Susie's Scrappers

Started New Blog

2010-11-05T18:39:00.001-07:00

I haven't kept up with this blog at all, so I started a new one. My new blog is here and it's going to be my new scrapbooking blog where I'll post what I'm working on and so forth. I want to try and get on a design team, but they all want to see your blog and your work, so that's what this blog is going to be for. I also started one for my digital tagging, but it's not up to date either! lol

So visit my new blog and hopefully I'll keep it up to date a lot better than this one!

Thanks for stopping by and hope you come and check out my new blog!

You can find me on Facebook to, Susie Lewis Gerdes.

Fundraiser for Brandon

2009-07-09T15:05:00.000-07:00

Everyone needs to go and check out this auction and it's for a great cause. Anthony and Kimba are putting on this auction to help their friend Brandon. A lot of donations have been received and some are very cool and I've donated a Scrapbooking Bundle for the auction too. So go check out the auction blog and if you live in the SF area you should stop by and check it out.

Click here to go to Auction Blog

I'm Still A Horrible Blogger!!

2009-04-30T07:28:00.000-07:00

For some reason I just can't get into posting often enough and it's really sad, because I get a lot of hits and nothing new to read, so I apologize!!

I was just looking for something on an older post and I can't believe that National Scrapbooking Day is Saturday and I have nothing planned this year. All of my scrapbooking and card making friends have either gotten out of doing it or have moved away, which is really sad. I'll probably be finishing cleaning out my room, where everything was put that's ready for the garage sale that we're going to be having soon. We made some room in the garage for the boxes, so I can put my room back together AGAIN!! lol

Nothing new going on right now, same ole stuff. Richard is back working on his 1960 pick-up and is back to being excited about it. Would love to sell the Jeep and need to get it back up on Craigslist either today or tomorrow for the weekend. Someone did come and check it out, but didn't buy it!!! With the rain coming this weekend we need to cover it back up, which is really a pain in the butt.

I'm going to run right now and hope to post again either tonight or this weekend. Have lots to do today in hopes of getting my craft room together enough to have some fun this weekend, so wish me luck!!

Have a great day and talk to you soon!!

Back Again Today, I Promised!!

2009-03-02T19:22:00.000-08:00

Here I am again, two days in a row! I've been looking through pictures and don't have as many as I thought I did, but am still going to share quite a few. I got my new camera in late January, so other than the SuperBowl pictures they're all with my old camera. I do love my new camera though, it's a Kodak Easy Share Z1085 IS. It's not exactly the camera I wanted, but I couldn't afford the camera I wanted and this one has everything that I was looking for, so I went for it. I did get a really good deal on it though and it's so cool. Yes, I am a dork. lol

I don't know if you've seen the movie The Christmas Card or not, but it was filmed on location or at least is supposed to have been filmed in Nevada City, California. I love this movie and so of course when Richard was on vacation the week after Christmas we went to check out the covered bridge and Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Much to my surprise when we found the location of where the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was, there was nothing there but a cement landing!! Oh well, was a little disappointed, but I got over it. We did go on the bridge that was in the movie, but it's not a bridge that's in use, so that was fudged too!! We did have a fun day and took lots of pictures.

This picture is of Richard standing where the Memorial was supposed to be.

This is the bridge that was in The Christmas Card. Cody rode over it on his motorcycle when he was coming into town.

This sign is at the end of the bridge and thought it was pretty neat!

And this is a sign about the bridge itself.

Here are the SuperBowl Pictures. We went to Dan and Sylvia's house down the street and have a really good time and as you'll see in the pictures, there was so much good food! Dan and Sylvia are really big Pittsburg fans, so of course everyone else was cheering on the other team, but they were really good about it!!

This is the just some of the food that was at the party!

This is my hubby Richard!

Here are a few friends outside chatting and watching the game.

That's all I'm going to do right now, but will be back later this week with some more pictures. I've been pretty horrible about taking pictures and I could just smack myself. I've been trying to get a good picture of M&M, but she hates the camera and when she sees it she takes off running. I've been trying to be sneaky, but it's not working. I'll keep working on it though, I'm determined to get a good picture of her and now with the face recognition and other features in my new camera, you can actually see her face and not just a black blob! They're not actually good pictures since she's running away, but she at least looks like a dog now.

Thanks again for stopping by and talk to you soon!

Been MIA, But I'm Back!!

2009-03-01T21:27:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted anything, it's almost embarrassing! I've been out of everything for so long, but I'm trying to catch back up. I feel like I've fallen off the face of the world and trying to find myself again. The holidays seemed to come and go so fast and life is just rushing by so fast, but I think it's starting to slow down now, at least I hope it is. I started working again typing, which is a good thing, but balancing life and work again were really hard, but I've got it down again now.

We lead a pretty boring life these days, just working. I hadn't even scrapped or done anything since before Christmas, but spent the whole day yesterday in my craft room finishing up some things that have been on the table what seemed like months. If you didn't know already, I didn't make the design team that I went out for and neither did my friend Amanda, which was really disappointing. Amanda did make it further in the rounds than I did though, which was great for her. But alas, neither of us made the final cut, but life goes on. I do have craft books all over the place though and trying to get my creative juices in gear and am excited to get new things started again. I'm even going to start back crocheting my poncho this week since I don't have work (hope I remember how, it's been a while). lol

Right now I feel the need to finish things that I've started and de-clutter! Our house is so small and things seem to be 'stuffed' in every nook and cranny and it's getting on my nerves. So this week I'm hoping to spend a lot of time going through everything and hopefully getting rid of a lot of 'stuff'. We've been saying we're going to have a garage sale, but now is the time. I have boxes full of 'stuff' in my craft room already that have been waiting for probably 2 years now and am so sick of working around them. So I'm hoping to add to the boxes and have a garage sale in a month or so if the weather permits.

So I'm sorry for letting my blog go neglected for so long and I promise it won't happen again! I'll be back tomorrow and catch up some more and add some pictures that I took with my new camera!! Yes, new camera!! I'll share more about it tomorrow. hehehe

Thanks for stopping by and see you later!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T08:00:00.001-08:00

I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving! We'll be going to Galt for Thanksgiving this year, it's been awhile since we've spent it with my family and it'll be nice for a change. Am thankful everyone is healthy and happy!! Neither of the kids will be joining us though, but they're off doing what makes them happy I guess!! lol

Lots going on this time of year and have been so busy trying to get things done. I'm behind as usual, but will play catch up this weekend hopefully. I did make it through the second round at WeScrap and so did Amanda and that makes me very happy. I'll post my layout at the end if you want to check it out. This weeks challenge is a Make-Up Challenge and haven't even started it yet!! It's due tomorrow by midnight, so you know what I'll be doing tonight and tomorrow!!

WeScrap is also having a membership special for only $5 for a year and business membership for $12 for a year. So if you're interested you can go check it out, they're a great group and lots of fun.

Here is my layout for Week 2 at WeScrap and it was a Close-Up Challenge.

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving and talk to you soon!

Happy Hump Day!

2008-11-19T20:46:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's Wednesday already, this week is just flying by way to fast. First off, my mom is doing really well and thank you all for your well wishes and prayers, they were appreciated!

As for the Challenge on WeScrap.com, I did make it to the second round, which makes me really happy. Everyone actually got to move on to the second round though, but hey, I'll take it!! A few people had dropped out, so we all got to go one! Am trying to find some time to do the second round challenge, it has to be in the gallery by midnight Friday night and will probably be doing it Friday unless I find some time before then. I do have my picture picked out, but need to resize it and pick out everything to go with it. Have been giving it a lot of thought, but haven't come up with any good ideas yet and it's going to drive me crazy. I'm sure I'll come up with something, but it has to be something good if I want to make it to the next round! Keep your fingers crossed for me, I'm going to need it.

Been trying to get things ready for my Etsy Store, but coming along slow! A friend of mine named Teresa made my banner for me since I'm so computer challenged and couldn't do it myself after a month of trying. I did get the right program now I think, but will use the one Teresa made me until I have time to play around with it again.

My very good friend Amanda does have an awesome Etsy Store and if you scrapbook or make cards you should check it out. She has some great kits and the prices are excellent. The link to her store is here, so you should go check it out.

Here are a few of the current items that she has in there right now, so go and check them out along with the other stuff she has, she's a real sweetie!!

That's about it for today, but I'm sure I'll be back really soon. Lots going on this week and probably next week to with Thanksgiving coming up way too soon!!

Talk to you soon and don't forget to stop by Amanda's Etsy Store!!

Happy Friday!!

2008-11-14T09:43:00.001-08:00

I'm so glad it's Friday, it's been a long week!

Today my mom is going in for surgery, the gastric bypass, so please send your prayers and wishes. She's had some issues and hope this helps her get back to her old self. She's had trouble getting around and getting out of breath when she tries to do anything. It's been kind of keeping her at home a lot and she's a goer and has been getting really depressed. I don't blame her and pray it all works out for her. It's going to be hard going, but hope it's worth it in the end!!

I finally finished my first layout for the WeScrap Fresh Face Challenge! I totally screwed up my first one and had to redo it, but still pretty happy with it. It was basically a scraplift challenge where you pick someones layout and make it your own. This was a pretty easy and have a feeling they're going to get a little harder as the challenges go on. I hope I at least make it through the first cut, but it's okay if I don't. I know I'll be disappointed, but will live with it!! lol My Plurk friend Amanda is also doing it, she actually talked me into it. Her layout is pretty awesome, so keep your fingers crossed for her also.

So here is my first Layout for the Challenge and keep your fingers crossed for me.

Thanks for stopping by and talk to you again soon!!

I'm A Bad Blogger!!

2008-11-05T20:18:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I did it again, it's been to long between posts!! I keep trying to get better, but life keeps getting in the way.

Been pretty busy and trying to de-clutter the house! Been going through everything and trying to get rid of stuff and hopefully get enough stuff together for a garage sale or sale items on Craig's List or somewhere.

I've also been trying to get stuff ready for my Etsy store, but it's going so slow. I have some things together, but have been trying to make a banner. Yeah, right. I still think it's my Photoshop program, but tried Illustrator too and it didn't work out!! It's horrible being computer challenged, but haven't given up yet. If I don't figure it out by Friday I'm just going to open my store without a banner and hope people will still check it out and hopefully buy lots of stuff!! lol

If you didn't know, I started selling Avon a while back and just loving it. I've done better with Avon than I ever did selling scrapbooking stuff. Go figure. Everyone knows Avon and they've already got the awesome reputation and I don't have to sell the name. Avon isn't just for your mother anymore, they have stuff for everyone!! Avon Calling!! lol

The WeScrap Challenge started this week and am working on the first Mini-Challenge and should have it up tomorrow. That's what I'm doing tonight! I'm still nervous and hope to at least make it through the first round. So keep your fingers crossed for me, I think I'll need it. I've seen some of the layouts of the gals that I'm up against and they're so awesome, so you may need to cross more than your fingers for me!!

So hopefully I'll be posting again this week. I haven't been working, but that's good for right now. I'm enjoying my time off and making good use of it!!

Talk to you soon!!

Getting Brave These Days!!

2008-10-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not a brave person and I can't believe that I'm actually going to do it and go out for a design team. So this post is mainly to put some of my layouts on so that WeScrap.com can check them out. So cross your fingers!!

Here are a few layouts that I've done. The pictures aren't that great, but haven't figured out how to take good pictures of layouts, so this is the best I've got for now!! lol I should try using my scanner again, but I love lumpy layouts and lumpy doesn't scan very well at all for me.

Come Join Us On Saturday!!!!

2008-10-22T20:12:00.000-07:00

Oh My!! Been A Bad Blogger!

2008-10-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I've posted. I keep thinking about doing it, but for reason haven't taken the time. I've been playing with my camera again, but I'm still not happy with my pictures. Think I need to save up for a nicer camera and hope it helps and doesn't turn out to be me!! lol

Been busy working the last few weeks, which is good because I never know when I'm actually getting work, so I'll take it when I can. Now getting paid is another thing, still haven't gotten paid for work in August, but hopefully on the 20th. Keep your fingers crossed!! I've also been working on selling Avon, but coming along kind of slow. I'm not as aggressive as I need to be, but need to work on it. I've got a few customers, but would like more of course!!

Haven't been doing much of anything lately. Have gotten a few new things for the yard for our Halloween scene. I'll try to remember to take pictures again this weekend and post them. I still haven't been out to take pictures of the 4 new headstones either, but I'll make sure I do it his weekend for sure. I have other pictures I need to take to, so I'll do them all at the same time.

Been thinking about trying out for a design team too, but still thinking about it. I don't know why I'm struggling with the thought of it, probably the total rejection of it all. The one I'm thinking about is going to be a Project Runway type competition, rather than just anonymous people choosing people and then just posting the winner. So my projects will be voted on weekly for I believe 4 weeks and each week people will be getting kicked off. I've only watched Project Runway one time and it's a lot of pressure!! lol I should just suck it up and go for it. I'm one of those that is my own worst critic and never happy with what I've done and not just in scrapbooking, in all aspects of my life!! Yes, I'm one of those. But I'll decide by this weekend and probably end up doing it in the end unless I talk myself out of it by then. Those are the other pictures I'm supposed to take this weekend, my scrapbooking pages and projects I've done to see if I even qualify for design team!! Will keep you up to date on what I decide. If you come back and there's a bunch of pictures posted, that could mean I decided to do it!! Cross your fingers just in case!!

This Saturday Sara is coming to spend the day with us, her boyfriend is away on business and it's a good weekend for her to spend quality time with her dad!! We talked about going to Apple Hill and see if it works out. I've only been there once and it was 14 years or so years ago. If nothing else it'll be a good day out and hopefully fun.

I've gotten a few of the inside Halloween decorations out, but only a few. I've made some of them and I did take some pictures today, but they're not that good, but I will post them anyway though.

This is the lid of a paint can I painted about 5 years ago. The candy is actually white, don't know why it's showing up pink, must be my mastery with the camera! lol

This is a shot of one of the sides, couldn't get a good picture of the whole thing for some reason. The flash kept glaring off of it and when I went to a less lite area or used no flash then it was too dark, so this is the best picture I got.

These were some coasters I made out of terra cotta pot bottoms. I made a bunch of these for gifts, but mine are the only Halloween ones. The ones I made as gifts I were unique to each person that I gave them to. Of course I didn't take any pictures of any of the other ones that I made.

That's all I've got for now, but will be back this weekend!!

Talk to you later!

Save The Tatas Charity Kit!!

2008-10-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

This is an awesome kit and for a Great cause; the price is even more awesome for what is included in this kit. It's a digital scrapbooking kit, so if you haven't had the chance to venture into digital scrapbooking this is the time to take the leap! If you're already a digital scrapbooker this is a must have kit!

Everyone should pass this along to their friends and family!!!!

Special collaboration kit featuring designs from Holly McCaig, Andie Smith, Mikkel Paige, Scrappy Pony, Carrie Bombria, Audra Little and Tara Sroka. For every kit purchased at Tara's Store (click on Tara's Store for link) all the proceeds will go to the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer charity. Hope starts here and hopefully we can end this deadly disease.

It's Almost That Time of Year!!

2008-09-28T20:08:00.000-07:00

This is one of our favorite times of the year, Halloween!! Richard is like a little kid at Halloween and always goes all out. He's been decorating the yard for quite a few years and now he tries to add something new every year. This year it's the skeleton coming out of the grave and I really like how it turned out. Last year he made the headstones and I painted them. I think he's got plans to make a few more this year, because he told me to think up a few more ideas to put on them. Here are the progress pictures and the end result. I'll be taking a picture with one of them when I can get Richard to take it and I'll post that one here also.

So here are the pictures and I was practicing with different settings on my camera and I think they turned out okay. lol I'm no photographer though, not even close!!

That's just of few of the 70 plus pictures I took!! Like I said, I was messing with the settings on my camera and a lot of them didn't come out very good. It was a really hot day and so we worked on it in the morning and then in the evening. Now the dogs are going to be looking out the window and thinking that there are people in the yard and bark at them!! Oh fun!! lol

Talk to you soon!

Just A Quickie!!

2008-09-25T20:17:00.000-07:00

Since I promised to post pictures and didn't do it, thought I'd better do a quickie update and post a picture of the birthday girl from Saturday's birthday party.

It's been a busy week and just downloaded the pictures from my camera last night. Thought I would get more good ones, but of course I take horrible pictures. I need to play with Photoshop and fix all the red eyes before I post any more of them. I will work on it his weekend, don't think I'll be getting work.

We are going to decorate for Halloween this weekend though!! Richard loves Halloween and has been planning the yard for at least a month. Going to his brother Larry's house on Saturday to pick up some dirt. I will take pictures when it's done and hope it works out like he's hoping it will. Still need to find some more clothes for some more people, but it may be to late for that now. Oh well, next year!! lol

I've been busy working most of the week and decided to sell Avon. I know, I said I wasn't going to sell anything anymore, but I couldn't resist!! If you're interested in anything you can always go to my website at www.yourAvon.com/susiegerdes and check it out. You can order online and have it delivered to your home. If you do decide to place an order just let me know and I'll send you a free delivery code!!

So hopefully I'll be posting more pictures this weekend, the birthday party and the yard decorating!! I love this time of the year, the weather's great and lots of festivities going on! Who knows, we might have another Halloween Party this year, it was fun last year!

Talk to you soon!!

I Can't Believe The Weekend Is Already Over!

2008-09-21T21:27:00.000-07:00

It's already Sunday night, where did the weekend go?? Time seems to just slip by me anymore and seems to be going faster and faster!

We had Triva's surprise party yesterday and it was such a good time! There were lots of friends, family and a ton of great food, not mention the beer and wine!! lol And yes, the Captain showed up, but I didn't have any. Everyone seemed to be having a fun time. My mom's cousin Antoinette and her husband Jack even came from Novato and it was so good to see them both. Auntie Olga and Uncle Jim were also there and it was a nice surprise, it's been a while since I've seen them also. They live in Morgan Hill, about 2 hours away from Galt where the party was. Auntie Emma is always so nice to let us have all the parties at her house too!! Thanks Auntie Emma!!

The circle album I made for Triva she seemed to really like, she even cried when she opened it, which made me feel good but then sad at the same time. It was an album with her and her grandson Jaydin who recently moved out of state and when I started making the album I didn't know that. So when she saw it and all the pictures of Jaydin she started crying and I felt horrible. She did tell me that she loved and that I shouldn't be sorry I made her cry. I did feel better after that!!

Here are the really bad pictures of took really fast Friday night when I actually finished it. Sorry for the poor quality, but the lighting is really bad in my craft room!!

Tomorrow I'll post the actual party pictures, but they're still in my camera!! lol

Talk to you soon!!

After Pictures, My Craft Room Is Finally Done!!

2008-09-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

Well, almost done anyways. There are still some things I need to work on, but at least now I can go in and work on some projects and get some things done for my Etsy Store that I've been trying to get open. The 2 blue cubes on the table came out of the wall, well one did anyway and made 2 huge holes in the wall, but the pizza boxes are covering the worst part. You can see where they were on the wall though, now I'm going to need to paint and hope I still have some of that yellow paint left somewhere!!
There's a case of water, 2 floor lamps, a bag of dog food and the boxes under the table that is for our garage sale. Since my craft room was the garage, we have no other place to store the boxes, so they're under the tables. Oh well, someday they'll be gone. When I have people over I just hide them in the laundry room!! lol

So here are the pictures!!! Yippee!!

This is my table where I actually scrapbook!

This is the other end of the table where I just have other supplies and everything is pretty much under this table for the garage sale.

This is the counter that is holding my ribbon, some paper in the drawers and of course the Clip-It-Up with some of my goodies that I use on it!! One day I'll find a piece of counter-top for it.

To the left are all my boxes of stuff from different direct sales companies that I've been with. To the right is the cabinet with all my goodies like buttons, brads and everything I love!! lol

This is another cabinet that has all my magazines and all my Sizzix dies and some storage under it. The shelf above has all kinds of stuff, the 2 red boxes have seaonal stamp sets, the other boxes just have misc. stuff for all types of crafts.

This is the peg board wall full of stuff that I used to sell and of course more pizza boxes!! lol The 3 red cubes on the wall were right next to the 2 bigger blue ones that came off. They zip up and are on a metal bracket and can be taken to go!! I got the red and blue cubes from IKEA!

Pretty much the same as above, just a further away shot.

My scrap table closer up, notice my ITouch in it's radio!! Pretty cool huh?? lol That's the Jingle book I've been working on and need to put pictures in it!

I love all my jars and they're all full!! Those are spice racks that turn around and there are jars on both sides of each of those. Jars are full of buttons, brads, and all things small!

This is just above my where I scrap and I can reach up and grab what I need. This is the left side of the cabinet and there are stamps in most of those containers.

This is the other side of the above cabinet! More stamps and inking stuff. Yes, I have tons of stamps!

That's it for now!! Maybe some one can come and scrap with me sometime!! lol

Talk to you soon!!

September 11th Remembered

2008-09-11T08:13:00.001-07:00

This is my favorite tribute picture of 9/11 and it was done by Don Melford and I did copy it off of www.jayski.com.

So thank you all for everything you've done and are doing to protect us and our freedom!!

I love this image too and jayski got it from TuCows or something like!!

These Are The Before Pictures!

2008-09-03T20:49:00.000-07:00

These are the before pictures of my craft room! Yes, it is a huge mess and I will be working on it tonight and probably tomorrow and the next day! lol

I was looking for a book, yes a book, and I had to take everything out of the cabinet and now have stacks of books and binders and odds and ends all over the place. We also had the football draft party here a couple weekends ago and needed one of my tables. So everything needed to be taken off of the table and put where it would fit. Now everything is out of the cabinet and off of the table and you can't even walk in there at all.

Since the pictures I have set the table back up and can now at least move around the room and making some progress.

When I'm all done I'll post the After pictures and hope it's soon!! lol

Talk to you soon!

POP In Post!!

2008-09-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

Don't have time to do a usual post, but I scanned these photos last night to put on plurk, but for some reason they won't go on without cutting off the top of my head. I resized them and everything, but still don't work. Thought I would go ahead and post them here.

These are 2 pictures of me, one when I was 5 and the other is my kindergarten picture. The first one is in black and white, that's me at 5. The second one is my kindergarten picture, but it's kind of discolored.

Talk to you soon!

It's Friday And I'm Still On a Roll!!

2008-08-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

I've looked all over my computer for my layouts and pictures of things I've made, but I can't find a one! This computer is a year old and you'd think I've have some new ones on here by now!

Tomorrow should be a more productive day and will post some pictures and hopefully some layouts that I've done. I'm trying really hard to get better at blogging, but life gets in the way sometimes.

It's been just way too hot today to do a lot of anything and hope it cools off some for the weekend. Going to a couple of bbq's and a picnic on Sunday and don't want to die of heat! We are going to the Teamster Picnic on Sunday and I'm pretty excited about it, I've never been before! Don't think we'll really know that many people, but should still be a lot of fun.

Will talk to you tomorrow and hopefully you'll have some new pictures of stuff to look at!! lol

It's a Dogs Day Everyday!

2008-08-28T19:19:00.000-07:00

At our house the dogs rules roost, there's 4 of them and only two of us! Cozad is the old man and gets up and walks like us anymore these days. Jack is the crazy one! Richard always says that his mom and dad were brother and sister. He's different, but he's so sweet and such a nice dog. Then there's Max and she is soooo daddy's girl! She is a rather large dog and Anthony always says she's a barrel with legs, which isn't nice of him at all!! hehehehe And last but not least is Ms. M&M and she is mama's girl! She's a little stinker some of the time, but she's my little stinker and wouldn't change a thing about her!! She's the baby (think she'll be 4 this year) and wants to play and all the rest of them don't want to be bothered with her. It's funny that the girls only play with each other and the boys only play with each other. M&M tries to play with the boys sometimes, but they don't want anything to do with her. Have never had so many dogs and not sure if that's the way they are or if my dogs are just strange, which wouldn't surprise me at all!!

Below is a picture of Ms. Max sleeping. The chair she's sleeping in is one of those big chair and a halfs. She is probably a little bit bigger, but she's a really pretty dog. She has like 3 layers of hair and all the layers a different colors. Her coat is just beautiful, but she sheds like you wouldn't believe!

This is Jack and M&M taking a nap with dad. Didn't think Richard wanted his picture on the internet of him sleeping, so he got cropped out of this one. It's always hard to see M&M because she's so dark and I can't seem to get any good pictures of her. She is not photogenic at all!! lol Jack on the other hand is black, but he's so photogenic and has such a sweet face!

Couldn't find a picture on the computer of Cozad that wasn't in a layout! He's the oldest of the 4 and he's my boy and dad's. He's the dog that is always under foot and wants to be involved in everything you're doing. When dad is outside doing something, Cozad is always right by his side. When I'm doing laundry or something in the kitchen, he's right there helping. Cozad is around 13 or 14 and is starting to really slow down a lot and getting so white faced!! His face is more than half white anymore. If feel bad sometimes because he's the ball boy and loves to play ball, but with the other 3 in the picture it's just too hard sometimes and he gets run right over since he's the smallest of the 4 and don't want him to get hurt!

I'm doing good, second day in a row!! Am looking for pictures for tomorrow and trying to find some layouts on one of the computers, but think I've deleted most of them. I don't take really good pictures and probably wouldn't have put them on here anyways is why I probably deleted them!

There is a slideshow of the paperbag book I did of the dogs on the bottom of my blog if you're never seen it before! The above pictures of Cozad are from that book!

Talk to you tomorrow hopefully!!

The Face That I Love!!

2008-08-27T19:34:00.000-07:00

I found a picture of Anthony at my mom's when I was going through her pictures and it was torn and battered and I was so upset, so I took it. I figure with all the digital stuff out now a days that I could fix it and make it good again!! Well, if you know me you know I have no clue how to do it, but one of these days very soon I'm going to spend one week just learning some of the great programs that are on my computer!! I did scan the picture and haven't done anything else but crop out the ripped parts of it. It was his 3 month picture and now I need to see if I can find a smaller one maybe somewhere, because this was the 8x10 size. They took a lot of different shots that day, but this one was my favorite and that's why it was the 8x10.

This is the picture that makes me smile and the face that I love and miss. He is a fine man now, but these were the times that I miss and cherish still! If they could only stay small forever!! Don't get to see him as often as I'd like, but we talk a few times a week, but I still miss his face, then and now!!

So Glad It's Friday!!

2008-08-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

I'm still no better at blogging, but still trying to get better at doing it more often. Have been working on pictures, but I think my Photoshop Elements is acting up. I've been trying to do some things to my pictures and it's just not working out!! I've used tutorials and did exactly what it said to do, but still no go!! I have been so frustrated with it, but hoping that when I see Sara tomorrow she can help me and I'll know if it's my Photoshop or me!! lol

Going to visit my mom, Anthony and Sara this weekend. Anthony is leaving for Burning Man on the 22nd and I want to see him before he leaves, plus we have some goodies we're taking him.

Nothing really new here. Did get sick again and so tired of being sick it's really pissing me off!! Finally feel good again and haven't been overdoing it just in case this bug comes back!

Setting up my Etsy store and did pick a name finally!! Hopefully it will have stuff on it this week when I get Photoshop to work or I figure it out.

I'm taking my new ITouch with me this weekend also and Anthony is going to download some music for me!! I have a lot of music, but I have cassette tapes and albums!! lol I do have cd's, but he has so much more than me and he knows who I like and what songs. Anthony has more music than anyone I know, it's amazing how much he has!! We used to like exactly the same music, but he's branched out in more directions than me and it's not all the same anymore.

When I get the Photoshop issues worked out I'll be posting some pictures and projects that I've been working on.

So I'll talk to you again real soon!!

I'm In Love!!

2008-08-05T18:44:00.001-07:00

HaHa! Made you look. I'm in love with my almost new ITouch!! I just got it on Saturday and don't know what I did before I got it. A friend on Plurk was talking about selling it because she wanted a different one and I got a great deal! Thank you Andie!! lol Now all I do is look for music to put on it and nag Anthony to death, because I have no idea who sings what or what the name of the songs I like are. Good think he loves me or he'd probably kill me, but that's what happens when you're into music as much as he is. He knows what music I like and so he's going to make a cd because he has everything. Bet he misses Tower Records for that reason, he could get anything there and that was one of the perks I bet he misses.

I'm still not working and currently still working on stuff for my etsy store. I have such a mess in my craft room that it's taking me days to clean it up. I've been looking for some patterns I had and have everything out of a couple cabinets and spread out all over the room. No, I haven't found what I was looking for yet, but did find some things that I forgot about, so it's not a total waste of time. Can't wait to have everything ready and up and going. I think I finally picked out a name for the store, but want to make sure I can get it before I give it out. My same Plurk friend Andie is going to make me a watermark for the photos that I put on there and can't wait to see what she comes up with!!

Speaking of Plurk, if you haven't heard of it, it's www.Plurk.com and I'm of course susiescrapper on there. I'm pretty much susiescrapper everywhere. Plurk is basically a social network site and it's tons of fun. I've met some great people on there and we all share the same interests and just basically plurk about what we're doing and sharing things we're currently working on. I have friends all over the world and hope to meet a few of them one day!! I do have a few that are fairly local too and have a better chance of meeting one of them. Most of my friends are into crafts, scrapbooking, nascar and animals. You start off with a few friends from other sites and then you kind of pick up their friends and so on and so on! It's really fun, you should go over and check it out. Twitter is kind of the same, but not as social, it's www.Twitter.com and I'm susiescrapper over there too.

Have lots still to do today, but just wanted to share my new toy with you all and my new home! lol Hope to see you there!!

Talk to you later!

I'm So Bad At Blogging!!

2008-07-27T23:16:00.001-07:00

I thought I would get better at blogging, but I've just gotten worse! I was trying to blog every other day, but that didn't work out, so I was doing once a week. We all see how that's worked out! lol I'm going to try really hard to do it every other day, but we'll see.

Have had a very busy couple of weeks. Anthony and Richard both had birthdays, Anthony on the 20th and Richard on the 24th. We had a party in Galt for them on the 19th and it was a lot of fun. We made the usual pizza and italian cream cake, both turned out great! I love the pizza that we make with the endive, but Richard wanted meat on his, so I made him a combination. Had a nice visit with everyone and saw a few people I hadn't seen in a while.

This past week Richard was on vacation and we had such a nice time. We didn't do much at the beginning of the week, but on Thursday we met a couple of my cousins at a 1000 Trails campground. We ended up having a wonderful time. It had been so long since I had seen them and we had a great visit. Just as we were leaving there as a deer in their campsite and she let me feed her some crackers. I've never been that close to a deer and it was such a treat!! She wouldn't let me get too close, but we were within a few feet of one another. Tried to get closer, but if I took a step forward, she would take a step back. I didn't want to scare her off, so I stopped trying to get any closer.

Saturday I got to take a trip to Boomtown! Sara and Adam were heading to Cabelas and invited Richard and I to go along. Sara and I headed to Boomtown and Richard and Adam went to Cabelas. Neither of us won any money, but we had a good time. On the way home we stopped and ate lunch a cute little bbq place in Truckee. I love it when people go to Cabelas and invite us!! lol I hate it that I love to gamble, good thing we don't do it too often though.

This week I'm hoping to get so much done craft wise. Got everything together to start making stuff for my Etsy store and even got the examples ready. My craftroom is a total wreck though since I couldn't find the books that I was looking for. Still didn't find the books and 2 cabinets are emptied all over the place. Need to put everything away tomorrow and hopefully the books will show up and maybe I just missed them. Fingers crossed on that one!

Will hopefully be back tomorrow or Tuesday. Been trying to fix some photos that I want to put on here, but haven't figured it all out yet. I'm still not any better with PhotoShop, but still trying my hardest! It's not easy being so computer challenged.

Talk to you soon!!

Great Saturday!

2008-07-12T17:48:00.000-07:00

We have had a great day today! We first went to breakfast at our favorite restaurant (Granite Rock) and then went shopping. I finally got Richard to take me to Trader Joe's and had fun shopping there. We also hit the Ace Hardware store, because that's the only place I knew that carried the Webster Duster. Found a few $1 items there, which was good. The dogs got tennis balls, but they're pretty much gone now and pieces of ball insides are all over the floor! Then we hit the Dollar Tree, which was next door to Ace. Had a good time in there also and of course found a few treasures. lol I pretty much wore Richard out at that point, so we just headed back home.

It's been a while since we've had such a nice day though. We talked about a lot of things and he even encouraged me to start the Etsy store! I'm glad he's good with it and thinks that I can actually make some money at it. I told him all my ideas and he's been telling me what he's liked most that I've made over the 15 years since we've been together. So tomorrow we're going to get all my hidden treasures out of the garage and shed to get me going. I'm very excited now and feel very confident that maybe I'll be able to sell some stuff!

I did take some pictures of what I've made that I still have, but they came out really dark and not very good at all. I'll try again on Monday when I'm alone and can just spread everything all over the house! lol

So the rest of the weekend I'll be clearing some space in my craft room for non-scrapbooking stuff! I will be leaving my scrapbooking stuff out, because I'm still planning on working on what I have going already and maybe even selling it!!

So I'll probably be back on Monday with pictures and maybe even a link to my new Etsy Store!!

Talk to you soon!

Thursday Already!!

2008-07-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

I wish time would stand still for a while so I can catch up. It seems to just fly by and I wonder where it's all going and why it's going so fast!!

The 4th of July was wonderful!! We had the yearly neighborhood bbq and of course the traditional water fight! We didn't do the balloon launcher this year and people were disappointed, but we'll work on it for next year! They did have the water balloon sling-shot across the street though and that sucker sure shoots those balloons far! Richard and I managed to stay dry and out of the water. There was a lot of people getting thrown in the pools, but we stayed out of sight this year! All the food was great and the neighbors were there. Everyone had bought fireworks and it seemed to take hours to go through them. Of course all my dogs were scared to death, but we took M&M with us for a while and she really good. She got lots of pets from the kids, but hated all the noise the fireworks made.

It's been so hot and smokey here that I haven't been doing much. My craft room is an oven, so have been staying out of there! Tried to move some things in the living room to work on, but with all the dogs it was impossible. Way too many noses poking around and hate snarf on my paper!

Decided today was the day to try and scan pictures and take some pictures. Hope it works out!! lol For some reason I hate scanning stuff and I have a wonderful scanner!!

It also looks like I'll be off work all month!! I can't believe work has been so slow this year. I need to find something else to do to make money. I think I've decided to open an Etsy store online at www.etsy.com. I'm pretty sure that's the address. It's a website where you have your own store, but everything has to be handcrafted. I've been working on some stuff, but won't tell what!! lol Don't want anyone to steal my idea that took me so long to come up with. Hopefully it'll work out and people will buy my wares! Will keep you up to date and when I finally open the store will post the address for everyone to check out.

Hopefully I'll be back later to post some pictures! If not today, then for sure tomorrow.

Talk to you late!!

It's Monday Again!

2008-06-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday!! I guess I just need to admit that I'm probably not going to post more than once a week! I've tried to do better, but don't think it's going to happy sadly enough.

Had a very busy and wonderful weekend this past weekend. We rarely have plans to do anything, but this weekend was a busy one. First we went to Galt to visit my mom and Anthony. Had a really nice visit with both of them for a short period of time. Then went down the street to see my brother for his birthday, which was yesterday, the 29th. We had stopped on the way and bought a peach pie and some ice cream to celebrate his birthday since we weren't going to be there on his actual birthday. Visited with them for a couple of hours and then went back to my moms for a while longer. Once we left there we had a graduation party to go to and didn't get home until around 10:30. It was a fun, but long day.

While I was at my mom's I decided I wanted to go through all of her old pictures to see if I could find any of myself for the explosion box that I finished except for pictures. I decided I wanted to make it about me through the years, but didn't have any pictures of myself!! OMG!! I hate having my picture taken, that's why I have none. Well, I had such a good time going through her 2 boxes of pictures and was pulling out pictures that I wanted to take and make copies of. I have had only 1 picture of myself that I loved and hadn't been able to find it in years. Well guess what, I found it!! The picture is probably at least 20 years old, but it's actually a picture of me that I like. I do not photograph well at all and for some reason who ever took this picture didn't make me look totally stupid! Maybe because it's in black and white, I don't know, but was happy that I found it. It's not in the best shape though, kind of wrinkled and a tad beat up, but I didn't care. lol

Here is the picture, but like I said, it's at least 20 years old. I had it take where I used to work when I was running for the employees club and it was hanging on the wall with all the other people that were running. Yes, I did win!! lol

Sunday was kind of a lazy day. I'm not used to being outside so much and my asthma really kicked up. I'm better today, but still a little on the lazy side! lol Slept through 90% of the race and woke up to it being called for rain. Richard's driver did luck out and was in 1st place when it was red flagged, so he won the race!! Sadler came in 5th and I was happy with that!

Not much going on this week. Not working so far, but have been doing all kinds of stuff around the house. Getting ready for a garage sale, so going through and trying to get rid of some stuff. Need to tackle the garage, but don't have that kind of energy! It's going to take a couple days to do that job!!

Hope you have a great week and I'll try to post later in the week with more of my picture treasures that I'm scanning.

Talk to you soon!!

A Smokey Tuesday!!

2008-06-24T13:27:00.000-07:00

It has been so smokey around here with all the fires all around us, it's hard to see the sun. You can't smell the smoke, but you can see it in the air and it makes the day look muggy and kind of overcast. To bad we didn't get much rain with the lightening strikes that caused all the fires!!

I haven't been working this week, but have been cleaning my behind off!! Have a feeling work is going to be sparser than normal for a while, so I'm getting things done around the house. I'm also going to be making some items to sell on Etsy.com and when I'm ready I'll let everyone know. I even figured out what I'm going to make and sell there, which is going to surprise everyone!! It's not even scrapbook related.

Since I've not been working I've been spending too much time thinking, which is never good!! It's pretty much been happy thoughts, but sometimes they turn into sad ones too.

So I just wanted to share a picture of 2 of my favorite people! I took the picture off the wall and scanned it, because it's my favorite picture and they're together. The lighting sucks, but I don't care. This was taken a few years ago when they went out to dinner with a bunch of friends and it surprised me when I saw this picture and had to have it.

These are our kids, Sara and Anthony. I miss them both since they're both grown and gone from home. Anthony now is living in San Francisco and is now working at a job he seems to love. Sara is in Walnut Creek now and also loves her job at ERM. I am so proud of both of them and the wonderful adults that they have become. I sometimes forget to tell them that and want to make sure they know it. I love them both very much and wouldn't trade or change them for the world!!

Thanks for reading and talk to you soon!!

I Know, It's Been A Week

2008-06-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

I thought I was getting better, but here it is and it's been a week since I last posted. I have nothing to blame it on other than procrastination (and maybe www.plurk.com ) I can't believe how addicting it is and I've made some wonderful friends there. If you've heard of Twitter, it's basically the same idea, just so much better! If you decide to check it out, as usual I'm SusieScrapper. I can't think of anywhere that I'm not though, so keep your eyes open!! lol

Am back to work, but it's been slow. Have done some parole hearings, but this week I've been doing internal affair investigation work, which is kind of interesting. I prefer the parole hearings, but think it's going to be slow for a while and glad I've been getting other work instead. I'm easy and typing is typing!!

As for the race this weekend at Infineon, we did get tickets and really good ones for Sunday, but are giving them to Sara. We tried to get tickets for Saturday, but they didn't have any and it's too much for us to go on Sunday. Richard's hours are such that we always have to leave pretty much after the race starts, so it's dumb to go. I do enjoy walking around and checking everything out though and that's why we tried to get Saturday tickets instead. Sara and Adam will enjoy the tickets, so it's not a waste.

I got all my work done last night and am planning on spending the whole weekend scrapbooking! I found a great sale last weekend at the Green Tangerine in Rocklin and Joanne's was having a sale this week and found so many treasures!! lol I didn't need a thing and that's what made it fun I guess. So I'm hoping to have time to actually get some stuff done.

Am thinking about making a bunch of stuff and putting it up on Etsy.com. Have been hearing so much about it and some people actually do well. It's a site that you can sell only handmade items on and there is no bidding, just selling and I like that much better than Ebay and the whole bidding thing. So we'll see what I come up with this weekend and wish me luck!!

Hope you all have a great weekend and Talk to you soon!!

Happy Friday the 13th!!

2008-06-13T13:05:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I haven't posted in a week, thought I was getting better. NOT!!

Been working some this week, but have been playing more I think. I've gotten back into the groove of scrapbooking, but that's all I want to do. I did have to clean up before I could start doing anything, but it's worth it.

I've been on www.cr8everydaycrafts.com a lot lately and just love it. It's not just scrapbooking, it's all crafts, which I love about it. Most of the sites that I go to are strictly scrapbooking, but cr8everydaycrafts is also knitting, sewing, crocheting, and so much more! I'm excited about it and it's pretty new, so I'm like on the ground floor so to speak. There are also quite a few men and I love that it's not just all woman, that the men get into crafts also.

I did do a new slideshow for my blog on the website and thought I would put it here also (at the bottom, couldn't put it in the post for some reason). It's mainly a few things that I've made, some things that I'm currently working on, a few of my favorite afghans, and my boxes and jars in my scrap/craft room. I always call it my scraproom, but I do all kinds of crafts, not just scrapbooking. I have 'stuff' everywhere, trust me.

So hope you're all having a great Friday the 13th and also have a great weekend!

OMG!! It's Friday!

2008-06-06T21:11:00.002-07:00

I can't believe it's Friday and I'm posting already! I'm getting better at this for right now. lol

After much procrastinating, I finally took some pictures today. I am still camera challenged, but I did do it anyway. I have no idea how people take such good pictures of their projects and mine always look like a child did it. Oh well, someday I'll have to invest in a really good camera and maybe that'll help (or not). I just don't think I'm a photographer.

But here are a few cards that I did from a sketch that was given to me for a challenge. The sketches were by Luch and Ally from WeScrap.com.

Here is a book of ME that I've also been working on.

Talk to you soon!! More pictures to follow soon ........

Time is Flying By!!

2008-06-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's Thursday, but thought it was Friday all day. I hate it when that happens, it messes up my whole week and weekend. Richard has been off all week and I think that that has a lot to do with it.

We haven't been doing much at all. We went to the casino for a few hours on Tuesday, he won, I lost. Today we went shopping. Sara told me about the sale they were having at Bath & Body works, big mistake! There sale was between 50% and 75% off of a lot of good stuff. Needless to say, I spent $62.00, but did get a lot of stuff. They even had Brown Sugar and Fig stuff on sale. Didn't find too much, but did get some (wall flowers, handsoap, and spray). So I was excited with my bag of goodies and glad payday is coming soon.

Have been in my scraproom a lot this week, but haven't made a lot of progress. Anyone that knows me knows what I've been doing, yes, organizing. I haven't been able to find anything I've been looking for, so I started looking for stuff and now it's everywhere. I have to work on cleaning it up tonight, because a friend is coming over tomorrow to check it out and get ideas for her craftroom.

So hopefully I'll be able to get everything put away and some projects finished by the end of the weekend. I'll be getting work tomorrow, but am hoping that I don't have to get it done by Monday or anything. I want to keep working on fun stuff and not work, but work is what helps pay the bills and shopping excursions!!

Talk to you soon!!

It's Saturday Night!

2008-05-31T22:06:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday night and finally got done working! Been typing my fingers to the bone and thought I would update my blog with what little strength I have left in my fingers!! It's been busy the last few weeks, which is good because I hadn't really had work for months. But just got off the phone with my boss and I'm off now for until around the 6th of June. Bummer money wise, but great that Richard's on vacation this week and now we can do something together and I can get some scrapbooking done!!

This week the Nascar race is at Dover and it's going to be a nail biter I bet! I didn't get a chance to watch the Nationwide Series today, but I really wanted to. It was on in the other room, but missed 90% of it. Hamlin did win, I know that much. But I have the DVR set up to tape the race so Richard can see it just in case his driver wins (Kurt Busch) or who knows, maybe Sadler will do something this week, he's way over due to have a win or even a top 5 finish!

Since I'm boring and have nothing going on, I'm going to go pick me out a chick flick to watch since I'm all by myself tonight. Maybe 27 Dresses, that's a really cute movie. I have 12 Going on 30 on right now and pretty much just a couple of the dogs are probably watching it, since I'm in the Nascar/Computer room typing this!

Hope you're having a great weekend and hopefully I'll post again soon!!

Talk to you soon!!

It's Already Wednesday!

2008-05-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already Wednesday! When there's a holiday my days get really messed up and today should be Richard's day off, but since there was a holiday he always has to work on his day off. So this really messes up my week! It's going to take me at least a week to get my days straight!! I hate that!!

Back to working for Terri typing the Board of Parole Hearings for a while anyway. I did miss it and the money will be good when I do finally get paid. She even has given me expedites that are double the page dollar amount!! I hardly ever got them before and so worth working the weekend.

Haven't had time to scrap at all, which is disappointing. I have projects all the place that I've been dying to work on and finish up, but trying to get this weeks typing done by the weekend so I can have the weekend to play.

Richard and a couple of his brothers, Sara and Adam are going camping for the weekend at French Meadows. With all the dogs and all of them going, I opted to stay home. It doesn't bother me not to go though. I'll have more fun here if I can play without feeling guilty about leaving Richard alone while I'm doing it!! lol We don't see that much of each other lately and so I hate to go into my scraproom when we barely get 2 hours a day together.

Richard is on vacation next week though, so we should be sick of each other by the end of the week. We have no plans, but I'm hoping he'll take me to the casino one day for a few hours, but you never know. I'll probably be working all week and won't be able to do anything and then he'll be bored and I'll feel guilty. I really want to work though if there is work, because it's probably not going to last that long and I want to do it while it's available. The money's nice also!!

Hope to post again by Friday, I'm still not that great at doing it that often, but am trying to get better. Typing all the time now makes it harder with tight deadlines and hopefully more expedites for double the page!

Have a great rest of the week and talk to you soon!!

Sad Friday!

2008-05-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a total animal person, but dogs are special to me. This morning Anthony and my mom lost their very special dog named Turtle (aka Sandy to some). She was such a wonderful dog and will be missed but not forgotten. I read the story about her on Anthony's myspace (tonythesnot) and sat here and started to cry all over again.

Here's one of the picture that Anthony posted on his myspace. She was such a great dog and I'll miss her very much.

Tim Holtz Coming to WeScrap!!

2008-05-21T18:53:00.001-07:00

This is going to Great!! You all need to come and chat with Tim Holtz at www.WeScrap.com and start thinking up some good questions to ask him!!

Talk to you soon!!

I Am Such A Procrastinator!!

2008-05-19T20:11:00.000-07:00

It's Monday and I always post updates on Monday morning, but it's already evening. I haven't taken any new pictures yet, but found a few to put on until I stop procrastinating and actually take the pictures.

Here are a few cards that I did for a challenge, but got the flu and never did submit them. They're not that great, but I'm not good at making cards on my own. I did have sketches, but it's really hard for me to follow directions!! lol I'm also really horrible at taking pictures of my done projects and that's probably why I haven't taken any new ones. I'm still learning my camera and it hates me!!

This is a picture of an ABC Book of Me that I'm also working on for a challenge. I do need to take a better picture of it in better light because it shows up as being dark and it's not as dark as it looks.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Talk to you soon!!

I Can't Believe It's Thursday Already!

2008-05-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

Thursday is already here and I haven't accomplished anything I wanted to get done this week and the week is almost over. I Hate that!

Was supposed to go with my mom today to the casino in Lincoln, but she got ill at the last minute and had to cancel. I had things to do, so it ended up being a good thing. We'll just have to do it next Thursday!

Got my Rusty Pickle stuff for the challenge that I want to do and can't wait to work on it. My scraproom is so hot though, it's supposed to be 102 today and it will be sweltering back there I'm sure. Will have to wait until tonight to go play.

Should be taking pictures of some projects right now during the daylight, but have no gumption today to get much done. Did a lot this morning before 7:00, but once it started getting hot that's it for me. I don't do well in the heat and this is only the beginning of it!! But Richard and Jim did get the swamp coolers up and the one in the living room is already on and working great!! Need to get a new pump for the one in the bedroom tomorrow. Would have gotten it yesterday on Richard's day off, but he ended up working.

Don't have a lot going on right now. Working and hoping that my job doesn't run out or get eliminated and I'm afraid it will. It's not the greatest job, but it's money!

Have a great rest of the week and I'll try to get motivated to take some pictures of my so far completed stuff and post again later!

Talk to you soon!!

I Hate Mondays!

2008-05-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

I know, everyone hates Mondays! Monday is always catch up day for housework and other odds and ends that I didn't get done on the weekend.

Had a really nice and relaxing Mothers Day. Didn't get to see Anthony, but Sara and Adam took us to breakfast and it was really nice. We had a nice visit and caught up on what's been going on with them. Didn't get to see my mom, but will be spending Thursday with her and hopefully Anthony also.

This week I'm hoping to get some scrapbooking done and do a few challenges that I want to do. I finally found some Rusty Pickle papers and other things that I liked for one of the challenges that has to be 80% Rusty Pickle. Hope I get it in time to do it. I'm not a very fast scrapbooker and it takes me forever sometimes to get a layout how I want it.

Will be taking pictures and or scanning some projects I've been working on and am finishing! I did get to scrapbook some this weekend, but not as much as I was planning. Now that I'm no longer working nights I'm hoping to do a lot more! I need to get into a new routine and am having lots of trouble with it. It seems like at night if I'm not on my computer I'm lost!! lol I'm used to being plugged into a headset, foot on the pedal and typing my fingers off. I do miss doing it, but I think it's gone forever unless the new company that has the contract is going to be looking for new transcribers with experience in typing the hearings. Oh well, whatcha going to do.

Hope you have a great week and chat to you soon!!

Finally Friday!!

2008-05-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

It's been a long week and I'm glad it's the weekend finally!

Don't have a lot going on this weekend, just going to breakfast for Mothers Day on Sunday. Saw my mom last weekend and will make a plan to spend the day with her hopefully next week for Mothers Day. Anthony gave me 27 Dresses and I just loved it. I've already watched it like 4 times since last Saturday. I needed a new movie and it's perfect. Meeting Sara and Adam Sunday morning at our favorite restaurant in Rocklin. If you haven't tried it, go the Granite Rock Cafe on Pacific down the road from the K-Mart, you will love it!!

I'm hoping to get to scrapbook this weekend, it's been a while. The Nascar race is on Saturday night rather than Sunday and it messes up my whole weekend! lol I enjoy spending Sunday watching the race and when it's on Saturday I don't enjoy it as much. Sunday is usually nap day and the race is always good to nap to unless it's exciting and this should be an exciting one!

Well Happy Mothers Day to all you mothers out there and hope you have a great day!!

Talk to you soon!

Hump Day!!

2008-05-07T12:30:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it's Wednesday already!! Time just seems to fly by lately.

Had a great weekend this last weekend! All the NSD festivities, plus our family get together, what a great weekend. Got to see some cousins that I hadn't seen for probably a year or more, plus both my brothers, my son and step-daughter, aunts and of course my mom. Lots of food and lots of laughing and lot of catching up.

Didn't get any scrapbooking done though for NSD, but did get to play a few games. Didn't win any of them, but I never seem to win games. I ran the Bingo game and guess the button game on IScrap.net and I really have fun doing it. I hate playing Bingo because I never do win, but always come close, so it's much more fun to put the game on! lol

Well it's been a busy week working, but my work email went down and it's a real pain the butt! I can't send or receive emails and hopefully it'll get fixed today because I can't do a lot without it.

Below are a few pictures from my family get together on Satuday. I was the only one taking pictures and I'm the worst at it. Need to take a photography class or something to learn how to take better pictures or figure out what I do wrong!!

Have a great rest of the week and chat at you soon!

This is a my hubby Richard

This is my cousin Mia and her Husband Dave

This is my Mom

This is my cousin Jimmy that lives in New York

This is my cousin Carol

This is my brother Steve

This is my brother Mike

This is a bad picture of Anthony (son for those that don't know) but I didn't want to leave him out!

This is my cousin Janna (sorry about her eyes being closed!)

This is Sam from New York and Landon, Mia's son

Sara and Adam left before I started taking pictures, so sorry Sara!!

It's Friday!!

2008-05-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

Friday is finally here and I'm so excited about this weekend!! Not only is it National Scrapbooking Day weekend, but I get to see my cousins that I haven't seen in over a year. Yes, a trip to Galt to see my family on Saturday. Have to take my laptop or borrow my aunts computer to post my games on www.IScrap.net , but it'll be worth it. I don't want to miss anything, but I won't be able to scrapbook at all on Saturday. That is the only bummer about going to Galt, but I miss my cousins and aunts that I haven't seen in a while. Actually, I miss my mom and Anthony too and even my brothers!! But hey, I won't be able to scrapbooking, but think of all the new pictures I'll have to scrapbook! lol

Hope to see you all around the web celebrating National Scrapbooking Day this weekend!!

Are You Ready For National Scrapbooking Day?

2008-05-01T08:44:00.001-07:00

National Scrapbooking Day is Saturday and all the festivities start Friday at www.IScrap.net! I'm so excited because it will be so much fun. So go and check out all the fun challenges, games and even a guest chat from a Rusty Pickle representative.

Mark your calendar for Friday and make sure that you check back often because there is going to be nonstop fun and games!!

It's Monday Again!

2008-04-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how time flies! It's been 2 weeks since I got sick and yesterday was the first day I actually felt halfway human. Richard has been sick a few days longer, but he's feeling pretty good now. This is the worst flu I've ever had and don't wish it on anyone! I've got so much laundry and housework to catch up on (Yuck)!

So it's going to be a slow week for me. Had to cancel my National Scrapbooking Day festivities because it's a lot of work and I don't think I'll be up to it by Saturday. My cousin Jimmy will be here this weekend from New York and am hoping that I'll be able to see him though. I miss him terribly and it's always such a kick to see him. One of these days I hope I can make it to New York to see him. I've never been there and it's on top of my list of places to go!

Must catch up on some work around the house. Running in slow motion still, so it's taking forever.

Have a Beautiful Day!!

It's a Beautiful Day Outside!!

2008-04-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

It's Tuesday and a beautiful Day outside today. I'm just working away and putting around the house trying to get some things done. Need to take pictures today of some projects to send out for different challenges and come up with some ideas for the online crop for National Scrapbooking Day at www.IScrap.net. It'll keep me busy for a few days, plus I'm doing a couple articles for the monthly newsletter. If you couldn't tell I spend a lot of time there and am trying to help promote it in any way that I can. There are so many wonderful and talented people there. It's like home to me, which is pretty sad!! lol

So hopefully my camera will cooperate today and I'll post a few projects that I finally finished today. Tried to take them last night, but the lighting was horrible and all the pictures turned out really dark.

So check back later and I should have some new pictures!!

Monday Monday!!

2008-04-14T09:45:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already Monday! The weekends always fly by so fast. Didn't get a lot done this weekend. Tried to scrap but we all know how that goes sometimes. Did get my cards done for the challenges, but that's about it.

The Nascar race was on Saturday night this week and my team did horrible, I came in last place out of 96! I take my Nascar seriously and couldn't believe how bad my drivers did. There's always next week.

Have a Great Day and Happy Scrapping!!

Be back soon.........

You've Got to Love Fridays!!

2008-04-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

It's Friday and it's a beautiful day outside. Been out watering already this morning and just enjoying the sunshine.

This weekend is going to be another scrapbook weekend. Yeah!! I haven't hardly ever been able to have fun on the weekend because I was always working. Now that I'm currently not typing and working on another employment opportunity, I've got my weekends free. I don't make much money, but I get weekends off and that's worth the extra money. lol

Most of what I've been working on has been for challenges and the card a day challenge for IScrap.net, so I can't post them here because they have to go on the challenge first. I've made 4 cards already and for me that's big! I've never really done cards other than at a class when someone (usually Melody) gives me a sample and all the stuff to make the card. I'm not a creative person so this is a definite challenge for me. I haven't been happy with all of them so far, but I've really liked one of them.

I am making a huge mess though. I have paper, cardstock, embellishments, and chipboard all over the place. I have to find the perfect items for each card and it's hard to decide sometimes, so I have everything out and everywhere. I have 2 six foot tables and 1 four foot table out and they are all pretty much full of everything imaginable (this is not counting what's on the floor in a tote).

Well have a Great weekend and will post my creations soon!! lol

2008-04-09T21:26:00.000-07:00

Come join us at IScrap.net for our online National Scrapbooking Day Crop on May 3rd!!

IScrap Spring Special!!

2008-04-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

Spring Special!!!

Scrapbooker memberships are only $5 - that's 75% OFF the regular rate!

Tell all your friends about it and also tell them that SusieScrapper sent you!!

Hurry - this is only on for a limited time.

Monday Here Again!

2008-04-07T11:34:00.000-07:00

OMG!! I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted anything. Some people blog better than others and I guess I'm one of the others.

Been scrapping alot and working on a few projects and cards for challenges. I finally finished one challenge for IScrap and posted it on time! For me that's a great feat, I'm never on time. I made the book, took the pictures, printed the pictures and put the book together! I'm tickled that I got it done, but need to vamp it a little bit more. I couldn't seem to find exactly what I was looking for, so I'm sure I'll be making some changes eventually when the right items catch my eye.

Well back to work, got things to do today. I'll be finishing more projects all week and will post the pictures here, so come back and see what I've been up to!!

Here is a picture of the first April challenge, mini-book, Spring Has Sprung.

Today is a Good Day!

2008-04-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

Made it through April Fools Day without incident, that's a big one. No one got me at all or even tried that I know of!!

My National Scrapbooking Day Crop is coming together and even have people signed up to come! We had a small group last year, but my space is limited and don't think we could have handled more. Hope it turns out well, I'm such a worrier!!

Have been doing lots of card making and scrapbooking. Need to take some good pictures and I'll post them here. I think I'm finally getting the hang of taking pictures of items, but still have a ways to go. The kitchen is so far the best place to take them, go figure.

I did finally put some pictures on Craigslist for some scrapbooking stuff that I have for sale. I put it in the Sacramento Craigslist Arts and Crafts section. It only lets you put 4 pictures on, so I need to do more posts! I have so much stuff from Leaving Prints and Scrap-In-A-Snap that I would love to sale. I've been pretty much using the TLC stuff for my own use, but still have a lot to sale.

Hope you're all having a good week so far! It's Hump Day so you're halfway to the weekend already.

Come back again, I may have pictures up in the next day or two!

National Scrapbooking Day!

2008-03-31T15:09:00.000-07:00

National Scrapbooking Day is May 3rd this year. My 3rd Annual Crop will be held at my home from 10 to 10. This crop is free of charge and the only requirment is that you bring a snack to share and your own drinks. All other food will be provided (lunch and dinner).

There will be make-n-takes and goodie bags and a drawing for prizes.

RSVP is a must as space is limited.

Keep checking back for updates!!

Happy Monday!!

2008-03-31T10:40:00.001-07:00

Monday's are not usually anyones favorite day, but today is a good day! I've been getting so much done it's actually scaring me.

Today I'd like to do a poll and see if anyone responds to it. I know that I'm not the only scrapbooker out there that frequents message boards and forums. So the question is, what do you look for in a message board or forum? What would you like to see that maybe you're not seeing now on the message boards or forums that you frequent the most? What do you like or dislike about the message boards and forums that you frequent now?

So many questions!! These are things that I'd like to know and would actually be interested in learning about. The ultimate message board or forum, what would be your ideal?

Hope you post your thoughts!! If you would rather not post your comments here, you can email me at susiescrapper@gmail.com. I would really appreciate any comments that you have.

Have a Great week.

It's Saturday!

2008-03-29T17:39:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday and I've been scrapbooking all day! I've only actually done 1 layout and 1 card, but I'm actually scrapbooking. Shocker, I know!! I did a challenge for the online crop and did a card for the card challenge. The card actually turned out pretty good, better than I thought it would. After it's posted on IScrap.net, I'll post it here. Don't want to spoil the surprise of the challenge for IScrap!

The online crop is going good and it's a lot fun. I've been playing games and still have a few challenges to finish up and post. I just wish I could get the knack of taking pictures of my layouts! I've tried everything, but I can't seem to be able to take good pictures. I've gotten better, but still have a ways to go. I think my camera just hates me! lol

Hope you're having a great Saturday and enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

2008-03-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

I'm posting this for some friends that are having an online crop tomorrow and it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. Check it out!!

I've Been Tagged!

2008-03-26T20:57:00.001-07:00

I've been tagged!!

Ally tagged me and I have to think of 7 random facts about myself.

Here how it works:
1. Link to the person that tagged you and leave a comment on their blog, so that their readers can visit yours. Ally tagged me!
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share 7 Random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 random people at the bottom of your post, linking to their blog. Let each person know by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here are the 7 random facts about me ....

1. I do not drive, I hate cars.

2. I love movies and can watch the same movie over and over again even on the same day.

3. I used to have 2 potbellied pigs named Whoopi and Triscuit.

4. I'm a collector! I collect M&M stuff and even named one of my dogs M&M. Of course I collect scrapbooking stuff, that's a given!

5. I hate to shop! When I have to go shopping I cringe, unless it's for scrapbooking stuff or something fun. I do like to window shop though. I go to the mall every couple of years and only if I have to.

6. I'm addicted to my computer and message boards, but I'm a lurker.

7. I love to go to the casinos and give them my money, because I rarely win!!

I'm going to tag ....

Nikki

Robin

Christina

Jean Marie

Amanda

Marianne

Sarah

Sorry ladies, I'm new to blogging and don't know that many people that blog!!

What a Beautiful Day!

2008-03-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

It's such a beautiful day today! It's almost 70 and the sun is shining, but rain maybe tomorrow.

It's Tuesday already, time sure flys by! Hope everyone had a great weekend and got to spend time with family and friends.

I've been working on my card challenges for IScrap.net, but haven't been happy with any of my completed cards. Still working on them though, waiting for the creative bug to hit me and come up with the perfect card. I'm a paper scrapbooker and haven't really done cards other than at classes where you have everything already picked out and an example, so it's hard for me to come up with the 'perfect' blend of items! I thought that with a sketch it would be simple. WRONG!! It's not as easy as I thought it would be and I signed up to do 4 and I haven't even finished the first one yet!!

As for the drawing, the winner is Tara!! Yeah Tara!! If you would email me your address I'll get a surprise out by the end of the week. Thank you all for entering and do come back often, because I will be having more contests and adding layouts soon.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter to everyone. Hope you get to spend time with family and friends today. We're sticking close to home, but the kids are coming over. I'm excited because we don't get to see either one very often and today we get both!! So I'm off to cook and do a little bit more cleaning due to the fact that it's spring and the dogs are shedding their winter coats! When you have 4 dogs that's a full time job to say the least.

Have a Happy Easter!!

It's Saturday, I love Saturdays

2008-03-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

Saturdays are about the only day of the week that I don't have to do much of anything around the house, I can do what I please if anything at all. Today I'm choosing to work on a card challenge. It's a challenge to me because I really don't do cards, that's why I decided to do it. I love cards and have made some in classes, but have never really made any on my own. The challenge is a sketch challenge, so it's not really on my own I guess.

When I'm done with my first one I'll post it here!! I've finished one but I didn't like it much and am going to try it again. I'm my own worst critic and never like anything when it's finished. I hate that!!

Have a Great Saturday!!

Spring Means Spring Cleaning and a Surprise!!

2008-03-20T12:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, spring cleaning, but not what you think! I've gone through all of my 'stock' of scrapbooking stuff from all of the different companies that I've been with in direct sales and am going to have a "Spring Cleaning Sale." I'm going to be selling everything for at least 50% off!!

I have so much that it's hard to see exactly what I have. I have boxes all over just need to thin out what I have. I have tons of albums, page kits, embellishments, chipboard, stickers, tools, paper, cardstock, chipboard books --- I could go on for a while here, but I won't.

And here's the Surprise!! I'm going to have a drawing from all those that reply to this message. I'm not sure what it'll be, but I'm sure you won't be disappointed!!

OOPS!! Forgot to put that the drawing will be on Tuesday, the 25th of March.

Good Luck!!

If anyone is interesting in seeing what I have for sale, let me know what you're intested in and I can send you pictures!

It's Springtime!!

2008-03-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

I just love spring, it's my favorite season! The weather is warm and everything is starting to come into bloom.

It's also time to get scrapbooking!! We all need to get back into the routine and scrap those pictures from last year or longer ago than that. I'm one of the guilty ones that has tons of scrapbooking to catch up on.

So it's that time of year to get classes started and crops going!

If anyone is interested in attending classes and crops just let me know. I offer day and evening classes and crops are on the last Saturday of the month, except for the May 3rd International Scrapbooking Day. So April's crop will be the first week in May and then there will still be one on the last Saturday in May.

Here are a few pictures from one of the last classes. We usually have a great time and do layouts and cards.

Save the Date!

2008-03-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

International Scrapbooking Day is May the 3rd this year. I will he having my 3rd Annual Crop and I also will be participating in the crop at IScrap.net.

So save the date, it should be a blast!

Haven't chosen a theme as yet, so stay tuned to find out what it'll be!

Back to Work Today!!!

2008-03-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Ms. M&M, she's a cutie!!

We had a wonderful (semi wonderful) Saturday visiting my mom and brother in Galt! We left early and met our daughter Sara in the Sacramento area and had breakfast at the Jack-in-the-Box on Natomas. I know, not such a nice place, but we had M&M with us on her first road trip since she was a puppy!! M&M was really happy to see Sara and Sara actually seemed a little bit happy to see M&M. The three of us ate our food inside and M&M patiently waited in the bed of the truck. The spoiled little princess that she is, she got a breakfast jack and ate the whole thing, paper and all!!

She had a great time. My mom has 2 dogs and she got to play with them and my brother Michael has her sister, Sheena. They apparently didn't remember each other since it's been a while since we've taken her with us there. They didn't fight or anything, but they didn't play either. They did go through the fence and the neighbor called and asked if he had a couple of big black dogs that were missing and of course it was M&M and Sheena. He went to go get them and brought them back, but not before they got away once and had to go get leashes and run them down!!

A good day was had by all, though I didn't get to see my son Anthony (by choice). He was in San Francisco the day before for an interview and was going to come to Galt and then drive back for a going away party Saturday night. Well, the way gas prices are I told him it was a waste of money and just to stay there and I'd see him another time. It was disappointing, but I'll see him one day this week instead and have one-on-one time with him!

Now it's Sunday and I'm back to work. I have a job due on Wednesday and I only started it today! Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day and our 14th Wedding Anniversary. Won't be celebrating it much, because we're both working, but we will be having our usual meatloaf dinner!! That's Richard's favorite, so I make sure that I make it on our anniversary and then he can have meatloaf sandwiches all week for lunch. Win Win!!

Must get back to work, it won't type itself. Hope you've all had a great weekend and catch up with you tomorrow!

What a Mess!

2008-03-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

This is what my scraproom looks like right now!! I participated in an online crop last weekend at IScrap and haven't had time to finish up some projects or clean off the table!!

Happy Friday!!

2008-03-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

First I want to thank Karma for redoing my website, she did a great job as she always does. Thank you Karma!!

I'm so excited to be getting out of the direct sales side of scrapbooking. No more minimums, recruiting, getting monthly kits I don't want and scrapbooking what I want when I want.

I'll be posting classes and crops soon and hope to get back on track with what I really want to do. I love giving scrapbooking classes and holding crops and have really missed doing it.

So check back often, I'll be posting all sorts of things daily!!

Have a great weekend!!

Susie

It's Been A While, But I'm Back!!

2008-03-13T19:29:00.000-07:00

I haven't really been into blogging for some time. I've been doing the myspace thing and haven't really gotten into blogging. It's a commitment I wasn't sure I could make. Well, here I am again. I thought I would give it another try!

I've been a scrapbooking instructor for 12 years or so now. I've kind of let my business slide and started working from home. I've been typing transcripts for the state and really love doing it. Business has been slow and haven't been typing all that much since before the holidays!! I've done a little here and a little there, but not enough to make any money.

I've decided to go back into scrapbooking, but not in direct sales. I've done Scrap-in-a-Snap, Leaving Prints and am currently doing Top-line Creations. Both Scrap-in-a-Snap and Leaving Prints went out of business!! I really do like TLC, but there is so much out there that I hate to commit to just one company! I love everything and don't want to have to just use one company's products.

I've really been into IScrap for the last six months or so. I've always been involved with the National Scrapbooking Association, but they went international and now they're IScrap. I'm a VIP on the forum and they are a fun group. Just had an online crop this last weekend and had a blast. There's always something going on and it keeps me busy. A lot of people put in a lot of time and work to keep it fun and I thank them all!!

So I've decided to concentrate on my own business again and teach classes and give crops. I miss scrapbooking and it's time to do something about it. I have enough product from the 3 different companies to do classes for a year and not run out of anything! I have a beautiful room that can sit up to 12 fairly comfortably (8 is much better though), so let the classes begin!!

We'll see how good I do at blogging again! Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow!