Carol's corner

TESTING TESTING...............lol

So this year Easter is the earliest it's been in forever. Next time it will be this early is 22hundred something so maybe my grandkids grandkids lifetime??? Life on the home front is different lately...not good, not bad just different. I laid it all out like I intended. It got nasty, it got ugly and it got bad. Very cathartic if you ask me (and since I read this, I'm asking) Since then we've hit a plateau where shits not hitting the fan, but it does have potential too.......sigh....... Other than that...I've come clean with my demons, open and honest right? Can't fix it if I'm hiding shit. I'm gonna start pressing buttons again to make things happen. Promises were made and I see no movement. I want more. I need to get a job. I don't want to really, not that I don't want to work, I just don't wanna leave my baby at such a young age and I kind of love being home with them. We need the money and I need the break. I'm with them 24/...

You know that feeling in the morning when you open your eyes to the sun? I don't anymore. My life is revolving around my kids and my marriage and so far I'm getting sucked down into a hole. I don't mean to say that my kids are killing me, just that I'm allowing the negative to bring me into a place where I don't want to be. For so long, I've bent over backwards and twisted myself around to be someone I'm not for an impossible person. Every change I've made isn't good enough or the correct one. How can I parent properly when I don't like myself anymore? Strong statement yes, but painfully true. I have made some hard decisions about the direction I need to be facing not only for my kids, but for my mental health too. I hope that someday, my children will look at me with nothing but pride and admiration for the choices I'm about to make instead of fear and disgust for what I allowed. I deserve more. My children deserve BETTER. I can and will sac...

Forgive me self...testing ouy new photo editing software and watermark...lol

I've turned over a new leaf...so to speak. I'm trying to get out of my creative box. I have absolutely no style of my own in my opinion other than fast and easy. Not that there is anything wrong with that...just wanna up my ante. See what you think... This card was made using Embrace Life from the new Stampin' Up! Spring/Summer catalogue. I adore the slight Asian flair to this and I guess that's where the black/red combo came from. I'm not sure if I like the white, but I don't have any gold ink that actually stays visible on black, nor do I have a red that will show so white it is. I used the Gatefold rather than the regular fold. That means this opens in the middle of the card, but I guess you can get that from the pic. Cardstock is SU in Real Red and Basic Black. I plan on making more of an effort to get crafty on a more regular basis. I have all this stuff and I'm actually starting to feel guilty (gasp) that it sits there gazing at me from the diningr...

Family Day..... So yesterday was Family Day here in Ontario. A new holiday designed to give a family more time together as a family. Funny thing is, not all companies recognized this new day and therefore not all companies gave everyone the day off... P had his off but being the person I am, I let him stay home while I took the kids with my sisters kids and my mom to the ROM. O M G! HUGE amounts of people! Granted I've not been to the ROM since I was in highschool but geez the last time I was there it was mostly dead. The new section that juts out over Bloor street is a maze to make any rat go insane. Naturally this is where they put the Dinos...and yes my monkeys HAD to see them. Even with the crush of peeps, my guys did awesome and I'm such a proud momma that my boy even squeeled with delight when he saw the terrible T-Rex (everyone's fav) We wandered around the rest of the ROM when we found our way out of the maze, visiting Egypt (Mummies) then Greece (where my ...

I'm better now. Guess it's the combo of winter blues and an unexpected shock.... I'm back to crafting again too. Been working hard on stamping so that come warmer weather I can start pimping more...lol Here are some of my newer things. This one is made using two new stamp sets from the Spring Summer Catty. One of a Kind and Boho Backgrounds. All supplies are SU! Kind of boring to me, but it's a start right? this one is the same Boho background but with a big Prima Flower on the side. The flower center i s from the new Boho Blossoms Punch. Next we have two using the same stamps and colours...LOL!!! I got out my Sale-A-Bration sets and went wild with them. I also used rub-ons from SAB for the sentiments. Hopefully I'll be back more often as I'm making an effort to use up some of my "toys" Stamping really does make me happy. As much as I wish I could sit down and scrap my kids again, right now I have neither the space or the time. Soon right? The bas...

Who would have thought that a death of someone you didn't even personally know could send you into a spiral? Heath Ledger died around 3pm on the 22 of January, 2008. I loved him as an actor and loved what I could see of him as a person in interviews and on gossip sites. He seemed such a wonderful and down to earth person. Doting daddy to his daughter. I thought that the Death of Princess Diana was a stunner for me, the JFK of our time, but this had hit me hard and so much worse. I can't explain why it bothers me so much. Is it because he was only 28? So talented as an actor? Young child at home? It does bother me that there are so many nasty things going around on the net about it all, that he was depressed and the home was strewn with pills, suggesting that he did this intentionally. It bothers me that the "news media" felt it appropriate to show footage of his body being removed from his home. I think that in the past few years the paps have gotten complete...

Time flies when you're sleep deprived huh? It's been almost two months since the littlest was born, she's a joy to us. Such a sweet little bundle of squirming. She got her tears about three weeks ago, first of the month or so, moved up to a size 2 diaper and is still in her 0-3 sizes. She's got the most beautiful blue eyes! I finally got my permatan blue eyed child. G had her first school play, Melton the warm hearted snowman. She was an Elf and OMG soooooooooo funny! She was the loudest and the clearest of the jk / sk class. Her teacher said that if it wasn't for her nobody would have heard them at all..... LOL ! I'm glad that she's loving her class, just wish it was a full day instead of only 2-1/2 hours. E finally says his own name when you ask him...so cute, comes out more like ICK than Eric but we know what he's after. He is velcroed on to my left hip most of the time now...I guess he realized that he's not the baby anymore...oh w...

If you didn't guess or know, Courtney finally made her arrival. She came at 1:10am October 25th. She was by far the smallest of my babies as well as the earliest, both in days and time of day. She weighed in at 7lbs 3oz, 20 inches long. Arrival was early by seven days and I'm not bitching at all since she came with no assistance of drugs. They kept stabbing me but couldn't fnd the spot for the epi. As for the rest, Peter is back at work this week so we're on our own. Yesterday was easy as I hijacked my mom for the day cause it was rainy and icky so I made her stay home with E and C so I could take G to school. Thank goodness she lives down the street and I can usually pressure her into coming up and sitting here while I get things done, even if it is just showering in peace......LOL! K, I know you're waiting, so here she is, the littlest member of our family...Baby Courtney!!! Isn't she just adorable!!! And yes as far as I'm concerned, she is smiling.........

I'm still here. It's 12:30 am and I sit here on my sofa waiting for C to get out...... LOL !!! I've done the super HUGE dinner, didn't work, did the spicy food, didn't work, walk till I want to fall on my face, nope again... She's so active that she keeps me awake. I keep telling her that if she gets out, she'll have a TON more room to move around in...well maybe not a ton since I can't get G and E out of my bed, but she'll have more anyway. Other stuff...I was at my LSS on Sunday for our monthly Stampapalooza . This month our "theme" was fall. I half cheated and did a card that I've had floating in my head forever now. As usual I sat there and whipped out my cards as everyone else was chatting and having coffee. Sigh......like it's gonna get any better with a third tossed into the mix? I'll snap some shots of the card I did as well as some of the other ladies and credit those who made them of course. It's the least...

I am a crafter !!! LOL !!! This is one of two designs for Christmas. The cardstock is Whisper White, Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi and Pretty in Pink. Stamp set is from the Holiday Mini and the inks are Wild Wasabi and Purely Pomegranate again. I love the look of the envelope to match so I stamped on the one side and I used the tiny little green flower on the back of the envelope too just for a more uniform look. I used the ticket corner punch that I finally got after lusting after it FOREVER!!!!! I'm happy I have it now cause I just love the way it finishes the corners in a way that sticks out more to me than rounding with the corner rounder. The next one is also fun for me, used two different colours of Blue ink, both from the new In Colours, Soft Sky and Bayou Blue. The cardstock is Whisper White and Soft Sky. Again I used the same stamps on the envelope. This set is Snowflake Spot from the regular catty. I'm waiting on an order of glitter so once it arrives, I'l...

New cards to share with you...BUT it has been rainy and gloomy all day and I can't get a good shot of any of them...... ARGH !!!!! There's always a catch huh? One is a thanksgiving card that I made for my mil, but then decided to keep instead (BAD DIL !) and two different Christmas designs.... OMG I'm having a blast! I was at my bestests house yesterday delivering some stuff for her that she ordered and I got to play with her Simply Sent - Simple Delights kit, OMG I LOVE LOVE LOVE these kits! So nice to sit down and whip out a card in five minutes with no cutting involved. Read instructions, gather pre-cut materials, stamp then assemble! Goodness knows I will be getting more of these as gifts and maybe even door prizes. I'll also pimp them for the starter cardmaker . Can't go wrong when it's all already assembled for ya. K, tomorrow for sure come rain or shine, I'll get the pics taken and the cards uploaded with deets on the sets and colours. I P...

Craft that is....... LOL !!! I make cards when I've got time, but then I give them out before I can snap shots of them........BAD ME!!! My problem is that I've only got like 20 minutes to make that thank you card for the teacher then I run down and hand it over and on my way back I smack myself in shame that yet again I've forgotten to take a pic and post it up. Maybe today, when I'm done baking my pumpkin pie from scratch, I'll make some stuff up and actually take some pictures of them, if not, I'll fall back on some older stuff, like from the Regional's and stuff that I've made for the swaps at Cherished. On a side note, from what I've seen online, WCMD #2 was a success. Most people who joined in the fun had a ton of it. Maybe next year when I'm not so hugely pregnant and my Stampin ' Up! business is up off the ground floor. K, Ta for now, gotta start getting the peel off the cooling pumpkin in my oven.

Sorry for the lack of crafting pics....LOL!! I went to the Stampin' Up Hamilton Regional's on Saturday...fun yet boring at the same time. I loved the make and takes, loved the stamp set they "gave" us, loved the displays but was kind of nodding off during some of the speeches. I also sat down with my first un-official workshop hostess on Saturday and finished the design of her workshop. All colours are ordered and the layouts of the cards are marked etc. I'll try to get the samples made up so I can see what I'm working with. I also have placed my first four orders that weren't mine! LOL!!! My ladies, Dani, Nicky, Emily and Sarah all ordered something from me...weeeeeeeeee! See it's not just about me! Now on the the bad news. Peter is an ass. I knew that, have known that for years but got lulled into a false sense of change from him. Well I'm back on solid ground now and I promise I won't forget again. Oh yah, basement is half drywalle...

I'm working on it, I promise. I've been sorting and organizing and dreaming but as of yet, not so much crafting. I'm gonna start doing the daily challenges over on Splitcoast Stampers. That will defunk me for sure. On a side note, Peter did his usual and tried to tear me down again, in not so many words saying I'm not smart enough to do this for real...I choose to ignore him now. It pains me because I honestly do love him to death, but I'm so dang tired of being told I'm not good enough for whatever the current situation is. Blah and poo poo on you buddy. I'll prove him wrong and laugh at him while my best friend and I are sitting on the balcony on the cruise I plan on winning...... I'll come back and post again after Geebs is at school and I've had a chance to stamp and photo.

hahaha, not my basement, not the tree but the Stampin' Up. It is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow Monday the 10th. I am so dang excited I feel like I'm gonna pee myself more than I already do being 7 months pregnant........LOL!!! I started a stampalogue today of my stamps from Stampin' Up so I can bring it with me to shows and have potential hostesses pick their stamps sets for me to design their workshop around. Not sure if I need to do this, but I think it would be nice to have a Hostess more involved in the "planning". Now if only I knew how to do a workshop since I've never been to one..........ROFLMAO!!! Did mention that my upline is married to one of my childhood friends? This is a person who I've thought about all the time growing up cause he was such a good guy and so influential in my life...to have found him and his beautiful family...beside myself with joy! Not only is he back in my life, but they live close by and I can be at his office in MI...

They have this promo right now until the end of September where if you sign up as a demo, you get an entire family of ink pads free........80 bucks worth..... Yup, you guessed it, I've jumped on the bandwagon. I talked it over with Peter and he said to go for it since it would be something I could do from home and not leave him with the kids......LOL!! Paperwork was mailed off yesterday so now I'm freakishly checking my email a billion times a day waiting for word that they have it all and I can go play in the Demo side of the site... Hopefully this will also mean that you'll be seeing more crafts in Carol's Crafty Corner.....LOL!

God I'm so over being pregnant...this one is super active too, constantly kicking, rolling, hitting, stretching etc. I suppose I should be happy cause it means she's very healthy...but boy what a sleep killer! All in all though, not bad this time around. It's probably because I'm done, no if's and's or but's . Fixed is fixed. And Courtney will have a great story to tell everyone who's interested.. LOL !! Mom is still healing, oh yah , she fell off her bicycle and broke her hip. Pins and plates and she's on the mend. Babysitting a 65 year old woman is really boring and time consuming. I've done as much as I can being so hugely bloated with baby and so lacking in energy...oh well.... I think it's time to share some of my crafts too......A couple things I made lately for my nephew and for my mom of course. I'll try to get more done and pics taken. I'm also debating becoming a Stampin Up demo. Right now the signing bonus is hard to pas...

I have windows.... Yes, you read that correctly, I have windows. Now I bet you're thinking, wth is this chick talking about, everyone has windows unless you're in jail and even there....LOL! My wonderful contractor (BFF's Hubb) took out all the antique windows in my basement and reframed them. The new ones were ready yesterday so he put them all in. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! It's so nice to see outside again instead of just sheets of plywood. The only downside is no more naked laundry days...LOL!! Gone are the few weeks that I could strip off what I was wearing and toss it into the laundry then run like the dickens up to the bedroom to get something else on. I promise myself I'll get some pics taken and uploaded. I'll also start taking photos of my cards and get them up here too. I just got a ton of new stamps and am dying to use them, but I need my basement done before I can really have fun........nasty circle huh? Here is a pic of my beautiful birthday boy, he just...