How Lush-ious

I was super excited to see that a Lush store had opened at the mall. For those of you who've never been, Lush is an awesome company who makes cosmetics by hand using fresh, organic fruits and vegetables. They also use little to no preservatives or packaging. Yes, everything really is made by hand, each item in the store has a little sticker on it with a picture of the person who made it and a use by date.

They have a lot of great soaps and bath bombs. The soap is made in giant blocks and you tell the lady how much poundage you want. She then slices it and wraps it in wax paper. Just like cheese, but you want to rub this stuff on your body. Well, perhaps you also rub cheese on your body... who am I to judge, but I really think you'd have more friends if you switched to Lush soap...

I digress, I bought a few things the other day, one of them being the "I Love Juicy" Shampoo, mmmm it smells just like a fruit smoothie and your hair smells good ALL day.

The one I had to share with you was the soap. I bought a chunk of the Godmother Soap. Why that soap? 2 reasons, first, I had no soap in the downstairs bathroom. Second, there was a Swedish fish stuck to the sign. Why a Swedish Fish you ask? Well, the soap smells like Swedish Fish! The color of the bar also coordinates nicely with the walls in my bathroom. I know I'm a dork...

I take it home and put it in my bathroom. It really smells like Swedish Fish and now, my entire bathroom to smells like candy. Note, while it does smell like candy it definitely does not taste like candy... Yes, I did, I was curious... Here's my problem, the walls are a deep red color, very similar to the fishy candy. If you close your eyes or leave the lights off in the bathroom, which, I actually do frequently as that the sink and mirror are directly in front of the toilet. Very disturbing to look at yourself while in such an indelicate position, it kinda feels like you're p'ing in a giant fish. For real, I could imagine that the sensations would be frighteningly similar, except perhaps the t-seat would be slightly more squishy. Sorry, I had to share.

Off I go to get ready for this weekend's show!

Enjoy!

Lara

Freaky Friday Challenge

Leigh over at Sunflower Studios has been running an AWESOME contest for the past 4 weeks. Each week she gives a different challenge and every time you participate you earn entries for some AWESOME Blog Candy. She's really rounded up some great sponsors! I've only been able to play for the last 2 weeks, but it's been a BLAST!

This week was a sketch challenge. I only have 2 days to use up all the Halloween paper I've accumulated so I was definitely grateful for the challenge. I finally used my Cuttlebug skull embossing folder. yes, I know, 2 days... I then grabbed Buck Eyed Bob from my Starving Artistamps collection and inked him up. I colored him with copics and SU! Markers. The sentiment is from Starving Artistamps as well!

Bob cracks me up....

Enjoy!

Lara

Mooses Meeses?

Thankfully, just 1 moose. No need to pluralize.

I used to have a "thing" for moose, no, not that way you dirty birds. But there was a time when I received a lot of moose stuff. I still have a bunch, my very favorite is a wooden moose who expels candy when you lift his head. I'll give you a bright shiny quarter if you can guess where where the candy comes from.... It's even more funny when you use malted milk balls

I've shied away over the past few years, but when I saw the Riley stamps from Hanna Stamps I couldn't resist.

I colored him with my Copic marker (yes, one) and SU! markers. The paper came from my scrap pile and a really cute pack that is from K&M? and was on sale at Michaels. I couldn't decide where to put the ribbon, so I left it off. I am still up for suggestions. As for the sentiment, I didn't have anything that really "went" with it, so I decided to leave it blank. A few rhinestones and there you go!

Enjoy!

Lara

One boy and his journey

Hey all! wow, so much happening, so much going on, not a whole lot of time to blog. Luckily I took some pictures along the way, yep, sure did. Busy schedule didn't leave a lot of time for crafty stuff, but I've got plans and ideas, does that count??

So, what happened this week? Let me take a few steps back, back to March. Kev has played fantasy baseball with a group of his friends from Long Island for something like 10 years. This year he played in that league AND told me that he had an invitation to play in another league where "you can win a lot of money". I was only half paying attention and said OK. It really doesn't matter to me how many leagues he plays in, one two, seven, it's all the same. He still has to "set his line up" every weekend and fret over injured players. The fantasy baseball season is 26 weeks. Yes, half a year of this. Really though, for the cost of the entry fee divided over that many weeks, It isn't terrible and it keeps him off the streets. It could be worse, he could be looking at dirty websites instead.

After a few weeks I asked him about this new league, if you can win a lot of money, how much is the entry fee? Still ,no answer, but after that he asked me if he were to win the league, could he get a giant TV? Again, not paying much attention, I said "Sure whatever you want." Note to self, listen more closely... You seem to be missing important info...

As the weeks and months progress, he starts adding things onto the list... big TV, surround sound and a Playstation 3. It really started to pick up at the halfway point when he told me that he'd won the first half. After that, 13 more weeks of really obsessing about the team, calculating the various categories, can one person pass him in RBI's but his pitching is better, this category can't be caught and this category hinges on this game. EEEKKK!!! I get it though, a TV was on the line. (Especially after the last time he visited my parents and saw that their TV was bigger than ours. It just didn't seem right to him...)

Needless to say, Kev won the league. Yep, after 26 weeks of line-ups, injuries, suspensions and league drama. He had his first place finish. HOORAY!

Well, I had the job of finding a stand. Kev is NOT a builder, he believes that furniture needs to come already assembled and someone moves it into your house in one piece. I'm totally fine with assembled furniture, especially TV stands. So, the battle began. Functional vs. stylish. I insisted on something that looked like furniture and I was fine building it. (Yes, I received tools 2 years ago for Christmas. I LOVE my drill!)

Well, I FINALLY found one that we both agreed on and we placed the order. It arrived Thursday and was leaning up against my garage door when I got home from work. Oh, let me just mention that Kev tracked it and since the stand was arriving on Thursday, he figured we could build it Friday and be good to go. Did I also mention that we were going to the state fair AND I had 26 of his choir members coming over for Sunday brunch?

Any who, here's the box, all 126 pounds of it.

Let's open up this bad boy.. Yes, we have purple couches in the living room. When we moved her, I had furniture from my apartment and him from his house and we both hated each other's furniture. (My red couch ROCKS though!!) We compromised on these ones, Muy comfy.

Lots o' packing for 1 stand. Well done though, I must admit.

More pieces...

A damn big box... Notice the cream shag carpet? Nope, we don't have any kids. I {heart} shag carpet.

Woh oh, we're halfway there...

Apparently I built this for their amusement. It really only took about 3 minutes for them to climb all up in it. Again, black kitties, so hard to get a picture of...

I AM a MASTER CARPENTER! Bob Villa, eat your heart out!

Saturday morning at the crack of dawn there was a knock on the door. It was Fed Ex bringing the speaker system...... I don't really understand what it does or why it's so much better than the TV speakers. All I know it that there's another remote for me to lose.

Such a happy boy...

Well we went to the fair (those pix are coming...) After we got back, we went to the store to get another cable. (I won't tell you about how I ran into one of my employees there and had NO idea who he was. There are too many of them to keep straight and he only started 2 weeks ago. I really can't be expected to know everyone's names yet. Thankfully I did rememebr his name before we left the store. PHEW!) We got home, took a nap and the nice men from hhgregg delivered the new TV. All 61 inches of it. The TV and stand are taller than I am. The good news is that I was having a heck of a time deciding what to put on that wall in the living room...

Problem solved

He went and got the PS3 and a game today. So happy, so happy... It's nice, it really is, and I'm most happy that he won it.

Enjoy!

Lara

Still Here

I have lots of pictures to post, coming soon! Kev and I went to the NC state fair yesterday and I held a baby chicken! Yep, the first time I've handled livestock. More on that to come! (They deep fry Whoopie pies there!! Good grief!!) In the mean time, I have 30 girls coming over for brunch at 1230 today. Eek! Seriously, I'm mostly ready. I did just realize that there was a TON of cat hair on my lovely table cloth and I need to wash and iron it before they arrive. Nothing says crazy cat lady like breakfast nestled a bed of cat fur.

Alright, off to brown the sausage and start the upside-down baked Apple French Toast! I promise pictures!!

Lara

Lookie what I got!!

I LOVE mail, sigh... Packages, letters, magazines, you name it. Kev gets a little nervous when he sees all the boxes, especially when there seem to be a bunch of them at once. He wonders what I've ordered this time. Grin....

Well, this package came from my Bella sistah Marcia! Let me tell you, she is Da Bomb! I got an AWESOME box full of Halloween goodies and we all know how much I LOVE Halloween!

She sent 4, count em' 4 bottles of Stickles!! I was SO going to get black Stickles this week and she beat me to it!! A candy bar that is too cute to eat wrapped in that fun Halloween paper, hot chocolate, ribbon from amuse, blue and brown ribbon yeah!, 4 stamps, with one of them being a pirate stamp from amuse! I have been looking at this stamp for a while and wondering where I could find it. It's like she knows my brain!! What else, a witchy clip, California key chain, this adorable card..

So cute, anything even vaguely reminiscent of a martini makes me happy... To top it off, There was this guy!

The top of the cake comes off and there are M&M's inside!! OMG, it is the cutest thing ever! I think it may have to go to the office with me. I wonder if this counts as a spooky treat?

Enjoy!
Lara

Still more Halloween cards!

What a crazy busy week! I FINALLY had time to sit down and do a little stamping yesterday. I decided to be a multi tasker and participate in not one but TWO challenges. For the first one I used Amy's weekly sketch challenge I kinda turned it sideways to make my paper look right. I also played along with Leigh's Freaky Friday Challenge. I have been wanting to participate for the past 2 weeks, but, well.... you know how that goes sometimes.

This week was to make a Halloween card using Old Olive, Dark Orange, Purple and black. I was NOT a good instruction reader and did not realize until today that neutral card stock was also acceptable. Grrr... It's all good though, I think the tree looks very nice against the olive background.




I inked up my TCP Halloween stamps. The images are SO adorable!!! I used Versamark and then embossed the tree and owl with black powder. There is something SO satisfying about watching the it turn from powder to shiny... K, the paper is from SU! and a stack I got at Archivers. I also used my Martha Stewart bat punch and covered them in black Stickles. I then added a few orange Stickles to my owl and finished it off by coloring in the eyes with my white gel pen.
A little ribbon and that's it!

I have more to post later, so enjoy for now!!!

Lara

An oldie but goodie

Sorry folks, nothing new to post today, I've been running around getting my car fixed, going to the chiropractor, going to WalMart (ugh) and making some Fudge Nut bars.

Let me just tell you , I DESPISE WalMart. I really do. It not because of the way their treat their employees, it's not for the immigrant workers who sleep in the back room and is isn't because they promote men managers more than women. Nope... Going to WalMart is like an obstacle course. Find a parking spot, don't get hit buy the escaped shopping cart. go inside, find a cart that isn't stuck to another, Walk around the cart in the middle of the aisle, avoid the screaming child, and that one, and that one... Then wait 40 minutes in line to pay for your groceries. Yep, oodles of fun. I prefer Super Target. It's clean, has a Starbucks inside AND this dude is EVERYWHERE this season.

Tee Hee Hee.... I bought the one where he is dressed as a vampire. He goes with my sock monkey vampire. hee hee... it makes me giggle.

K, so Super Target was not on my way home, so I sucked it up and went to the big W. You know that PO'd me the most? They had everything I needed. Yep, all in one place. I really want things to be inconvenient so I can dislike them even more. There were still plenty of screamers in the store, so I still knew I was at the W.

Any who, Kev needed some sort of treat to bring to rehearsal tomorrow. They are in the final days of production for Carmen and the show goes up Friday night. I decided to make Fudge Oat Bars. These are SO darn tasty! They have a few extra steps but they are SO worth it!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups quick-cooking oats
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

FUDGE FILLING
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts (I grind them into nut dust)

DIRECTIONS
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture. Spread two-thirds in the bottom of an ungreased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan; set aside. For filling, heat milk, chocolate chips, butter and salt in a saucepan or microwave-safe bowl until melted. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla and walnuts. Spread over oat mixture in pan. Drop remaining oat mixture by tablespoonfuls over chocolate. Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes. Yield: 30 servings.

And they look like this!!!

I have tasted, and they are good.....

Just one last thing, in honor of Kev's show tomorrow, here is a little Muppet Carmen for you. This also makes me giggle.

Enjoy!

Lara

Sorry for being MIA!

I took advantage of a 4 day weekend and didn't get a thing accomplished! Well, I take that back I completed my October DT assignment for Little Monkeys.

Can't post yet, but here's a sneak peak!

Sneaky peaky 2...

I was super excited to use my TCP stamps for this assignment! I LOVE how this turned out and I hope you will too!

Enjoy!

Lara

Mmmm... Carrot Bread

I thought I'd tell you all about my VERY most favorite Homemade Gourmet item, the Basic Sweet Bread! This was one of the very first mixes I ever sampled and to this day is still one of my favorites. Let's get down to business! Get out your bag o' Sweet Bread.

The best part of this mix is that it can be whatever you want it to be. Add pumpkin for Pumpkin Bread. Add applesauce for apple bread, zucchini, bananas, whatever you think makes a good bread, throw it in there!

You will always need 2 eggs and 1/2 cup of oil. I decided to experiment tonight and make carrot raisin bread. Mmmm...

For this one, flip the flap in the other side to determine how much "mix-ins" to add. Since I dreamed up this recipe, I decided to add 1 cup of carrot puree. The instructions tell you how long to bake the bread; there are times for the entire loaf, mini loaves, muffins, etc..

By carrot puree, I mean baby food carrots. Hey! This recipe is meant to be easy! Could you imaging slicing and cooking and pureeing the carrots? Nope, me neither.

Hey Godiva, whatcha looking at?

Then a 1/2 cup of raisins.

I decided to make mini loaves in my Pampered Chef stoneware pan. (I love their stoneware!)

Bake for 35 minutes and flip them onto the drying rack!

Mmmm!!! These would also make GREAT gifts to teachers, neighbors, your hairdresser. Just wrap them up in some festive plastic wrap, slip a a bow and a tag on them and off you go!

Enjoy!

Lara

Holly cow! There is tons of activity going on in Store More stamps land! In honor of Little Monkey's turning one, Susan has teamed up with some AMAZING companies to promote the system!! Did you know that Gina K Designs now carries the Little Monkey's Storage System?? Go to the website and check it out!

How about some more news??? The Cat's Pajamas is helping celebrate our birthday! The Design Monkeys are creating some amazing things using the brand new birthday stamps sets from TCP! I couldn't me more excited! As we know, I LOVE their stamps and I can't wait to show you what I come up with! Yeah, I already own both sets, bought them the day they came out...

Lifted from the Store More stamps blog:
The Design Monkeys are busy playing, I mean working away, with their Store More Stamps systems and we’ll begin highlighting their work soon.
While they’re busy, though, I want to share a couple of things and shout a VERY SPECIAL THANKS to The Cat’s Pajamas for their sponsorship and support during our celebration this month!! Besides getting to know the Little Monkeys system, another fun thing the DM team is doing is getting to play with stamps from companies whose stamps can be stored in our system. In honor of the Little Monkeys Turns One Celebration this month, we will be working with birthday stamp sets from The Cat’s Pajamas. Here are the awesome sets we’re using -Smells Like Cake
and
You Say It’s Your Birthday
We’re not the only ones getting in on the fun, though. We also will be including these sets with the Starter Systems as part of our giveaways this month! Gotta have something to store your awesome new stamps, right? Gotta have stamps to store in your awesome new storage system, right? It’s like the old Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercials - your stamp fell on my insert! No, your insert caught my stamp! hahaha
PLUS, we have a birthday surprise from The Cat’s Pajamas that will be included with your orders! For THAT, you’re gonna have to wait and see what comes in your package. ;o) Supplies are somewhat limited, so get your order in soon.Kicking things off this week is Molly with a challenge on Two Peas in a Bucket !! It’s Stamptoberfest at 2Ps, so head on over and get to stampin’! I’m doing Molly’s challenge using the birthday stamps from TCP and will post that here soon. If you join in the fun, be sure to leave a comment here, too, so we can check out your submission! You don’t have to post on 2Ps to have fun with the sketch, but you do if you want to be included officially for the prize.

It's just the beginning! Check back to see what the rest of the Design Monkeys come up with!!!
Enjoy!
Lara

You have to see this!

I went to the Junior League Shopping Spree in Raleigh yesterday. Every year they have a bunch of really cool vendors that have a variety of items. Usually they're specially stores or jewelry vendors, really neat items. I got a few things, some earrings and a really cute toothpick holder (that I plan on taking to HG vendors shows for samples), another cute polka dotted holder thingy. They had plastic ware in it as a display, Kev commandeered it any stuck his stirrer sticks inside. The toothpick holder and the stirrer stick holder now live side by side. I suppose that if you need to pick your teeth after a nice cup of coffee, we have you covered.




One of the booths was "Big World Photo" It's hard to describe, but she has tiny little people figurines that she sticks in odd places and then takes pictures of them. They were SO cute and different!! I couldn't stop laughing as I flipped through the stack. They came in all different sizes and prices and they are part of a numbered series. Needless to say, one of them had to come home with me and I had to share.

Check out Catzilla! I can't link directly to the photo, so just go to the site, click on Gallery/order online, click until it displays photos 49 of 60 and it's the 6th photo! I LOVE it! It's already up in the downstairs bathroom!

Enjoy!
Lara

Black Kitties!

I have 2 things to post for you 1. A story about black kitties and 2. A card for TCPTUES.

First of all, did you know that black kitties are the least likely to be adopted? Apparently a lot of people still think that black cats are unlucky.

Did you also know that many shelters place a moratorium on black cats adoptions in the weeks leading up to Halloween because of the people who use them as props for their Halloween costumes and later abandon them? Terrible...

Well, we have a black kitty named Godiva. (You can see her in some previous posts) She's about a year and a half now and we've had her since she was 8 weeks old. I had taken a half day from work one day and Kev wanted to take a trip to Trader Joes and then to someone's house to look at some "free kittens". I explained that if he took me to see baby kitties that we would come home with one and that we should bring the carrier. So we got some Three Buck Chuck and headed over to some guy's house...

He had 4 baby kitties. 2 black (boy and girl) and 2 stripped ones (boy and girl). Well Titus is stripped, so I wanted a different color one, I also wanted a girl, we asked for the black girl kitten. The 9 year old owner said, "Are you sure you want that one? We call her Crazy Claws."

Crazy, not really, not too much any more, but talkative? OMG, I have never heard a cat meow more than she does, my mom says that Godiva has a lot to say, I guess so.... We got her home and Titus promptly thumped her on the head with his paw. I really think that thump made her a little dumb... Adorable, very loving, not the brightest bulb. We had her fixed the minute we could since I was pretty sure she'd give it up to the first guy she met. Not very discriminating...

So, I told my mom that we got another kitty and that she was all black. Mom says, "Ohhh... Don't tell your father. You know how he is with black cats." She showed my dad a picture of her and told my dad that she has a little bit of white on her chest that you couldn't see...

My dad is a little superstitious, but his mom, my grandma was REALLY superstitious. She was one generation removed from the old country and still carried a lot of those beliefs. She passed away when I was 8 but I do remember us wanting to go on the balcony of the high rise she lived in and she told my brother and I that we couldn't because there were hawks outside who would carry us away. (A 7 year old remembers something like that.) She didn't go out there for the same reason. I also heard about a time when she was driving with my dad and a black cat ran across the road and she made him turn the car around. I couldn't make this up if I tried..

Ok, that was my story, well, maybe not a story per se... But, since I have a black kitty I am a little drawn to them now, Halloween, the house is now full of black kitty decorations. To go along with that, I'm really found of The Cats Pajamas Stamps. This week's TCPTUES challenge was a sketch challenge and I was a little late getting my card together, but I made it just in time. Kev's been feeling a little under the weather, so I made him this card.

In my search for a good light source, I discovered the corner of the bathroom tub. It's nicely lit by the 64 1/2 by 64 1/2 window right above the tub. Why on EARTH would you build a window that large over the tub? The next door neighbor could totally see your parts! And do you have ANY idea how difficult it is to find a blind that size? I digress...

The Cardstock and DP is all from Stampin Up and the sentiment is from Stamping Bella.

That's all I have for now... Off to another fun fulled week. I happen to work for Wachovia, so we'll see if any more mergers are announced. :)

Enjoy!

Lara

Happy Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

I made this card for a great lady I know. She has successfully battled breast cancer 3 times and is currently being treated for cervical cancer.

She's an amazing lady who has touched a lot of lives. I bought this Causabella specifically to make a card for her and I think it looks pretty darn good.

I played along with Amy R's Friday sketch challenge (AMYRS40). I routinely stalk her blog and I had to play again this week. Any who, the DP is from Stampin Up! I "think" it was called Berry Bliss. The base is Vintage Cream Card stock from Paper Tray Ink. Let me tell you, this cardstock is awesome! So thick and rich, it's 110lb weight and I was VERY impressed when it arrived. I could do some serious damage on their website! I also got their new Mazel Tov set. I am SO happy with that set, I now have a set to use when making cards for Kev's family!

Causabella was colored with my SU! Markers, then I added a few Stickles to the ribbon and topped her off with some Bella baubles. I love this card and I think she will too.

Enjoy!

Lara

Come on UPS, really?

I received a package in the mail from my mom they other day. My parents live about 9 hours from us and we don't get to go visit all that often. Actually, It's been almost a year since we've been back. Yikes! Well, my mom is a pretty crafty lady (good crafty) and she really likes to make decorations for the holidays. Since I haven't been up in a while, she likes to periodically send me "care packages" YEAH! I LOVE mail, so no complaints from me! The boxes usually include a variety of things but I can usually expect to receive any combination of the following things: books, coupons, recipes, articles from the local newspaper and crafty items. (This time, craft items, a recipe, cat food coupons and an article from the newspaper... see?) Last year my mom sent me a box of Halloween decorations she had made and sent it USPS. For some reason, the post office couldn't find my house and they returned the box to her. During the trip, they had completely destroyed the box and the breakable contents. Mom was PO'd and swore to never send breakables via the Post Office again.

So this Halloween she made me these really cute candle holders made from painted flower pots. The saucer of the pot is glued to the top of the upside down pot. Aren't they adorable? I did request that she paint black kitties on them... Sorry about the glare, not a lot of natural light this morning.


She also painted this glass hurricane globe with pumpkins. I think I'll put some potpourri in it. You could also use a flame less candle.


I gotta tell you,I did not inherit one bit of mom's painting or drawing ability. I am an awesome colorer but when it comes to drawing, all my people are stick figures. Kev's the same way. When we visit his family he plays a game with his niece called "Who Drew It?" She and Kev would draw a picture of the same thing and then ask the rest of us to decide who drew it. It was very close for a while, but when she was about 5 and a half she passed him. Last Thanksgiving she was 7 and yeah, totally blew him away.

OK, time for my complaint. Since mom doesn't go to the Post Office, she went to a UPS Store in Ohio to send the most recent package. These items she sent were NOT large by any stretch of the imagination. I couldn't find a ruler to measure, but Godiva was kind enough to act as a point of reference. Note, she is a little kitty, about 8 pounds. From this perspective she looks like she's as big as the couch, but no, that's just the angle.

So, mom took it to UPS and asked them to box and package it for her. I received it the other day in this ENORMOUS box FULL of packing peanuts.

Doesn't look that big? Again, thank you Godiva for acting as a point of reference.

Seriously, this thing is at least 2 feet long, over a foot high and completely full of peanuts. If that wasn't enough packing material, each item was wrapped in bubble wrap.

OK, UPS store, really? I can not think of a single reason why any item would need that much packing material. The box is ridiculously large compared to the items and full of useless non-degradable styrofoam peanuts. Here's the kicker, the store charged her $46 to send it!! $21 for the actual shipping and the other $25 was for the box, peanuts, bubble wrap and a gas surcharge. I am trying to be more "green" and just be a little smarter about the environment. This is an awful example of a company trying to make an extra dollar and not thinking about the ramifications of their actions.

As a disclaimer, I KNOW that UPS stores are independently owned and operated. I also know that the cost of packing materials is inflated to help them cover their expenses. I understand that they are inclined to add more packing materials to keep items from breaking rather than pay the insurance claim. I also understand that they have standards to follow when packing the boxes. What I do believe is that those store owners have a responsibility to make smart decisions and not needlessly create larger, heavier packages. If UPS does indeed have standards they are required to uphold, who's responsibility is it to ask for a change? I'm not asking for UPS Stores to stop using Styrofoam peanuts or to stop packing items, but where's the balance? Where's the middle ground? I can't imagine that there isn't a better alternative. Maybe I don't understand why we have to use packing peanuts. I don't understand why we need a 2 foot long box for 4 small items. I do know that I will think twice before making a trip to the UPS Store and asking them to pack an item for me.

So now I have an enormous box of packing peanuts and not a clue what to do with them. I wonder if I can give them back to the UPS Store?

Any suggestions?

Lara

let me tell you about a gnome...

So, I got a few gnome stamps from Just Johanna's Odd Bird Planet a while ago. Sad to say, I hadn't inked them up. Sorry Mr Gnome. From my post last week, you see that at least one gnome made it onto a card and I am happy to say that another one has popped up today.

I don't know what it is about gnomes, for some reason I think they should pop up in odd places. This coffee gnome is a fine example. You're sitting there, drinking your coffee, go to take a sip and something pointy pokes you in the nose... Look! It's a gnome in your cup! The startled gnome then leaps from your coffee cup and runs behind the couch, you pull out the couch and ... nothing's there. When my kitties randomly dig at a corner of the kitchen, gnome... The reason why I have no matching socks, gnome... Kev also believes in the presence of the gnome, apparently they leave the toilet seat up and don't restock the refrigerator with Diet Coke when they've taken the last can. I'm still a little sketchy on that one.

The sentiment says - "You are a mocha latte in a world full of cheap machine coffee." I for one can not think of a better compliment. Mine however, would be a soy mocha latte. Damn you lactose intolerance!! (Insert an angry fist shake) Back to the details, I used the Swiss dot embossing folder on the red square, and I am remiss to say that I can't recall where the polka dot paper came from. I added some green baubles (even thought you really can't tell) To finish it off and in honor of the annual switch from iced to extra hot lattes this week, I colored the cup white and place a green bauble in the center.

While I was digging through my scrap bin, and half watching Fringe last night (on DVR) I found this pretty paper and it just called to me. On a side note, have you seen Fringe? It's a pretty good show but a little freaky. The first time we watched Kev says, "Oh look it's Pacey from Dawson's Creek!" My head slowly turns to look at him... "How do you know from Dawson's Creek?" I never really got an answer on that one. Hmmm... Ok, back to the card. I know I am breaking away from the fall theme, but this chick just had to get out!

Adorable, I love these chickens from Gina K Designs The name of the set is Poultry in Motion. tee hee... Such a springy card, I think I'll have to save it to give away next year... I think I have to go back to fall cards.

Well, off I go. My mom sent me a big box filled with packing peanuts and I fear the kitties have spread them all over the floor. I also got a shipment from Homemade Gourmet that I need to open and inventory!

Enjoy!

Lara