Living My Bliss

I'm a bad blogger!

2011-08-21T11:44:00.000-07:00

My apologies for not posting more on here. I've missed a lot of items that could have been posted here but didn't and I apologize! I vow to do better! :-)

There were originally three cards for this post but already gave one away! LOL These cards were made at the monthly stamping group I go to. FABULOUS group of ladies!

Want to win some scrappy supplies? Check this out!

2011-01-23T12:39:00.000-08:00

Julie has hijacked Nikki Sivils blog and is giving away some of Nikki's "Sugar Cookie" line of products. Super cute!

If you want a chance to win ... follow THIS LINK to find out how.

Word of the Year

2011-01-21T18:27:00.000-08:00

Ali Edwards - a scrapbooker, author and blogger - chooses one word each year that will define her goals/thoughts/mindset for the year ....I've been thinking about mine and there are so many that I want to use but I think this year it is going to be CHANGE.

There are many things in my life I want to work on ... both good and bad ... Change is a good thing. :-)

Clearance Section ....

2010-12-15T20:44:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

I've created a Clearance section on my Lisa's Studio Store blog. Time to get things moving ... LOL.

- I will have at least 10% of the total number of listings on the blog at clearance prices. (eg: 50 postings, 5 items on clearance. 100 items, 10 items on clearance)
- The price of each item will go down by 10% per month until the item sells.
- Clearance items will be updated around the end of each month.
- Sold on a first come, first serve basis.

November Stamp Class

2010-11-20T23:00:00.001-08:00

November was the final stamp class for this year since December is usually crazy busy for everyone. One of the girls (Irma) thought it would be a fun idea if we all made something crafty for everyone as kind of a gift exchange.

Everyone was in! It really felt like Christmas when everyone was handing out their goodies. Soooo much fun.

(Pssst! I apologize in advance for the 'photography' on these. The lighting in my craft room needs revamped desperately.)

This is my creation: A pendant keychain fob. I covered large washers with CTMH Silhouette paper and covered that with CTMH's Liquid Glass to give it shine. I strung beads (Michaels and Stampin' Up) onto elastic cord and attached it all to a key ring. There's a couple of things I would have done differently but I love how it turned out, just the same.

This lovely package is from Nikki. She covered the bag using another bag that was clear and punched the tops. The gift tag is embossed and the little diamond attached to it to keep the bag closed is also an ornament you can hang on your tree. PLUS she filled the bag with a baggie of her super yummy Popcorn Twist Poppycock. OMG! To die for (She also put the recipe in the bag for us .... wahoo!)
This is from Cori. By 'this' I mean the wine AND the cute wine hanger. Love the colors of it. It also doubles as a gift card holder (for a favorite wine supplier etc.) as she has a pouch available on the back where you can tuck one in. The second picture is just a little closer look so you can see all the details.

This little beauty is from Sandy. So creative. The little pouch is held closed with velcro and it opens up (should have taken a picture of it open ... sorry). She had tucked a package of Trident gum inside but this could easily house a gift card and be hung from the tree. Love the colors on this one!

This cute package is from Rebecca. Silly me untied the ribbon to see the insides and couldn't get it tied properly again. I should have paid attention and slid it off like everyone else did. LOL Leave it to me to be different. It opens up to reveal a candycane and a package of hot chocolate! Yum!

And because she thought that wasn't creative enough, she also gave us tealight holders she had covered in rubons! Complete with a yummy smelling tealight.

This cute little window gift box is from Gail. I took the lid off for the picture so you could see the details on the lid. How cute is that?! Inside housed red shavings topped with another yummy smelling tealight! My house is going to smell glorious for a long time!

This fun creation is from Irma. Mini milk cartons in their own little carrier! Uber cute! As you can see from the pictures (front then back) I opened the cartons to get at the goodies inside! LOL Tinkly bells, another tealight, and CANDY! Chocolates, no less. MMMMMMM.

This gorgeous creation is from Kendra .... you should have seen all of them all fit together to form a stunning cake! Seriously, you should have! The top lifts up to reveal ..... candy! LOL This was not part of the exchange ... it was a 'thank you' gift for each of us for being in her class the last 8 months. It was our pleasure, for sure. (*sigh* I just noticed I took the picture with the lid tucked IN instead of OUT so it looks like icing properly.)

THIS was Kendra's contribution to the exchange. How fun is that? I forget what this style of box is called but I have GOT to make some. :-) The second picture shows the box opened. They are empty now, but at one time they held all kinds of goodies .... aka candy. LOL (ETA: Okay ... could not stand it and had to go look. They are called Fantasy boxes and I had a couple bookmarked so one of the tutorials is HERE)

Do I stamp with a bunch of talented ladies or what?!?! Will I be back for more in January? You betcha!

Happy crafting!

Christmas Card Class

2010-10-21T00:48:00.000-07:00

My friend, Kendra, is a Stamping Up Consultant and I had missed her annual Christmas card class last year so vowed not to this year! Am soooo glad I didn't miss it. Check out all the loveliness we created!

We created two of each so I am well on the way to getting the 60+ cards that I make each year completed! LOL

I Won!

2010-10-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

Carmen, over at Beyond the Fringe Crafts, had a blog giveaway a bit ago and I won one of the prizes! Eeeeee! Was so excited! LOL

I just could not wait to use them so didn't get a picture, but snagged a couple off her blog to show you.

Amaretto Eggnog Sugar Scrubs, made with brown sugar. They smell absolutely divine!!!!

Green tea lemongrass soap! I LOVE LOVE LOVE anything citrus-y and this soap fills the bill. It smells oh so nummy!

Carmen does some amazing things with all kinds of crafts so go check out her blog. She sells some of these delicious smelling items, too!

Retail Therapy

2010-05-12T20:50:00.000-07:00

There is nothing better than retail therapy to help you get over a stressful week :-)

Took a trip to Kelowna on Saturday and I hit two scrapping stores on the way.

I caved and bought a couple of Magnolia stamps ... my first Tilda. lol Irma would be so proud!
I also picked up the Martha Stewart scoring board. Loving that the scoring lines are more frequent than the Scor-Pal though I haven't really tried it for anything yet. Just a test piece.

AND a girl has to have bling. I bought some shiny pearls and some super cute stick pins with burgundy balls and shiny sparkly stones on it.

Some Stickles in black, some Fancy Pants paper and some Fancy Pants brads and my day was complete!

Ah, life is good!

FREE basic grey collection!

2009-12-27T18:07:00.000-08:00

Get Sketchy is giving away a complete line of the Basic Grey "Origins" line! There's different ways to enter so go check it out! (And tell them I sent you! lol)

Short Update!

2009-12-26T14:04:00.000-08:00

Wow time sure flies.

Christmas is over and all the hustle and bustle of all the craziness is over as well. (Yay!) Hope everyone had a very happy holiday season. I wish you much health, happiness and prosperity in 2010.

I spent most of the last month and a half just getting ready for the big day. Normally I start making my cards around 11 November but got started a couple weeks late so spent as much of my free time (ie non-work time) making my Xmas cards. I normally do around 70 each year so you can imagine the time crunch when you factor in that I started a couple weeks late! Eeeek!

The last ones got mailed out the Friday before Xmas so crossing my fingers that they all made it before Xmas Day! :-)

Our cat Misty was having some issues, too. She had been losing weight and not taking care of herself as she normally would. Nails getting REALLY long, very matted hair and the weight loss finally convinced us a trip to the vet was in order. She is great about sitting for a brushing but only to a certain point and we just couldn't keep up with the clumps.

Long story short, she got her nails cut, a lion shave (hehehehe), and blood tests. Blood tests confirmed a thyroid problem. Solution: $30 a month for medicine or a trip to Vancouver for a $1000.00 radiation treatment for her thyroid. Guess which one we chose? !!!

Took her back to vet to get a stitch taken out on the 23rd and she had already gained back 0.3kg so she is doing better.

Yes, those bumps are her backbone and, yes, those are her ribs. We were shocked after they shaved her how skinny she actually was. With all her fur you really couldn't tell how bad it was. Poor kitty! (She's stuffing her face in this picture .... LOL) In spite of all her problems, she never lost her appetite!

Christmas was quiet here. Sheldon had to work Xmas Day and today so we had our Xmas dinner on Xmas Eve and opened gifts after dinner. Santa was very good to us this year but Sheldon figures Santa went a little overboard on him this year. Ooops! heheheheh The kids couldn't come up from the coast this year and had their Xmas at their place. Was the first one where they were not at least able to come over for dinner and it felt really weird. :-(

BUT I have to get used to the idea that he is 26 now and getting married next year so he won't be able to come home EVERY Xmas like before. He's starting his own life now. (But that doesn't mean that I have to LIKE it, darn it!) Okay .... 'nough of that. Getting teary. LMAO

Going to drown my sorrows in another coffee and Carolans now! Cheers! :-)

PS: I give up! I have spent the last 15 minutes trying to get spacing in between the paragraphs in the top 1/2 of my post but nothing I do when editing works! Booo Blogger.com!

Squirrel!!!

2009-11-15T10:35:00.000-08:00

Hehehehehehe! This makes me smile every time I think of it.

Ads for the Disney/Pixar movie UP! have been showing on TV a lot lately and it's so cute when the dog is talking and all of a sudden stops, turns his head and yells "Squirrel!!!" before going back to what he was saying/doing. Cute, right?

Well, picture a grown man walking through a department store and all of a sudden blurting out "Squirrel!!" for no reason what-so-ever! If you know my husband, you can imagine how freaking hilarious it was! OMG!

He is also not a country music fan but on ocassion he will deign to allow me to play country on the satellite radio on a road trip. We're coming home from Kelowna (the same day as the department store episode), country music playing on the satellite. Now you gotta picture this .... he's driving .... a really twangy country music song comes on and he starts stomping his foot on the floor while slapping his knee with his hand (ala barn dance moves) and I'm just giggling how he's mocking my fave music ever. Then he just yells out "Squirrel!!" while simultaneously stopping the stomping and looking out the window. I thought I was gonna pee my pants I was laughing so hard!!!

Okay ... maybe you had to be there but at the time it was extremely funny and like I said before, I still can't help smiling and it's been 3 days! hehehehehehe

Just had to share in case someone else shares my sense of humor about it all.

Silhouette Rocks!

2009-11-06T18:49:00.000-08:00

I love my Silhouette and now I love following their blog!!!

Even better ... they are giving away some blog candy if they hit 500 followers by Monday! If you're a Silhouette lover like me, you'll love the candy too! $50 worth of digital downloads! Check out what you have to do to enter .... and trust me, it's not much! Be a follower and leave a comment .... that's it!

Too fun!

Yummy Recipe

2009-11-02T18:55:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite soups ever! So flavorful and best of all ..... low in fat!!! Perfect right about now when I'm trying to lose another 66.2 pounds before my son gets married this coming summer. LOL

I adapted this recipe from in one of my Weight Watchers magazines. Since I'm a vegetarian, I left out the meat and replaced the chicken broth with vegetable broth. I found the original recipe too 'soupy' and I like my peas soup to have some substance to it so left out the 2c. of water the recipe called for and just used the veggie broth. I can always add water to it later if it thickens up too much.

Spicy Pea Soup

1 pound split peas, picked over, rinsed and drained
1 large onion, chopped
2 whole carrots, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder
32 ounces (4 cups) vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
1/8 teaspoon cayenne (I usually double that .... love spicy!)

Bring the peas and enough cold water to cover by 2 inches to a boil in a saucepan. Remove the pan from the heat. Cover and let the peas soak for about 1 hour. Drain.

Heat a little of the veggie broth in a saucepan over med-high heat. Add the onions, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 min. Add the garlic and curry powder; cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 hour.

Stir in the drained peas, broth, bay leaf and cayenne; bring to boil. Reduce the heat; cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the peas are tender, about 1 hour.

Yields 7 cups

Per serving: 327 calories, 3g fat (8% calories from fat); 20g protein; 58g carbs; 20g dietary fiber; 1mg cholesterol; 880mg sodium.

Blog Candy! (Not from me, though....lol)

2009-10-09T20:13:00.000-07:00

Wanna win some cool blog candy? Check out this Bella Blvd post. Leave a comment for entry into the draw and let them know you found them because of me (Lisa P.) and we could both win!

Fun!

Scrapbook Supply Yard Sale!

2009-09-22T22:56:00.000-07:00

It's official!

I am going to have my scrapbook supply yard sale on October 11th from 10am to 2pm. It's all stuff from my personal stash (including some of my CTMH stuff I am no longer using, including stamps to make room for new ones! LOL). If you need details and live in the Kamloops BC area, send me an email and will send you more info.

I will be doing a raffle of sorts as a fundraiser for Operation Smile which CTMH supports. It will be a drawing for one of our kits.

Everything will be priced at 50% or more off retail price with additional discounts depending on how much you spend.

Newest Project

2009-09-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

My newest creation ... Looks much better in real life, though. The black around the outside is the frame it is in. For details, check out my other blog HERE.

Spring Has Sprung

2009-07-04T23:21:00.001-07:00

Did this layout up for a class I taught as part of a prize I donated for a silent auction to raise funds for our local theater company. It was a super fun night with a great bunch of ladies. They had never scrapped before and did a wonderful job with their layouts!

Happy mail yesterday!

2009-06-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

Okay ... took the plunge and ordered the second Great Goodies box that came up as part of the Deal-a-Day on CTMH websites (mine included) and it arrived yesterday morning.

It cost me $49.95 + shipping + taxes and this is what I got:

1 x Life Delights Memory Showcase kit (value $15.95)
1 x tube of My Accents - Green (value $14.50)
1 x tube of Ribbon Rounds - Heartfelt Collection (value $10.50)
1 x Booking Stamp Set - Salutations (value $18.75)
2 x sets of Clear Tags - 1x Thank You and 1x Precious (value $4.95 each)
1 x D-size stamp set - Becasue of You (value $28.50)
1 x Dimenstional Elements - Numbers (value $6.25)
1 x Level 2 Paper Pack - Abundance (value $15.95)

So, by today's prices, I got $120+ worth of stuff for $49.95+taxes+shipping. I am sooooo stoked for the next one to arrive now! Wooohooo!

It was like opening Xmas presents in June since I had NO idea what was inside. So much fun and highly recomment it! LOL

I think I may have to order the one there today, too! LOL

More Blog Candy!

2009-04-29T13:57:00.001-07:00

Sarah (a fellow CTMH consultant) over at Sarah's Paper Tray is giving away an super cute card kit as blog candy! You have to put the cards together yourself, but trust me when I say that this kit rocks!!! I bought one ages ago and made all the cards. I am in the process of donating them all to help raise funds for the Sagebrush Theatre here in Kamloops as part of a gift basket for a silent auction. Sooooo .... I am hoping to win another one! LOL

Head on over to try and win it, too. You won't regret it! Go here ...

Amazing Blog Candy!

2009-04-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

Debbie at Passion For Crafting is giving away the most amazing blog candy I've ever seen! Zip on over and put your name in quickly! LOL

My Sister

2009-04-23T23:06:00.000-07:00

Did this layout last month of my sister when she was about 3-ish. I feel it's missing something but got tired of staring at it so gave up. For now. LOL Gotta dig through my bling, I think.

BLOG CANDY!

2009-04-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

The end of this month marks the 6th month anniversary of me joining the Close To My Heart team and I am giving you gifts! Blog candy .... check it out here!

The more people who leave comments, the more I will be giving away! Spread the word!

Ugh!

2009-03-28T14:45:00.000-07:00

I am so far behind, I am beginning to think I am first. Life is crazy and then I end up with one doozy of a cold. One of the worst I've had that I can remember. I even missed 1.5 days of work ... NOT normal for me in any way. BUT I've got the rest of the weekend to recover and am feeling almost normal today. I can even breathe through my nose! (Bet you wanted that information...LOL). Seriously, though. I am not a mouth breather so sleeping has been terrible and over the last three nights I maybe got 16 hours sleep.

Okay ... enough of that. Spending my recouping time organizing my creative room and weeding out some of my scrap supplies. I have to! Totally out of control. Thinking of organizing a scrapbook supply garage sale for the fall but just trying to get the details together and want to get some input from some scrapping friends first.

The weight loss thing is not going well but that's okay. Once I am feeling better I can get back into the swing of things.

Enough for now. A stack of patterned paper is calling my name!!!

How fun is this ...

2009-03-05T18:00:00.002-08:00

You'd never know this was me ... but was so fun to do. Check out Obamicon.Me to make your own! The images are based on a style inspired by Shepard Fairey's iconic poster of Obama, shown here.

Have fun with it!

Blog Candy!

2009-03-04T17:54:00.000-08:00

No, not from me. Lovebug Scrapbooking, where I spend some of my scrapping time, just started a blog and they are giving away a $20 Gift Certificate to the store for commenting on this post before March 8th, letting them know what you like to see in blogs. Mention my name in your comment and I get an extra entry! *wink wink*

Seriously, they are a great bunch of girls with gobs of talent, hearts of gold, and tons of fun.

Good Luck card

2009-03-01T14:14:00.001-08:00

This scanned terrible. Looks sooooo much better in real life. Made this for a young lady who is moving to Alberta.

Supplies:
PP - Basic Grey
Inks, blossom, stamp set - CTMH
Brad - MM
Bling - Prima

I did it!

2009-02-25T10:13:00.001-08:00

Well, I finally went and did it! After all these years, I have applied to be on my first Design Team (DT). I'm nervous and won't know for a whole month whether or not I got one of the three spots or not but if I don't, that's okay. I will try again.

The DT call is for Lisa's Scrap Shack, which is run by a great lady named Lisa (obviously...LOL) who has a scrap store she runs out of her home via the internet. LOTS of pretty goodies!!! The store is located at http://www.lisasscrapshack.com/index.php (Pssst ... if you're a Basic Grey lover like me, she has the newest line in that I love - "Porcelain" - purty!)

If you're interested in applying to be on the DT, check out her blog at http://lisasscrapshack.typepad.com/ for details! I don't mind a little competition! hehehehe

All About Me - Lisa

2009-02-24T10:11:00.001-08:00

Did this page as part of Irma's February 2009 Challenge with our Facebook Challenge group. The challenge was to create a page about yourself that HAD to include a picture of you on it plus she gave us a set of sketches by Becky Fleck at PageMaps that we had to base it on.

For products used, go here.

Home Sweet Home

2009-02-22T22:40:00.000-08:00

I don't think you really realize how much you take your own home for granted until you've been away from it for a few nights! Sheldon and I spent the weekend in Bellingham but got home earlier today and I cannot wait to sleep in my own bed with my own pillow. The familiar sites and sounds. Ahhh! Contentment.

On the plus side, I got some smoking deals on lots of scrapbook related items this weekend!!! Super stoked about that, let me tell you. More goodies to play with and hopefully soon I will have something to show you here and on my other site (wescrapmoments.blogspot.com).

I have also been tossing around the idea of starting a blog for my family tree, but not sure on when yet. Will keep you all posted!

Well, goodnight to one and all. Time to lay down my sleepy head.

Howdy! and Welcome!

2009-02-08T14:02:00.001-08:00

Well, I've finally jumped into the world of blogging, twice actually. I'm just learning so bear with me.

I've also started a blog for my business with Close to My Heart. You can find it at: http://wescrapmoments.blogspot.com You're welcome to check it out. I am running a special right now to celebrate CTMH's 25th Anniversary.

On another note, I am really enjoying having TWO whole days off in a row. Slept in both days and feel sooooo much better for it. Aaah. Beauty rest. LOL