"Angels Among Us"

Wow, Saturday was THE day for scrapbook awesomeness. After I left the convention and had lunch with the lovely Christopher, we stopped at Hobby Lobby so I could see if the rumors of a scrapbook section overhaul were true. I was perusing the paper aisle, taking note of the numerous empty spots, when I heard an angel named Kay calling to me... "Are you big into scrapbooking" she asked. "Pshyeah!" I replied and showed her my armband from the convention. She proceeded to tell me about the changes in store for their paper selction. Intriguing enough, but my main concern was whether or not they had the Bind-It-All. "Actually we can only keep two in stock and I just sold the last one today. Hold on though..." She disappeared briefly and came back with not only a rain check, but also a 40% coupon and the promise that she would be calling me Monday to come pick up my new machine! An angel, I tell ya! So Monday I came home with a Bind-It-All and only 36 less bucks in my pocket (OK, maybe a few less than that after I purchased some binding coil and Thickers). How cool is that?!?!?! Thank you Kay!!

Of course I had to use it when I got home, so I gathered my rather large collection of postcards from my more 'worldly' friends and some scrap chipboard that Chris saved from the trash for me. About half an hour later, I had this little book:

Because I wanted the postcards to be somewhat staggered, I was able to play around with alignment and whatnot. Good practice - a perfect first project. I have a feeling I'll be getting a lot of use out of this little jewel.

Yesterday, I got great news over at UnPubbed! I had the winning lift of Corey's gorgeous layout and I'm getting a super cool kit in the mail! Yippeee! Here's the lift, an account of our tour of the Jesse James house in St. Joseph, MO:

Ironically, the night after I finished this layout, we watched a two hour special about Jesse James on the Military Channel (yep, DORKS!). They actually proposed the idea that maybe it was not Jesse James that was killed in this house and maybe there was no real bullet hole. It was a complicated idea, but interesting! A side note: the number one thought I had while cruising through this little museum was, "Holy crap this place needs a scrapbooker's touch!" All of the text on the 'exhibits' was yellowing and peeling up. It was kind of sad.

"Girls Gone Wild"

Just returned from the contained chaos that is the Creating Keepsakes Convention. Wowza. I went three years ago and volunteered as an armband checker for the Vendor Faire - it was overwhelming. Lots of scrapbook paraphernalia toting ladies, not a lot of space. After four hours of standing at the doorway, by the time I got to actually shop, I was WAY exhausted and didn't come away with much.

Not exactly the case this year... on the plus side, I only spent about $40! BUT, I got 3 packages of Lil' Davis chipboard letters, Lil' Davis chipboard borders, 4 packages of Heidi Swapp chipboard letters, 2 6x6 Basic Grey paper packs (one from the Boxer line and one from Cupcake), a Scenic Route mini album, a Maya Road mini album, a 6x6 Sassafrass Lass paper pack, and about 10 single papers (most from Sassafrass). I'd say I did pretty good! And maybe one of those seemingly hundreds of drawings I entered will pan out (or I'll be bombarded with spam). Here's a peek:

And a layout from this afternoon. A tribute to my dear old pet, Leonardo. Yes, he had 8 legs, but he never made a mess or noise and I have to admit, it's not nearly as entertaining to watch my dogs eat. Meal time for Leonardo (and the unfortunate crickets) was like watching an episode of Nova unfold before your very eyes. You just couldn't turn away.

"#1 Crush"

I heard someone refer to their lack of sleep this last week as "Olympic Hangover," and I can completely appreciate that. I had to breathe a slight sigh of relief after the last swim was over Saturday night - maybe now I can get some rest! I really don't remember actually getting into the games like this since 1996 Atlanta, so it's been fun to watch! I also got a kick out of the gymnastics. Took me back to my younger days when I'd make posters of the medal counts for Shannon Miller, Kim Zmeskal, etc. I also discovered a new-to-me sport: synchronized diving. What is that about??? Chris said, "That is the gayest thing I've ever seen." I think I'll have to agree. And I have a new crush to show for all of my late nights. A super cute swimmer. No, it's not Michael Phelps, although how awesome was he?!?! I had my eye on his teammate Aaron Peirsol. :) Ahhh.... When I wasn't oooing and ahhing this weekend, I did get some scrapbook pages done. I'm kind of liking my current trend of a few semi-elaborate two pagers, followed by a few simple one photo-ers. Makes my whole non-existent organization system somewhat of a pain though. I'm thinking of mounting my 8-1/2 x 11's to some 12x12 cardstock to make it easier. Does anyone do this?

This is Alexis's self-administered haircut from a few years ago. You could still see some of her scalp weeks later! I guess it could've been worse though. I've heard some horror stories!

I was going to save this photo for my in-the-works Route 66 album, but I grabbed an opportunity to use this incredibly cheesy title instead! Thank you Simpsons. :) You can't really tell, but the hearts are some homemade 'ghost shapes' cut from the plastic packaging for American Crafts brads. I freehanded those, then used them to trace hearts from the paper. I inked the paper, then stitched them to the plastic hearts. I've been going nuts saving all kinds of plastic packaging! Hopefully I'll put all of it to good use.

"Oh, It is Love"

After LOTS of research and shopping and asking and listening and testing and reading and thinking and persuading and researching and thinking some more, we have a winner! The Sony Alpha 200. Got a really good deal on it at Camera Gallery, and they were also very helpful. If you ever find yourself in Tulsa and looking for a new camera, go see Ken. I have a lot to learn, but so far, I likey! Haven't used a REAL camera in so long, but wow, it makes a difference. Here's some samples (too bad it can't clean my bathroom mirror).

Here's my favorite shot so far. I was playing with the in-camera black and white mode and different focus settings. Love how it came out! Stinky is a great napping buddy. :)

Here's one of Popeye, post-bath. Again, I'm loving the depth of field! It's so awesome to not focus on everything. One of the really cool features is that the camera autofocuses as soon as you put your eye to the viewfinder, instead of when you press the shutter button. You can turn the feature off, but I'm diggin' it.

Here's Lucy surveying the newest development in the backyard: the building of an RC car track. Yes, she looks about as thrilled as I am. I will say though, even though I can't drive worth a crap, it is pretty fun. :)
Last but not least, Stinky the Vampire. Not as vicious as it looks, I promise.