Phase 1 done!

Yes...Phase 1 of clean up is done. It took us 7 days and we would still be working if a neighbor hadn't lent us his cart! PHEW! I think I'm finally not sore and had to go to the DR to get my allergies back under control...gotta love steriods! We were able to burn everything on Saturday and Sunday before the rain started!

Phase 2 will begin when we get back from vacation. We have to get a tree service to come out and get down the high stuff.

I feel like I haven't scrapped for a month! And vacation is starting in a couple of days...so I don't think I'll get back to my scrap table until the second week of August....hopefully the mojo will be flowing!

Derecho!

Well we are into day 3 of clean up after a Derecho blew through. Yes, that storm had a name. A derecho is more rare than a tornado. It is categorized by its direct path and they are known for their longevity, incredibly high-sustained wind speeds and fast moving nature. This one covered a 60 mile wide path from Omaha through the quad citys and on towards Chicago.


Great! Just what we needed! LOL!! Anyway, after 3 days of clean up, I think I finally have a plan. My husband and neighbor cut the wood after work and I haul it up. I think we will create a burn pile and burn the small stuff. I'm looking for volunteers to take the bigger stuff. Another neighbor has a wood burning furnace and will be taking some.


Anyway...here are some photos of what is done after 3 days. Although I got a slow start on Monday and Tuesday. Monday I had chainsaw problems. I bought the last one in town and it did not work well. Tuesday I exchanged it...Yeah! It works...but it is too heavy for me. I could cut for about 15 to 10 minutes, then I would haul wood in a wheel barrow. Tuesday night...Mike and our neighbor got a bunch cut. Another neighbor lent us his cart for the lawn tractor. Today I haulled and stacked all the wood.


There still seems to be a bunch more to do. I don't even feel like we got a dent into it...Check it out-->
This is 2 full rows with a third started. These logs ar at least 4" in diameter...a few are more than 12" in diameter.
This is the second pile of smaller stuff...There are piles all over the yard of smaller stuff that will eventually make it to the burn pit/pile I create.
This is one of 2 whole trees that came down still needing to be cut.
This is the other. It is hard to tell, but at about 8 feet up the tree snapped and fell over.
More limbs to be cut. Again, these are at least 12" in diameter at the widest point. There are at least 3 of these large limbs and many more smaller ones still waiting to be cut.
This is not a good photo...but there is an equivalent of a tree stuck in the tree. I have no idea how we are going to get that down. We have numerous stuck branches in the big Oaks and many of the Ashes have been topped.

Tornado?

Oh my goodness!! What a storm! No tornados, but winds blowing at 95 mph! We spent a good 30 to 45 minutes in the basement this morning...We probably should have gone down 15 minutes earlier. Check out our backyard, it looks like a war zone. We lost at least 2 whole trees and maybe another. There are 3 huge oaks that all have been basically topped. I think at least one and maybe another will survive. I have a feeling too much was lost on the other...which was our major shade sorce for our deck. But...the house is good and there is no damage. PHEW!! Needless to say...we now own a chainsaw!

Finally done!

Yep...Kelly's 4th year album is finally complete!!! Yeah...I got the last 2 page spread done during Scrapword's online crop. I even got done a card stock only layout! I'd been meaning to do one of those for a while...Check it out:

Wow...one photo of a 2 page spread is awfully tiny! Anyway the PP, rubons, tags, and stickers are all Daisy D. The circle thingys are MM grommets. One of those tools I had to have and just never used...until now!

I love how this layout turned out...card stock only, ghost letters with rubons, and silver stitching!

Anyway...do you have a tool that you just had to have and have never used it? Which one?

Scrapwords Crop

Well...I've been participating in the Scrapwords day crop today and am having a total blast...You've got to come check it out --> http://www.scrapwords.com/

I finally got my Battles layout done and another....2 layouts in one morning...amazing!

Comment verification

Well...it seems I have comment spam...so I have enabled comment verification. Bummer...I really didn't want to do this, but I never requested anything from a pharmacy....LOL!!! Now, if I could just figure out how to delete that comment with out verifing every comment!

I've been tagged!

So I might as well go for a record and make 3 posts in one day! LOL!!!

10 yrs ago: I was still single and living in Carol Stream. I was a system administrator turning into a capacity planner. WOW...a lot has changed since then.

5 things to do today: 1. Balance check book. 2. Pay bills. 3. Vacuum floors. 4. Clean kitchen. 5. Cook dinner. and 6. SCRAP!

Favorite snack: This is a toss up...for sweets --> dark chocolate m&ms. for salty --> pretzel flats with spinach dip.

What would I do if I was a millionaire: I would travel with my Hubby...live in a warm climate year round and scrap, scrap, scrap!

The places I have lived are: Homewood, IL...Champaign, Il (during my college days), Carol Stream, IL; Grayson, GA; St. Charles, IL, and now...Muscatine IA

The 4 people I will tag are: Shannon, Meg, Ally, and Jen

July 10th...

I just looked at this date when viewing my last post...July 10th is my Grandmother's birhday...she would have been 85 this year. She passed in December of '02, less than 10 days before we moved back to the Chicago area...I still miss her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Grandma!!! I know you are much happier now, but I still miss you!

Scrap mojo...

...where are you! I can't even look at my scrap table right now with out cringing...WHAT IS UP WITH THAT! I got burnt out at the last online crop I attended. Don't get me wrong...the crop was awesome! Lots of wonderful challenges and games...I had a lot of fun.

But, what I did find out was that I was forcing layouts to fit challenges and soon got disgusted There is even one layout I want to rip up...but it got lots of praise in the gallery...go figure...bleech! I'm thinking that for everyone one or challenge you do, you get a FREE choice...Maybe that would help with the burn out.

Anyway...I'm one 2 page spread from finishing Kelly's 4th year book!! I should be chomping at the bit to get it done...I LOVE the feeling of a finished book!

Or maybe it is because of the layout that is sitting on my desk. It is left over from the crop challenge...Frozen Yougart...a layout about me. I choose to focus on all my "Battles" that I seem to be in lately...weight/toy pickup/light shut off/project putaway....I'm having a hard time working on this for some reason. Yeah...this is it...I think there is a battle that has not made its way to the page...I'm not sure what it is yet...but it is holding me back. Off to find out what it is!!

So...how do you get your mojo back?

Scrapper vs. Artist?

I just opened my new Memory Makers magazine and there was an interesting Article...Scrapper vs. Artist. This title really piqued my interest as I have been struggling to find balance in my scrapping lately.

The article basically reiterated the traditional definitions of each --> a scrapper is someone that scraps big events while working in archival mediums (reading between the lines...little embellishing). While an artist use non-traditional mediums (again reading between the lines...lots of embellishing) and will more often scrap everyday type events. Then they had the Masters describe which they are...scrapper, artist, or both.

First off...I would debate that ANYONE that gets selected to be a master is definitely artist in my book. And at least one master was honest and said she treated layouts to be published more artistically than what she does for herself and family. And one other Master described herself as scrapper and created a layout to illustrate her style. I again would debate that this layout would not have been published if it was not for this article. The rest said artist or both.

So...back to my own debate...am I an artist or scrapper? I would argue that as an engineer, there is no way I can be an "artist". But, I do have to admit, that as a member of a DT...I did try to create more artsy layouts. And some of those I really loved! And then, there are those layouts that I create very simply to document the memory I want to save. And then...I am sooo drawn to those artsy layouts! I love the ones that can be artsy and still tell a story. And I sooo want to recreate that style.

But bottom line, I'm just a scrapper that dabbles in art! I love to play with new things and see how they can add to my story, or help me highlight something, or draw attention to something else. I find that if I can find a balance between both, that I become at peace with my scrapping.

So, how about you...scrapper, artist, or both?

June Blog Extravaganza ends!!!!

Well...it is July 6th and I guess I better announce the winners of the June Blog Extravaganza that I sponsored over at the Scrapperie!!!

Teresa Matz is one bloggy chick and she won the grand prize which is a RAK from me and a $10 gift certificate for the Boutique at the Scrapperie. I randomly selected 3 more winners from a hat and they were Katie, Ally, and Jen!!! Congrats to all you ladies along with the following people who also received random RAKS during the month of June: Colleen, Teresa, Pat, Jayme, and Meg. I think that is everyone!!!

Anyway...it was way fun to update my blog and visit everyone's blog!! I hope to keep it up!

Scrapperie's Ice Cream Social ROCKED!!

First off...Happy 4th of July!!! Celebrating our Independence day and honoring those that help keep it that way!!!

Well...the Scrapperie did it again!! Hosted another fabulous event!!! There were tons of challenges, games, and much chatting!! I had a great time. You'll have to come and check out the upcoming events. A new Event Coordinator has been named along with another FABULOUS Design Team!!! I can't wait to see all the fun stuff to come!!!



Check out some of what I got done -->