I am not a big fan of garage sales. I've gone to a few and usually end up bringing home a piece of junk that is good for nothing. Mind you, I know lots of people who swear by garage sales. Perhaps they're more discerning buyers than I am!
Every year we have a community garage sale in the complex where we live. I don't go to it and I don't have a table in it either. My philosophy about garage sales is pretty clear. I don't participate in garage sales, because, in my humble opinion they are a waste of time and I think - no I actually know - that I can find better ways to waste my time. Just saying.
You have to sort through your junk to decide what you're going to keep and what can go. Of course the junk that was going to go has suddenly become very precious so you don't want to sell it to just "anyone". Then of course you have to price your junk. That whole pricing process takes awhile because, after all, your junk is way too valuable to give to just "anyone" at just any price. Once you decide on a price then you have to put labels or tags or both on your junk because, God forbid, you don't want to charge the wrong price for your junk. And, horrors, what if someone should actually steal your junk?
The morning of the garage sale, you have to get up early, drag a table out to the driveway and load all your junk up so you can put it out on the table for viewing. And lets face it - it cannot just be thrown in a pile. It must be displayed in an esthetically pleasing manner; if it isn't, then people won't look at it.
Ok, so fast forward to start time. Now you have to deal with all the dufuses (is that even a word?) who don't have enough of their own junk so now they want to buy yours....at less than asking price. Waaaayyyy less! You're almost giving this crap away and still someone wants to rip you off. Whatever !
Fast forward to the end of the sale. You've sold next to nothing and have managed to earn $10 for a full evening of work the previous night AND a full day spent sitting by your table at the end of the driveway. Most of your stuff didn't go and now you have to drag the remainder back into the house and put it away. Once that's done you can drag your table back in and find a place for it so it's handy for you to drag out the next time there's a garage sale.
So....that's why I don't do garage sales. I have more than enough of my own junk. I don't need to go and buy your junk and bring it home to add to my junk. When I want to get rid of my junk I post it on Freecycle. If there are no takers, I call a local charity, they come and pick it up and take it away. Every one is happy! They make my junk their junk and sell it like nobody's business. They even have a storefront they use to do that. Go figure!
Just saying.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Famous last wordz!
So - here I am again. Almost a month has gone by since I last posted. What's up with that? I'm not going to promise to post more frequently because clearly I'm not able to do that . So - all I can say is I'll try to be better. Maybe my life is just so boring that I have nothing to post about. Whatever!
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Summer has finally arrived here on the coast and thank God for that. It's about blessed time.The flowers were looking so bedraggled there for awhile but now they're perking up and starting to fill out. I"m pleased with the new garden I put in. I've purchased some ornaments for the garden and I've received lots of compliments from my neighbours about how nice it looks. Makes all the hard work worth it.
I said that I would post some art and so here are a couple of wedding cards I made for the store
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
this and that ....again!
I've been remiss in my posting so I'll need to get back on track again. I haven't been myself lately, well actually for the last several months. I suffer from SAD and I've been dragging myself around for months with little or no energy or ambition to do anything. I finally went to see my doc and he changed my meds so I'm finally starting to feel a little better. I'm starting to actually be able to get out of bed in the morning and without feeling that I won't make it through the day. Still room for improvement but I can see that I am getting better so it's all good.
Because of my lack of energy, I've fallen way behind the 8 ball. My production for the store has been really down so I'm feeling guilty about that. Ron is such a nice man and I know that I haven't been keeping up my end of the deal. Thank God he's been patient with me....many would not have been. Anyway, I will be delivering an order tomorrow morning so hopefully I'll be back in his good books again. I'll post the cards I've created in another post.
I'm also involved in 2 journals swaps - I must be out of my mind! I enjoy doing these journal pages, however I really struggle with them so it takes me forever to complete one. It also doesn't help that I got 3 of them all within a week of each other. Talk about being snowed under! Anyway, I'm finishing up my second journal and will be sending off tomorrow via ExPressPost so she should have them in her hands by Friday morning.
Weather here on the coast has been less than stellar. We've had a couple of nice days but they are few and far between. Some days I still need to put the heat on and we're all wearing sweaters. Typically by now we have a heat wave - June is usually not great weather til the end of the month. My plants had such promise when I put them in - roses are doing great - but everything else is small and not very robust. Enough already - bring on the sun!
Well that's it for my update. Gotta run. Caio!
Because of my lack of energy, I've fallen way behind the 8 ball. My production for the store has been really down so I'm feeling guilty about that. Ron is such a nice man and I know that I haven't been keeping up my end of the deal. Thank God he's been patient with me....many would not have been. Anyway, I will be delivering an order tomorrow morning so hopefully I'll be back in his good books again. I'll post the cards I've created in another post.
I'm also involved in 2 journals swaps - I must be out of my mind! I enjoy doing these journal pages, however I really struggle with them so it takes me forever to complete one. It also doesn't help that I got 3 of them all within a week of each other. Talk about being snowed under! Anyway, I'm finishing up my second journal and will be sending off tomorrow via ExPressPost so she should have them in her hands by Friday morning.
Weather here on the coast has been less than stellar. We've had a couple of nice days but they are few and far between. Some days I still need to put the heat on and we're all wearing sweaters. Typically by now we have a heat wave - June is usually not great weather til the end of the month. My plants had such promise when I put them in - roses are doing great - but everything else is small and not very robust. Enough already - bring on the sun!
Well that's it for my update. Gotta run. Caio!
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Things that make you go hmmmm
Interesting week, some changes, some challenges and some frustration.
Why is it that some people are only comfortable with chaos and dysfunction? They just never seem to be happy unless everything is in an uproar. I'm really tired of it. It gets really old, really fast. So inefficient.
All my joints are aching. Not sure why. Even my toes are aching and my fingers are sorer than they've been in months. Too much computer maybe. I've also been really busy cutting paper and running dies through my Big Shot so that may be some of the problem.
I took it easy this weekend and made a conscious decision that I would take it easy, as opposed to just lying around without a plan. Yesterday and today I worked on stock for the store. I plan to do a delivery on Tuesday morning before I go to the hospital to take my daughter for her day surgery. Then there will be a few hours of just sitting around. I'll be glad when the surgery is over and she doesn't have to deal with the lump in her face anymore.
Garden is great....all my plants are settling in and getting nice and plump. They look happy in their new homes.
Well got go. I'm really tired and 5 am comes early.
Caio!
Why is it that some people are only comfortable with chaos and dysfunction? They just never seem to be happy unless everything is in an uproar. I'm really tired of it. It gets really old, really fast. So inefficient.
All my joints are aching. Not sure why. Even my toes are aching and my fingers are sorer than they've been in months. Too much computer maybe. I've also been really busy cutting paper and running dies through my Big Shot so that may be some of the problem.
I took it easy this weekend and made a conscious decision that I would take it easy, as opposed to just lying around without a plan. Yesterday and today I worked on stock for the store. I plan to do a delivery on Tuesday morning before I go to the hospital to take my daughter for her day surgery. Then there will be a few hours of just sitting around. I'll be glad when the surgery is over and she doesn't have to deal with the lump in her face anymore.
Garden is great....all my plants are settling in and getting nice and plump. They look happy in their new homes.
Well got go. I'm really tired and 5 am comes early.
Caio!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Warm weather at last!
The sunshine and warm weather has finally arrived on the coast. It was absolutely gorgeous today - it's 3 AM and all my windows are open to the cool night air. We've had a not so nice spring so far, however the next 7 days are looking pretty good.
I've managed to get a spread done in my art journal. Nothing too fancy but a spread nonetheless. It came together quickly and I'm happy with the results. This whole art journal thing has been a real struggle for me. I was talking with a friend and we decided that I'm making this whole process waaaay too complicated. Too much thought, too much striving for perfection and not nearly enough play. So....baby steps!
I've managed to get a spread done in my art journal. Nothing too fancy but a spread nonetheless. It came together quickly and I'm happy with the results. This whole art journal thing has been a real struggle for me. I was talking with a friend and we decided that I'm making this whole process waaaay too complicated. Too much thought, too much striving for perfection and not nearly enough play. So....baby steps!
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Just when you thought it was safe to get in the water
So. Here I am halfway through a very challenging week. Lots going on at work, trying to work through problems and find solutions to issues that should not be issues ! UGH ! Very frustrating.
On a lighter note, I did get some good news this week. While in Palm Springs I had an altercation with a garage door. For some reason the sensor malfunctioned and the garage door came down and landed on the roof of the rental vehicle. The door put a dent in the roof just above the rear cargo door. Beinge an honest citizen, when I returned the rental vehicle I reported the damage and was promptly charged $500 for the deductible. I was told that the rental company would get an appraisal for the damage and advise me of the remainder owing. Fast forward a couple of weeks and I get a letter from them asking for my insurance information or perhaps if I don't have insurance I would like to pay out of pocket - no information about the out of pocket amount balance. So I sent them an e-mail requesting the additional cost so I could make a decision as to whether I would claim it or not. Three weeks go by, nothing. Then last week, I received a refund cheque for approximately $110. Wooohoo! However it does make me wonder why they asked for my information when they owed me a refund. Whatever !
Spring - and rain - have arrived here on the coast. My roses have all kinds of new leaves on them and the hostas are growing like crazy. I have a yard and a half of bark mulch to spread and weeding and leveling to do in my new flower bed at the front of the house. I also have a postage stamp of a lawn that I need to reseed. Craziest thing - I can't keep grass on this thing, but the weeds are going crazy. Go figure.
I'm starting into the busy season at the store. I'm finishing up an order of Mother's Day cards and then wedding season is upon us. As usual, I'm behind the 8 ball in my production. I'm so accustomed to being behind that sometimes I actually think I'm caught up. Demented thinking I know!
Organizing my studio is an ongoing process that is always challenging. I've moved things around yet again and I'm getting there. Slowly, very slowly, but surely. I need to purge some treasures, not sure how to do that but I'll give it a try. I saw Peter Walsh on a youtube video and he talked how you start to get your clutter under control. He said use the 80/ 20 rule - for every 4 things you keep, you must get rid of one thing. What a radical concept! It really isn't such a big deal when I think of it that way. I might actually be able to do that.
I'm working in my art journal, however I'm not making a heck of a lot of progress. So little time and so much to do. I'm also a little frustrated with all these talented people who can draw. They are so inspiring and everything is predicated on actually having some artistic abilities, namely the talent to be able to draw. Come on people! What about people like me who can't draw. Can you have a little pity on me? You're making me crazy!
Gotta run. Caio!
On a lighter note, I did get some good news this week. While in Palm Springs I had an altercation with a garage door. For some reason the sensor malfunctioned and the garage door came down and landed on the roof of the rental vehicle. The door put a dent in the roof just above the rear cargo door. Beinge an honest citizen, when I returned the rental vehicle I reported the damage and was promptly charged $500 for the deductible. I was told that the rental company would get an appraisal for the damage and advise me of the remainder owing. Fast forward a couple of weeks and I get a letter from them asking for my insurance information or perhaps if I don't have insurance I would like to pay out of pocket - no information about the out of pocket amount balance. So I sent them an e-mail requesting the additional cost so I could make a decision as to whether I would claim it or not. Three weeks go by, nothing. Then last week, I received a refund cheque for approximately $110. Wooohoo! However it does make me wonder why they asked for my information when they owed me a refund. Whatever !
Spring - and rain - have arrived here on the coast. My roses have all kinds of new leaves on them and the hostas are growing like crazy. I have a yard and a half of bark mulch to spread and weeding and leveling to do in my new flower bed at the front of the house. I also have a postage stamp of a lawn that I need to reseed. Craziest thing - I can't keep grass on this thing, but the weeds are going crazy. Go figure.
I'm starting into the busy season at the store. I'm finishing up an order of Mother's Day cards and then wedding season is upon us. As usual, I'm behind the 8 ball in my production. I'm so accustomed to being behind that sometimes I actually think I'm caught up. Demented thinking I know!
Organizing my studio is an ongoing process that is always challenging. I've moved things around yet again and I'm getting there. Slowly, very slowly, but surely. I need to purge some treasures, not sure how to do that but I'll give it a try. I saw Peter Walsh on a youtube video and he talked how you start to get your clutter under control. He said use the 80/ 20 rule - for every 4 things you keep, you must get rid of one thing. What a radical concept! It really isn't such a big deal when I think of it that way. I might actually be able to do that.
I'm working in my art journal, however I'm not making a heck of a lot of progress. So little time and so much to do. I'm also a little frustrated with all these talented people who can draw. They are so inspiring and everything is predicated on actually having some artistic abilities, namely the talent to be able to draw. Come on people! What about people like me who can't draw. Can you have a little pity on me? You're making me crazy!
Gotta run. Caio!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Very tired
I'm very tired this week. Thank God the week is almost over. I have Monday off so it will be nice to just relax. Having said that, I have lots to do this weekend. I promised Kerry I would do her taxes for her. That should be simple enough as she has a very simple tax return. Famous last words!
Gotta run - I'm falling asleep at the computer. Caio!
Gotta run - I'm falling asleep at the computer. Caio!
Sunday, April 08, 2012
I'm enjoying a relaxing Easter weekend. I did a couple of hours of OT yesterday. It was such a beautiful day here on the coast that I decided not to spend the whole day there.
On the way home I stopped at one of the local Thrift Stores where I spied a side table for my printer. Right now I'm using an end table from my family room (which is quite large) for my printer. The table I saw was only $12 and smaller and had a couple of storage shelves as well. It would free up some room in my already overcrowded studio so I will probably go back on Monday and buy it.
Part of the problem is that I continue to buy - I never seem to get rid of stuff. It is impossible
for me to throw out perfectly good "stuff". I subscribe to the "I might need this stuff someday" mindset ....and therein lies the problem! I need to stop buying stuff - this from the gal who's waiting for an order from Scrapbuck.com!
I'm off to work on some card designs for the stores. However, before I do that, I've been saying that I'll post one of my journal pages. I completed this one in Palm Springs, with limited supplies. It's for a journal swap I'm in and I'm happy with the end result. Caio !
On the way home I stopped at one of the local Thrift Stores where I spied a side table for my printer. Right now I'm using an end table from my family room (which is quite large) for my printer. The table I saw was only $12 and smaller and had a couple of storage shelves as well. It would free up some room in my already overcrowded studio so I will probably go back on Monday and buy it.
Part of the problem is that I continue to buy - I never seem to get rid of stuff. It is impossible
for me to throw out perfectly good "stuff". I subscribe to the "I might need this stuff someday" mindset ....and therein lies the problem! I need to stop buying stuff - this from the gal who's waiting for an order from Scrapbuck.com!
I'm off to work on some card designs for the stores. However, before I do that, I've been saying that I'll post one of my journal pages. I completed this one in Palm Springs, with limited supplies. It's for a journal swap I'm in and I'm happy with the end result. Caio !
Friday, April 06, 2012
Hated Journal Page
It's unbelievable to me that I've been back from holidays for more than three weeks. Where the heck has the time gone?
Ok, so I said I would post my "hated journal page" so here it is. Caio!
Ok, so I said I would post my "hated journal page" so here it is. Caio!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Home sweet home
We've been home a week now and we're back in the swing of things. Work is busy and my to do list seems to grow daily.
Weather here has been cold - well cold compared to Palm Springs weather. I planted a bunch of crocuses and they were all up when we came home. I wasn't sure how many to plant in each spot so I planted in bunches of 5 & 7. They are all mixed colours - no rhyme or reason as to which colours went where. They really look nice and will multiply like crazy so next year I will have a great bunch of flowers.
This is my 3 day weekend and I haven't even left the house. Just hanging out and putzing around in my workroom. I've come to the conclusion that I have finally reached the point of "too much stuff"! My workroom is usually a mess after I make a bunch of stuff and this time was no exception. So when we returned from our trip my goal was to try to create some kind of order out of the chaos. For the most part I have succeeded. I just need to either use up some supplies or throw them out. Not sure that's going to happen, although I did throw out a partially full containe of ultra thick embossing powder. I haven't touched it for several years so it got tossed. Baby steps....
Weather here has been cold - well cold compared to Palm Springs weather. I planted a bunch of crocuses and they were all up when we came home. I wasn't sure how many to plant in each spot so I planted in bunches of 5 & 7. They are all mixed colours - no rhyme or reason as to which colours went where. They really look nice and will multiply like crazy so next year I will have a great bunch of flowers.
This is my 3 day weekend and I haven't even left the house. Just hanging out and putzing around in my workroom. I've come to the conclusion that I have finally reached the point of "too much stuff"! My workroom is usually a mess after I make a bunch of stuff and this time was no exception. So when we returned from our trip my goal was to try to create some kind of order out of the chaos. For the most part I have succeeded. I just need to either use up some supplies or throw them out. Not sure that's going to happen, although I did throw out a partially full containe of ultra thick embossing powder. I haven't touched it for several years so it got tossed. Baby steps....
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
I hate my journal page
I've completed my art journal page and I absolutely hate it ! It looks like a piece of garbage. I am so frustrated as I've spent a lot of time and effort on this thing and it stinks big time. I refuse to rip it out of my journal. I feel like I'm just wasting my time on something that is never going to get any better. I just finally said enough already. I journalled about how much I hate it and I'm calling it a day and moving on to something else.
I'm really frustrated with myself and my lack of inspiration. I follow Journal Artista religiously and I've seen all the pages she creates with circles and swirls. She makes it look so easy and her work is so vibrant. Mine ends up looking like a dog's breakfast. I don't know if I'm overworking it or overthinking it, or maybe I just don't have a friggin clue what I'm doing. What the hell is going on? Suffice it so say I AM FED UP !!
I've spent a lot of time on the computer during this vacation - surfing Youtube and watching journal videos. I feel like I've really learned a lot and that I have a better understanding of the process. Having said that, I can't seem to find my style and I can't seem to make what I've done work. Out of 2 pages, one is ok and the other? Not so much.
I'm hoping that part of the problem is that I have very limited supplies with me - just a few stamps, a little acrylic paint and some watercolour crayons. All my colour washes and other paints and tools are at home. I keep telling myself that the lack of supplies is what's causing the problem. I really hope that's the case! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I just needed to vent! Enough whining. I'll post by "hated " page when I get home. You can judge for yourselves.
Caio
I'm really frustrated with myself and my lack of inspiration. I follow Journal Artista religiously and I've seen all the pages she creates with circles and swirls. She makes it look so easy and her work is so vibrant. Mine ends up looking like a dog's breakfast. I don't know if I'm overworking it or overthinking it, or maybe I just don't have a friggin clue what I'm doing. What the hell is going on? Suffice it so say I AM FED UP !!
I've spent a lot of time on the computer during this vacation - surfing Youtube and watching journal videos. I feel like I've really learned a lot and that I have a better understanding of the process. Having said that, I can't seem to find my style and I can't seem to make what I've done work. Out of 2 pages, one is ok and the other? Not so much.
I'm hoping that part of the problem is that I have very limited supplies with me - just a few stamps, a little acrylic paint and some watercolour crayons. All my colour washes and other paints and tools are at home. I keep telling myself that the lack of supplies is what's causing the problem. I really hope that's the case! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I just needed to vent! Enough whining. I'll post by "hated " page when I get home. You can judge for yourselves.
Caio
All good things must come to an end
The trip is quickly winding down. Only 3 more days and then we're on a flight back to Vancouver. We've had a wonderful trip and have enjoyed ourselves immensly. We're golfing today and tomorrow and then plan to enjoy our last pool day on Friday. Friday night we're off to see Willie Nelson at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio. Then Saturday morning we're on the milk run back to Vancouver. We have a stopover in Edmonton for about 3 hours and then from there we fly into Vancouver. Why through Edmonton you ask? I checked with Airmiles to see if I could change our flight but unfornately there are no airmiles seats remaining on the flights direct into Vancouver or Abbotsford. It will be a long day but not much we can do about it. At least we have a flight so it is what it is.
Now that the trip is almost over we're looking forward to getting home to our own beds. We've really missed our 3 fur babies - Daisy, Kirby and yes, even nasty old Socks. Initially Socks will not be happy with us - she'll give us "the tail" and hiss. Then she'll be all over us. We're looking forward to some cat love.
Well gotta run.... I hear the golf course calling my name.
Caio
Now that the trip is almost over we're looking forward to getting home to our own beds. We've really missed our 3 fur babies - Daisy, Kirby and yes, even nasty old Socks. Initially Socks will not be happy with us - she'll give us "the tail" and hiss. Then she'll be all over us. We're looking forward to some cat love.
Well gotta run.... I hear the golf course calling my name.
Caio
Sunday, March 04, 2012
Coming to the end
We're coming to the end of our time here in paradise. We leave for home on Saturday March 10th. At this point in the trip I always start to think about home and everything that waits for me there. I'm always a little sad to leave and I'm already looking forward to coming back next year.
We've had a wonderful, relaxing time. The weather has been really great and we've played a ton of golfing and had lots of days around the pool. Both Kerry and I are tanned and she and I have gotten along famously.
I managed to complete 2 art journal pages - one for a travelling journal group I'm in and the second for one of my journals. Based on the limited supplies I have with me they turned out pretty well. I must admit though that I really had to work at them, they don't seem to come easy to me. However, I've been watching a ton of journalling technique videos - I love Journal Artista - and I think I've somewhat lost some of my apprehension about journalling. I think I may tend to 'overthink" the process and the fact that I'm a bit of a perfectionist does not help the situation!
Well gotta run - I can hear the pool calling my name.
Oh, BTW, today it's 85 in Palm Springs. Just saying......
Caio
We've had a wonderful, relaxing time. The weather has been really great and we've played a ton of golfing and had lots of days around the pool. Both Kerry and I are tanned and she and I have gotten along famously.
I managed to complete 2 art journal pages - one for a travelling journal group I'm in and the second for one of my journals. Based on the limited supplies I have with me they turned out pretty well. I must admit though that I really had to work at them, they don't seem to come easy to me. However, I've been watching a ton of journalling technique videos - I love Journal Artista - and I think I've somewhat lost some of my apprehension about journalling. I think I may tend to 'overthink" the process and the fact that I'm a bit of a perfectionist does not help the situation!
Well gotta run - I can hear the pool calling my name.
Oh, BTW, today it's 85 in Palm Springs. Just saying......
Caio
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Halfway point of our trip
We're at the halfway point in our trip and we're having a fabulous time. The weather has been outstanding and we've enjoyed 4 days of pool time. Yesterday it was close to 90 and it's supposed to be the same today. Tomorrow is also supposed to be warm but we've decided to golf anyway. Taqhitz has lots of trees so there will be shade for Kerry and since our tee time is around 130 the temperature will be dropping as we get later into the round.
Went to the casino on Thursday night.....bad idea! Suffice it to say I did not win any money.
Tuesday I did some craft supply shopping, I hit Big Lots, Joannes and TJ Maxx and scored some bargoons. At first I was disappointed with Big Lots. I watch all the fabulous craft hauls on You Tube and didn't really see a lot on first glance. Then I realized that you had to dig, dig, dig so I did and came up with some cool stuff. They didn't have a lot of stamp sets but I did score some individual stamps and lots of other stuff that I don't see at home.
The last time we were at Walmart I bought a pair of sneakers and I've done some walking down here. Nothing spectacular and certainly not marathon material, but it's a start. I'm very out of shape so I'm just taking my time and trying not to do too much. Twice in the last 3 days is pretty good progress for me so I'm pleased with myself. The goal is to get the habit in place so I can continue it at home.
Oh, I also bought myself an Ipod. I've been using my daughter's at work because she said she didn't use it unless travelling. However she's discovered a whole lot of neat apps she can use and so she's really stoked to use it. I gave her back her ipod and bought myself one - 8G with camera for $198 at Walmart. I think that's a pretty good price but not really sure. Anyway, I'm enjoying this little gadget. I supervise a team of 4 and the 5 of us work in a small office. I really don't like the radios on because the office is so small. I've always used an MP3 which is OK but not optimum. Now that I have my IPOD I'm looking forward to being able to use it at work. I think I have something like 1000 songs to choose from. I love that I can store so much on this little device. Who knew?
I've managed to finish the journal spread for the Travelling Journals project. I'm pleased with how it turned out. It wasn't very spontaneous, however, I did put a lot of work into it and considering the limited supplies I have with me, it turned out not too bad. I took some pictures on my IPOD so I'll upload later, if I can figure out how to do that !
The pool is calling my name so gotta run. Caio.
Went to the casino on Thursday night.....bad idea! Suffice it to say I did not win any money.
Tuesday I did some craft supply shopping, I hit Big Lots, Joannes and TJ Maxx and scored some bargoons. At first I was disappointed with Big Lots. I watch all the fabulous craft hauls on You Tube and didn't really see a lot on first glance. Then I realized that you had to dig, dig, dig so I did and came up with some cool stuff. They didn't have a lot of stamp sets but I did score some individual stamps and lots of other stuff that I don't see at home.
The last time we were at Walmart I bought a pair of sneakers and I've done some walking down here. Nothing spectacular and certainly not marathon material, but it's a start. I'm very out of shape so I'm just taking my time and trying not to do too much. Twice in the last 3 days is pretty good progress for me so I'm pleased with myself. The goal is to get the habit in place so I can continue it at home.
Oh, I also bought myself an Ipod. I've been using my daughter's at work because she said she didn't use it unless travelling. However she's discovered a whole lot of neat apps she can use and so she's really stoked to use it. I gave her back her ipod and bought myself one - 8G with camera for $198 at Walmart. I think that's a pretty good price but not really sure. Anyway, I'm enjoying this little gadget. I supervise a team of 4 and the 5 of us work in a small office. I really don't like the radios on because the office is so small. I've always used an MP3 which is OK but not optimum. Now that I have my IPOD I'm looking forward to being able to use it at work. I think I have something like 1000 songs to choose from. I love that I can store so much on this little device. Who knew?
I've managed to finish the journal spread for the Travelling Journals project. I'm pleased with how it turned out. It wasn't very spontaneous, however, I did put a lot of work into it and considering the limited supplies I have with me, it turned out not too bad. I took some pictures on my IPOD so I'll upload later, if I can figure out how to do that !
The pool is calling my name so gotta run. Caio.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Life is good!
The weather here in PS has been a little on the cool side. The last couple of days it's been windy and cool and last night we had a pretty good storm. They had snow in Joshua Tree and about 12 inches in the higher elevations over 3000 feet.
Yesterday we had a lazy day and just lay around until around 2 pm. I decided since it wasn't a particularly nice day that I'd do some errands. We hit Michaels for a bottle of craft paint and some decorative tape. I didn't plan to buy a lot, however there were bargoons to be had. Need I say more? I scored a "Doodle style" smash book (very cool) for $ 12.95, 3 smash pads @ $ 1.99 each, 3 KC company tag stacks @ 1.99 each and some very cute black and white polka dot tape. Very cute! I have no idea what these cost back in Vancouver but I suspect I would have paid considerably more. I'm in a travelling journal swap and I brought that journal with me to PS. I also brought one of my own journals with me to work in, hence the "need" for some white acrylic paint, which I also picked up at Michaels.
Next stop was ULTA where I purchased some Bare Minerals foundation and blush. I had an on-line coupon for 20% off one item, but who knew? It didn't apply to Prestige cosmetics. Big surprise there! No big deal not being able to use it - just seems that I can never take advantage of a coupon as I never buy the right product. Story of my life!
Last stop was dinner at Di Carlos Italian Restaurant in Rancho Mirage where my daughter treated me (treated...is that even a word?) to dinner. This restaurant is always on our "must do" list. The food is scrumptious, the staff and owner are really friendly and the service is great. His business is just a license to print money! Line-ups most of the time at night so you need to get there early or be prepared to wait. They have an early bird menu that runs from 3 (I think) until 6pm. On the special you get your choice of 3 or 4 selections which are a "smaller" size entree - yeah right, I can never eat all of it and I have a good appetite! - salad with homemade garlic dressing (to die for) and garlic bread for $ 9.95. What a deal! I highly recommend that you check them out if you're in the Coachella Valley.
We were home by 6:15 and just hung out in front of the fire for the rest of the evening. We watched the Canucks game - GO CANUCKS - and then some of the Property Brothers (love those guys). At around 1 am I gravitated to the computer where I surfed until after 3. Then off to bed, where you guessed it, I couldn't sleep. Oh well, guess I'll be in bed early tonight. That's what holidays are for, right? Life is good.
Caio !
Yesterday we had a lazy day and just lay around until around 2 pm. I decided since it wasn't a particularly nice day that I'd do some errands. We hit Michaels for a bottle of craft paint and some decorative tape. I didn't plan to buy a lot, however there were bargoons to be had. Need I say more? I scored a "Doodle style" smash book (very cool) for $ 12.95, 3 smash pads @ $ 1.99 each, 3 KC company tag stacks @ 1.99 each and some very cute black and white polka dot tape. Very cute! I have no idea what these cost back in Vancouver but I suspect I would have paid considerably more. I'm in a travelling journal swap and I brought that journal with me to PS. I also brought one of my own journals with me to work in, hence the "need" for some white acrylic paint, which I also picked up at Michaels.
Next stop was ULTA where I purchased some Bare Minerals foundation and blush. I had an on-line coupon for 20% off one item, but who knew? It didn't apply to Prestige cosmetics. Big surprise there! No big deal not being able to use it - just seems that I can never take advantage of a coupon as I never buy the right product. Story of my life!
Last stop was dinner at Di Carlos Italian Restaurant in Rancho Mirage where my daughter treated me (treated...is that even a word?) to dinner. This restaurant is always on our "must do" list. The food is scrumptious, the staff and owner are really friendly and the service is great. His business is just a license to print money! Line-ups most of the time at night so you need to get there early or be prepared to wait. They have an early bird menu that runs from 3 (I think) until 6pm. On the special you get your choice of 3 or 4 selections which are a "smaller" size entree - yeah right, I can never eat all of it and I have a good appetite! - salad with homemade garlic dressing (to die for) and garlic bread for $ 9.95. What a deal! I highly recommend that you check them out if you're in the Coachella Valley.
We were home by 6:15 and just hung out in front of the fire for the rest of the evening. We watched the Canucks game - GO CANUCKS - and then some of the Property Brothers (love those guys). At around 1 am I gravitated to the computer where I surfed until after 3. Then off to bed, where you guessed it, I couldn't sleep. Oh well, guess I'll be in bed early tonight. That's what holidays are for, right? Life is good.
Caio !
Monday, February 13, 2012
blogging from Paradise
We're ensconced in our rental house in Palm Springs. Heaven!
We were both up early on Friday and thank goodness for that! We usually fly out of either Bellingham or Abbotsford - last time it was Abbotsford - so we've been spoilt by the lack of lines and how fast we can get through customs. YVR is a far different story. Luckily for us, we were awake at 5 am so left for the airport earlier than we had originally planned. The trip through check in, even though we were already checked in, was slow and disorganized. Then we had to hike over to the international baggage area to drop off our luggage. Some little east indian baggage handler was yelling at us. No help provided, just yelling. Rude, Rude, Rude....can you say annoying? I just wanted to reach out and slap him.
We had planned to grab breakfast at the airport since we couldn't get breakfast at the hotel. Unfortunatly with all the lineups we never did get anything to eat. We also had to line up to go through the security check - the line had at least a 100 people in it! Going through security is always such a treat! From there we lined up to go through US customs. Thankfully that went very quickly. We just made it to our gate in time for the start of boarding. The flight was uneventful.
We arrived on in Palm Springs at around 11:30 on Friday to a fabulous, sunny and warm day - 84 degrees. We vehicle rental check in went well and we were able to get the HHR I requested....woohoo!! We were 2 hours early, however, the rental company had the house all ready for us so there was no waiting around. Don't you love it when a plan comes together? The rental house is lovely and is way up there on the cozy meter. It's a new rental in the rental pool and so is missing a few of the "it would be nice to have's" but other than that it's great. Huge yard, good sized pool, nice spa and lots of privacy.
I spent Saturday in the pool - sheer heaven ! Sunday was cooler and very windy - something like 65 mile per hour winds expected - so no pool time Sunday. Today we're golfing and then going out to dinner afterwards. Tomorrow we'll stay home and have a pool day and then barbecue some steaks We still haven't mastered how to get the spa to heat up properly but the pool guy comes today so hopefully that will be rectified. Kerry is chomping at the bit to get in the spa.
Stay tuned. Caio from paradise.
We were both up early on Friday and thank goodness for that! We usually fly out of either Bellingham or Abbotsford - last time it was Abbotsford - so we've been spoilt by the lack of lines and how fast we can get through customs. YVR is a far different story. Luckily for us, we were awake at 5 am so left for the airport earlier than we had originally planned. The trip through check in, even though we were already checked in, was slow and disorganized. Then we had to hike over to the international baggage area to drop off our luggage. Some little east indian baggage handler was yelling at us. No help provided, just yelling. Rude, Rude, Rude....can you say annoying? I just wanted to reach out and slap him.
We had planned to grab breakfast at the airport since we couldn't get breakfast at the hotel. Unfortunatly with all the lineups we never did get anything to eat. We also had to line up to go through the security check - the line had at least a 100 people in it! Going through security is always such a treat! From there we lined up to go through US customs. Thankfully that went very quickly. We just made it to our gate in time for the start of boarding. The flight was uneventful.
We arrived on in Palm Springs at around 11:30 on Friday to a fabulous, sunny and warm day - 84 degrees. We vehicle rental check in went well and we were able to get the HHR I requested....woohoo!! We were 2 hours early, however, the rental company had the house all ready for us so there was no waiting around. Don't you love it when a plan comes together? The rental house is lovely and is way up there on the cozy meter. It's a new rental in the rental pool and so is missing a few of the "it would be nice to have's" but other than that it's great. Huge yard, good sized pool, nice spa and lots of privacy.
I spent Saturday in the pool - sheer heaven ! Sunday was cooler and very windy - something like 65 mile per hour winds expected - so no pool time Sunday. Today we're golfing and then going out to dinner afterwards. Tomorrow we'll stay home and have a pool day and then barbecue some steaks We still haven't mastered how to get the spa to heat up properly but the pool guy comes today so hopefully that will be rectified. Kerry is chomping at the bit to get in the spa.
Stay tuned. Caio from paradise.
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Retirement card
I'm reasonably pleased with it. If I were to make it again, I'd probably change the colors but everyone else seemed pleased with it.
BTW, in the scan the image looks crooked. On the actual card it was fine. I guess my card was a little crooked on the scanner bed when I scanned it.
Fell off the wagon
So ....
It appears that I fell off the wagon - I didn't meet my goal of twice a week and have little artwork to show for the past 2 weeks.
The studio is still a work in progress. It's about 2/3 finished and then I stopped. I need to finish this job otherwise I can't work in there. Having said that, I have been able to get a little work done in there.
Surprising enough, it's actually functioning pretty well. I'm very pleased with the layout - it feels comfortable and more spacious. I still have way too much "stuff" but it seems more in control now.
I'm exhausted. I'm getting ready to go south for a month and work has been crazy busy. I come home dead to the world and just don't have a lot of energy to do anything. I have several projects I want to finish up before leaving next week, just not sure how much will get done. I must do up some stock for the store, no ifs, ands or buts about that, otherwise I will be very unpopular. I also have some ATCs to finish, a journal page to do for a travelling journal page and I want to prep some journal pages for my own journal so I can take it with me. Last year I bought a bunch of stuff down there but didn't really do much journalling. I think this year it will work better if I have the pages prepped and ready to go. Hopefully, if I do that, then I can bring a bare minimum with me to work with. Who knows? Still struggling with putting anything to paper, however I'm hoping that I'll be more free, less blocked down there. Keeping my fingers crossed
Gotta run. Caio!
It appears that I fell off the wagon - I didn't meet my goal of twice a week and have little artwork to show for the past 2 weeks.
The studio is still a work in progress. It's about 2/3 finished and then I stopped. I need to finish this job otherwise I can't work in there. Having said that, I have been able to get a little work done in there.
Surprising enough, it's actually functioning pretty well. I'm very pleased with the layout - it feels comfortable and more spacious. I still have way too much "stuff" but it seems more in control now.
I'm exhausted. I'm getting ready to go south for a month and work has been crazy busy. I come home dead to the world and just don't have a lot of energy to do anything. I have several projects I want to finish up before leaving next week, just not sure how much will get done. I must do up some stock for the store, no ifs, ands or buts about that, otherwise I will be very unpopular. I also have some ATCs to finish, a journal page to do for a travelling journal page and I want to prep some journal pages for my own journal so I can take it with me. Last year I bought a bunch of stuff down there but didn't really do much journalling. I think this year it will work better if I have the pages prepped and ready to go. Hopefully, if I do that, then I can bring a bare minimum with me to work with. Who knows? Still struggling with putting anything to paper, however I'm hoping that I'll be more free, less blocked down there. Keeping my fingers crossed
Gotta run. Caio!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
My studio, my studio
My experiment with a journal page grid? Not so good. I don't like the way it's turning out. Appears, I need my space! So I guess I'll be reverting back to full size pages. I think I still like the pages unbound, again that is still under review.
I'm in the midst of a massive re-org of my studio. My daughter took the doors off my two armoires and took down the shelf in the closet. I emptied my armoires and moved them into the closet. Looks fabulous. The rest of the room? Looks like a bomb exploded! It's looked bad before but it is truly out of control now! Anyway they say that when you start to organise, that it gets way worse before it gets better. Still a work in progress. My daughter is going out to buy a new router tomorrow and then I'll be moving my desk, computer and printer upstairs. Will take pictures so you can see my progress.
Speaking of pictures, what's up with blogspot? I can't upload pictures. When I try it only gives me 3 choices for where I can get my images, and my computer is not one of them. It's just lately that I can't upload so I'm wondering if I modified one of my settings without realizing it. Will need to explore that.
Gotta' run as my studio is calling me .....help... save me..... I've fallen and I can't get up! Well, I think you get the picture.
Caio!
I'm in the midst of a massive re-org of my studio. My daughter took the doors off my two armoires and took down the shelf in the closet. I emptied my armoires and moved them into the closet. Looks fabulous. The rest of the room? Looks like a bomb exploded! It's looked bad before but it is truly out of control now! Anyway they say that when you start to organise, that it gets way worse before it gets better. Still a work in progress. My daughter is going out to buy a new router tomorrow and then I'll be moving my desk, computer and printer upstairs. Will take pictures so you can see my progress.
Speaking of pictures, what's up with blogspot? I can't upload pictures. When I try it only gives me 3 choices for where I can get my images, and my computer is not one of them. It's just lately that I can't upload so I'm wondering if I modified one of my settings without realizing it. Will need to explore that.
Gotta' run as my studio is calling me .....help... save me..... I've fallen and I can't get up! Well, I think you get the picture.
Caio!
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