Walgreens nightmare.....again

This is the second time I have ordered a huge number of photos (400+)and had Walgreens print them because I didn't think far enough ahead to order from CM. And for the second time I have had terrible printing, mixed photos of glossy and matte, heads cut off (and yes, I did send them in with heads). The colors were so muted. I knew there was lime green and bright reds, but they all looked like they were washed out. I had a 5x7 and a 4x6 of the same photo and they were completely different in colors. So this morning I returned them and the manager was super nice. They agreed that the pictures were terrible and they needed to be redone. So they knocked $5 off and are reprinting. They told me they would call me in a couple of hours when they are done.

Well, 2 hours went by and I called to see where they stood. Of course there had been a shift change. The machine has stopped working and someone was coming in the morning to fix it. 108 out of 467 are done. So still no pictures. Retreat is this coming weekend and I need pictures. I am determined to be organized this time to actually get some projects caught up. That would be both scout albums, both school albums and our Christmas album. If I get done early, I will work on the digital albums I have to complete to have by Christmas.

Upcoming retreats

I have a retreat coming up Nov 13-15. This one is going to be a full house. But if you would like to join me in Dec (18-20), let me know. I still have some openings. Cost is $75 for 2 nights and 3 days. Meals are $15 for 2 dinners and 2 lunches or you can do your own thing for meals. This is the weekend before Christmas, but last year we found this to be a great date. I was able to finish up some things and wrap all of my Christmas presents without having to sneak around to make sure no one could see. It was great.

Here's the stash

I spent all day yesterday and last night working on getting the fabrics folded and organized. I kept bringing up fabric that was on a shelf and then kept finding bags and bags. I didn't think it would ever end. The good part was that the bags actually had a lot of coordinating fabrics which meant there was a purpose behind them. At any rate they needed to be folded and "filed". Below is one of the last stacks I brought up to finish. The bad part was that I was starting to run low on the plastic fabric folders. Which by the way I love those things. Yes, I could use cardboard, but I have issues with "acid free". And considering that I have no clue how long this fabric will be on the folders, I would be taking a huge risk at the acid eating up my fabric. Chances are some of this won't be used until I am long gone and Sydnee is rooting through my stuff.

Now here is the finished result of nearly everything folded. Some of it was also in chairs. So this certainly isn't all of it. I also took little squares of paper and wrote the yardage on it. Pinned it to the flap and now I know how much I have.

Now to decide on how to organize it in the drawers. I was getting tired so I didn't get to put it in the light/medium/dark order yet. Hey, but it's all there. I decided to place in color family. But if I had a bunch that was from the same series and I wanted to use it in the same project, I went ahead and bundled them together. And then I also did that with the Chrismas fabrics.

This drawer is the Christmas, series and whimsical kid prints.

So in the end the stash is done. Now on with the closet. Mike finally moved nearly 12 boxes of trains from the closet that I was in to begin with. But slowly he had moved my stuff out one box at a time. Of course I wasn't sure how to do it since I didn't have any more shelves that would fit in there. So I pulled out my wire cubicles and put them together to see what would work. Yep, it worked. I had some fabric to make clothes out of, interfacings, temptex, some quilt projects already bagged up and ready to start, etc. Well a perfect fit. Those plastic bins we keep projects in a lot fit perfect in a cubicle. Actually you can stack 4 of them just right.

My problem will be that I have a ton more of these at the office. Mike has decided that he wants me to close my office in Jtown. So remember this, I have 6 - 5 ft tables, 6 highback office chairs on wheels, more quilt projects, a huge desk, a storage cabinet, set of shelves, file cabinet, a folding cutting table, and 2 book cases there. So where is all of that going to go? And the lighting is terrible in this room at home, so he has more work to do before I can use it full time. But for now, at least this part is recognized. Now on to getting other junk out of the floor. I have managed to throw out one large black garbage bag and donate 2 boxes full. So that is a start.

I will try to catch up some here. In September I was at 2 retreats and then on another one in October at Butler State Park. I have another one coming on Nov 13. My groups have grown a lot this year. More on that later. In September I managed to work on 2 quilts and nearly finish them. As of today I did finish adding borders to a Christmas design.

I had found a large house that would have worked perfectly for a retreat house. But after a few weeks the sold sign went up on it and it wasn't me. Simon keeps telling me that I need to wait until after Christmas because he wrote a letter to Santa telling him how bad I wanted the house. So he firmly believes that Santa is the one who bought it. So onward with new plans. I have been talking to some builders to see about building what we want from scratch.

August Retreat

Friday we headed out to Pieceful Haven for a scrapbooking retreat. We had a pretty good group of ladies once again. Welcome to our new Cincinnati and Shelbyville ladies! We had a ton of food again. I will post some recipes in a separate post. The food was pretty good. We had Chicken Marsala on Fri and Pork loin, squash casserole, and green beans. Thanks Ann for the casserole. It was really yummy.

Ange made an adorable 8x8 album for a family member that went by "Brown Bear, Brown Bear". It was adorable. Now I will have to consider making one like it. Stephanie and Wendy were working on ABC albums for their children. They too were really neat. I plan to do that too.

I left a couple of hours early to see my mother in law in the hospital. She later passed away when I left to pick up the kids. She is no longer in pain. She has had a rough 5-10 years.

Scrapbook pages

What a great weekend it was. I didn't get much done of course because I left my pictures at home for some goofy reason. And I left my scanner power cord at home, so I couldn't scan the photos I did have to work on. Oh well, I brought some quilts to be cut out. So I did a couple of them. Other than that I talked, ate and slept.

Here are a few pictures of the group who attended. Everyone met someone they didn't know previously or found out they knew someone in common. We call these weekends our therapy time. We can really get to know someone deeper when you spend that much time together.

Here are some page ideas. Some of the photos turned out a bit yellow. I think it was the lighting in the room. But of course I didn't realize it until I got home.

This one is using the new "Discover Palette". Trish B cut out letters from the Cricut and added the flower accent by cutting out a picture of a flower she had taken. What a great idea!

Here is another page using the new boy papers. They blend right in with the Discover palette.

This is another page by Trish B. She added another flower accent using a photo of a flower.

This page was using the leaf punch. She also used the picture of a large leaf and small ones. Perfect addition to this page.

Way to go Valerie T. She finished her third childs baby book. Beautiful pages.

This is using some of the Christmas papers. It doesn't take much when you use the mixed packs.

Pieceful Haven Retreat - June

We are at Pieceful Haven cropping away. There are so many gals getting a lot of pages done. I will add the count later. I will also add some photos for what they are making. Some of the pages are so cute (and simple).

I will be posting recipes that we sometimes have during retreat that have been made. We do have some favorites. I will add those in separate entries to make them easy to look up. So be watching!

It seems like its been forever

We had a great retreat in May. It was a 4 day long retreat this time due to Memorial weekend. So we stayed through to Monday. We all got so much done. There were 4 quilters and 6 scrapbookers. Here are some examples of what everyone accomplished.

Page created by: Kim C.

She decorated her page with cutting letters from her Cricut and then cut out the design from a Designer prints paper to lay over the corners of her photos. Even the scroll at the bottom was cut out from another sheet of paper to add as an embellishment.

Page designed by: Kathy D.

She tore a piece of paper and added to the bottom layer and then added a couple of stickers.

Page designed by Kathy D.

Paper, a few stickers and vellum sayings.

Page designed by: Kathy D.

Baby Girl Brights (now discontinued) Paper with added stickers and a vellum verse.

Page designed by: Kathy D
Designer paper with a couple of stickers and vellum verse. So simple, but so pretty.

Page designed by: Kim C.

I love this page. A couple of scoll stickers, lettering cut with Cricut, journal block and matted photos to create the shape of a cross. She lined up 3 photos vertically and added two to each side to create the arms out.

Page designed by: Madeleine V.

She used the Baby Boy Bright Monogram stickers (plaid, just happened to match sons shorts). Added the paper ribbon and paper flowers across the middle. This turned out great.
And I have to mention the quilts.

Designed by Deanna Redner. She even made a matcing pillow case.

Quilt designed by: Connie K. Made from blues, yellows and florals.

Designed by: Connie K.

I love the colors in both quilts. I will be selling the quilt below. Interested?

May 2009 New Products Video #2

May 2009 New Product Video #1

March retreat here and gone.....

We had a wonderful time at retreat this weekend. There were scrapbookers and quilters together at this one. Deanna wanted to take care of our main food arrangements. She decided what the menu would be, did the shopping for it, prepared it and brought it all to retreat. It was wonderful! Great food choices and all done for less than $8 per person for the entire weekend. That included 2 dinners and 2 lunches. Plus each participant brought something like a salad ingredient, dessert, chips, etc. So there was a ton of food and no one went hungry at all. Great Job Deanna!

There were a lot of projects either completed or nearly completed. As soon as I can get the pictures, I will post them. I worked on my quilt all weekend and still didn't get it done. But I do expect to get it done soon.

It's done!

Yes, it is finally finished. I can't wait for people to start using the crop space. I just sent notices out this weekend. So if you didn't get one, it's because you have fallen off the mailing list. If you want to stay on it, be sure to email me and we'll get that taken care of. Can you tell I'm excited!? The calendar for the next couple of months is below. So check it out and see what works for you.

I will also welcome any nursing mother to a child under 1 year. I know sometimes it's hard to participate in activities just due to where you are. But I would be happy to have you join us.

And don't forget the new CM catalogs are in and yours is waiting for you. I will bring supplies to have available for you.

The best part is.....your first visit is absolutely FREE !!

Here is how it will work.

Day crop (9:00 AM to 2:00 PM) - $7

Saturday crop (9:00 AM - 11:00 PM on Saturday) $20 (includes drinks and snacks)

Sunday afternoon crop (2:00 PM- 8:00 PM) $15 (includes drinks and snacks)

Package of Day crops (pick your days)- 5 weekdays for $30

You are welcome to work on your memory albums or quilting. If you would like training on the digital software and storybooks, we will need to work out an appointment time during the above hours. I just want to make sure I am able to spend the one on one time with you. You will need to bring your laptop.

If you are interested in holding your private Get Together here with your friends, what easier way to do it. No cleaning house or worrying about how many people you can have come. It's all set for you. Just bring your snacks, ice and drinks. I have cups, napkins, plates and cooler. There is no charge for this time as long as you are bringing guests for a Get Together event. This is a great way for you to earn lots of credit to spend on your supplies.

Upcoming available dates for crops and retreats:

Crops
March 18, 24, 25, 27
April 2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 20, 21, 23, 27, 29
May 1, 7, 14

Retreats (Pieceful Haven Retreat Center - Crestwood, KY)
May 22-24 (4 rms remaining)
June 5-7 (5 rms remaining)
July 10-12 (3 rms remaining)
August 21-23 (2 rms remaining)
September 18-20 (1 rm remaining)
November 13-15 (6 rms remaining)
December 18-20 (5 rooms remaining)

HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON!!

Office Nearly Done

I have been working intensly on the new office and crop space. I should be able to have it completely done this week. Then the crops will begin. I have decided to have day crops for Moms who children are in school. I have set up the tables and chairs where 6 people can crop at one time. I have been working on setting up my table with my personal supplies. I can't wait to have a spot of my own to get my albums done too.

I have also gotten the storage cabinet for my quilt projects too. So I am looking forward to sewing too. Believe me I have a lot of projects to finish. I would have to say at least 45 quilts that have the fabric all together and just needs to be cut and pieced.

Lots to do and not enough time to do it in. But it's fun working on it at the same time. If you're interested in a crop, retreat or getting some friends together, just send me an email or give me a call.

Had a great weekend

I spent Friday through Sunday at Pieceful Haven retreat with many fellow scrapbookers. Many of us got quite a bit done. I finished our 2005 family album. So yes, there is still another 3 years of family albums done. So I will always have plenty to do. There were a couple of new gals there who managed to get quite a bit done too. We got a little snow, but nothing terrible. There was even a stray cat who gave us a visit. It stood at the front door and just cried and cried. One of the girls planned to take it home, but then he wasn't there when she was ready to leave. So I am sure we may see him around in March.

Sydnee has strep, so I was home all day today. I hope to go to the office tomorrow. I have done a lot there and hope to start crops there next week.

It's Almost Ready!

Today I got to the office and found the carpet installers finishing the new carpet. They were done by 11am. That was so cool! I managed to move the tables over and put together all of the new chairs. Mike helped by bringing the desk and white board that I found on Cheapcycle. I have managed to find a deal on everything I have gotten so far.

After school the kids both stepped up and helped with not one complaint. I even wanted to stop at one point and head home. But Simon told me we weren't done yet and we needed to get it done. So now it's nearly finished. I should be ready on Monday to host crops and Get Togethers.

So if you're interested, give me a call.

New office furniture

I went out yesterday and got 6 new chairs on wheels for the tables I will be setting up in the new office space. I was glancing through an ad from Office Depot and saw a sale on some chairs. They were $40 off each chair and I had 4 gift cards and a big coupon. That meant it was time to get the chairs. So now all 6 chairs will match. I was so excited to get such a deal. Because I really thought I would just have to be happy to get the padded folding chairs. But in the end it was cheaper to get these. I'm thrilled!

I also found out on Friday that I am definitely getting new carpet too. Mrs Johnson asked if I could be patient if I knew I was getting new carpet. I answered "Sure!". It should be in later this week. So it looks like I will be able to move in next weekend (which of course I will be on retreat that weekend). Oh well, I'll just wait until Monday. It's well worth the wait.

New office

Here are a few pictures of the office. This is the second of the two rooms.

Bookcase in the second room. I plan to keep the albums/refills on this. In addition to the quilts I have cut out and are ready to start sewing.

This is the first of the two rooms. Sydnee was doing a great job helping me out yesterday. She will do just about anything related to helping me. She can be mean as a snake one minute and then begging to help the next.

This is looking from the first room into the second one. There is a doorway between them where the closet is off of.

I have been cleaning the new office location all week. I shampooed one room and then started to work on the other room today. The land lord came up to tell me she was considering carpet replacement. YES! That would be great. I don't know that I could really get it very clean. It looks better, but the spots will probably come right back after traffic. I put some things on the book cases. But she asked me to hold off from moving furniture in there until carpet decisions are made. I added shelves to the closet, cleaned the windows, cleaned the baseboards, trims and doors, etc. I am so sore from bringing up several boxes of fabric and pushing so hard with my arms. I had bought two sets of 3 shelf bookcases, but returned them quickly. They were nightmares. The kids and I tried to put them together. As soon as we turned our backs, they literally fell sideways. There wasn't a metal piece in the set. Every screw was plastic. These were the worse ones I have ever seen. I didn't hesitate to take them back. So that meant that I had to carry those heavy boxes back down the stairs. So my butt muscles are killing me.

Hopefully I will find out tomorrow when things will be finished up so I can get the rest of the stuff moved in. Can you tell I'm excited? I plan to start holding crops there March 1st.

I did it!

Well, I went to see the office landlord to let her know I was interested in taking the larger office space. Our plan is for me to move in after the end of the week. I have been thinking over and over on exactly what I want to do. My plan is to definitely have the one room for people to quilt or scrapbook in.. It will sure make it nice to not have to compete for space to use when we need it. Reasonably priced places are getting harder and harder to find. Especially for the number of hours we use it for. So onward I go and I am looking forward to next week.

Lots to think about

I have been to see the other offices several times already. I finally got it all drawn out on the computer and I hope to be able to post it on here. But first I have to figure out how that works. I can do the very basics on here. I just keep thinking of ideas on how to use the space. My head is filling up........

I worked on the Farmers Daugther quilt yesterday and today. I have each individual block sewn and pressed. So now it's time to start sashing them together. I might work on it later tonight. Right now I have a very itchy nose and itchy watery eyes. So it depends on whether I can get rid of that. It's driving me nuts. And now I have started sneezing like crazy too. I hope this doesn't last long. I'm ready for it to be over now.

Here are the blocks that I'm getting ready to sash together. I think there are 46 of them. Or something close to that.

Below is the one I have now. Simple 12x12 square room. Not really any room for anyone else to do anything in. There are two windows and a window unit AC with baseboard heat. I do like the fact that there are 3 offices off a central hallway. So you can see and talk to your neighbors there. But I can usually get along just fine by myself. Especially if I have a lot to do. And beleive me I have a ton of fabric that can be made into quilts. I probably have at least 50 or more bagged quilts with the patterns put together and are ready to either cut or already cut and just need to be sewn together.

Today after a few errands I went to the office to see what I could accomplish. I did bring the new desk drawers up with me, so I could get them out of the room downstairs. I am hoping that Mike can help me get my desk in when the weather warms up.

I went to see the office landlord to ask her about the other office space in the building. She gave me the keys to check it out. Oh my gosh is is so large. Each room is about 2 feet each direction larger than mine. And there are two rooms that have to be rented together due to the central heat and air. There are 4 windows, 2 built in bookshelves and a very large closet. I could see me working in one room and having customers crop in the other room. I have been playing with a floor plan now too. I will think about it a while before I decide. The only downfall is that the entrances to the offices is down the hall. It just seems so lonely through there. But the windows to the office are great. They are on the front side of the building for lots of natural light.

Today was quilt day at a group I belong to. Mt Washington Quilting Bees. We are getting ready to start working on our 2010 "Opportunity Quilt". It's going to be great. This will also be my first to participate on. So I will be giving chances for a donation if you are interested when it is done. Believe me I will be asking everyone.

We learned a paper piecing technique with a bumble bee. I can't wait to finish it. I have about 3 seams left and the block will be done. I can see where this technique could be addicting. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

I mentioned to Sydnee about a contest in NH where she can make a small quilt and have it hung. She can't wait and wants to work on practicing so she can participate. Heck, we may just have to make a trip up there if she actually does it.

Cinci shops

The kids and I went to Cinci for appointments today, which meant that we would just have to hit a quilt shop or two. I walked into one of them to see if by chance they had the line of fabric that I am using in the Farmers Dauhter quilt. I need a small piece of one fabric in the series. When I walked in I asked "do you happen to carry the new Moday fabric line of ...." The owner of the shop looked at me and said 'I don't carry Moda, don't like the way it feels and don't like the representative". She was very blunt. So I told her she was missing out.

We then went to "Aunt Ruths Quilt Shop". The owner of that shop remembered us from Sept. She turned on the tv for Simon and Sydnee told her she wanted to help in the shop. So they let her help. They had Sydnee putting bolts of flannel back on the shelves. She was on cloud nine. So they both did very well there. This lady remembered where they went to school, remembered that the kids were home schooled last year. Very impressive. It's not a large shop, but they are very nice. So of the two, I would go back to Aunt Ruths. The other one was called "Best Friends".

Now I am about ready for bed. Goodnight.

Day spent quilting

Well I did get to do what I had wanted. And yes, the house is still a mess. The kids played nicely most of the day with the exception of watching back to back episodes of "I Love Lucy". This was the first time they had seen it and Simon was cackling most of the time.

I managed to piece a lot. Now I am getting ready to iron many blocks. But I took a break to get the kids cleaned up, fed and ready for bed. We have to go to Cinci in the morning for an appointment. So tomorrow is pretty much a loss.

Sydnee got her sewing machine out yesterday and again today. She was so excited to sit down with me to sew. The funny thing was something she said to Simon. Simon had told her that Star Trek (from the early 70's or whenever they first started) was on and that they were allowed to watch these episodes. Her comment back to him was "That's ok, just turn it up and I will listen to it while I keep sewing". That is such a person who likes to do any kind of craft, etc. We have learned to hear with our ears and not have to look up all the time to see. That's how we can multi-task and sit with a bunch of friends and sew to accomplish something. We don't have to be looking up the whole time.

Here she is checking to see that her doo-hickie is in the upper position before she tries to pull her fabric out from under her presser foot.

"Now it's time to cut my thread...."

Notice the mouth being held just right..... I give her a sandwich with lines and curves to sew on. She does very well. So the next step is to start having her following a seam allowance. She has been cutting out a rag quilt. I thought that would be a good place to start since the seam allowance is large and it's very forgiving.

This is her little tape measure she got when she got her sewing machine. She has the little Janome Sew Mini. This machine is wonderful for her. She can lift it easily and it fits right in her tote. She is able to do all of that by herself. It's also the perfect speed and it doesn't clog easily. So the frustration level is low.

Update on Farmers Daughter

I have finished cutting out the quilt pieces for the Farmers Daughter. I completed sewing 4 of the 46 blocks. They have turned out very nice. There is a bit of a challenge on adding the outer rows of color to the beige due to the square angle meeting up with the 45 degree angle. But by the 4th one, I found it getting easier. So it is just a matter of getting used to it. Here is a picture of each of the four main blocks. I have multiples of them in the quilt, but these are the four main color combinations. I am enjoying this one during the process.

I have also gotten the "Prarie Paisley" fabrics and pattern. I have always liked this one and decided if I was going to do it, I had better get it before it's out of stock or even a particular part of the series are discontinued.

Farmers Daughter

Here are the quilt samples of the quilt I am working on right now. I love these colors. I have nearly finished cutting out the pieces with the exception of a few that I picked up fabric for yesterday. So today I plan to get those few pieces cut out and start sewing. And I have got to work on cleaning house some of that time as well. I have planned on sewing all week, but it just never happened. I managed to waste a lot of time running around instead of staying in one spot very long.

I will post progress later tonight or tomorrow.

Quilt Power Layout

I have just discovered a handy way of laying out quilt blocks that have multiple pieces. I am working on a quilt with 46 blocks that end up as stars after the blocks are placed together. There are literallly hundreds of pieces. When we scrapbook we do what is called a "Power Layout". This is a way to pre-layout your photos on a spread adding the papers and stickers you plan to use. Creative Memories has plastic guides that are made to hold a 12x12 page. I realized that I can use these same guides and they will fit inside the 2" deep boxes that many of us use. They only thing with using something different that the box that was made to hold these guides is that if you drop the true power layout box and guides, there will be no shifting. Everything will stay right where you put it.


Check out what I have done here. It's works extremely well in the way it would for a scrapbooker. You can stack these and then just work out of the box as you are sewing along. I can't wait to finish laying out my blocks so I can start sewing with confidence that I am picking up the correct pieces and sewing them together as they should be. Hopefully it will eleviate any mistakes in grabbing the wrong pieces. We'll see. But so far, so good.




1. This is one plastic 12x12 guide


2. Here I have layed out the center 9 patch edge to edge.

3. now I have added the outer corner blocks and rectangles.

4. Now I have added the dark square that is going to actually form a triangular end to the rectangle. So I am laying it down right sides together.

5. Now you can see where I added the square on the rectangle right sides together. I did this on all four sides.

6. Now I will lay another plastic guide on top of the block I have just finished laying out.

7. The guide is now sitting nice and flat on top of the other block

8. Now I start to lay out my next block on the second guide. You just keep layering until you have layed out each block you need or until you run out of guides.

The best thing about this system is that these guides can fit into the black box they go in perfectly. There is no room for movement. So if you drop the box, or it falls off the table, etc, everything stays in tact. Originally I thought that you could use these guides in the plastic boxes we tend to store our finished blocks in, but the guides are about 1" smaller than those particular boxes. So that leaves room for movement which will cause shifting.

The Power Layout box and guides are available from Creative Memories for $25. Now of course this particular one (size) is discontinued as we are waiting on the updated size. But there are many out there that I can hunt up from other consultants. These kits include box and 15 guides for $25. Additional guides are also available for $12 for 15 guides. These things will last a lifetime.