Happy Birthday Val

Happy birthday....

... to a wonderful friend. Always supportive, always fun, always there. You have no idea how much you mean to me!

Lenses and Dorks

I was determined to find a Canon 50mm 1.4 lense while we were in Florida. I'd researched them for a while. I contacted some scrapbooker/photographers who took the same kinds of photos I took (subjects at least) to see what they used. Jamie Waters, Karen Russell and Ali Edwards... unanimously the 5omm 1.4. And they rarely took it off. Great in low light (which is what I need in this house) and super sharp. I wanted a lense that would replace my cheapo kit lens.
So... in Florida... I couldn't find it. I went to a half dozen camera stores. No one had it. One offered to order me the new 1.2 lense for a mere $1600 US. Ummm.... no thanks. I was begining to think that it maybe wasn't as good a lense as I thought. With 3 days left I went back to Amazon and debated about ordering it and getting it sent to our condo. Would it arrive before we left for home? And then I saw they just shipped to the US. I took the gamble, selected next day shipping and crossed my fingers.
The next day, at 1oam it arrived.
I've had a while to play with it now. I LOVE it! So worth it! It's a fixed lense and I was worried that it would be very ackward having to use my feet if I wanted to zoom in! But it wasn't. It's actually quicker composing your shot, believe it or not. I'm totally in love.

Some shots from the weekend using the new lense.

And on a totally dorky note....

A couple of years ago sadness engulfed my TV viewing. After seven years, my Buffy The Vampire Slayer was ending it's run. I don't have to tell you how much I love that show... the writing, story arcs, continuity... etc. Anyhow... I'd heard that Joss Whedon (the creator/writer) of Buffy would be continuing the Buffy saga in comic book form... exactly from where season 7 left off. And then today in Winker Video I saw this...

Now... I'm not a comic book person... but it's Buffy. And they call it Season Eight! How cool is that. So, it's not the TV show, but it is written by Joss and it does continue from where the series ended. Buffy's there, Xander's there (eye patch and all), Dawn's there, Giles and Willow are mentioned. She mentions that "they" made three of her to protect her from people searching her out... and that one of her was partying it up in Rome and dating some guy named "the Immortal". In Angel Season 5 Spike and Angel found out Buffy was in Rome, partying and dating a guy named "the Immortal" and they almost headed out there... see... still continuity. Gotta love it!

Spike is also mentioned... well his and Buffy's relationship anyway.

I'll take what I can get.

Shoppe Talk:

Super Scrap Day is full. Starting prep work tomorrow. Goodie bags, door prizes, etc. Make and takes almost done. Challenges done. Photocopies to make. Snacks to pick up. Should be a busy next couple of days.

Many new CHA items recently added to the online store and already sold out. We'll accomodate all online orders as much as possible.

The boy likes the sandbox.

Found a really cute pair of red sneakers for Max while we were grocery shopping today. Only $6. How could I not? Sat him in the shopping cart and took off the pair he was wearing... and proceeded to spill, what felt like, an entire sandbox from his shoe onto the floor.

Ahh... spring!

Feels like Saturday

I'm taking the weekend off.
I put a ton of new stuff out at the shoppe this past week...
- new 7 gypsies albums , doorknobs, stickers
- new Autumn Leaves stamps
- new Crate paper, rub-ons, die-cuts and chipboard
... and stuff like that.


So today, the house got cleaned this morning (not heavy duty clean, but the fridge got cleared off, laundry put away, floors swept, counters and table wiped, piles put away), the toilet flooded downstairs, I helped Jack and Max build a railroad, helped Molly start a craft project (she quickly insisted on doing it herself, and then left 10 minuntes later. It still sits here), and I spent some time in my studio. Not feeling terribly inspired, but I had a project I had to get done. A mini book of Lola. With a new puppy coming I didn't want to push it aside and never get it done. I did love that dog after all. She was so sweet and gentle... totally just got to the "listening" stage. I miss her everyday!
So I did it. Tried to get some "old" supplies used up.
Basic Grey Matchbook album, Doodlebug stickers, Scrapworks stickers (which matched that lilac perfectly) and other odds and ends. I might add some more stuff later.

I know the pics are small. Sorry about that.


Have a good weekend everyone!

Vroom vroom

So, big stuff happening here....

Jack learned how to ride bike himself. Starting by himself and everything! He learned really quick. He's quite the hot dogger though.... speeding around.

And Molly learned how to ride the dirtbike. She did really well, and asks to ride every night!

Summer's going to be a blast!

My contribution to the mid-month theme ~ "Sew What?"

(Can't really tell, but the photo is stitched to make a pocket for the tag).

And then these two others...

And a little sneak peek for the May kit ~ Spring Fever! (I love this kit by the way!!)
(I'm going to start posting kit stuff in here while I work on a webpage for the monthly kits)

(And a little shoppe update....
- there's only 2-3 spots left for Super Scrap Day - April 28th.
- 10 more boxes arrived. Hopefully I'll get them unpacked by then.)

Came and Went

Long overdue Florida post.
Our highlights, in no particular order...


The fact that the States still has McDonald's Chicken Selects!

Stopping at the Home of Bigfoot on the way back home... which thrilled Derek beyond belief... especially when the guy working in the shop let him come in and take a look at the trucks they were working on.
The Specta-magic Parade at Disney. One of the "cast members" asked Molly to blow out the lights at show time. Very cool. They count down, blow and then all the lights in the park go out.
And then during the parade Snow White comes up to Jack and blows him a kiss. Yup. Ladies man.

Molly on all the roller coasters! Love it! This kid went on Thunder Mountain Railroad and Space Mountain with me! I've been waiting a long time for this!

The daily fireworks at Disney. Amazing and fabulous... and must add up to a gagillion dollars!

Another shot of Disney. Man do I hate crowds... but so worth it. Even if we got rained out in the afternoon.

Spending a day at Wet 'n Wild. Major highlight!

Universal Studios. They have this area in Toon Lagoon. Flip it 90 degrees. It's sideways, and you stand at the bottom of the rope, hold on, and when you flip the photo it looks like Marmaduke is taking you for the ride of your life!

Ripsaw Falls. Molly, Dad and I went. I loved it if only even for the fact that it was Fractured Fairytales... which I love! You go down two hills at the end and don't even get very wet... until you slowly go around the curve and then two jets of water shoot at you from the side and soak you.

Jack was totally into the Superheroes this year!

(Another good one was Jurassic Park's boat ride)

They were setting up for Ellen (in Orlando) at Universal. It was going to film the next day. Very cool to see how they do it all... especially for a TV junkie like me!

Run. 30 hours is a LONG time to drive!

Swimming at the pool at our condo. A great way to spend a lazy afternoon.

Seaworld. Max's favorite part of Florida... Shamu. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing.

One thing I remember about going to Seaworld as a kid was the mime at the Clyde and Seamore show. He's totally entertaining! Miming to people, how many in their party, ushering them in... and then leading them right out the side door. Miming that one guy should sit over there and then he proceeds to sit down with said guy's girlfriend. Making silly gestures behind people's backs. Totally worth the admission price alone!!

Molly got the chance to touch a dolphin. Major highlight for her.

Max was totally into the Seaworld map. He took it VERY seriously!

Race Rock. Our favorite restaurant there. First checking out the Bigfoot in the parking lot.

Later that week, when we went back, the door's were closed with a note that the new owners had different plans for the restaurant. Very disappointing.

Outlet shopping. 'Nuff said.

Visited Old Town almost every other day. Car parade. Shopping. Molly finally got to do the trampoline/bungee thing. I wish I could remember that guys name. He's awesome. He's a gymnast and SO good with the kids!

Making the best of our sleeping arrangements.

Mini golf. Kids did much better this year... in fact all three of them got a hole in one!

Hit the Flea Market again.

Every Wednesday is (free) hotdog and ice cream day at our condo.

And, so there you have it.

Florida vacation 07... came and went.

New

Finally got internet up here at the shoppe again (but not at home).
Made a huge dent in boxes today.

Off the top of my head...
Fontwerks -- paper, rub-ons, new stamps
Heidi Swapp -- new Writer's Block pads, playing cards, stamps, large corners, XL ghost shapes, new masks and more. More tomorrow too!!
My Mind's Eye Signature Life -- paper, die-cuts, new transparency frames
7 Gypsies -- some new papers
Making Memories -- new brads, stickers, etc.
Scrapworks -- chipboard
Lil' Davis -- chipboard
Imaginesce -- more flowers
Bazzill -- new Bling colors
... still have to unpack the KI ink, new 7 Gypsies and more.

I'll get an official list up tomorrow.

Email

My internet is down again. Long story short, it looks like it's the cable that goes to the satellite dish thingy (I'm SOO technologically inclined) ;) ... and of course this cable is buried.
As soon as it's nice enough to dig we'll unearth that bad boy.
I'm going to be bringing my laptop to the shoppe with me and using the internet there, but (of course) it's not working today either.
Anyhow... the point of this post is... if you need to get ahold of my, PMing me through the My Scrap Shoppe forums would be the best way.

And I really will post a Florida and store update ASAP. I haven't forgotten!

New in store:
- new Fontwerks (and restock).
Stamps, paper, rub-ons ($4.99!!)
In store now. Hopefully online this week.

Welcome home

Okay... so not so glad to be back. What has it been? We've been home for a couple hours?

Found it strange that Lola wasn't around when we got home today, but figured she'd turn up.

Then we found out that someone drove her over yesterday.

Very sad. Still mostly in shock. Loved that dog. Only a year old. Don't know how/if we'll break it to the kids. They're still getting over Lucy.

Miss me?

Back.
Spent the last two weeks in Florida, thus, my absent blogging. Just got back and settling in. Catching up on work/kit/store/newsletter stuff tomorrow... and then a better update.

Good to be back. Inspired and refreshed.