Altered State of Mine » Life in General

Introducing…Desi!

Candy — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:49:28 +0000

I have been so woefully remiss in introducing the newest member of our family. Desi is our little rescue puppy – he was scheduled to be euthanized and when we heard about it, we knew he was meant to be ours.(And when I say "little", that is a relative term when it comes to Desi.) So we went to a neighboring town to give him a forever home. He’s a husky mix and growing at a rapid rate. He has such a sweet personality and is a real love. So, here’s Desi….

He and Lucy (our Basset Hound) are good buddies. Here’s Lucy…

And here are the two of them together…

And just to prove they can get along…

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Happy National Scrapbooking Month!

Candy — Fri, 15 May 2009 19:45:03 +0000

Wow – I have to apologize. I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve written. Spring has been a difficult time for me personally and obviously it showed in my blogging. Lots of medical issues and personal stuff going on…but that’s over now. In more fun news, we now have two adorable puppies. Last week, I heard through the grapevine about a pup who was hours away from being euthanized. I knew that couldn’t happen, so with very little discussion hubby and I drove to a nearby town and brought home our little ‘rescue’ pup. He’s mostly husky, with some beagle (?) mixed in. He has meshed well with Lucy, due mostly to his laid back personality. He’s very easy going. His name? Well, since we had a Lucy, we had to have a …Desi. Get it? Okay, it makes me laugh at least. And it seems to fit him. We just don’t want any Little Rickys running around here. I’ll work on getting a pic of him posted shortly.

In papercrafting news (about time, right?), it’s been a dry spell for me. But I’m working on changing that. Things are in the pipeline…I’m working on graduation announcements for a friend, I have ideas for card holders floating around, and other items in mind.

First though – I don’t want you to miss this! You know its National Scrapbooking Month, right? In honor of that, Close To My Heart has an awesome special this month and it’s ALMOST GONE! We’re down to about 24% remaining and I know you’re all going to want this!

Please contact me ASAP to get this fabulous deal!! It’s adorable in person, I promise you.

I’m off to work on getting a pic of Desi as well as creating some fun items – you do the same!

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Hey Lucy – you got some ‘splaining to do…

Candy — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:29:16 +0000

If you’re wondering where I’ve been, wonder no longer. We’ve added a little four legged cutie to our midst and my days (and nights) have been spent puppy training. She is an adorable 7 week old Basset Hound and we’re all head over heels in love with her.

Meet Lucy!

I have finished my 2009 planner and will get those pictures up soon.

Until then,

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Another 12 Days of Christmas

Candy — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:36:05 +0000

Cruising YouTube last year, I found the coolest Christmas video! And since I'm working on uploading a video from our 12 Days of Christmas Ring and Run (we're on day 4), I thought I'd share one of our favorite "new-to-us" musical groups.

We loved this video from Straight No Chaser so much, we bought their brand new album to add to our Christmas music collection – some seriously talented guys here!

Enjoy this video from Straight No Chaser.

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Go Elf Yourself!

Candy — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 02:50:52 +0000

Thanks to a heads up from Cathy Zielske, I have elfed my entire family. Fun stuff and seriously – how often do you get to dress your 13 year old son up as an elf??

So, enjoy the fun and hey – go elf yourself.

Disco

Country

Classic

Charleston

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

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Winner of Blog Candy!

Candy — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:59:05 +0000

(Pardon the horrible picture! I was in a rush…)

Did I mention hubby and I share a birthday party every year? Our birthdays are exactly 2 weeks apart, separated by Thanksgiving. Since it’s such a crazy time of year, we split the difference and share our parties (and our cake).

Yippee!! I finally picked a winner for the stamp set. (Okay, *I* didn’t pick a winner – random.org did.) I assigned a number to each comment, based on the order the comments were placed. (I took my sweetie out of the running. ) and random.org did the rest.

Drum roll, please………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The winner is:

Congratulations, Shannon Ryan!

Aw that was a cute comment from your hubby I am a CTMH rep and just signed up in October. Hmmm… I’d have to say my favorite birthday memory was not even my own sad to say LOL. I was deployed when I was in the Navy and two of my daughters have a birthday that is 2 days apart. The year I was in Puerto Rico, I was able to fly home and spend their birthday with them while on leave. The oldes was turning 3 and the youngest was turning 1, so it was very special for me to get to spend time with them. My birthdays have always been great since having my kids . I get woken up with homemade presents and they are better than anything you find in a store.
I hope your birthday was just as special!
Have a great day

Shannon, just go here and give me your mailing address and I’ll get the stamp set on the way to you.

Thanks so much to everyone for playing and thanks for the sweet birthday wishes! I loved reading about your most memorable birthdays!

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The 12 Days of Christmas – a Ring and Run

Candy — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:54:28 +0000

[I've had several people ask me about this, so I figured it would be easiest to put the poems and information here, so everyone can access it.]

Our family has a fun Christmas tradition! We call it "12 Days" for short. And before I get started, yes, I am fully aware that the traditional 12 days of Christmas actually start after Christmas Day and end on the Epiphany. Our family chooses to celebrate with our friends on the days preceding Christmas. After Christmas, we're in full tax season mode in our house.

Okay, on with the explanation…every year, we choose another family to spoil during the bustling pre-Christmas time. Beginning on December 13, we deliver a little goodie package every evening to our "victims". We base our goodies very loosely on the song "The 12 Days of Christmas". VERY loosely – keep that in mind.

I've gathered this information from various sources over the years, tweaking it to fit our families and our needs – sometimes we have a hard time finding certain parts of the rhymes.

Okay, here are the rhymes and items we do every evening for our chosen family. I usually print these on cardstock and use my Sizzix Super Scallop die to cut them into cute shapes. Then I stamp and embellish, depending on the family we've chosen. If they know I tend to be a little crafty, they get fewer embellishments to try and conceal our identity.

This glad Christmas season is so full of fun.
We're happy to share with your family, then run.
How grateful we are that you're playing our game.
You'll now find that Christmas won't be the same.

The song that we sing twelve days in a row
Won't get tiresome with treats from friends you know.
But to keep up the mystery and the fun,
You won't know who we are until we're all done!

Each night we'll bring something
Please don't watch for us coming.
If you catch us too soon,
It will spoil the fun that's coming!

Tonight calls for a partridge for your pear tree,
But partridges are tough catches, you see.
Now, how about some canned pears, instead of the bird.
They taste very good, or so we have heard.
[Canned Pears]

Tonight we have turtles & doves coming your way.
Eat all the chocolate you may.
Because in your family you have quite a few,
We've left on your doorstep more than just two.
[Turtle and Dove Candy]

Hens are chickens
If they are French or not!
Here is chicken soup
To heat in a pot.

Four calling birds, we can't pay the fare,
For all we have is a purse full of air.
As Christmas approaches, and calls you must make,
Don't use these gold coins or the phone you may break.
[Gold chocolate coins]

On the fifth day of Christmas with things rather tight,
It's important to us that we all travel light.
Gold rings are too heavy (and so are gold buckles),
So please be content with sweet rings on your knuckles.
[Ring Pops]

*OR*

On the fifth day of Christmas with things rather tight,
It's important to us that we all travel light.
Gold rings are too heavy (and don’t have much flavor)
So please enjoy these tasty Lifesavers.

*OR*

Only five golden rings?
There really are more
Of gold pineapple rings
I got from the store.

Six geese-a-laying– an interesting sight.
One of them squawked and they all took flight.
What they left in their nest, you'll just have to look,
But with these you won't want to cook.
[eggs, plastic swan cups with chocolate inside, chocolate eggs]

The 7th day of Christmas and we are half way done,
Remember no peeking or you'll spoil the fun.
On this day of Christmas, how nice it would be,
If seven swans a swimming your family could see.
The pond was quite empty since the swans have gone south,
We only found goldfish to put in your mouth.
[Goldfish crackers]

On the eighth day of Christmas, we're busy as a bee.
Eight maids-a-milking, no where do we see.
But there in the barn we spy a tasty sweet,
Milk Maid caramels, what a treat.

Nine ladies dancing would be too big a crowd,
Besides their music is way too loud.
We have for you Christmas songs,
That you can listen to all season long.

Ten lords a leaping would be an awesome gift,
But they got stuck while jumping through a white snowdrift.
We had to be content, you see, to watch the popcorn fly.
So we've added a sweet topping to it for you to try.
[Caramel popcorn, popcorn toppings]

Those eleven pipers piping reminds us of our plumber,
To leave him on the doorstep would be a real bummer.
Now make your water piping hot, and fill your cups with care.
We're giving you some hot chocolate we know you'll love to share.

We simply can't believe this game is almost through.
We've had a jolly time bringing these gifts to you.
With only one more night, don't you wish you knew,
Just exactly who we are and why we're doing this for you?

Christmas Eve has arrived, and on this our last night,
One dozen drummers would be a grand sight.
But the noise of their drums would hurt your head,
So eat all these cookies we bring you instead.

The thing to now remember, if you've had lots of fun
When next December rolls around you make the nightly runs.
Make sure you pick your family with tender, loving care
‘Cause its fun to get to spoil them at this special time of year.

And so we wish you a joyous Noel,
We know that you're hoping our name we will tell.
But our name stays a secret, we just cannot share.
It wouldn't be right, no it wouldn't, so there!

Merry Christmas!

So, that's it. I hope I explained it well. Let me know if you have any questions about any of the items or the rhymes or anything else. And if you have some new ideas, I'd LOVE to hear those too!!

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Happy Birthday to Me! And a little blog candy…

Candy — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:32:24 +0000

***This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all who entered.***

So, it’s that time again – my birthday has rolled around. It’s been a great day so far! Even had a good friend stop by with some lovely presents – including CHEESECAKE! YUM!

So, to help me celebrate, I’m offering up a little blog candy for YOU to win! I have a brand new Close To My Heart stamp set. "Serendipity" is one of my favorite stamp sets and is no longer available.

To win, simply reply to this post with your favorite birthday memory. The winner will be chosen by random drawing on Saturday, November 22.

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Not Altered, but Delicious!

Candy — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:00:30 +0000

Okay, so this is totally off topic. But I made my first pound cake this weekend and it was DELICIOUS! I just wanted to share this thing of beauty. YUM!

Next time, more altering!

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Whew! What a Month!

Candy — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 02:35:57 +0000

Okay, it’s been a whirlwind of a month for me. I was asked to help out a dear friend of mine with her brand new (genius!) welcoming business. I made 200 tags, coupon book covers and fronts for her baskets. It was hard work, but a lot of fun! I’m sure her business will be a huge success – it’s such a smart idea! Go Rach!

So, now I’m back to scrapping, paper crafting and altering. And here’s my latest LO. I did this for a challenge at AASC. I’m loving all the greens in this! I used lots of CTMH products on it. Stamps are Autumn Splendor, a former Stamp of the Month. Patterned papers are Rustic Trail, eyelet is Making Memories.

I also just got the coolest giant clock that I’m so excited about.

This is sure to be one of my next altering projects. Never tackled something this big, but I’m up for the challenge.

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