, race, religion...and if we get it back, we are lucky indeed.

That is what I want for you, my little sweet girl.....a life of love

That is all I am saying

Look what I got!!!

I apparently have been a good girl......I gots a present!!!!!

It may be bad manners to rub it in,

but I am going too!

Emily Powers, owner of some boots I am in LURVE with

and quite possibly the cutest stamped alphas around

has allowed random genertaor to PICK ME for a set of

her crazy cool Graffiti stamps....

WHAT?!?!?!?!

You know these appeal to my need for grunge, stamps, and ink,

and my heart was all pitter patter when I saw the Beauty Mark Collection!

Her little corner of the earth is filled with tons of hip, modern

and just plain "I need them" artwork.

I can admit I am closet art freak, and my hubby and I have

bought a lot of pieces though the years at auctions.

So it would stand to reason why certain styles pull

me in, and hers do. And who doesn't love the name Emily?

My own Emi wants to play with these too...smart gurl!

You can find Emily at Oscraps  and on her blog HERE

Thank you again, Emily

Blog train gift is just one post down, so scroll on, chickers!

Come on Board of a Valentines Train Ride!

Happy weekend before Valentine's Day!

The Sweet Digi Scraps Creative Sweeties have joined forces together

to give you some goodies we hope you will enjoy!

I have made you a sweet, but down to earth Valentines coupon book.

Is that really fair?
Isn't it supposed to be all about love and crap like that, LOL!

Well, here in my house...I made mine more along the lines of

"Romance will happen, if some other things do first"...bwahahahahahaha!

Here it is in it's simple goodness:

I began building it together by printing the four sheets

that I  have linked for you below.

I printed on 8.5 x 11 plain white cardstock, and grabbed

some little bits of stuff I wanted to use.

The usual culprits: scissors, ink, paper files, glitter, binder rings, ribon

and a heart charm I couldn't resist!

After cutting out each coupon, I filed, inked and popped a hole in each on one end.

Make sure you face the backs of the plain journal tag and back piece do adhere together.

Then gathered them how I wanted them, placed on my ring, added my charm and snapped closed

Then, because you knew I would....I added a bunch of ribbons

A great time to use scraps because this project is on a small scale

Love those saved pieces I have stashed away!

I often think everything would look prettier with a ribbon it it...and some ink..

You can grab your four sheets ready to print

 300dpi, personal use only hybrid project

from 4-share HERE

I also wanted to remind you all about the word-art and 365 friendly QP's

Using Cupid Struck I have put in the shoppe for you:

They can be found HERE

If you get lost, you can always head back to the Sweeties Blog

Creative Sweeties: http://creativesweeties.blogspot.com/

Or here is the list as well....happy train ride!!!

Liz: http://sweetdigiscraps.blogspot.com/
Leilani: http://leidee-q.blogspot.com/
Danyale: http://bygonesscrapbooks.blogspot.com/   ***you are here***
Kerry: http://kayjaysdays.blogspot.com/
Jan: http://intensemagicscraps.blogspot.com/
Rylea: http://u-neekcreations.blogspot.com/
Kristy: http://scrapglass.blogspot.com/
Sheila: http://www.scrappingmyjourney.blogspot.com/
Colie: http://coliescorner.blogspot.com/

Uh oh.....I have been hyrid-ing behind your back!

I am thinking 14 years is a long time to do anything.

I mean how would life be if you say.......

loaded the dishwasher all day everyday for 14 years?

Or how about an all day scrub the toilet fest?

Could you pay bills, run errands, drop of kids, pick up kids,

make a list, go shopping, forget things on that list, wash, cook, clean,

e-mail, phone, mulit-task everyday all day?

.....uh, I guess so most of of do....ugh!

What if you had to laugh...or cry all day everyday for 14 years?

Besides having probably the best abdominal muscles in the world.......

even that would get overwhelming in time...I think.

Now I could be an advocate to sitting in a  beach chair

reading, or scrapbooking, flea marketing
or snoogling with the hubby for 14 years

......and I have.

14 years now with my man and no, I would not change a single thing.
Good, bad, and the ugly.....like the Clint Eastwood movie

I too also understand the value of come-uppance, even within our daily lives

You may have the gold, but no horse to help you go hide it.

I am a firm believer in what goes around, comes around.

Karma really is a *****..........and then she gets even!
You don't even have to look for her, she will find you

I am one of those people who would eliminate parts of the first half of their lives,
 if only it hadn't gotten them to where we were today.
I had no examples of successful marriage to derive any sort of lessons.

I had no relationship prior to my husbands that made be believe

 in myself, them, or most of the world.

I was and still am simply a complete skeptic in people.

I am still a realist and am prone to think all people are born bad,

and we all strive to be good in some way.

Two weeks ago, I got to spend the evening with my sweetie
and some of our closest friends.

Just celebrating our anniversary, quietly but with "lots of words" (hahahaha---love you Ted)

We sat, drank, ate, laughed, caught up, put up and put down....the usual

No photos, no pressure.....and no drama

I made some really cute hybrid Monograms for us, to mark our occasion, our house, and then........
 forgot to share with you guys.

(bwahahahahahaha, I am so lame with these posts some days)

Just a little "M & D" action, that mimics those fancy store bought

cool Alphas to set here, there, and everywhere.

How sweet are those......can you imagine making some for you kids rooms?!

Or just word art for various spots in your house?!

Fireplace...shelves, wherever all tucked away to add some visual interest! 

I really fancied up my key holder, huh?

I am working on another for my laundry room...can't wait to finish!!!!!

The process was super easy, as I started with Randi's Large Monogram Alpha 

Already home printable size, so NO sending out to the printers!

and used her Shades of Blue kit to decorate each one like a layout...simple

 I printed out on regular 8.5 x 11 cardstock, cut them out and 

backed with some commercial kraft card stock,

like the kind you get when you order paper packs.

Then my usual of filing, sanding, inking

and tied a ribbon for good measure.

The hardest part was finding a home for them

because I wanted them everywhere!

I decided the location, as it is a spot we are guaranteed

to see several times a day...all of us.

The key holder catch all

Hope this inspires you to make some for your house

.....or to give to someone else.

What a wonderful personalized present!