A Great Sale

One of my biggest secrets is that I am a Stampin' Up Associate! I joined a year ago to get the items I "needed" for the discount.. Frugal is my name, Saving money is my game!

I really like every Stampin' Up item I've bought. One year after joining I've noticed that a funny thing is happening..I actually am spending less then I did when taking my 50% coupons and wandering store isles buying stuff that is now filling up my craft room. I am also enjoying crafting more since everything is so easy to coordinate and has a purpose.

Well, here is a way to save money for you: a sale on Stampin' Up. Check it out.
Also, the digital punch shapes and brushes and papers download instantly in png format, they can be used in any program that uses png files! What I have done is purchased the punch files, saved as jpegs, pixel trace in MTC, and cut away in all sizes. Print and Cut adds the option of filling shapes with the Stampin' Up paper, and make all sorts of options open to you!

Right now, there are bonus rewards for hosting a get together, (or buying a large order).. you can actually earn a free big shot plus lots of other goodies. Check out my site, give a call if you are interested so I can help maximize your benefits!

http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/showersofblessings/

The sale is on the Hot Holiday Deals!

http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx

Also, there are fabulous things available in the Clearance section..

http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ItemList.aspx?categoryid=493

Look for some exciting projects and tutorials in the future. I am so into frugal that my goal is to show you how to maximize any purchase!

Check out the Holiday Mini and the Catalog on my site too, and let me know if you would like to receive the new Mini when it is released. I have it.  You want it.
Catalog free with purchase of $10., by request.

Happy Shopping!
Linda

and another.....

I am loving this.. Photoshop..using the support for Katie to learn Photoshop!

OK, tomorrow I am going to post the actual physical cards I made.  This is really getting me moving here!

And another....

This is a combination of the digi stamps and paper from Echo Park... Splash.. I thought the theme of Swimming for Katie went well with the Splash papers!  I am getting better at Photoshop.. whoooo hooo

Ok, I love this if I do say so myself.  I actually made the banner myself!!!  Now, if only I could have made the title stand out a little more, I would have been really happy!

Oh, I hope I win the prize is so amazing and generous!!!

Another Katie Fundraiser Stamp

I have been working on learning Photoshop Elements.  Gradually it is starting to sink in.  I decided to use all of the stamps from the i heart papers collection of stamps donated to raise money for Katie and her family.  Also, I still really want to win the prize offered from the website below, it is an amazing prize, and you can enter as many times as you want. So, here is my next entry.

A Really Great Prize!!!

Hi... This is a great chance to win an amazing prize package.  This is the one I linked my "Swimming for Katie"
post to!

Great Prize;  Little Effort:  Great Cause!!!!

http://hearthugsdesigns.blogspot.com/2011/10/swimming-for-katie-challenge-200-prize.html

What are you waiting for?????

Swimming for Katie

Long time, no blog!  This has moved me to action, however, and here I am.

For some time I have been following Katie, from My Paper Haven. Katie is an incredible paper artist!  The story of what is happening at this time is on the following blogs.  Please consider contributing to help with the  very draining expenses the family has been facing.

This is my version of the stamps used as fundraisers for her.  I decided to use one from each of the artists who contributed a stamp for the fundraiser!

The blog of Katie:  http://katiespaperhaven.blogspot.com/

The fundraiser blogs: http://www.iheartpapers.com/category.php?category_id=387

I see that other fundraiser stamps have been added... guess I have more work to do!!

Thanks for visiting, and please consider helping this precious family!

Birthday Bash 2011! Master list of challenges ~ OWH Stars and Stamps

Birthday Bash 2011! Master list of challenges ~ OWH Stars and Stamps

Blog Candy Winner!!!

Hi everyone, thank you so much for all the great comments, I love the cards that everyone is making.

I am catching up on the challenges, and will be posting pictures, but I wanted to let the winner know that she won!
So, Mr. Random picked a number, (that would be my husband) and the lucky winner is

Cherie

check out her blog at http://cheriescorneroftheworld.blogspot.com  and see all the great work she is doing on
her challenges.

Congrats to you Cherie, and thank you all again for the excitement and fun with kids and animals!

Have a great time creating,

Linda

Garanimals!! (Welcome to stop one on OWH Virtual Cardmaking Party)

     I am so very excited that my blog, such as it is, is included in this card making party.  This is the first stop, and thanks for stopping. (My first blog hop!!)

     My challenge for this hop is called Garanimals!!; to be completely honest, though, that would be the name Sandy gave it. ~ I can't steal the credit.  So, how easy and fun is this for the first stop??

1.  The card must be for a child... no special occasion, just has to be for a kid
2.  The card must have an animal on it.   As you can see by my cards I have included fish, Winnie the Pooh, and turtles, so even butterflies or birds would be ok.

This is the first time I've posted a card anywhere, so big huge step for me here.  I had fun with this, hope some are not too "sneezy" looking?   Oh, and don't look for a list of supplies, I have a room full of stuff and by the time I'm done, most everything gets pulled out until I am not sure what I used and what I didn't.

Here is what I tried.  1 using stamps, 1 using embossing folder, 1 using Cricut, mix in a little cotton fluff, glossy accents and bling, and there you have it!  3 kids cards..with animals!

OK, I just found out how difficult it is to photograph and add pictures of cards!  The colors are much brighter, and the cards much cuter then they look here, they really are.   Oh, well, I will really have to work on this.  Anyone who can point me to where I can learn more, please do!


Blog Candy Alert: in honor of this being my first event, and my first posted cards, and all, I was thinking I should really give a little candy, yes?  How about this, leave a comment, (follow if you want..but only if you want!) and Monday at 6pm I will pick a random comment out of the hat and ... drumroll..... send you a little package of goodies that will include some stamps, some ribbon and some other goodies that I come up with.

Sound good?  Leave a way for me to reach you for sure!

Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Linda

Thank you all for your comments, I really am so thankful for your response to my challenge..
I am working on getting back to everyone kind enough to leave a comment.  We live in an area
greatly affected by the World Trade Center attack ten years ago, and are spending Sunday 
in observance.

My First Blog Hop

     I am so very excited~ tomorrow morning is my very first blog hop, and I am the first "hoppie"!   Well, my blog is, anyway.
     I have my challange for OWH, I have my cards made, well mostly, and I am so ready.

     Now, if the link up works out, and  everything else works out I will be so happy!

Thats all.  Have a good one!

An Unbelievable Amazing Morning

What a crazy good day it is.  In the midst of humidity and heat we woke up this morning to a cool breeze, dry air, and for the first time in weeks... the windows are open!!!  whooo hoooo  This on a day when the pain is at the lowest point in weeks.

No deep thoughts to share today, just the desire to go into my craft room and create.. something, anything.

I get so scattered when I go in there sometimes, the overwhelming desire to make something hits, but I am only one person, and this person wants to sew and paint and stamp and make cards and scrapbook and gifts and try out all the newest techniques and raise money for the Bible for the Blind, and fix the world and save the animals and it all meshes together and the only thing that comes of it is a fading headache after 4 advil.  Don't take 4 advil.  Oh, the desire to make cards for Operation Write Home, did I mention that?

My focus is going to be the searchable Bible for the Blind.  Please take a minute and read this page, and help me figure out how to do this!

http://blind.ag.org/index.cfm

Watch for upcoming news on how we make this happen!

Enjoy the day!

I Have Pain, I Have Hope

The thing is this, I am a Christian, I love God and want to serve Him. More then 10 years ago I had an injury to my back that started this unpredictable, inconceivable chain of unfortunate events!  The injury seemed like no big deal, I was in shape, a walking machine, gym rat, visiting nurse, single mom, young (er then I am now)..
you know... one of those people this stuff does NOT happen to. 
So, here I am 13 ish years later, having spent not one day in the last 13 years without pain. I am a very slow learner as you are about to see.
I kept thinking, through the surgeries and injections and medicine and no medicine and physical therapy and sleepless nights and painful days that this was a path that God was taking me through, you know the story.. to be refined like fire and then to come out the other side and tell everyone the wise, wonderful things I learned going through the fire.
Right.
Last week I had a doc truthfully sit down and go over the MRI with me. Discs in the neck, arthritic joints, bone in and on nerves and ligaments, flunked EMGs.. it dawned on me.  Finally.  Refer back to the slow learner paragraph if you need to.
I am not going through the fire, I am going to live in the fire for the rest of my life on earth.. unless I have a miracle of healing.
My ministry and serving is not going to start when the pain is in the lessons from the past segment of my life, it is either going to be in the here and now while I live with unquenchable pain, or it is never going to be.
When my daughter died, I did not learn my lessons, go through the grief and then get her back when I learned how to help others.  When my daughter died (5 yrs old) she stayed dead. 35 years later, she is still dead.
I think that is a lesson we Christians need to be so much more honest about.  We grow in the fire, and some of us live in the fire.. if we are going to live the purpose and life that God has for us, we will do it IN the fire.  Daniel IN the lions den. Those three guys with the funny names IN the furnace.  Not being interviewed the next morning while they drank iced tea and told about how much faith the now have... but IN the fire or lions den.. where those without special protection could not join them..
And so, I invite you to join me, you who know what it feels like and you who want to understand or help others who know what life in pain is like.  


How appropriate my blog title now seems, even though it was so many years ago, it seems at times like just a minute ago I had a very different life, one I will most likely never experience again. Just out of reach.  If I look in the right place maybe I will find it.  Until the reality hits, it is gone, it has been a very long time.  Hope?
My hope is not based on living without pain, but on living with it in a way that is joyful.

Why I love the hat Princess Beatrice wore to THE wedding...aka... The Royal Flush

First, let me say that I do not believe that passive aggressive behavior is a good way to deal with life,  and this is just one opinion on the hat... I also want to say that I don't follow the royals in general, but you really had to be living with your head in the sand to not hear about "the hat" and "the wedding"!  A disclaimer; I am not a professional psychologist:, so my analysis is just amateur....

But part of me just has to admire the self confidence of the woman who could wear this hat, stand tall and proud and have photos taken and posted all over the world.  I so would love to have the boldness to stand in front of everyone and make my opinion known in such a bold way.

What I am surprised about is that I have not seen this opinion posted anywhere else, so here goes:

OK, Princess Beatrice is the daughter of Fergie, Fergie was not invited to the wedding, her dgts were.

Take a good look at the hat:

Does anyone else see the toilet seat in the center, with the flushing water
running down the sides?  The hat just screams flushing toilet to me!! (yeah, I am pretty good with ink dot tests too..)

So, I hear ya, Bold Beatrice!!   A true "Royal Flush"?

Oh, and btw, the talk of the hat goes on.... good move selling on e-bay..
even after the lovely wedding gown pics slowed down on the net.

Have a great day all, enjoy this wonderful world God gave us, and may we all care a little less about other peoples opinions and stand up a little bolder for our convictions!  

Operation Write Home

I am so very excited, have my first batch of cards ready to roll for OWH!!  They were so difficult for me, really, because I am used to flowers and animals and bright children images and not not not masculine manly kind of stuff.

Also, the stamp for the back of the cards.. the Operation Write Home stamp they sent me... the one that has been on my desk, right here, waiting for this proud moment... is gone.  It was here a minute ago... it really was.. unfortunately, that was the minute that came right before the minute that I needed it, and now that minute is gone and so is the stamp!  And, of course, these are Father's Day Cards... time limit, needed by the shipper now.
Well, in any event, these cards are leaving my house today.

Have a good one......

Life Goes On..

It is Monday, a beautiful, rainy, gloomy day!  Who needs warmth and sunshine, anyway?  Just makes you feel kind of like maybe playing in the ink and glue and thread and fabric should be put behind while you go out and smell.. and weed the Roses, right?  So, who needs that???...
Actually, the smell of lilacs comes right in my window while I stamp and cut.  What a joyful scent that is.  Last year for Mother's Day my darlin' daughter and her hubbie came over and planted me a couple of the deep purple lilacs, and a double flower Rose of Sharon.  The lilacs are barely 4 ft tall, but both have almost 3 dozen blooms on them.  Happy little lilacs!
So, where have I been, my 3 followers may be wondering?  (Well, maybe they haven't been, but it is nice to pretend)  Mom has been sick, and we can not figure out the cause, or what to do about it.  We have been visiting doctors, and scanners and scopers and pokers and prodders, and, proud to say.. we have stumped them all!!  Got another one lined up today... can't wait!*****

***Disclaimer for those who may not know me...I tend toward satire and sarcasm when humor gets stretched past my laughing point****it can be difficult to tell at times; I am working on it, just not today, general rule of thumb is this; If it hurts, I am sorry, I did not mean it.. there really is not a mean bone in my body.

So, just thought I would pop in and say Hi!  Hope you are enjoying the Spring.  Praise God for the rain.  Pray for the people who have too much, the people who have had too little, the people who have just the right amount.  We all need prayer, so, lets just pray for the people!

Fabric Gift

Hi.  Have been having a wonderful time making cards and gifts for a very special little girl in the hospital. She has a very serious illness and even though I have never met her I have so much love for this little girl.  Tomorrow I will post the pictures of some of my projects.. today Hello Kitty is the subject of my fun.

Besides card making and scrapping, especially for special children and people, my other love is sewing, quilting, small project making.  I am working on a cute little bag, a mug rug and tea bag holder for a surprise for this mom.  I also plan on putting some cards in it, blank, that the mom can sit and write for others.

All of this does cost money, God has been faithful.
A friend sent me the following fabric give-away.. and I am excited.  This fabric line looks really pretty, and I am taking every chance at winning!

http://www.designsbyfee.com/

Blogger is not accepting my photo, but please check it out, the fabric just calls to me to hold it and pet it and stare at it, right before I cut it up to make something wonderful!

So, go get in on it.. if you win, we split it...lol

Exterminator Needed

Could you imagine buying a printer, a beautiful, wonderful printer.  You have photos to print, drawings
to print, files and writings and word art to print.  You saved up for this wonderful printer until you have
enough money to get it, and see on the box that it comes with a cartridge full of images all ready to print.

The box shows pictures of all the wonderful things you are going to be able to do with this printer.

Take it home, set it up, pop in the cartridge and print.  Then you open your files and go to print them,
create, have fun, make awesome things, print the photos I have taken with my camera, the pics I have created.
Have a blast!!

One day you need to turn to the little book, read the fine print, and find out you have just cancelled your warantee on the printer by having the audacity to print your own pictures and words and fonts without buying the companies cartridges and limiting your printing to their images and words and fonts.  And that every font you want to print requires purchase of a cartridge; retail at ninety bucks a pop. if they make one for that font. if not, choose one of theirs and forget about yours.

How many printers do you think the company would sell under those circumstances?
One woman on the support ProvoCraft side made the comment to (support) the effect of if you wanted to use
the third party software, why buy their  cutter, why not just use another machine?  We will honey, we will.

Another heavy thinker said something like you can't get mad at a fuzzy green bug!  You know, when bugs come in my house, I do what most (rational) people do.  I exterminate them.  Or, remove them if they are cute or too big to squash without a mess.

The truth is, I like my cutter, I have bought cartridges, and I like some of them .  others were a complete waste.  But, I want to create and cut my own files also.  So, I will continue to use the bug till it dies, and then I will replace it with a machine that allows me to cut what I want.

Will I completely never buy another Provo Craft item? I don't know.  But I can tell you I will look for
other brands first, even if I have to pay a little more.  My next embosser will be another brand, I will restick my mats, and will look before I leap.  Maybe they should change the box from reading  something like "cut anything" to "cut what you pay us almost a hundred bucks for, and we will tell you what you want to cut"

as my little girl used to say when she was a little girl ....  unbeeeweevable   or   realllldiculous.

First Blog Candy Win

Crafty Staci celebrated her first anniversary by giving her followers gifts.. if she chose your message, of course!
Well, she chose mine, and the gift was my choice of her top ten items from the year.

It was a hard decision, she has some really cool stuff to make and to buy.. you can check her out here:

http://craftystaci.com/

Her tutorials are great.  So, what did I choose?  Only a little something that has brightened my day ever since!

Aren't they beautiful?  She made them just for me, in colors that I asked for!  (that would be bright)..

I love them, and, like I promised her, I am keeping them dry and dusted.

Thank you Staci

One Hundred Cards for One Hundred Birthdays

Uncle Herman has his 100th birthday, and he is in Florida, me NJ.  So, since I can't get to him right now.. I get this bright idea.. maybe I could get him a hundred cards to help celebrate.  I posted on a couple yahoo groups, thinking maybe a couple cards?  Well, THANK YOU amazing people for coming through!!  I had more then three dozen promises from the 2 groups; and when we last heard from him, he was well under way to the 100cards.
Except, I got the date wrong, it was not the 5th, it was the 10th, and  I was not the only person, my sister also posted to a couple groups, and got an overwhelming response.. she gave the correct date, which actually worked out well in the long run.. he has cards coming from all over and spread out over a week, and he is enjoying every one of them.  He told my mom that it is so wonderful that people that don't even know him would care enough to send a card!
Thank you, thank you, all of you.  I have been reluctant to post my picture of the card I made, you should see some of the crazy good work these ladies do!  I hope mine isn't too child looking, I wanted bright and happy and really wanted the dinosaurs to be there.. OK, drumroll:

As for where everything came from?  No idea!  The dinos are Create a Critter, the shiny balloons were just balloon shapes on shiny paper with Marvy wet look markers, and embossed with clear SU embossing.
The rest is just stuff I had on hand.

So, Uncle Herman, hugs and love and cards.. lots and lots of cards.. to you for your birthday!

Addicted to Candy

Jak Heath is offering a drawing for her fabulous flower creating flowers and all the tools that go with!

She is an awesome creator, and this would be a great set to win

Check it out here:

http://www.jakheath.com/2011/03/floral-craft-blog-candy.html

I am a total winner!

Right now I am experiencing technical difficulties...but hopefully tomorrow will have it worked out and
be able to post pics and info but in the last week plus I have won

bingo in my quilt group.. lots of batik fqs
A beautiful fabric flower blog candy
A new Spellbinders set.

How very exciting this has been.  I don't even know how to express it, so exciting!

Right now I am working on a blog post about how this has been such a blessing this week..
in the next few days I will post it.

Let me just say that I have been to the doctor regarding the situation with my spine, and it is not good.  There are few options to relieve the nerve damage and fewer for the pain.

So, the wins are a very bright spot in a kind of not great week!

See ya soon

Oh, and keep your fingers crossed... I am going for promarkers set drawing next week, hey, why not!

More Blog Candy!!!

With recent CHA and all the new products there are two huge and different activities going on in the blog world.
One is huge sales, and the other is mega blog candy.  Check out this one:

A ProMarker set of your choice of new colors.  Oh, yeah!


http://thefrugalcrafter.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/promarker-giveaway-and-a-video-too/





I love all of the sets.  These are blending markers.. and the video demonstrates how to get the beautiful blending effect!
You won't be wasting your time here either... it is a great blog!

Run... don't walk to get in the run for the candy!

Super blog candy of all time!

OK, this is all time best candy ever.. better then chocolate!

Check it out..

http://www.scrappinwithcricut.com/2011/02/200-follower-give-away.html


What is the candy?

A YUDU screen printer. with all the trimmings!

We are talking fabulous blog, fabulous candy..  

What are you waiting for???? Go follow Scrappin With Cricut, you will not be sorry!

Blog Candy

I have been quiet here ... my two readers might have noticed..lol...

The world of blog candy is kind of fascinating to me... travel around and there is lots and lots of it..

I think the new focus of this blog will be to link up people with the blog candy!  A list, kept up to date of all the blogs, dates and candy they offer.  That way, I don't have to give candy, just links, lol.

Here is my first one, and the end date is... the end of February!!  Act fast, it is a great site, and the candy is the best ever, and I mean that!

http://michellesscrap.blogspot.com/2011/02/blog-candy-winner-and-new-blog-candy.html


the candy??   check this out...



or spellbinders, or martha stewart punch... oh, did I mention that the site is full of cool stuff?

Weirdness in the World

A Big Win

Good News... this week I won a Nook.. from Dr. Oz and Barnes and Noble...yeah..

Bad News... can not claim it, so I lost it..boo hoo

Explanation... I was one of the first 600 to get into the giveaway, got the form, filled         it out... was unable to submit it because I could not read the letters and there was no audio option.. tried to get new letters for the code, got kicked out and when I got back in, promotions.com informed me that I was too late, 600 had been given away.

Ironic... visual issues kept me from winning on Dr. Oz site

Ironic Plus: both Dr.Oz and Barnes and Noble responded with an email that they                  would not be responding.

A Big Loss

Good News.... 1/31 I found great curtains, great color, great price..at JC Penny (dot    com)   I checked with my wonderful kind generous husband, he said go for it…    I ordered, they shipped the same day... the same day....These miracle drapes are going to keep noise, light, dust and all things bad out of my house. They are going to resolve all conflict, solv all my decorating problems... you get the point

Bad News......Tracking dates keep changing, getting set back, etc.  finally, they are set for delivery 2/9.. in time to  get hung for our anniversary..2/10. a little late, but hey,with all the problems they are going to fix,   not really bad, right???

Really Bad News….2/10 they are not here yet.

Really Really Bad News….tracking says the empty box showed up in Seacaucaus UPS center and was discarded, investigation underway.  Guess someone else is now enjoying my miracle drapes.

Ironic..  I called JC Penneys.. they said something like, oh, don’t worry, we will give you credit for them.  I said, what about my drapes?  They said I could reorder if I want. So, I called them, they did not call me.  They were happy that an investigation was in progress, did not seem to give a hoot at all that I did not get my curtains as I was free to reorder.

Really Ironic.. It took me about half an hour to find someone who could help me with the credit and the reorder process to get them at the same price.

A Big Change

As this week went along with lots of disappointments I realize how less these things disturb my peace then they did when I was younger.  It is a nook, curtains,

nice things to be sure, but they are things.  Just things.  Frustrations, when faced with courage and a right perspective make us stronger.

I was just reading some of the philosophy going around that teaches to focus on positive thoughts, deny the negative events.  They proclaim that it is weakness, negative thinking to speak about the “negative” things, share only the positive, etc.,  teaching  that a higher state of being comes from giving no room to the negative, pass on only love and encouragement and enlightenment (this stuff hit my facebook page today).

Call me crazy, but this world is full of good, wonderful, beautiful people and things.  It is also full of pain and suffering, a young friend dying of cancer, leaving young children without a parent.  Children are dying of hunger, disease. People hurt people.  My daughter died as a young child, there..I said it.

Courage, real strength and courage come from facing the pain, easing it where we can, encourage others to share their burdens, allowing the tears, not turning from suffering but running to it to make a difference, to help.

I am not talking about wallowing in the negative anymore then I advocate turning from it and pretending it is not there, my life is most positive and fulfilled when helping another carry their suffering.  

Another Helpful Article

Hey, did you see that? My followers went up 200% in one week, doubling in just one day!  I was going to
take Sunday off, but did not want to let my followers down!  Thank you for your support.  I am humbled.

Two followers.  Just a year ago, I never thought this would be possible, it just goes to show perseverance and
hard work pay off.  I would also like give a shout out thank you to my mother for having so many kids.. (one tollower is my sister, the other a niece).

Now, because I promised something helpful, I have got to deliver, so here is my top ten list of recommendations  and tips you should learn before you start blogging to help avoid disappointment and embarrassment of   having one of those blogs that nobody reads.

10)  Decide what your blog will be about.. at least an idea

09)  Study this blog carefully

08)  Do something else

07)  Being wealthy and offering lots of blog candy helps.. be generous and over the top with freebies.
         scan the web for files offered on other blogs, nab them, change the file format and you are all set with
        free files.   Some ideas are freely available on little known blogs... digi stamps can be turned into SVGs
         or embroidery, or embroidery to digi   stamps... grab them, offer them free on yours, and ... you got it!    
    
06)  Learn how to do something unique really well.. quilt like a pro, make cards that amaze, art work that inspires       and  write up tutorials on how to do something that everyone wants to learn, something unique and different...... Unique Ideas that may help with inspiration:  
                         a. using rubber stamps, or digi stamps, on paper, color them in with, oh, markers or chalk or ink, or something, and then... use them to make cards.  I'm talking hard to find info, or really extreme techniques... add a piece of ribbon, a button, some glitter.  Stuff no one would think of on their own
                        b.  take pictures of family,  of scenery, or your tea pot, crop it, put the picture in a book full of pretty paper and stuff, write up how it makes you feel, and  give it a name, like, oh.... hey.. scrapbook?  Again, make it just over the top with unique creativity.. kids in Disney with Mickey embellishments, kids in a bubble bath with circles and bubble embellishments, something that takes people to a new level of artistic ability.
                         c. devise a system of organizing the rubber stamps and coloring devices, I'm talking about buying everything you can think of using,...then buy cabinets and counters and bins, label it all and then.. post your organizational system on your blog... yeah, some people might think it is showing off, but you know you are doing it to help others organize.  Use your machines and tools and papers to make books that list your machines and tools and papers.  List your glitter glue colors, list your ink colors, and show these on your blog
Instead of coming up with creative projects, you can wow with your creative organization and ability to gather amazing projects.

Are you getting it?  I have one more really creative idea for a unique blog, saving the best for last here.
                          d)  buy fabric, lots and lots of fabric, I am talking lots and lots.  Colors, textures, all size pieces, then.... heres where we get crazy... cut it up in little pieces, and sew it back together.  NO kidding,
it draws people like flies to fly paper.  Don't buy the yards and cut it, that is so old, buy it precut.. don't worry about the price, you will make it up in income from your blog..buy it  in strips and squares and triangles.  Call them jelly rolls and turnovers and honeybuns, call them nickels and quarters.  or, just collect the fabric, organize it, and follow C. as above.

05)  Take a lot of pictures, a lot, as a step by step guide tutorial of your project or craft room
04)  Learn how to post said pictures on your blog
03)  Video tutorials with links to you-tube are good too: learn how to link them
02) Never post a post this long
01)The most important.... drum roll....yeah, right  Do you really think I would be doing this if I knew what would make a blog popular to start with?

Have a good Day! Remember,

Caution: Don't use your laptop on your lap or 4 Ways to Save your laptop

I have had HP laptop computers that work great, then die.. fried motherboard.. one was just over the warranted time by a couple days.

This computer was my companion for a year.. I did not leave home without it.

 I took this baby to a local guy who did some digging around and the problem isn't with the motherboard, it is with the air vent system.

turns out a laptop is not meant to sit on your lap without a hard surface for it to sit on.. fabric, chairs and people legs block the teeny tiny air intake square on the bottom of the computer, mine has literally a square inch of intake and multiple outlets.

If this teeny tiny intake is blocked by anything, the computer can't cool and the mother board fries. Or, maybe bakes would be more appropriate? Technically there is no fat to fry it in. unless it falls into your salad, but then, who would sit on the couch eating dinner.. or breakfast.. or lunch.. balancing a laptop and food.. 

The advice from the expert who I am now in love with who fixed my computer and

solved the mystery of cooked mother boards, **I am not claiming to know anything about motherboards except that when they are shot.. nothing works... sound familiar?

1)Do not not not rest your laptop on anything soft or anything at all that does not allow air to flow all the way underneath the computer.. turns out there is

a reason for those little feet on the bottom of the computer.. nothing should get closer to the bottom of the computer then the feet would allow, to use it on your lap either get a lap thingie for it to sit on, (or use your old laptop.. the closed top will provide firm surface for new laptop)

2)Get compressed air .. the little cans in walmart or staples.. and clean the vents every few months

3)Get a cooling pad made for computers and use it the way it is supposed to be used, however that is.. been snowed and iced in and have not been out to get one yet..

4)Enjoy your computer for years to come!

Now you can use it to store quilt pattern, SVGs, digistamps.. etc. without fear or worry, but you still might want to back up your stuff on a regular basis... I hear they don't do very well with coffee either

Welcome to my Blog

I am undecided as to where this blog will lead me.  I need a place to coordinate my Operation Write Home

activities, show off some of my creative works as I learn more and more, promote my new Stampin Up business, and express some of my ideas of the wonderful wacky world we live in.  

Yet, above all, I want to share the joy of learning to walk with God, what it means to really follow the will of God and what it means to serve Him.

So, welcome to my world, I'll let you know in a month or so what it is all about!