Happy New Year!!

Hi everyone!! I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year. I'll see you all in 2008. I'm hoping to start posting more soon. I'm looking forward to things hopefully slowing down a bit. I have a new blog banner to start off the year right! You like?

I've been tagged!!

WHOA!! I've been tagged by Michelle, Jen, Tracy , Erika & Lori!! Hi ladies!! I'm supposed to list 7 random things about myself & tag 7 others, but I think everyone I would tag has been tagged already, so we'll just go with the 7 random things about myself.

1. I was adopted as a newborn. I am so thankful for that. I had a teenage biological mother & I believe she made the right decision to give me a better life.

2. I prefer DARK chocolate. I don't like a lot of sweets, but I go through phases where I crave them more.

3. I'm camera shy...I don't know why, just not crazy about having my picture taken. Probably because I don't like the way most of my pictures turn out.

4. I love cats. I have 3, Bridget, Gizmo & Harley. They are my babies since I don't have any children of my own yet. I would like to have a child, but I don't think DH is going for it. I have a stepson that is 17, my DH had him young, at 19 I think, so he's not sure if he wants to go through it all over again (BOO), but that's a whole other story I won't drag all of you into. Plus, I'm 5 years away from the big 40, so I'm getting to the age where it is a little more risky. :(

5. I used to be addicted to going to the tanning beds. Not anymore. I did it for so long, I have to be really careful now. So now I'm just pasty white....I have very fair skin!!

6. I like to recycle. I'm not perfect at it, but I like to do my part by recycling what I can.

7. I don't like really hot weather. I would like it about 70-75 degrees year round. Spring & Fall are most favorite seasons.

I hope those were random enough. I thought I would share some pictures with you since I'm sharing things about myself. Pictured below are my 3 babies, Bridget (the oldest of the bunch), Gizmo (she's a girl, I didn't name her, she used to belong to one of my neighbors, and I just kept her name), & the baby of the bunch Harley. The last picture is of my stepson & his girlfriend on his 17th birthday.

Crabbing At The Coast

We spent the weekend at the Oregon coast to go crabbing. The weather was beautiful, but VERY cold. We were nearly the only crazy people over there. This was the only trip we actually caught "keepers" so that was pretty cool. I think we may have caught a total of 8 "keepers" in all, which doesn't sound like a lot, but we were happy. I have shared a few photos below from our trip.

A Coast Guard ship that is headed out on patrol. Also in the picture is the docks that we crab off of.
This is our first keeper!! (Wait, actually, I think it may have been the second!)Oh no, he's trying to get away!! ;-)
These two photos I just thought were pretty shots of the water & the dock area.

Paying It Forward - My Turn

This is a wonderful time of year. Tis' the season for giving, right? I am participating in the "Pay It Forward" for bloggers. Since I was one of the first 3 people to leave a comment on MJ's blog, she is going to send me a surprise.



So here is where the fun for you comes in. You must have a blog to participate & if you are one of the first 3 to leave a comment here, you agree to "pay it forward" to 3 others on YOUR blog (please leave me a link to your blog in your comment, so I can contact you). This is a giving time of the year, so I hope a few of you will play along. The first three that wish to participate & leave a comment here, will be receiving some crafty/stamping goodies from me.



I haven't done any stamping this weekend, but I will be back to share some photos with you of what I was up to this weekend.

A Muse ATC - Knit Happens

Yet another ATC sneek peek for Tracy's swaps. This one if for the A Muse group. I wasn't quite sure about the layout of this when I started out, I wasn't sure how it would all come together, but I'm pretty happy with the end result. I don't knit myself, but I think these stamps are cute together & would make cute cards. Have a great day!

ATC info: Misc. solid card stock; DP by Memory Box; Image & sentiment by A Muse Artstamps; Versa Magic & Palette Ink; Buttons by Making Memories; Glue Dots; White Gel Pen; Piercing Template by Lasting Impressions; Nesting Circle Punches by EK Success.

The Cat's Pajama's ATC - Snowflake Poochie

I think this may be my favorite of all the different groups of ATC's for Tracy's swaps. Both of these stamps are from my recent order from The Cat's Pajama's. I just couldn't pass up the great sale they were having a couple of weeks ago. In fact, I ended up placing an order at the beginning of the sale, then late Sunday night, I decided to place a second order before the sale ended, so I have lots of fun new stamps to play with. I was kind of trying to do a mini version of TCP sketch #4 that I've seen on the TCP DT members blogs. Thanks for the inspiration girls! I used my Spica clear glitter pen on the falling snowflake to add some sparkle, but it doesn't show in the picture. I'm still having some software issues with my computer, but I think I have it part way figured out. I need to contact a couple of people today that are going to try and help me out. Happy Monday everyone! ATC info: Misc. Card Stock; Image & Sentiment by The Cat's Pajama's; Background Stamp by Impress; Eyelets by Making Memories; Palette Noir, Versa Magic Sea Breeze & Stampin' Up White Craft Ink; Red Stickles (on Poochie's tongue); Spica Clear Glitter Pen.

Memory Box ATC - What's Cookin'?

I still am having problems uploading photos onto my blog from how I typically do them (I know it's driving me crazy though), so I'm not sure what is going on. With some fiddling around, I managed to get this photo here, and I'm not even sure how I did it, but we'll see if I can do it again. I'm hoping I can find someone that is a lot more computer knowledgeable than I am to maybe help me. :) I'm participating in 5 different ATC swaps that my friend Tracy is hostessing (HI TRACY....are you peeking??). This is for the Memory Box group. I haven't played around with my penguins as much as I would like to, so this was a fun group to create something. I wanted to use some pink since I know Tracy is a fan of pink as am I. I used my clear Copic Spica glitter pen on the chef hat & apron, but the sparkle does not show up in the photo. By the way, if you ever need to purchase any of these Memory Box cuties, I like to purchase mine from Anna. She has awesome customer service & is a real sweetheart too! ATC info: Misc. Card Stock; DP from Making Memories; Palette Noir Ink; Copic Markers & Spica Clear Glitter Pen; Image by Memory Box & Sentiment by A Muse Artstamps; Ribbon unknown.