Just dropping in to say hi!

It's been quiet here lately, hasn't it? :) I find myself to be on the computer less, so there's your problem. Doing cleaning, cooking...getting back into sewing...that kind of thing. The most likely way you'll hear from me nowadays is through Facebook or Twitter. My FB account needs approval for adding you, but anyone can follow me through Twitter. Look for "ChrisBeasley". (I went crazy with the name there!) And if you look over to the right >>>>>>>>, I just added the ability for my latest 5 Tweets to show up here.

And yes, I am working on a new kit; I'd say it's about 2/3rds of the way finished. It's got some fun, bright colors; nice for spring/summer! I need to start working on my June mini kit bonus, though, so it may be a few weeks before it's up. (Or not. You never know!) Once it's in the store, you'll probably get a FB status update or a Tweet about it.

Whoo hoo! Cards done!

I swear, I was really thinking that photos for this year's card wasn't going to happen. I'd tried before, but got no cooperation on the part of my daughter. And what I did get just wasn't cutting it. But, we tried again yesterday, and I'm happy with these photos. So, I got a card together lickety-split, and it's now uploaded for printing. The final version has a bit of a wording difference from this web version, but it's the same. So, if you're getting one, this is a preview you're only going to see here. (Sorry to spoil the surprise!) And everyone can consider this a virtual card from me!

What a week!

Ok, so Thanksgiving approaches, and I start feeling sick, as I mentioned my last post. My throat hurts, chills...fun stuff. At first it was being controlled by ibuprofen, but by Wednesday night, things are getting worse in the throat department. So, our Thanksgiving plans got cancelled. And I had to wait 'til Friday to confirm...strep throat! Oddly enough, I'm 39 now and this is only the second time I've had strep. (Thankfully!) And the last time was only about a year or two ago.

Meds are working now and I'm much better. Whew!

Anyways, I had mentioned I was knitting my daughter a hat, and last week I finished the hat part. Today, I stitched it together, made the chin strap, and added the buttons. So, it's done!

*I have pictures, but I'm on the "wrong" computer right now. I'll post them in the morning.*

Ugh, sick again! :(

I guess it's not that hard to believe since my daughter started having a bad runny nose on Sunday, but now dh and I are sick again. I'm currently alternating btwn. chills and feeling flushed. (sigh) Hurry up & work, medicine!

This does mean that, while I know I need to, I can't say for sure I'm going to get over to the Digitals forum and hand out bonuses for Q & A today or tomorrow. But I don't want to wait too much longer, so hopefully I'll get a quiet moment to do that. Sorry for the delay!

The weekend is over!

Well, I made it through the weekend without losing too much more of my sanity. (chuckle) I finished several S4H projects, got some more work done on my daughter's hat, and my hubby even got home from work today a little early. Tomorrow the routine starts again for a few days. My daughter's managed to get another cold/runny nose. (sigh) I guess I should be glad she's not lethargic and feverish, though. She'll be ok, but boy, I'll be glad when she doesn't bring home every germ and virus under the sun. (That does happen, right? ;) )

Well, this will be "interesting".

I'm not really going to have a weekend. For that matter, neither will my dh. He has to work. Both days. Let me tell you, in the almost-18 years that he's worked for this company, I could probably count on one hand the times he's had to work a Sunday. I think we are hanging onto our sanity because we know that next week's going to be a short one thanks to Thanksgiving.

So now you know why I have all these projects and books around...to keep my sanity! :)

I'm thinking I need to get cracking this morning on my next S4H project, and get some more work done on those Xmas elements!

Today's happenings

I am currently working on 2 Scrap 4 Hire projects, with another one to follow immediately. Plus, I came up with the idea for a new Christmas themed element set, so I quickly started on that. Top that off with the fact that I am reading Peggy Noonan's When Character Was King, and I started knitting a hat for my daughter...and I guess you can say I'm not good at focusing on one project at a time. LOL! The book & knitting keep me busy when I can't get on the computer, and I need to jump btwn. several scrap projects to keep me fresh. That's my excuse, anyway.

Oh, and of course I have my kids to watch. ;) And dishes that are piled in the sink. So yeah, you could say I'm a bit busy today.

No work for me today, I'm afraid

Ok, so the day's not over quite yet. ;) But I had planned to get a little extra sleep after my daughter was at preschool, and then I'd work some more on next month's bonus kit. But thanks to a lack of sleep last night and a killer headache this morning, that didn't happen. I am glad that the headache was better this afternoon and I managed to make a run to the library. I picked up 7 books for myself. A few of them are on typography, something which I'm hoping to study to improve my designing.

I'm also glad to say that my son is feeling better today; yay!!! :) I was starting to think I was going to have to drag him to the doctor, but you'd hardly know he was sick now, he's acting so normal. He may not be 100% healthy, but he's much improved. It also helped that WALL-E came out on dvd today, and he's WALL-E obsessed. So it's given him something to watch (and watch and watch!) while he recovers.

OH, and I never mentioned on here that there's a new Dream Trip freebie over at Seebee's Freebies, if you haven't already popped over there. I woke up early on Sunday, and the idea for it came to my mind. So I dropped everything and created this mini-set before the idea left my head. :)

The "fun" continues...

Boy, it never stops, huh? Yesterday was the first day that my family was (mostly) healthy in about a month. Today, my son's running a temperature and vomiting. :( That poor guy's been through so much. He still hadn't fully shaken his cough from the last cold. In a way, I can't wait for the school year to be over. (It's been this way since my daughter started special-ed preschool a little over a month ago.)

So, this week I'm finishing up December's bonus kit for the Q & A challenge, plus I have a couple of Scrap 4 Hire projects that need to get done soon. As long as my daughter and I stay healthy, and my son is resting comfortably, I get some work done each morning while the little one's at preschool. Aside from the sickness, it's been great to have her there, for both of us. She enjoys getting out and I enjoy the 3 hours a day to do what I need or want to do. :)

Speaking of knitting (lol), the picture is one of many pics I took yesterday while we were visiting family. Almost all of the pics turned out to be rotten with a lot of blur. I believe I should have been using Tv mode, which is my usual choice with my kids. For whatever reason, I didn't choose that, and I suffered. (So let that be a lesson to all to stick with what works!) I did manage to get this mediocre picture of my daughter wearing a dress that was knitted by Grandma. It's the first time she's worn it, so I wanted to document it for Grandma. Love the dress, although the buttons on the back are too small; we spent a good amount of time chasing my daughter around to rebutton her. :)

Holy moley, an update!

Hey, bloggy friends! Here's a quick update. :) I know I've been MIA for a couple of months; I've had a lot going on. And I'm still busy, busy, busy. Some of that's designing, some of it's learning CS4 (my birthday present!), some of it is spending time playing Guitar Hero World Tour when I should be doing other things (yet another birthday present!), and some of it's trying to get our house healthy. Yes, we've been battling one virus after another around here, it seems. The joys of school!

As far as designing, I'm finishing up my final 2008 Christmas Card set (2 of these are already available, and I'm working on the "multiphoto" set). I'll have 3 sets available this year, plus the 2 from last year. So, if you're Christmas/holiday card shopping, check them out at Digitals. :)

I've been good about keeping myself logged into 4shared regularly, so all my Seebee's Freebies are still available. I wouldn't want to go through another data loss & reload if I can help it! Also, since I haven't mentioned it in a bit, don't forget I run a monthly challenge at Digitals, the Questions & Answers challenge. There's a freebie every month for completing that. And I still try to get a couple of video tutorials each month for Digitals.

Anyway, I'll *try* to do a bit better job of updating this blog, at least. I can't guarantee anything. I suppose it doesn't help that I'm the middle of changing computers. (I needed to go to our faster desktop in order to run CS4.) And on top of my normal design duties and Scrap4Hire stuff, I gotta work on my own Christmas card! :) But I'll try to pop in and keep everyone abreast of what's happening better than I have. That's it for now!

My Dallas Photowalk Slideshow

I participated in Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photowalk last month, which was fun. I didn't get any particularly stunning and fabulous photos, but I've put some of the nicer ones in a Slide slideshow down at the bottom of this blog, if you care to peek.

Also, check out the Kaboodle box on the side, because I've got a brand-new kit out! It's Appletime! :)

Yay, I had a date! :)

Last night was one of those anomalies: my husband & I got to go on a date! :) And if you know me, you'll know that it was inevitable. Steely Dan was in town. We have not missed them in Dallas since their July 2000 show, where I officially became a big DanFan. We went to Luby's for dinner (I know...not so romantic, but we were pressed for time and I didn't want fast food) and in a bit of serendipity, we heard "Do It Again" on Luby's music system while we were eating. I told dh that it seemed like a very appropriate choice.

This was my fifth SD concert, having gone to the ones in 2000, 2003, plus 2 in 2006 (Dallas and San Antonio). I think the 2000 one will always be the gold standard for me, but I certainly enjoyed last night. We got The Royal Scam again, which hasn't been done here since it was the opener after the 2000 intermission. I finally got to hear a Donald Fagen song live (The New Frontier). Walter Becker sang a song again, after skipping any vocals in 2006. (Walter, maybe you're not the casual fan favorite, but I & others enjoy you and would LOVE to have heard something from Circus Money, a d*** fine album.) I was missing Carolyn Leonhart a bit since I'm a fan of her, but I can't argue with the wonderful trio of ladies they currently have.

And it almost didn't happen, but I got to see a Fez Guy. Every SD concert we've been to in town, I've seen some guy(s) wearing a fez. I now make it a point to check for Fez Guys; it just wouldn't seem like a SD concert without 'em. :) So, Fez Guy at the souvenir stand after the show, we caught ya and we salute you! I was hoping to see one before the show, because I figured they'd be happy to hear (if they already didn't know) that The Fez was *finally* part of the setlist this year, albeit in instrumental form.

Due to our smidgen of a budget, we couldn't spring for close seats this year. We were up in the balcony, but I think it worked out pretty well because there were only about 8 people in our section. So we had some privacy,which was nice. (This is assuming you can call a concert with thousands of people "private". LOL)

Mr. Fagen announced in an article earlier this year that there would be the possibility of a solo tour in the fall. If either Donald or Walter do this, PLEASE COME TO DALLAS. We usually get overlooked in favor of the coastal cities. So, somebody pass it on, ok? :) Thanks!

I've had a busy couple of days, so I'm looking forward to trying to relax before Monday arrives. (Monday is THE DAY: kindergarten for my firstborn!)

The Mole: We're down to 4!

Well, either I got the text clue correct, or I'm lucky with that 1 in 5 chance. :) But I really, really had a feeling I was going to be right when the show started to milk Nicole's comments about throwing the game & going home. And when Jon (love ya, Jon!) said there was a tie, I figured that was the big "shocker" that was mentioned on the Behind-the-Scenes blog. (The shocker being that she doesn't go home like you would expect after all that talk.)

I'll go ahead & make my prediction for who goes home next week: Paul. This is just based on some web readings. Plus, the preview for next week showed Mark & Nicole reacting (or in Mark's case, not really reacting) over the next execution. I can envision Nicole reacting that way about Paul.

One week to go to find out, though! LOL!

Mole thoughts, and a reminder...

It's Monday! That means...another episode of The Mole! :) Mark is still around, although after last week's run on the treadmill, it's hard to say if it was done to throw off Mole-y suspicion, or if it was genuine. I don't have a good theory at this point, so I'll stick with Mark.

And I'll make another prediction. (What the heck? We'll all have a good laugh if I'm wrong. :) ) Supposedly the text clue for tonight's ep is EP 1245. Most people are speculating that the number "3" is missing in that sequence. And usually these text clues point to whoever is going home on that episode. I've looked at some thumbnails of screen shots of tonights show, and Clay (and his wife) are sitting in the number 3 spot. So, I'll guess Clay is leaving. We'll know for sure around 10:55 Eastern!

The reminder: Friday is the last day of the Christmas in July event. All my Xmas stuff at Digitals is 50% off through then, plus there's a non-Xmas related Product of the Day that's 50% off each day. (Today it's the Neutrality paper pack, which will give you 16 "go-with-anything" papers for $1.75!) And we're on day 8 of the Christmas quickpage givaway. Check out my Seebee's Freebies Blogspot for that.

I also got up a new product in the store over the weekend: it's the Fairyland brush set, for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. It's a fun way to add some "pixie dust" to your layouts. :)

That's all for now!

Who is The Mole?

With the second half of the season beginning tonight, and a recap show about to start in 20 minutes, I figure it's as good a time as any to proclaim my love for The Mole. :) I normally abhor reality tv, like Survivor or Big Brother, but The Mole is more like a mystery, and not a popularity contest like the others. I started watching around the middle of the first season thanks to a friend's recommendation, and it wasn't long before I was hooked. Seriously, if you haven't watched before, give it a try; they could use the ratings & I really would like to see it return next year. (It's even given me a reason to look forward to Mondays! LOL!)

And if you want my current opinion on who The Mole is, I'm choosing Mark. (Now, watch him get executed tonight!)

My inner nerd is excited!

I've been thinking of upgrading our cell phones, since we're out of our last contract period. So, they offer some nice discounts to get you to sign another contract. Along the same lines, I decided I wanted to get a new MP3/iPod player, since my old player only holds about 20-25 songs. So this past weekend I was doing some browsing on the AT & T website, and I found a Sony Ericsson Walkman phone on the list. I bought one for me that's nice & girly. (It's metallic pink!) It arrived on Tuesday & I'm in love with it!!! :D I love the built in mp3 player and FM radio, plus it came with a USB cord so I can even transfer the pics from the phone's camera to my computer. (My last phone made me send them through e-mail for a charge.) And it has separate ringtones for different callers, which was something dh & I decided we wanted. I also love the fact that I can design my own wallpaper for the phone, which I've already done. (If I get a chance, I'll take a pic.)

It's just a fun little toy, and it's been keeping me off the computer a bit. But I'm still around some! :)

Fun with sigs!

Aside from regular old digiscrapping, I find it fun to make signature files for some of the online message boards I frequent. The one here is my latest one for DFW Area Moms, slightly modified here to remove my kids' names. It's inspired by a collage in the liner notes of Sam Phillips' latest cd, Don't Do Anything. As soon as I saw the collage inside, I knew I wanted to try to make something in that style. (It also reminds me of a scrap LO I've seen by Chris Ford in Digital Scrapbooking Magazine.) I'm in love with this look right now. :)

Finding projects

I came across this website called Instructables as part of my browsing the BzzAgent site. And Instructables is pretty cool, I have to admit. (Granted, there's some junk there, too!) I think I could spend way too much time looking at little projects to do. For instance, one of the things I came across was how to make your own cooling scarf. If you have no idea what this is, it's a long, thin piece of fabric that's filled with polymer beads that expand & hold water when soaked. The water is slowly released from the bead, and it keeps the fabric damp. You wear it around your neck to help keep you cool. My dh and I started using these several years ago back when we were in our rollercoaster/themepark days, because it gets hot walking around in the summer in Texas. :) I'd always had a general idea of how to make them, but there were step-by-step instructions with photos on Instructables. Just think...I could probably find some Disney fabric and make these for a Disney trip. Cool! (If I ever do that, I'll post a pic. :D )

Anyways, there's all sorts of stuff to look at there, so you might find it worth a visit. ;)