Sure, why not add an elf name figure-outer to my blog??? I can't seem to find the time to put anything else up here!!

Your Elf Name Is...

Trixie Twinkle Wink

What's Your Elf Name?

I just had to show off our little boy in his halloween costume. In case it's not clear he was a scarecrow this year. He took the "Best Costume" award at the halloween party at the groomer's last Saturday. He's very pleased, to say the least!!

It's November and I need to start my Christmas cards! That's my project for the day. Clay is currently in Nevada on his elk hunt. I hope he has success. He said on the phone that the place is pretty well burnt up. That is so sad.
One of my October projects was altered coffee bottles and here are the two that I was able to put together. These are a lot of fun, but getting the right adhesive is/was tricky!! I'd like to do some for Christmas.

I really love the look of the crisscross card so I had to try one! I had a little trouble with the measurements, but you have to look closely to see my errors! I also was able to do a couple of altered bottles for halloween and will try to get photos of them posted. I need my camera for those since I can't seem to squeeze them into the scanner! I hope everyone is enjoying their fall. We have a few inches of snow on the ground here. Not very fall-like, but very pretty!!

How can I stamp when I am here working on my blog??? That is the huge question. It is the busiest time of the year. From now until January I know that I will have to struggle to keep up my energy and get all the things done that I want to and need to. I have begun to feel a little anxious about it. I am really going to focus on taking one day at a time and only getting done what I intend to do for that day with a small list of extras to work on if there is time.
These photos are of Dan and Clay with the moose and the caribou that Clay got. They are both really nice animals! (the things with horns aren't too bad either! lol!!)

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Oh my gosh! I have just been surfing my favorite stamping blogs and I cannot believe the talent that is out there! No one should really have to purchase another stamping magazine again! As I look at my own art I feel incredibly inept. I need to remind myself that is just the hobby that I enjoy, maybe the creativity will come later??? lol!!

Today, I think I'll go to work...I don't really have the gumption, but it is necessary for me to go. I'd rather stay home and stamp! Clay is out on a moose hunt with his friend Dan from Nevada and Shawn. I miss him.
Some post scripts on the cards just posted...the Halloween wheel card is one that I cased that was featured in the latest issue of PaperCrafts. I changed the colors a bit. What a cute card it is! I think I can boast a bit because it took me about 2 hours to make!
The tag card was also cased from the same issue of PaperCrafts. I think this is my favorite stamping/crafting magazine now. They just have some many different styles and formats that are not just stamping, but ideas a person can actually use.
The card at top with the ribbon isn't extraordinarily unique, but it is a good example of the new awesome ribbon that SU! has out now.
Of course the new moose stamp is adorable and that was a fun card to make using some of the new seasonal background paper from SU!
Lastly, I wasn't thrilled with the results of the So Kind card, but I just love this set and wanted to post another card, so there it is!!
What are the kids up to??? Jake is working at Fort Knox on the same crew as his dad. This allows them to share rides to work, which is great. He's currently living by himself with his cat just until the new roommate moves in.
Lauren is still in the Fast Track program with TVC and she is enjoying that and working up at UAF in the Wood Center cafeteria. I hardly every see her. She works out up at the gym at the university about 4 times a week and doing quite well to lose the weight she's gained over the last couple of years. Her plans are to learn snowboarding during Christmas break. You go girl!!
Well, as for me, I have plans to attend a concert on Friday, old rocker that I am. Hope it's good and lots of fun! First concert I've attended in about 4 years, not counting the Lettermen and some local stuff. Saturday is Scrap Day at the Studio and I am doing a tutorial or two. I have taken Friday off of work to prepare and because I NEED it!!
Blessings to all!!

New cards again! I have added some more and I'm so happy that I am stamping and that I am trying to keep up with the blog!! Whew!!

I've been trying to get more stamping done and these are cards and two ATC attempts I've done over the last couple of weeks. I also did a blessings book, but will scan that later. Hope you like my work!!

Today is our 22nd wedding and I thought to celebrate I would post one of the most recent pictures of our two beautiful children taken last weekend before their friends', Matt and Misty, wedding. It was such a gorgeous day!!

Today I am finally uploading some new cards. Some I did recently, while others I worked on over the summer. They aren't really anything special, but just fun cards. Hope to be adding more soon!!

This is what I've been up to lately, yep, it's fishing! I caught this 50 lb. King Salmon on the Klutina River just a couple of days ago. It was my first King and later that day I caught my first Red Salmon. We had a great time! Hopefully I will be stamping more again soon, but in the meantime the weather has been great, the fishing great and it's just been a beautiful summer! More posts and photos to come soon!!

I finally uploaded a photo from the Old Iron Dog competition they have here in Fairbanks. It was postponed this year because of the severe cold. This was on March 17th, a week later than normal. It was pretty neat seeing all the snowmachines from very old to the newer and how they all still run and compete.




These two photos are from Chester's birthday. He turned 4 years old on March 24th. I took him down to Pet Co and bought him this cute t-shirt and a blanket for the truck. He and Cochise enjoyed a few moments in bed with Dad.


At left is Mom! She arrived early March 31st and in spite of my terrible cold we managed to make it over to the Ice park. This was the first time I'd ever been and it was really cool!! Some of the sculptures were falling apart, but overall it was a lot of fun. We took Lauren and she is always a crazy girl!

No photos or cards to post today. (sad face), but the news is that Mom will be here late, late Saturday night!! We are so excited about her coming!! We are still kind of cold, but the days are warming up to almost 25-30 degrees! So...things are starting to melt here and there.
I took some photos I need to upload of Chester and Cochise. Pretty cute critters playing together. When Jake told me that they would become best friends I was totally skeptical about it, but he was right. They play until they are both tuckered!
Life goes on in the frozen north!!

Jake is home! He got here Sunday afternoon and we are so happy to have our family all back together!!
Chester is doing fine. He had 5 teeth removed, which was kind of a surprise. Two of them are right in the front! Clay calls him "Afred E. Newman" after the Mad magazine character.
Mom will be here in less than 2 weeks!!
We are still in fairly cold temps, currently it's -20 and the forecast has snow for tomorrow and Thursday! What a March!!
That's about it for the quick update!!

Where have I been??? Well, I can't say for sure...I guess just doing other things. Here's a couple of cards I finally did.
So at least I've been busy.
The latest news is...Jake is moving back! Yes, he's decided that he really loves working on bikes. We are really happy.
The other news is...Lauren got a new job at a bank! She's finally working at a position that she hopes to hang to for a while. Both kids will be living at home and Mom arrives from Nevada at the end of the month. We'll have a full house again for a while.
Bad news...Chester has to go in for a teeth cleaning on Friday.C
. Poor little guy.
Clay is doing well. He had to skip trapping this year because his snow machine trailer took a dump. He leaves for Kodiak mid-April for the spring bear hunt. We have been experimenting with healthy foods and cooking a lot more. This will hopefully help keep his liver in good condition.
For me...well, it's mostly church, work and stamping with a little guitar playing and reading thrown in here and there. We are still having pretty cold temps so I'm not able to really get out yet. Hopefully when Mom gets here we can walk and do some fun things.
That's all the latest! Oh, I got a new truck. It's a 2007 Toyota Tacoma. Maybe I'll put up a different photo later since this one is a little cut off, but you get the idea!!

I got tagged! I was tagged by Julie!!

The idea is that when you are tagged you put up the alphabet on your blog site and then assign a description of yourself for each letter.

A- Available or Taken: Taken. Married 21 years.

B- Best Friend: My mom, Polly

C- Cake or Pie: Typically pie, with ice cream.

D- Drink of Choice: Coffee

E- Essential item you use every day: My bible.

F- Favorite Color: purple

G- Gummy Bears or Worms: Worms

H- Hometown: Lovelock, NV

I- Indulgence: BBQ Flavored potato chips

J- January or February: February-it's my birth month!

K- Kids & Names: Jake & Lauren

L- Life is incomplete without? JESUS

M- Marriage Date: August 19

N- Number of Siblings: 5 (all half brothers and sisters)

O- Oranges or Apples: both

P- Phobias or Fears: not measuring up to my potential, moose and bears

Q-Fave Quote: "It is better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

R- Reason to Smile: the beautiful Alaskan landscape

S- Season: Fall, all 2 weeks of it

T- Tag 3-4 people:

U- Unknown fact about me: I believe that I have had 2 separate encounters with angels.

V- Vegetables you don't like: Beets, baby corn

W- Worst Habit: Biting at my hang nails.

X- X-rays: Besides at the dentist office, only once, when I broke my wrist.

Y- Your Fave Food: pizza

Z- Zodiac Sign: Pisces

After feeling I was in a stamping dry spell
I finally managed to do a couple of cards for 2 swaps.
The whale card is for "Anything with a 'W' swap" and the Happy card is for a punch swap. I also played around with my Big Blossom stamp that was purchased from SU's Sellabration catalog. It feels good to have finally gotten something done!

Happy New Year to everyone!!
I hope to do better at keeping up with my blog this year than I have been in the past few weeks. This photo of me is with my Christmas present from Clay...my very first and only strand of real pearls!! I just love them! We had a nice Christmas. Lauren, Randy and Smokey came over to open presents. Jake could not make it from Washington, which was really different without him.
We all miss him a great deal!!
We had no plans for New Year's Eve. Again, Lauren and Randy stopped by for a bit and it was good to have them here. We watched a couple of movies.
I have not been stamping much at all. I have been working on a scrapbook that has all the photos from our recent Nevada trip. I hope to finish that soon.
I pray that everyone has a wonderful and blessed 2007. It is amazing to me how fast this last year came and went! I have a few goals for the new year and hopefully will accomplish them.