Ribbon is done!

I found these glass containers at Walmart for $4 a piece! I'm really happy--they look beautiful!

I reorganized my scrap shelves (again) and fell in love with the wall. Again. :)

I love this basket I got at Target for $15 this past spring! It hold mostly my Great Impressions stamps of the month, but a few other of my favorites are in there, too.

Here's a shot of my desk and the family room from standing in front of the scrap shelves.

And here's the wall behind my desk. (Also re-done.) :-D

Stacy from My Love Affair with the Label Maker is hosting an 'organize your stuff'' challenge, and this week is pictures. I pretty much have that under control, so I can take the rest of the week off. Watch, next week will be ribbon.

The 3rd of July

My brother and his family came down to see us on the 3rd. Good thing, because it rained all day on the 4th.

Here's Kenney grilling the chicken.

My (nearly) two year old nephew is looking for the cats.

"Where titty tat?"

"Not me. He's looking for JackJack. I don't play."

"TITTY!!!" (I know. It was even more hilarious in his little voice!)

Nicolas loves puzzles (and 'damma'!!)

Nicolas plays with Abby and Grandpa by the swing set.

Ah, playing catch in the backyard, Father and Son.

Does is get any more American than that?

Well, probably. But that was a pretty cool moment!!

Amendment about my unused paper scraps

Although I said I 'tossed' the unused paper, I should've added 'into the recycle bin'.

I am trying to be a little greener everyday :)

Organizing my scraps

I've been following the scrap room organization challenge from twopeas member Wookie Mouse, and although I'm a week or so behind I'm psyched to show you my scraps and how I've fixed a huge problem I didn't really realize I had!

I have been keeping my scrap paper in 13x13 zip top bags, filed in 13x13 hanging folders in the cropper hopper keeper. (I don't know that 'keeper' is it's exact title, but whatever. . .)

So from the beginning of time (my scrapping time, that is) I've kept nearly EVERY scrap piece of paper. Some other scrappers have drilled it into my head that 'this stuff is just too expensive to toss away' and 'if you can get a punch out of it, it's not trash'. But to me, enough is enough already!

I DO NOT spend the time going through those scrap bags looking for just the right shade of color, and I have RARELY searched through the depths of the scrap bags for smaller pieces of card stock for card making.

So one by one, I dumped the bags, sorted by shade (the best I could), and TOSSED anything smaller than 2"x2".

**Deep breath**

**And. . .

. . . .exhale.**

I feel MUCH better.
And there's STILL too many scraps. But I do believe I'm more apt to look through them now, knowing what is in there (and what is NO LONGER in there.)


Here is a shot of a couple (cleaned and sorted) scrap bags. . . .

. . . .in the 'keeper'.

Huge, huge thanks to you, WookieMouse!!!

Summer lovin'. . .

One my new favorite restaurant items is Chili's (warm) chips and salsa! I've had it twice in the past three weeks (while galavanting all over various towns through the upper half of Illinois).

And oooooo, what coffee lover doesn't adore this picture of a cold, frosty cup-o-joe nestled in with my summer greenery? :-D

What do YOU love about summer?

You'd think it'd be easy to find a container. . .

. . .Like this.

I bought two of these plastic-with-a-screw-top-lid jars at walmart about a year ago. They are no longer in existence. I've been to three different walmarts (even talked to an employee), Kroger, Meijer, Hobby Lobby, Michael's, two different dollar stores and COUNTLESS sites including craig's list, eBay, and the Container Store.

None to be had.

So, okay whatever. . .I just need 6 identical jars similar to the above for my scrapbooking/card making ribbon

(here's about a tenth of it)

to take the alloted ribbon space on my shelf.

See. . .there's a place for ink and paint, (btw, those plastic jars are nice but not tall enough for my ribbon needs)

. .. .and a place for buttons and dew drops.

I can't believe looking for a uniform look for my ribbon is so difficult. I mean, without paying like $7 per container! Oh, sure, I can find very nice glass jars almost anywhere that would look fantastic! Money, however, *IS* an object, so the search much continue. . .

*sigh*

So busy livin' life!

WOW, we have been going NON STOP since school got out! I've been carrying my camera with me so I can show everyone pics of what we're up to, but I keep forgetting to snap pictures! DUH! But I'm going to sit at my craft desk and create tonight, so I will be sure to share the art work tomorrow!!

I bought new curtians for my kitchen this past week and I have the top valances up. . .I'm waiting on my mom to come by with the rods I need for the cafe (lower) tiers. It already looks very nice! I will be sure to share that too :)

OH and Ken was offered a job very close to home; one town over! How exciting! He'll be only 25 minutes away and be able to come home every night! Praise God!!

Speaking of God, I think we're going to try Eastview Church again tomorrow morning. When we first moved here we went there quite a few times and I just didn't feel connected. Let's see what happens tomorrow. . .