Feast your eyes on this

This is an updated picture of Stellan taken by his mother. He is doing so much better. I hope she doesn't mind me borrowing her photo. You can read about how he is doing here. Keep up your prayers and thoughts for this family.

In front of the camera

When I received my paperwork for my scholarship to the U, it included a request for a 4 x 6 picture. I don't take pictures. I stay on the back side of a camera and take pictures. I faxed in everything requested, except a picture. Today I received a request for a picture. It was nice to know that they had everything else. I was a little worried, not enough to call and check, just enough for me to wonder at 2 in the morning. You see at the College of Education there is a bulletin board that has all the scholarship recipients each on their own plaque. The plaque includes which scholarship they received, a picture, and a short bio. It's extremely nice of them to do this.

So, Jeff took a few pictures today out by our tree(s) and then used Photoshop to get rid of the lovely extra red I have on my face, the zit that just appeared a few days ago, and I have no idea what else. Oh, yes I do the extremely lovely black circles under my eyes. I figured if a bunch of strangers were going to see this everyday for a year, then I could at least put it on my blog where even more strangers or worse close friends could also see it. So there you have it. If you scroll down on the right side is the latest of moi. At least I don't look like Jabba the Hut like I do on my driver's license.

Here, there, and everywhere

visited 49 states (98%)
Create your own visited map of The United States
I found this on someone else's blog. Thanks to the six years of travel that I did with my family. I've been to all the states except Hawaii and all the Canadian Provinces except the new one (Inuit Territory?).

Inspired by Carter's closet

After Libby so nicely took my advice and added Carter to her card inspiration challenge, I couldn't not participate. I don't have a dinosaur stamp, so I used my dragon from a long retired set Dreams & Dragons. I rapturously wrote about it here. I tried really hard to get rid of his wings and breath, but they didn't want to disappear totally. I didn't really have any circles either. Carter is sitting in a huge turquoise tunnel with circles cut out. So, I used bubbles instead. My layout is based on Splitcoasters card challenge SC239. I'm not sure if it still counts since I added another layer with the circle and the sentiment. I have no idea what I will do with this card. I'll put it in the box for an occasion in the future.

I just purchased my first set of nestabilities (all the circles), so I had to use at least one. I'm excited; it seems that everyone has at least one set of nestabilities and uses them frequently. I'm loving both them and my big shot dies. Once I had an idea of colors and layout, this card went quite quickly. Can I use another "q" word? :)



An update on Stellan can be found here. He is doing better, but still needs tons of prayers. He is headed to Boston any day now, as soon as there is a bed for him. Now that the medicines have kicked-in, he feels better. However, the high dosage of heart medication makes him really sick, so the doctors have added anti-nausea medicine as well. How his family manages I have no idea. Some people can take everything thrown at them and continue with life; others can barely handle just getting up every day.

stamp set: Dreams & Dragons (ret.) and Short & Sweet
ink: Taken with Teal, Basic Black
paper: unknown white CS, Tempting Turquoise, Taken with Teal, and Real Red CS
accessories: Pacific Point corduroy buttons (ret.), word window punch, Cuddlebug, bubbles cuddlebug texture, nestabilities, dimensionals, SNAIL adhesive

Have you been wondering?

Yes, we did bring Deirdre home from Camp Cloud Rim last Saturday. I'm sure you have all been holding your breath wondering whether we left her there or not.



This is not the best photo in the world, but she is save and sound. You can see the new scab on her knee. This is the same knee and leg that she scrapped up in early May. This time she was playing "Thicket" which a game that I am supposed to know about—but I don't.

Well I'm off to try Libby's challenge using Carter's shirt for inspiration. I have no dinosaur stamps. We'll have to see how I do.

This is what I've been working on

These are the scrapbook pages I've done for Deirdre's book. They seem to take forever. I can't just put pictures on a page. All the cardstock, ink, and accessories have to match the dominating colors of the pictures. I managed in three different days to make three different double page spreads.



These are actually in reverse order of how I made them. I really like the zoo one the best. There is another dps to go with full of dolphins, but the pictures need some editing in Photoshop first. On the screen they look fine, but once they are printed the dolphins are just dark blurs.

I also needed another of the gift card holders. I goofed when working on the base layer. I thought I was using the score blade, but instead was using a regular blade. So, I turned that one into an example that I put all the sizes into for future reference. Then I made a new one. These are so fun and easy to make. Thank you to Angie Juda for the tutorial on these.

stamp set: God's Beauty (ret. Hostess Level 1 S/S '09)
ink: Not Quite Navy
paper: Not Quite Navy, Kraft, and Very Vanilla CS, DP Bella Bleu
accessories: SNAIL adhesive, dimensionals, and white medium envelope

latest cards

These are holders for gift cards. I got the idea from Angie (click here for her blog Chic' n Scratch). I didn't have the stamp set she was using nor the designer paper, so I looked through my stash (yes, I already have one) to find some DP that I liked for these. One is for my niece and the other for her husband.

Supplies used (all are SU! unless otherwise stated):

stamp set: Organic Grace (retired Hostess level 1 from Fall/Winter '08 IBC)
paper: Night of Navy, Brocade Blue, and Garden Green CS, Prestwick DP (ret.)
ink: Basic Grey classic
accessories: SNAIL adhesive, dimensionals, and white medium envelope

Supplies used (all are SU! unless otherwise stated):

stamp set: Eastern Blooms
paper: Kiwi Kiss (ret. '08-'09 In-Color), Pretty in Pink, and Whisper White CS, Raspberry Tart DP (ret.)
ink: Kiwi Kiss (ret. '08-'09 In-Color) classic
accessories: SNAIL adhesive, dimensionals, and white medium envelope

These have two slots inside—one for the gift card and the other for a little note. These were super easy and fast to make. I think it took longer to select the stamp set and DP than it did to make each one.

I told you

I knew there would be several posts today. Here's the next one.

The late-night stampers have a "royal blog tour" happening on their many (80 in all) websites going on for the next few days. There are many really interesting cards, scrapbook pages, and altered items on these pages. I have found several new people to watch as their ideas are quite interesting. If you are interested in following or just looking at a few follow this link to get started.

Why does the cat…?

Why is it that every time I do anything on my computer the cat (Greymalkin) wants to curl up on my arm? Not happy next to me or anything, it has to be on my arm!

After the last post, I added labels for all the posts of the last year (only 61). I think either this post or the last one will make this year equal all of last year. I have been working on scrapbook pages and actually finished two dps' (double page spreads). I still often think in yearbook publication terms. I haven't taken any pictures of them, but I might and I might post them.

Last year at this time I was reading Randy Pausch's and Jeffrey Zaslow's co-written book The Last Lecture. While reading, I wondered "is he still alive?" The day I checked was July 25 and he had just died that day. I finished reading the book, but now the poignancy was almost overwhelming.

This year, I was thinking about reading Teacher Man by Frank McCourt. Both Jeff and my parents gave it to me for Christmas in 2005. I had just read that McCourt had meningitis and was gravely ill. Last Sunday (7/19) he died. On Wednesday, I picked up the book to read. Again the poignancy was there, but not quite as much as McCourt lived to be 78, nearly 79.

I hope no one minds that I borrowed the images from Amazon. I then opened them in Photoshop and deleted the "see inside" arrows. I could have scanned the covers of my books, but it seemed too much trouble when they are right there on the web for the viewing.

Post one for today

I know that I will have a couple of different posts today. First off—Stellan in Minnesota is having a bad time of it again. In March I stumbled onto his difficulties and have been following ever since. If you too would like to become swept up in this adorable almost nine month old's sage then click on the button below. If you are a praying person (I'm not) than I'm sure that Jennifer would surely appreciate a few prayers for Stellan. He is not doing well at all and I'm sure his doctors are swearing at what was supposed to be a fairly simple hospital stay. Unfortunately, Stellan has continued to do things his way and is not responding as he should (according to medicine).





The latest from Jen on Twitter is that he is not doing well at all. Stellan has now been in SVT (supraventricular tachycardia) for 36 hours with few break outs.

Well, I would have…

I would have had Deirdre take off her cap in the picture posted below, but she was only sort of cooperating. Her statement, "Mom, you're so exasperating!"

I love being a parent of a preteen (most of the time). I'll take preteens over whining six year-olds or know-it-all seventeen year-olds. Gotta love 'em at every age or you miss out on their lives.

I'd rather teach teenagers than elementary or middle school age! I still say the biggest difference between a two year-old and a teenager is the vocabulary. I learned that as a parent of a two year-old ten years ago and still stand by it. They want to spread their wings and fly without any interference "thank you very much." But, they also want the loving support of adults when they fly too close to the sun. Gotta love 'em.

Cloud Rim

Deirdre left for Camp Cloud Rim located at 9211' above Park City. I dropped her off yesterday morning. She'll be there for a week have fun working on her "High Adventure Interest Project Patch" while sailing on Lake Brimhall. Here she is posing with the lake in the lower left corner and the Wasatch Mountains behind her (actually all around her, but you can only see them in the background).



There were several girls checking into the same group as D when we got to Cloud Rim. She decided to wear her "CIMI" t-shirt as an ice-breaker—at least that is what I assume. She rarely wears any shirts at camp other than Girl Scout ones.

Twilight camp

Last week I took my scouts to Wheeler Farm for Juniper Service Unit's Twilight Camp. They always hold their camp in the afternoon and evening because of the heat. So camp ran from 3:30 to 9:00 on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We commuted back and forth each day leaving around 1:00 or 2:00 and getting home between 11:00 and 11:40.

At Juniper, accompanying adults are put with groups that don't include daughters, so I was with 8 year old Brownies. It was different working with the younger girls. I was supposed to be the helper for the group, but on the second and third days the unit leader didn't come, so that put me in charge of our unit. For our skit, the girls had Harry Potter since we were the "Broomsticks". They did a good job with almost no adult help. We did help them the first day figure out who they were, but after that they were on their own. My unit had really cute girls in it.



The far left group composes of Heather as Hermione, Hannah as Hagrid, Amelia (her back is to the camera) as Ron, and Celia as Harry. The middle group are the "evil" Malfoy (Serena), Crabbe (Cara), and Goyle (Alex). The last group is the twins Samie and Katie as Voldemort and Quirrell.

Getting pictures of my cadettes wasn't easy since I wasn't with them, but I did capture a few.


Watching the magician and eating dinner (D, Maddie, and Malynn and D, Sarah, Malynn, and Maddie).


Coming back from putting dinner back in the van (Malynn, Maddie, and D, and Sarah).

We have added a new member to our troop—Maddie from Ftn. Green. We are excited to have her along for the ride.

These pictures are from the girls helping the younger ones. Maddie worked with a Glass Slipper (the five year olds) while the others helped with Poppies. The girl sitting with her back to the camera next D is Jaydn, daughter of Melinda Despain, who I had as a junior back in the 1993-1994 school year. It truly is a small world.

Card Redoux

Here's the next one I made today. This was a lot of fun to make even if it did take forever and a day. Hopefully, I'll get faster as time goes on. There are some mistakes, but it's hand made so no one should expect perfection. Right? The first image shows the colors better and the second image shows the saw's gold and silver better.


This is the inside before I put any personal comments.

Supplies (all SU! except where noted):

stamp set: Totally Tool and Very Versatile
paper: To the Nines Specialty DP (SU! retired), Sahara Sand textured CS, Very Vanilla and More Mustard CS
ink: Always Artichoke, Basic Black
accessories: Chocolate Chip 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, Curly Label punch, black buttons (retired), needle/thread, mat pack, paper piercing tool, dimensionals, gold and silver metallic pens (MS), Top Note Bigz die, Big Shot, sponge daubers, SNAIL adhesive

Update: To the Nines Specialty DP is not retired. I goofed.

Holiday Mini

I just downloaded the holiday mini from Stampin' up! Can I saw WOW! This mini catty is fantastic. I want almost everything I see in it. The "Sweet treats cups" are an awesome idea. I really can't wait until Sept. 1 for everyone else to see this catty. I think SU! has really outdone themselves this time. Here's a peek at the cover.

First card

Here's my first card without copying any ideas or layouts or colors. I know that in the scrapping world all of those are okay, but it sits hard with me. I love this set "A Kind Word." It was in the old catty and was carried over to the new one. It reminds of an artist from the early 80's, but I have no idea who that was just a memory of sweet round faces on the children. I colored the girl with watercolor crayons. Then I meticulously cut her out and mounted her on dimensionals. I also now know why some people don't like using chip board. It is a pain to cut out after covering in cardstock. I probably could have chosen an easier piece than the curly-que that I did.

After looking at now, I think I should have sponged the edges of the sentiment, but it's too late now. One lucky person will get this card for her birthday. It's pretty much a female card not male.

Supplies used:

stamp set: A Kind Word (SU!)
paper: Very Vanilla, Taken with Teal cardstock (SU!), Apricot Appeal textured cardstock (SU!), white cardstock (unknown)
ink: Stazon black, Certainly Celery (SU!) Taken with Teal (marker SU!)
watercolor crayons: Taken with Teal, Certainly Celery, Blush Blossom, Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise, Apricot Appeal (SU!)
Accessories: Whisper White Taffeta ribbon (SU!), word window punch (SU!), chip board (K&Co.), dimensionals, SNAIL adhesive

Dover, UT

This is where we went today—Dover, Utah. There are no living people in Dover just a cemetery with plain white crosses.

If you look closely, you can see the rise in the burial plots. They still haven't gone flat after 100+ years. There must be something really odd in the soil.

A few of the plots have newer headstones and a few have metal plaques that state the deceased's name, age, and parents' names that are also old.

Here's Deirdre reading about Dover. The whole town left by the 1930's according to Wikipedia (the plaque indicated that the town was gone by 1900). A woman bought the cemetery land and donated it to the LDS Church years ago. The plaque was placed by the Pioneer Women of Utah.

We looked for Clarion, but couldn't find anything that was a representative of that ghost town. We did drive on Clarion Road (according to the GPS in the Odyssey), but that was all. Three hours of driving for one little cemetery. It was interesting to see the other side of the Gunnison Valley though. All in all a nice afternoon.

Isn't this beautiful?

I set this picture as the background on my computer. Deirdre saw it the other day and asked where I got it. I said, "my daughter took it." This is from her CIMI trip last October on the way to Catalina Island.

At last

Today we actually delivered three of the bags of stuffed animals that have been living in the Odyssey for the last eight months. They (the bags of stuffed animals) are from the girls' Bronze Award (more info on what that is here) project. While delivering information for next week's trip to Wheeler Farm for Juniper Service Unit's "Movie Magic Twilight Camp," we dropped off three of the bags in Moroni to be put in the ambulances for small children. I was going to drop off another bag at the hospital in Mt. Pleasant, but didn't. We still have five more bags of stuffed animals that have to be delivered before the first of August; otherwise, there is no room for six people's things for Gooseberry!

2nd place

Softball has finished for the year. We took second place in the Lion's Tournament on June 27. The game should have started at 8:00 p.m., instead we didn't get started until 8:50. The officials called time at 10:18. We lost to an accelerated dominated Manti team 16-7. We had beaten them before in Manti, but this time we just weren't getting hits.

Preparing to hit at the Manti game on June 23. This was the game that we should have won, but due in part to the idiotic ump (see no face mask) we didn't.

D playing 1st base. This was her usual position this season.At the Lion's Tournament in the first game against Gunnison. It was a close game that we won 8-7.Waiting at third to steal home. We stole a ton of bases. The other teams didn't like that too much. We stole the field twice at Manti in the game we lost on base on balls. Twice!!

Deirdre getting her 2nd place trophy from Lion's President Rasmussen.

The whole team that participated in the Lion's tournament. Back row: Jeff, Amy S. (ass't coach), D., middle row: Hannah S. (all the way from California), Olivia M. (holding up her cousin H.S.), Nikysha R., Bailee N., Savannah P., Sarah J., Taylor N., front row: Hannah O., Megan J., and Shonacee S. Missing are Jessica R., and Riley M. Neither were at the tournament.

June has ended and the summer is now half over. On to working on the house and getting ready for a new school year. Finishing out this post is a picture of "Miss Queen of the House" Greymalkin.