A blog about my family, my life, my thoughts, my creativity and whatever else I feel like talking about at the time. Please leave a comment and let me know that you visited!
Monday, October 23, 2006
Did you know that an inch of pattern paper is estimated to be 100 sheets or 75 finished pages?
Did you know that one inch of cardstock is roughly 50 pages finished? How many inches do YOU have?
How many pages do you do a year?
Do you have over 12 inches (1 foot) of cardstock or printed paper? Do you realize that is enough paper for 1000 pages? Are you stockpiling for someday when you already own enough paper to do thousands of pages?
Did you know that one tin/set of 100 eyelets makes and average of 20 pages? (And how many sets of 100 do YOU own?)
Did you know that many paper packs and multi sheet slabs usually have 10-20% of their patterns that will not suit you within a pack? (one sheet in 5 may not be to your taste so don't keep it in the stash--share!)
Did you know that each sticker sheet you own will do approximately a two page layout? If you have binder full of stickers it will equal about 300 pages to use them up??
Did you know that each yard of fiber you own will make 1-2 pages? If you own a skein of knitting yarn, they contain between 100-200 yards of fiber? At that rate it will take you 100-200 pages of JUST THAT SKEIN to use up that yarn ball on layout pages? (SHARE!!)
Did you know that the average gel and writer pen ink longevity INSIDE a pen is one year before it is generally dry or unusable? (Use them up before they DRY up!)
Did you know that playing music when you scrapbook helps your creativity and productivity?
Did you know that starting with a format saves you 20 minutes PER PAGE? Did you know there are about 500 free sketches online? Watch our links for sites. If you can't find those free ones online to print and refer to, or need ideas for crop parties, get Becky Higgins Creative Sketches book and also her Creative Companion book. Becky Fleck's Page Maps are my personal favorite! Her sketches are simply awesome for versatile formats of layouts.
Did you know that shopping once a week at the scrapbook store costs most scrappers an average of $25.00 each trip? (And most of those have enough items at home already to make 1000's of pages.) $25.00 times 52 weeks a year means $ 1300 spent per year.
Did you know that sticker letters cost an average of $3-$5 dollars a sheet now? Buy black so that later you can mix and match later your partial sheets for 'mixed font' titles. It will save you at least a dollar a sheet to BUY BLACK! Why? Because you will eventually get more many titles per sheet that way!
Did you know that one ABC sticker sheet usually makes only two titles before it is cast off by most scrapbookers? Over half the stickers are then wasting away in binders or storage and clogging up precious storage space--never to be used again.
Did you know that people will pay $1 each for two punched flowers and a brad or pop dot? (Think Jolees, K and Co, and Paper Bliss) Do it yourself for a fraction of that. It takes only pennies to make a stacked flower from your scraps and chalk the outside petals..... I know you have scraps and brads, eyelets or pop dots!
Did you know that stamping your own twill ribbon with phrases saves you $2.00 a yard? How many premade ribbon yards do you have that you need to use up? Wording ribbon usually works out to 1 foot per page. If you have a stockpile of 20 yards of worded ribbons of all kinds, that means you better get cracking and make 60 pages before you buy more!!
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Happy Birthday Mom
For the strength to do the right thing, yes.
Not for a winning lottery number, not for love or health, or happiness. Prayer is not a gimme list: God isn't Santa Claus.
As she has taught me, I believe that without asking, we are given all we need.
We must have the wit and wisdom to recognize the strengths and tools at our command, and find the courage to do what must be done.
Her indomitable spirit, her courage through those exhausting months of illness, pain, and decline, had been an inspiration to me.
But I wanted more than inspiration. I wanted her- healed, healthy, full of life once more.
My mother.
My Friend.
Happy Birthday Mom.
I miss you more and more with each passing day.
I Love You.
Terry
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Wonderful Man-Wonderful Weekend!


Lately things have been building up here for me. With the loss of a dear friend of ours, 3 deaths at work, 2 neighbors getting killed in tragic car accidents, me not getting the new job that I have been praying for, the pressure of having a new roommate living with us, my daughter and sister pissing me off and the pressure from working my ass off at work, the load on my shoulders has been quite heavy. I took a Saturdayoff so that Scott, me and the dogs can get away and go for a long fishing trip to the coast but it turns out that that was father's day weekend so our plans never panned out. Yes, fathers day at the in-laws was nice grant you, but what I needed was a change of scenery. So instead of actually taking that Saturday off, I went in to work. No use in wasting a day off if I'm not going to do nothing now is there? Well, Scott felt so bad that we didn't go like we originally had planned so he made it up to me in other ways. I took the following Saturday off and we spent the whole weekend together doing stuff that we've never done before. It was awesome!
Friday night we went to our very first Durham Bulls game! I thought it was going to be too hot to be sitting out in the sun with all them people there but it turned out to be one of the most beautiful evenings that week! There was an amazing breeze blowing and we were there for maybe only an hour before the sun started setting so we didn't have to be out there baking in it. As for the seating? We couldn't have asked for better seats then where we were. We were either four or five seats up right behind home plate! Now I have been to many Brewers games and I always liked the sidelines, like right along first and third bases, but these were perfect! To give you an idea of what it was like, here's a picture. see? Perfect!

Afterwards they had their usual firework display. How fun is that!
That Friday evening Scott told be I better get a good nights slepe because int he morning we were heading out for Lewisville to go to this stamp and scrapbooking store that I've been wanting to go to for a long time! What??? He's going to take me there? I couldn't believe my ears!
We got up early Saturday morning and headed on out there! But not before we stopped for breakfast at one of my favorite places......Craker Barrel! It was about a 3 hour drive and all we did was talk all the way there. No stereo playing nothing. Just good conversation between the two of us.
After finally getting there I must say that I was a bit disappointed. From what I heard, it was supposed to be the largest store in North Carolina. Well, what I think they meant to say was it was a store with the largest "selection of stamps". Grant you, they had a lot of stamps that I haven't seen anywhere else but they didn't have all that much scrapbooking stuff. BUT, the scrapbooking stuff that they DID have was different then what I have seen in the local scrapbook stores here so I guess I can say that yeah....it was worth the trip! I ended up buying some stuff that I've been wanting for awhile but never splurged and bought myself. I also was looking for 2 stamps in particular and would you belive out of all thos 1,000's of stamps I couldn't find neither one! Oh well. That was a few more extra dollars I saved! So now for the next few weeks we'll have to go back to eating hot dogs for dinner until I can replemish my checking account! Oh and Scott was such a dear too......he sat outside on the front porch just a rocking on the rocking chair and everytime I stuck my head out the door to see if he was ok he'd tell me to go ahead and take my time that we didn't come all the way out here for nothing! Now how sweet is that? On the way home we stopped at another store and I got a head start on some Christmas shopping! Now I can't say where we stopped and what I bought because my dear friend reads this blog and she'll know right away what it is I bought so I can't go there right now. But I will say this much....she is going to L O V E me!! :)
Anyway....The next day I had big plans to spend the day in my room working on some projects that I've been meaning to work on but couldn't seeing as I didn't get what I was looking for at The Enchanted Cottage. I held my head up and took a deep breath and decided to test the waters by asking Scott how much he loved me and if he wasn't busy that afternoon if he wanted to make me as happy as he did the previous day by taking me out to Durham to Carolina Memories, another awesome scrapbooking store. He sighed, looked at me and told me he loved me with all his heart and in the same breath said that yes he would take me out there if I wanted him to! I about died! As much as he hates and I mean HATES shopping, he took me out there and check this out.......he even SHOPPED with me-showing me all the pretty papers and cute embellies and everything! I tell you it was so cute! I don't believe I've ever loved that man more then I did at that moment right there in the store! We had so much fun! I finally found what I was looking for (a stamp for my ATC's and my Poppets clothing and word bubbles) and headed home, all the way jamming out to Pink Floyd. Once there Scott sent me to my room to play and told me that he wants me to finally get some work done. I was a good girl and did as I was told and needless to say I got a lot done! Had a blast too playing with all my new stuff!
The weekend was fantastic and we enjoyed each other so much! Now when I trip over his shoes laying in the middle of the floor or have to put down the toilet seat lid AGAIN, all I will do is sigh, look at him and tell him I love him with all my heart and how lucky I am to have him!
A Sad Day For Fans
Even though Syd Barrett has not been with the group since 1968 we can't help but to somehow still love the man since he is the creator of the most awesome band ever!
Rest in Peace Syd.
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LONDON (July 11) - Syd Barrett, the troubled Pink Floyd co-founder who spent his last years in reclusive anonymity, has died, the band said Tuesday. He was 60.
A spokeswoman for the band said Barrett died several days ago, but she did not disclose the cause of death. Barrett had suffered from diabetes for years.
The surviving members the legendary band - David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright - said they were "very upset and sad to learn of Syd Barrett's death."
"Syd was the guiding light of the early band lineup and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire," they said in a statement.
Barrett co-founded Floyd in 1965 with Waters, Mason and Wright, and wrote many of the band's early songs. The group's jazz-infused rock and drug-laced, multimedia "happenings" made them darlings of the London psychedelic scene.
But Barrett suffered from mental instability, exacerbated by his use of LSD. His behavior grew increasingly erratic, and he left the group in 1968 - five years before the release of the band's most popular album, "Dark Side of the Moon" - to be replaced by Gilmour.
Barrett released two solo albums - "The Madcap Laughs" and "Barrett" - but soon withdrew from the music business altogether. An album of previously unreleased material, "Opel," was issued in 1988.
He reverted to his real name, Roger Barrett, and spent much of the rest of his life living quietly in his hometown of Cambridge, England. Moving into his mother's suburban house, he passed the time painting and tending the garden. His former bandmates made sure Barrett continued to receive royalties from his work with Floyd.
He was a familiar figure to neighbors, often seen cycling or walking to the corner store, but rarely spoke to the fans and journalists who sought him out over the years.
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Lyrics to Pink Floyd's 'Shine On, You Crazy Diamond,' which was written about Syd Barrett and appeared on 1975's 'Wish You Were Here'
Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
You were caught on the crossfire of childhood and stardom, blown on the steel breeze.
Come on you target for faraway laughter, come on you stranger,
you legend, you martyr, and shine!
You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Well you wore out your welcome with random precision, rode on the steel breeze.
Come on you raver, you seer of visions, come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!
Nobody knows where you are, how near or how far.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Pile on many more layers and I'll be joining you there.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
And we'll bask in the shadow of yesterday's triumph, and sail on the steel breeze.
Come on you boy child, you winner and loser, come on you miner for truth and delusion, and shine!