January 3rd, the resolution falls???

Ok, remeber when I said I was gonna take a pic a day & journal. Well, I failed already. I MEANT to take pics of Scott taking down the outside lights yesterday but, I didn't. I could give a dozen valid reasons but, that defeats the whole purpose, right??? I mean, technically, I DID take a pic of the ugly green ornament but, that's not what the whole project was about, right??

So, this morning, I got up early & took this pic. I think it'll work for my journalling about my feelings about the end of Christmas. I wish I could take artsy pics. I know this could look so much better but.... Oh well. I have half my C'mas stuff down: downstairs tree is down & most of the downstairs decor is down. Unfortunately, none of the "normal' stuff is up nor is any of the Snowman stuff up. I could do it tonite or look for the stamp sets I wanted to put on eBay or work on a swap or watch TV & go to bed early (gotta get ready for back to school! ICK!)

Not a new photo but, I wanted to share

I like to give the kids' teachers ornaments for Christmas. I had an idea about the ornament I wanted to make this year but time got away from me. I saw some BEAUTIFUL ornaments on Laura's blog and they look like something I could manage. How wrong I was.

I thought I followed Laura's directions exactly. They aren't hard directions? What could I be doing wrong. Well, I think I figured out the problem. It was 2 fold: I was draining them too long & was using semi-icky glitter. I had the MS coarse glitter & it was just too coarse & not sparkly enough. This picture does not show how truly UGLY this ornament is!!!

I decided to try again. This time, I could only find HUGE ornaments at Michael's, all the little ones were taken by people who planned ahead better & knew what they were doing! Oh well. I used Cool Caribbean reinker (I only have brown reinkers for some reason. Weird. I bought Cool Caribbean, True Thyme & whatever the reddish In color was at that time. This was before I started boycotting In Colors!) and my ultrafine glitters in colors. Here is the weird thing; the color of the ink is not that important; it's the color of the glitter that effects the color of the ornament!! (The pink was done w/Pretty in Pink ink)

I used pink glitter w/CC and it came out more of a true blue. I used light blue glitter and it turned out light blue. I used gold glitter & somehow, it gave a greenish gold tint to the ornament. When I ran out of the gold, I used dark green. WHOA, that turned out a dark, Dark, DARK green ornament!! I think if you click the pics below, you might get a better picture of what the colors look like.

So, if you decide to try this next year, here are a few tips:

1) use a waxy or plastic drink cup to drain them in. You will be able to reuse the ink (if you use one color of ink anyway) cause the ink will just pour right out of the cup. If you use the 3oz PAPER b/r cups, the ink soaks thru.
2) Drain the ornaments for 10 min or less!! But, before you turn the ornament back over, wipe the "mouth" of it off so it doesn't drain back into the ornament & make the glitter glob.
3) Experiment w/different colors of glitter. I'm dying to try a brown ink w/a gold or red glitter to see what happens!! (When does Michael's restock their ornaments?? Mine is COMPLETELY out now!)

I guess it's time to take the trees & the other decorations down now. :( I hate this day!! But, I bought a cool, big light up snow man & I can't wait to get him & the rest of my snow stuff out!! My upstairs tree is mostly snowmen: can't I leave it up til Valentines????

Isn't Jan 1 the GREATEST!!!

It's so easy to keep your resolutions!! Here's a photo & a post. Woohoo!

Today was a nice quiet day. Scott & I are both sick but we did manage to make it to midnight last night. The kids watched the fireworks, I went to bed, Scott filled the humidifier to have in our room. I don't think an humidifier does much good but a) he likes it & 2) it drowns out a little bit of his snoring.

Got up, got a shower (something you take for granted on a "normal" day but since I've been sick, it's been a every 3rd day luxury!), worked on some ATCs (pics tomorrow maybe?).

Last year, on NYD, we went to see Night at the Museum. The kids have decided that it's a tradition now. Well, what's playing? Benjamin Button, nah. Valkyrie, Scott wants to see this but, come on, the kids are 12 & 14. Plus, I know how it ends! Nah! Marley & Me, fine by me but dd REFUSES to see it. I guess that leaves Bedtime Stories.

Why is this boy such a goof?? Oh yeah, I'm his Mom!

Not a huge Adam Sandler fan but it was a fine show & a good way to spend an cold afternoon! Before the opening credits both kids had a tiny bout of Montezuma's revenge & ran to the b/r. Nick actually missed the first few minutes of the show. But, they both bounced back & refused to eat anymore popcorn. More for me & Scott, right?? No, I kicked the dang thing over about 10 minutes into the movie. When will they make theaters for us plus-size movie goers?? I know my tushie is big but please give me enough room for my feet & the bath-tub size of popcorn (ah, now I know how my tushie got big!!)

Home again, left over Imo's pizza for dinner (YUM!!), watched a little tv, worked a little more on ATCs (don't you LOVE Changito!! Isn't he/she just perfect for paper piecing??)

Now, it's 9:30 & time to get the kids back into the school day bedtimes. I guess Nick's gonna get to stay up until 10 now like Becs. He was going at 9:30 but, since they both get up at the same time & leave at the same time (and Nick's almost always ready to go when we leave, unlike someone else who doesn't usually have shoes on, contacts in, hair combed, bed made, pretty much NOTHING done!), I guess it's only fair.

New Years Resolution

My hope for the new year (besides health, world peace & all the crap) is to update my blog daily!!! I need to get over the fact that I may not have crafts to share & just post. Even if no one out there ever reads any of it, I want it as a "journal" and to help me maybe get back into scrapbooking! I love the immediate gratification of a card but my first love was always scrapbooking.

So, on the order of Becky Higgins Project 365, I'm going to post something everyday. I hope to take a pic of something w/some sort of significance everyday. I don't know what in the world it might be but, I'm going to try. Now, having said that, I can't download any pics right now. I got a teeny, tiny media card stuck in my SD slot on my computer. I'll have to find my cord & download the "old fashioned way". LOL