tryptophan rocks.

in other news, there's no way on this good green earth i'm heading out to any stores for "black friday," not even for the sales. in fact, since kirk and i are having a DIY/thrift holiday, there's no point battling for parking spaces and dealing with aggressive bargain hunters out for blood. *whew!*

but, i have found some things online to drool over. can't afford 'em, don't need 'em, bet i could make some of 'em...check out these neat treats:

the cutest ornament ever in the history of christmas.
the best way to scent your eco-conscious non-real christmas tree living space.
serious good hot winter yumminess.
and let's not forget the infamous good old fashioned free fun online:

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

hope your holiday kickoff weekend is full of just this kind of goodness.

giving thanks...

...for family

friends

creativity

days off from work

abundance

diet coke




autumn

this guy:


















(can you blame me for falling head over heels for this long-haired alaskan rocker!? i mean, come on!)

raspberries over coffee cake

true love

art supplies

casual fridays

the internet

rain in riverside, FINALLY


a new president with a brain, a heart, and a vision

laughter

music

books!

eating out on Thanksgiving so i don't have to cook, take things out of my oven and try to use it (you mean it isn't just extra storage space?), or clean anything afterward.

i could go on...

what are YOU giving thanks for today?

happy thanksgiving!

december daily album

In a previous post, I mentioned the idea of doing a "December Daily" mini-album, a la Ali Edwards only messier and more random, like me. (You can see her idea, and the whole philosophy behind this project by clicking HERE.) I have never done this before, I have never even done a mini-album before, but something about this project just went ba-ziiing in my brain and I wanted to give it a try. I'm excited about it, and it came together easily and quickly.

I didn't like any of the pre-made blank albums I found, so altering an old book really appealed to me. I took a hardback book that I was going to give to the thrift store, and cut the guts out of it with a craft knife. I also didn't want to limit the size of my book, so I cut the spine off, then covered the exposed edges with some fabric...this was a total experiment on my part, and it worked out great! I love it, and plan to use this method often in the future for similar projects.

I then punched the holes where I wanted them, found 31 pieces of paper I liked (one for each day of December) without paying too much attention to whether they "fit" or coordinated together. (This is supposed to be a "let the rules go and get it done" project, so that is exactly how I approached it.) I also added some transparencies, some cardboard, and some shaped pieces to keep things interesting.

My friend Danielle and I got together to work on this, and helped each other with the "letting go" part, lol. Actually, I just love how "messy" and varied it is, it is lots of fun to look through, and there aren't any photos or journaling yet!

After I assembled the pages together, I started cutting some pages smaller, adding the numbers for each day, and a few embellishments/paints, and wallah!

So, here are my results. There is a page for each day, to take a photo, journal, or do whatever to document our December this year. I'm looking forward to savoring the holidays and filling it with memories and pictures. Thanks for looking, and enjoy! I will likely post some of the completed pages as December rolls through, but I can't promise to post every day...you'll get the idea.

oh yes and i, i will survive...

....the "Survivor" Challenges continue over at Tally...and every week I am one of the last to post my layout before the deadline, but hey, I'm getting them in there, right?! I've missed a few weeks and thus had various "exile island" assignments, but overall, I'm still in the game. Here's this week's challenge:

- photos of body parts

- base should be cardstock

- journaling should be stitched on

- something should have a scalloped edge

- scrap down the middle of the page

Here's my take on it:

dude.

monday, monday. can't trust that day.

Autumn

It hasn't quite arrived in full yet here in the Southwest, but we've had a few crisp days that were beautiful for being outdoors. Now? It's hot. I think it was close to 95 or something yesterday, ugh.

Anyway, last weekend was a different story. Last Saturday Kirk, Marti and I went to the UCR Botanic Gardens, and luckily I remembered to take my camera, because it was a gorgeous day! Here's a layout I did for last week's Survivor challenge at TS.

The challenge was to create a frame or border in a vintage style, use a poem as the journaling, and use some of the techniques Tim Holtz used HERE.

The poem I chose is by ee cummings, and is called "O Sweet Spontaneous":


O sweet spontaneous
earth how often have
the
doting
fingers of
prurient philosophers pinched
and
poked

thee
, has the naughty thumb
of science prodded
thy

beauty .how
often have religions taken
thee upon their scraggy knees
squeezing and

buffeting thee that thou mightest conceive
gods
(but
true

to the incomparable
couch of death thy
rhythmic
lover
thou answerest

them only with

spring)

Have a beautiful day!

Veterans Day

Some people may like to assume that because I am a self-identified liberal, left-of-the-spectrum, peacenik hippie chic that I don't respect and value the United States military and it's servicemen and women. It just isn't true.

We do have heroes in our military. We are indebted to many men and women who are working hard both here and abroad for the safety and protection of our country. Today is a day to honor those who have served, and I do.

Some of the freedoms that our military serves to protect are our freedom of speech, our right to assemble, to disagree, to voice our opinions, to strive for higher ideals, to become a better nation.

I don't agree with everything our servicemen and women have been sent to do by the leaders of our country. Isn't it a beautiful thing to be able to say so without the fear of being imprisoned, fined, or worse? I think it is.

I would like military recruiters to stop making lofty promises to the foster youth I work with, who have been made false promises for too long by the adults in their lives. Isn't it a beautiful thing to be able to say so publicly on a blog without fear of retribution? I think it is.

I have friends, and family, who are and have been in service, and what I want most is for them to be home safely with us and not put into harm's way for unnecessary reasons. I protested the Iraq-war with about 3000 other citizens who agreed with me. Isn't it a beautiful thing to be able to do so in order to send a message to those who would put them in danger and ask them to think twice? I think it is.

My military friends and family might also disagree with me. They can say so, and we can talk about why without whispering in secret. Isn't this also beautiful? I think it is.

I also want them to know that their time has not been wasted, and I appreciate them for being brave and committed. I want them to come home from service and have access to the services they need, such as mental health to treat PTSD, housing, medical benefits, and educational opportunities. There are far too many forgotten heroes homeless on our streets, and I am hopeful that we will take care together to make some changes and better honor our Veterans in the future.

So here's a shout out to the Veterans of the United States, who have sacrificed so much, from a left-wing, tree-hugging, pansy-arse, anti-war liberal who is grateful to you. Thanks.

Developing Myself...

...is an ongoing task. I will never stop learning, growing, developing, changing, and the process is often challenging and rewarding at the same time.

As part of this process, a friend of mine (yay Danielle!) invited me to join her in taking a free online course at Jessica Sprague dot com. It's called "Stories in Hand," and is geared toward helping us get our "stories" together. I'm looking forward to it. Class started today...I'll post my progress as we go.

In other news, my MIL, Marti, has been visiting with us for the past week, and it is always wonderful to have her stay with us! Yes, did you hear that, world? I LOVE my mother in law! It's true! I know how blessed I am by how many complaints I hear on a daily basis about other MIL's. Well, mine is a keeper, I love her to pieces. She has recently returned from a trip to China, and will be staying with us until later this week when she'll drive back to Missouri to be with family for the holidays. We've enjoyed some nice conversations, a walk at the UCR Botanic Gardens last weekend, some movies (both good and not-so-hot), some games, and tonight after my long day at work: snacks and a game of UpWords.

In crafty news, Danielle and I did get together to work on our December Daily albums on Saturday, and had a great time. We didn't finish....late start, leisurely chatty lunch, choosing 31 papers from a huge stack, well you know how that goes...but we did get our books basically assembled, now all that's left is to modify and decorate the pages a little bit and add the numbers. I will also update the progress with that as December nears. I decided to use an old hardcover book to make my cover, I will post a photo of that soon, too, I LoVe how it turned out.

Anyone have any other great holiday projects to share? Post a link in the comments if you have found something too good to pass up.

Will be working on setting a goal for myself in 2009: do something creative every day. EVERY DAY. More to come.

Hope you are all having a great week and take some time tomorrow to reflect on what our brave veterans have done for our country.

...and our rock the vote winners are....

Okay folks! Below are the winners from my get out the vote RAK! I was so excited that Obama won the election that I decided to choose 4 winners instead of 3. :)

So if you see your name/comment below, send me your contact info at hidilley@gmail.com (including whether you want the scrappy goodies or something else that's cool) and I'll send your prize right away.

Looks like we have a bi-partisan winner's circle today, too! Let's continue the spirit of cooperation, shall we?

Thanks everyone for commenting and for VOTING!

Michelle said...
I voted too! Yay Obama :)

katie monson said...
ladies and gentlemen...the networks are calling it for Senator Obama...i am SO glad i voted! whooo hooo!

Vesna said...
I dressed up, got a cup of coffee and walked out a block away to cast my vote for the first time (I recently became US citizen) while two of my girls went to volunteer at their school voting sites selling bake goods. After that I felt very energized...

scrappyhappy said...
voting for mccain was the easy part, but voting on some of the other issues really confused me. but, i did vote! hope i win something!

Oh YES he DID!

I'd like to say welcome to the 44th President of the United States, and an historic, inspiring one at that. I think there's hope for this country after all! What an interesting presidential race this has been...seems like the longest in the history of campaigns, doesn't it? I am, of course, thrilled that the candidate whom I voted for won tonight, yet I am also somewhat relieved that the election is through and we can finally get back on track.

Still waiting to hear on some of the California ballot measures and other races, but we're pretty happy. Now, we're going to have some celebratory election night ice cream! :)

Thanks to everyone who voted, on both sides. This country wouldn't be what it is without this process, and this election has given me, and so many others, hope and confidence in this, our United States.

More later, let's hear what Obama has to say...

Did YOU vote?

Post a comment below and let me know that you've cast your vote and your name will be entered into a drawing for some SERIOUSLY rockin' goodies, (to the tune of scrap stuff by heidi swapp, mm, cosmo cricket, etc! OR if you aren't a crafty person I have some other great prizes, too) Names will be drawn tomorrow at noon, and there will be 3 winners for this RAK! So get out there, VOTE, and then leave me a comment here and you could get some cool stuff...and if you've seen my scrap stash, then you know how much I have to give.

Happy Election Day - here's to a better tomorrow for everyone.

inform yourself and vote

Heading into election week...regardless of which side of the issues you find yourself on, I want to encourage you to get the scoop about the ballot issues, the candidates in your area, the presidential tickets, and make an informed decision on Tuesday. Then, get up, get out, exercise your right, and VOTE!