I did it!

I made my card pattern and put together my card packs for the swap on the 15th! I'm so proud that I actually accomplished something! :)

Working!

I'm actually working hard today to design my card pattern for our card exchange. Check out my last post for more details, but it would be great to get a bunch of people involved!!!

I'm off to try to find a pattern that I can 'make my own...'

Trying Something New...

Hey Everybody!

Join us on Saturday, August 15 from 10-3 for Crop Time.

Also, if you’d like to participate in a purely voluntary card swap, we’re going to give that a shot as well…

Here’s the deal….

THANKS to Kristi and Cathy for the idea!

You’ll need paper, card bases/envelopes, Ziplocs, and any embellishments you choose, (enough for 11 cards).

1. Design (or scraplift) a card. Check out my blog http://katdb70.blogspot.com/ for some fun card-making websites…

2. Make one as a sample.

3. Cut the pieces to make 10 identical cards, but don’t put them together! (The papers don’t need to be identical. Use what you have, just make the shapes the same.)

4. Put the pieces for each card into a card envelope, or Ziploc, along with a blank card base and the sketch/directions. Put the embellishments in the bag along with it. You should have ten card bags and one finished sample.

5. When you get here, we’ll see who’s participating and trade! We’ll all go home with new card ideas, finished cards, and another new experience to tell our friends about! ;) I know there will be at least three of us participating, and I’m guessing this will appeal to most of us.

Use whatever size card bases you have. If you want to make your own, go ahead and make the cards to fit any envelopes you already have. The more differences we have in size, shape and design, the better! If you get carried away and do more than one set, go for it!

Don’t feel like they have to/don’t have to be the same ‘occasion’ or style of card. If you want to make them birthday themed, go for it! If you want to make them a mix, go for it! If you want them to be ‘user-choice’, go for it! No limits!

All of my stamps, inks and tools are, as always, available for you to use.

If you have no interest in making or trading cards, that’s perfectly fine. Come hang out with us and work on your scrapbooks, knitting, weaving, or study for your next test. We’ll have snacks and drinks, and you’re welcome to bring or not bring anything you like. J

I’m also considering dropping my ctmh website. I haven’t had a hit on it, much less an order (that wasn’t mine) in quite a while, and it’s pretty expensive. If you are vehemently opposed to me dumping that expense, please let me know. J I’m always willing to listen to reason.

8706 Decker Lane

278-1415

Saturday, August 15

10-3

Hope to see you here!!!

Kathy

Kathy Blankenship

katdb70@austin.rr.com

Close To My Heart

Independent Consultant

kathyblankenship.myctmh.com

512-278-1415

"Recording and Preserving Memories Since 1978!"

Help!

So I've totally failed in my 'picture a day' ambition.
Y'all need to help keep my motivated to post! :) There, I put it back on you, Followers. ;)

Playing with Animoto

Oops...Guess it's been awhile!

Hey Y'all.
I just noticed how long it's been since I've been on here! Obviously I failed miserably at taking a picture a day, so I'm going back to just posting whatever I feel like posting!

Don't forget to check out the daily specials on my CTMH website
kathyblankenship.myctmh.com

Our next crop day is June 27 from 10-3. Hope to see you here!

365.60

3/1
Why yes. Yes, this is a trash can. Why do I have a picture of a trash can? Well, for months now we've been babying and repairing the foot pedal on our 'old' (like maybe a year? UGH.) model. I finally decided to break down and buy a new one. And yes, it does have a motion sensor. I'm a geek. Can't help it!

365.59

2.28
Their first cake baking experience! Austin was not thrilled about licking the beater, but I made him.

365.54-365.58

2.23 My desk. Any volunteers to help clean it up?
2.24 Now my nasty kitchen...still looking for volunteers.

2.25 People think I'm exaggerating when I tell them there's a 'gap in my floor.'


2.26 Fish. Looking guilty.
2.27 Sharing an mp3 player. Sometimes, they're sweet.

365.53

2/22
Hanging out at Decker Lake...

365.51-365.52

2/20...so my car isn't clean.


2/21 Crazy cousins at the regional science fair. Both contestants won 1st place, and neither one of these bozos won anything. :)

365.46-365.50

2/15
I'm so far behind posting...ugh. I think I only missed one day of picture taking in this round!! Too many cameras to keep track of. :)

This is what happens when you're too lazy to get up and get a real camera. Phone cameras just aren't as good. :)

2/16 This is a document from the training I had to take today. Doesn't it look like so much fun???
2/17 It rained. Here's the bottom half of my raingear...crossing guard duty is wet.
2/18 So I missed today. Here's a picture of the boys that I actually took tomorrow. ;)
2/19 Mrs. O'Connor's class completely engrossed in I Spy Books. LOVE IT!

365.45

2/14
Aiden's teacher sent home a broken tape player for him to take apart. He was so excited, but we made him wait until today to do it...you can see there's not much left. :)

365.44

2/13
Fish & Rizzo's cousin, my nephew dog Vader.

365.43

2/12


This is the base of Aiden's Valentine's cards. We printed them up on half a sheet of photo paper and punched holes above and below his fist. Shoved in a lollipop, and ended up with...

365.41 & 365.42

2/10 & 2/11
Got behind again. UGH.


Austin's skate park. He built it at school. That's his teacher skateboarding...




Aiden working out at Manor's Jennie Lane SmartPark. They have built in work out equipment. Pretty cool little place...

365.40

2/9
Gotta date them, because I keep getting behind in posting!

Mud. Pure and simple. Dragged in by the dogs. THIS is the real reason I don't clean my house. What's the point?

365.39

Sick Aiden. Still grinning. You wouldn't know he was sick if you didn't know he had a fever! I have to force him to lay down...

365.38

So I'm a member of Houseparty.com. Very cool website. You get to host parties, and they send you free stuff to share...or at least coupons. This was today's 'Ziploc Home Organization' party. See how thrilled my friends are? Yeah. That would be posed. But it was still fun. :) I'm all about free stuff!

365.36 & 365.37

I guess I was anticipating the return of my computer, so I forgot to take a picture yesterday. Again. Hopefully, I'll stay on top of it for the rest of February...at least! :)

Chef Boyardee pizza! The best! Of course, there was a day when the leftovers would carry us through another meal. Not so much anymore...Time to buy two boxes.


And a wine glass. Why not? :) I just think it's pretty.

365.35

Yep. That's Austin. With a book cover on his head. Pretending to be a dog. Go figure.

365.34

This could almost make you want a cat. Almost...

365.33

I must have known I was going to miss a day, so here's the one for 2/2. Our 'church girls' getting ready for the 3D commercial during the Super Bowl. :)

365.32

Now is where the numbering gets tricky. :) And I had to get sneaky. Yes, I took a picture in church...but I wanted to get one of them using their 'quiet bags.'

365.30 & 365.31

I missed another day. Here's an extra to make up for it. Both boys took part in the first annual Manor ISD Chess Tournament. They were exhausted, but it was a good experience.

365.29

Can you say, "The Story of My Life?"

365.28

We so badly wanted a snow day, or at least a delayed start. We didn't get either, but here are the icicles Aiden noticed on our way to school.

365.26 & 365.27

Here's where I slacked. I missed a day, so here are my two to make up. This is their first Science Fair! :) Austin's was selected to go to Regionals. And I just noticed!! They have the same fake smile! :)

365.25

This is bittersweet. This is our first trip to McDonalds with no Happy Meal. For either one of them. :(

365.24

So why do you suppose that every time I went to grab for my ink, I'd pick up my phone? Luckily, it wasn't vice versa, or I'd have ended up with black all over my face!

365.23

Not his first dance, but the first dance where he danced with a girl...sniff. But isn't she sweet??? :)

365.22

Yep. A study guide. I'm going to take another certification test in April. Technology Applications. If nothing else, it will look good on my resume. :) And give me a good idea of whether or not I want to get into a computer classroom someday.

365.20 & 365.21

Aiden posing and Daddy Rubiks-ing.



I actually cleaned out my 'linen closet'...for our bedroom, anyway!

OK!! My Computer is BACK!!!

I knew living without this beast would be tough, but I didn't know HOW tough! I just got it back tonight, so I hope to get my pictures uploaded to it and uploaded on here before I go to bed!! Just to show you that I actually did take all of my pictures, (some a day late, but better than nothing! I refuse to beat myself up about it!)

I'll get them on here ASAP! :)
Kathy

ARGH!

I have no way to get pictures to my blog at the moment. My computer is in the shop. :( Yes, it's killing me. I've missed one day so far, but I made up for it. Eventually I'll get them posted. I'm using my 7 year old's computer for this much, but it's an extremely frustrating process...

Don't forget,

Saturday, January 24
10-3

Crop at my house! Scrapbookers, papercrafters, card-makers, procrastinators!
Come hang out! :)

278-1415

365.19

I hate my computer. Windows Vista ain't no 'Mojave.' I finally called the warranty company today about the cooling fan not cooling and the dvd drive not driving. Since I bought it at CompUSA, and CompUSA no longer exists, I have to send the stupid thing in for service. The box will arrive in 3 business days, and it will take up to 10 business days to get it back. Ugh. So, I'm moving all my stuff over to portable drives and other computers, and hoping that between Aiden's computer and my phone I'll be able to last the two weeks plus that I'll be without the stress inducing machine that somehow, I just can't live without. But I'll tell you one thing. When it comes back, it's getting XP!
And yes, I'm IMming my Sister in this particular shot. :)

Crop on Saturday!

Don't forget to come join us on Saturday!
8706 Decker Lane
278-1415

10 am - 3 pm

Call or email with any questions!

365.18 Bonus

Just because I really, really, really like this picture!

365.18

I'm so showing my age, but do you remember the ads for Virginia Slims cigarettes? "You've come a long way, Baby?" Mark found this pager in his office and brought it in for Aiden to play with...I saw it sitting there and kind of laughed. That's how I used to have to contact him at work. And then he'd have to call me back. Now we have the phone technology that would allow us to video conference, if we really wanted to. Amazing. All this in less than 15 years...probably even less than that. We've come a long way. Baby. ;)

365.16 & 365.17

365.16: Today was Aiden's birthday party. We had 22 kids and 11 adults here to celebrate! We ordered 12 pizzas, and ended up with 6 leftover (there's one in the bottom drawer, too!). How is this possible??? I guess the kids were having too much fun playing to bother eating. I do this all the time, though. Panic that I don't have enough and end up with too much. Guess there's a lesson here, huh? (But I have to say I LOVE my refrigerator!!!)

365.17: Aiden's 7th birthday. :) I took this picture with my iPhone at a traffic light. I have a feeling this phone is going to be an equal mix of good and bad...it can make me more productive, but there's sure a lot of fun stuff, too.
Isn't Aiden just too cute for words???

365.12, 365.13, 365.14, 365.15

Yeah, I know. I'm behind. I have a birthday party to host tomorrow with about 36 people, (so far!) coming. I've kept up with the taking, just not the uploading and posting! So...to get my Sister to lay off...here we go!

365.12 is entitled "BAD DOG." He totally knows he's not supposed to be on the couch, and you can see it! Bad dog, Fish. (The beautiful girly blanket that he's laying on DISOBEDIENTLY was made for me by my totally awesome, yet nagging, Sister.)

365.13: UGH. TAKS. the death knell for Texas education. But as long as we HAVE to do it, I guess we might as well just deal with it. Tuesday night was TAKS night at the kids' school. Fun, fun, fun.

365.14: My dirty cat. Cats are supposed to be clean. This is Rypien, (pronounced Rippen...named after the QB for the Redskins when Mark and I were dating). He is not a clean cat. Notice his toes.

365.15: And last, as well as least, it does a mother proud when her children can behave appropriately in public. Notice Jagadesh to the right PRETENDING to stick his finger up his nose. Zach didn't even try. My son, however...
Now I'm caught up. Hopefully I won't get this far behind again soon, but I can honestly say I have taken at least one picture every day! YAY!!