Sunday, February 28, 2010

WRECK THIS JOURNAL starts tomorrow

EDIT:   TODAY!!!

Tomorrow I start with my WRECK THIS JOURNAL...I know there a lot of you out there who plan on following along.  here is the link to the original post that has the video:
Wreck this Journal post #1

We will do this Monday through Friday  on Tuesday of each week please email me a photo or scan of your page to susanscraps@comcast.net...and i will post it with mine. place a piece of paper over the address and phone # section before scanning or taking a picture

Tomorrow's instructions are (page 1)...THIS BOOK BELONGS TO:

there are 8 lines...the bottom 2 are for your address and phone #
 the top 6 say:
*write your name in WHITE

*write your name illegibly

*write your name in tiny letters

*write your name backwards

*write your name very faintly

*write your name using large letters

at the bottom of the page it says:
* if found, flip to a page randomly, follow the instruction, then return   :)

EDIT:  Journal on the page facing the "this journal belongs to" page

TURN the page, you may journal on the back, and then color in the instructions. Turn the page...read what the back of that page says.

I am really looking forward to doing this with all of you!
Hugs,
Susan

I used Bic "mark-its" pens for the Instructions page and they bled thru. :(



I picked out the words in the instructions, that stood out to me ...wrote them in NAVY
then i thought about those, and what the first word that came to my mind for each, and wrote them down in gold.

I want you to especially read and understand rule #4...instructions are open to interpretation...
That is what i mean by "I'll be taping my pages back in"  that is my interpretation.  For example...third  day we have to pull a page out and burn it...I am only going to burn around the edges and perhaps if the mood strikes me a hole in the center. LOL  then I will do some journaling  on it...I may use the sooty edges(that are burnt off to smear some color on the page.

Anyway, it is 2pm here, and I have not rec'd anyone's pictures to upload besides mine...sad :(

Here's Lee's pages:




Tuesday we will start the real fun. :)

Feb. 27 post #3--OWOH winners

Here is the surprise you'll both be receiving with your envelopes, An envelope box!! (Caryl also gets the stamps)
This is Caryl's, Elizabeth yours will be different.  I Hope you like it!  :)
 
  
top of the box-close up


side where it opens


open


close up of bottom inside


close up of inside lid


TADA!!!!  here is the finished project...Envelope box with envelopes and stamps :)

This is going postal this week Caryl!!

Saturday, February 27, 2010

2/27 Post #2--OWOH prizes rec'd

Over the past week I have received 5 more of my WONDERFUL gifts from OWOH...I believe there is just one more I am waiting for ...this was so incredible...NOT JUST THE GIFTS, although they sure do brighten many gray, gloomy days (3 blizzards in February), and my own "dark" days  BUT MOSTLY the GREAT PEOPLE I have met, I believe several of them and I are going to become friends.

I rec'd:
*a card kit from Teresa at http://makeathomecards.blogspot.com   ...so AWESOME  much nicer than I anticipated to be honest and she included photos and instructions...and tied them together with very pretty red with white polka dots  grosgrain(thinking 5/8")ribbon and it was tied in a perfect bow (I hate to untie it,so I have slid the kits in and out of it, LOL)

*3rd place winner of a a 3 X 5 image transfer canvas from Diane at http://dianesmixedart.blogspot.com  ...THIS is SOOO much prettier IRL!!  thank you :)

*"Birds at the Shore" print from Meg at (committedstitcher) http://blog.fiberholic.net/    ...Even the hubster LOVES this photo!!... big thanks to your hubby!

*2 SUPERB art books from Snap at http://twistylane.blogspot.com...(I sooo wanted this one also)   ...OMG!!  Snap not only sent me the 2 awesome art books, but there was a very nice card, a small Whitman's heart with chocolates  and would you believe she surprised me with a HM SHAWL  (I think it is crocheted)  I love it!

Amanda (daughter) was like; "Since you weren't expecting it, can I have it?'  LOL  I said; "NO, but maybe I will let you borrow it, if you go out fancy some evening!  

Ron was impressed with it also, said "Pretty color"  and "that was generous of her"  Which it MOST CERTAINLY IS!!!   

It is a gorgeous color also...it is  hard to describe as it is like red, pink, coral, orange all very blended.  

Anyway here is a picture hubby took, (so he is looking up at me and NOT used to my digital camera as he usually takes photos with a HUGE Canon Elan 35mm...it is a crappy picture of me, as I am disheveled and in sweats and the angle makes my head and neck look fatter than they are AND he did not give me any warning, so no smile)...but THIS ISN'T ABOUT ME....

IT IS about the SHAWL!!  OH SNAP   thank you SOOOO VERY MUCH!!!  I absolutely ADORE it!  and I may wear it on very cold nights while at the computer (that side of the room is cold, as that wall has now insulation)

without further adieu:

  Additionally I rec'd:

* a wire and beaded heart pin from Cyn at http://twobluecrows.blogspot.com...really wanted this also:)   ...This also is prettier IRL, and (surprise) Ron ACTUALLY said, " that's really nice"...he usually doesn't say much about artsy stuff. THANKS MUCHLY!!  can't wait to wear it!




Thank you gals, very much!  BIG hugs, Susan

WOW, lots to share...but I'll break it down-- 2/27 post #1

I am really sorry to be so late in posting today. I am not feeling well--sinuses/allergies + my hand is REAL bad today in addition to my rt knee.  On the brighter side, Ron is in a MUCH better mood today  :) !!


Ok first I'd love to share some of my newest art.  All of these are for swaps I am in.  I welcome ALL feedback :)    all pictures can be clicked on to enlarge  for a better view :)

Ok first up, a Collaged Bird  ATC swap this was a 4/4 swap, I sent 2 sets, both sets are 4 of the same card. In one set I used a "real" bird, in the other set a "zetti" bird from Teesha Moore's collage images. the "real bird and crown" are raised on pop dots.
 The same friend and fellow artist (Ali Brandist) who lives in the UK, is also hosting an "Inchies galore" swap
they were to be in groups of 10, and all the same or all different.  I sent in 5 sets.  One all different, and 4 sets of 10 of the same inchie.
 
The guitar one is hard to see but it is a silver metallic guitar on black bkgd. then I used a gold musical score vellum paper to lay over that, and a copper heishi (artchix studios)   the 2 Kanji are embossed on "far east" papers. (all my inchies are mounted on chipboard)
here is the set that is all different:



Here are some inchies for a blog challenge I did recently:
 two of these are the same as the above ones.

 Lastly is the I <3 Animals swap at ARTchix studios:


Clockwise: All Dogs go to Heaven #1a,
Pico's Enthusiasm (my son's dog),
Ceasar, Thumb's Up! (my son's cat-6 toes on both front paws)

I actually made 3 of each of these, so my son Tom could get one each of his animals (and me), and I entered 2 of the "dog with the victorola" and kept one for myself.
The dog one and the one of Caesar, have different sayings on them though.
Caesar for me says; "magnificent ME" and Tom's says; "ME the king"

now for the other 3, as this is a 6/6 swap:


 L to R: All Dogs go to heaven #1c,
So Sacred, So Loved (memorial for my Bootsie)
My Bird Blossom (not really my bird)

There are three of "So Sacred, So Loved"...one for me, and also one to give to Tom (he and his S/O collect ATCs, but only make them once in a while)

Now I have to get moving on some other swaps! LOL

There will be another post later tonight with the SURPRISE for my 2 OWOH winners!!!

Friday, February 26, 2010

HELP!! may-day, SOS Blog NEWBIE is clueless!!

OK, can anyone tell me how to "talk back" to people who post to my posts?  you know, like respond.  I am thinking there are a lot of people thinking I am rude....and I am not...but writing down email names and then going to my comcast mail to send individual emails...is just way to slow...especially since 173 people commented on my OWOH giveaway.  The little email box that pops up if I click on it on the person's profile for some reason won't work for me.  I would appreciate any help.

Also I apologize for not posting later today like I said I would...I will be tomorrow or in the wee morning hours.  With some Pics and a surprise for my 2 winners :)

Got my wish for more snow (strictly for the snow blower)

YEA, BLIZZARD NUMBER 3...well Ron got to try out the new snow blower yesterday late morning...it was too wet of a snow for the blower to work (this is like a bad trip) LOL  anyway, what fell last evening, overnight and is still falling is much drier, so it should work. but we have very strong winds and it is definitely blizzard conditions...visibility is rough, and there is lots of drifting. KitKat went out late afternoon yesterday and we have not seen him since, even though I go and call for him almost every hour.  I hate that he does this.


Lots more to post today....OWOH arrivals, new art etc.  I will post later...Be well & Be warm!
Susan

Thursday, February 25, 2010

even MORE giveaways and blog candy

UPDATED the post about blog candy...there are some new giveaways!
here's a link back to the updated post:

lots of goodies

ENJOY!!!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

ARRGH!! do any of you ALWAYS seem to live MURPHY's law like we do??


 This is the story of  HOME DEPOT and the SNOW THROWER(we call them blowers, whatever).

I have explained in the past that we have acreage and show some snow photos...I am going to share more photos and tell you the HOW-MUCH-MORE-CAN-WE-BE-SCREWED-OVER-BY-HOME DEPOT story!


Ok, we used to have a snow blower a CRAFTSMAN, niiice!!  about 8 years ago it died. CRAFTSMAN says they are products that are guaranteed for life, so we thought, we could get it fixed. Our Local Sears Service center closed down, and for a while everyone was being rerouted to a place outside of Philadelphia PA (about 2 hours from us)  So we decided to take it to a very reputable mower, snowblower, quad whatever repair guy.   He figured out what was wrong, but told us we had to get the part from sears, it was not something you could get anywhere else, He also told my husband how to replace the part to save us some money. WONDERFUL!!! happy -dance time!
 
So we ordered the part (not too pricey)  and my hubby tried to fix it...In order to fix it, he had to take something apart...I can not remember what it is right now, but he and 3 different men ( all mechanically inclined) could not get the thing apart. Ron got angry and was going to throw it away, 
  
(YES he really can look like this when that angry, LOL--but add a full beard)
and his one mechanic friend said give it to me, I'll keep trying, and I'll trade you tires for your truck for the next 2 tire changes ( years or whatever) Ok , so that is what we did. well, we were without a snowblower and when we DID have money to buy one, no one had any, and when the stores DID have them, we didn't have enough $.  BUT... we did have healthy bodied teenagers (and me) to do the shoveling.

 
Slowly the nest got emptier and emptier, PLUS I had my injury  and so on...then we had a few years where there was hardly any snow. GOOD!
But last year was a little rough, and we decided we would have to try again this year to get a snow blower.  OK...the same thing kept happening...we would have the money, the stores would not have any snowblowers. I then became eligible for SS and I put money aside...OK we got hit with that first huge storm before Xmas, without a blower (as no one had any)
Ron with his heart disease, and my daughter did a whole lot of shoveling over a 3 day period. This is part of the reason why.

This is if I walk straight out my door to the center of the driveway (about 100 feet or so) and look up to the barn.  We have to have a path to the barn, and then around it to the back for firewood and the birds(geese & chickens--this year just geese) Probably about 300 ft.

 
This is the view from the first barn door (standing about ten feet in front of it) looking to our garden(about 50 ft. away)..here is the garden gate (opened)   Now we do not need to get to the garden in winter, but I am just trying to give you an accurate idea of the enormous job shoveling is for this household. We do not live in a development so it is NOT just a ten foot walk way and a normal size driveway.

 
This is from the front of the barn about 15 feet or so, looking down the hill at the back end of the house. If you look towards the left of the center of the photo you see the swing set that is in the snow shots a few posts back . The top of the ridge of the snow to the right of the center of the photo is a good 50 ft from the back end of the house.

Just for shits and giggles here is my pirate cat (blind in right eye...by his own brother scratching him in the eyeball)  KitKat  out in the snow, after it had been shoveled and clean and then we got 4-5 more inches  2 days later.  You can see his left eye is nice and yellow and the right one is cloudy and dull looking.  he is an old man now, about 10-11, we rescued him and his brother from neighbors who only took care of them when they were kittens.  Once they grew up they were never allowed in the house, and then they stopped even feeding them. so... His Brother "Whiteface" disappeared a little of a year ago, he was a true TOM cat ( KitKat is also, and they were/are a bit feral, and will NOT use a litter box...so he spends a lot of time outside.

I digress...

I called home depot as Ron had been in the store 2 days before and said they have 2 of the BIG $1G  snow blowers left...I next day I had my daughter go to the bank for me, and the next day I called to make sure they were still there...they were not.  then the big storm before Christmas came 24+ inches like I said it was a lot of shoveling.   so now every week at least once Ron would pop into HD to see if had any, every time they were out.  I called on friday before the second big storm was due, and they said they were expecting a shipment that day. I was like Can you take our name, the girl on the phone said; "Well, we were keeping a list, and when the forcast told of this huge storm coming the general manager ripped up the list and said it wasn't fair, as this storm was coming and many people want a snow blower."  I tried to explain the difference between WANT and NEED from a physical and medical stand point, and even spoke with a supervisor, his reply to me was; "I suggest you just come down to the store and wait for the truck, like some other people are here doing." (This was at 8:20 am)  I tried to reason with him...I am disabled, I have no car, Husband still at work, yada, yada...I got no where. Ron said with any luck the truck will come after lunch and you and Amanda can go get one.  I called again at 11:32 am exactly...I was told they came, there were 12 of them, and they were gone in under 20 minutes.  They recommended I try the website.

 
Ok I went to the website, I found one we wanted, I put it in my cart, I called customer service to find out about extended warranties.  She said; "Yes there is a 2 year plan and a 4 year plan, I do not know how much or what they cover."  I was like ok please add the 4 year plan to my order. She informed me she could not do this.  Extended warranties for anything could not be sold over the website.  She advised me that when I got my email confirmation of the purchase to take it to my local store, and I could purchase the EW.
Well, I decided to call the store before actually placing the order as this sounded hokey to me, she also told me I could get expedited delivery...not the 2nd day one but the 4-5 day one.
I called the store, they told me NO, we do NOT do that, as the EW has to be on the SAME receipt with the item purchased.  So I asked what is the problem that people working for the same company can give 2 completely different answers to the same question...they did not know, they could not help me, I could take my chances of buying it online with out an extended warranty or wait for more to come to the store.
Basically I was getting the run around big time.  I asked for the address of the CEO as I felt he needed to know that in his company one hand does not know what the other is doing.   They gave it to me.  and they also gave me the other "customer service" #.

Ok so I ordered the snow blower without the warrantee.
well 2 days later I get a phone call from a lady that sounded like she had a mouthful of food, while talking.
She said there was a discrepancy with my shipping address and billing address.
(This is my post office and 911's fault)  we have been here 25 years, and we were always 230, now they wanted to make us 108...I have been fighting it.  Husband said use the 108...so I put 108 and said my billing address was the same...well they actually checked with the bank...the bank said "No, we have a Susan Guzy at 230."  They did not and could not process the order until this was cleared up. I called the number and extension for 2 days straight, with it just ringing and ringing...finally I just dialed the number without the extension and pressed the first button on their menu, this person was helpful, and fixed everything and processed the order, she gave me her name and extension.
again happy-dance!!

 
well that was short -lived as almost 10 days had come and gone, with no delivery of the blower, I went on to their website to check the status.  What it told me, made me want to HURL, THROW THE COMPUTER MONITER , and punch someone out!

 
it said: ORDER CANCELLED/DONE!!
I called the lady that was so helpful, and was like WTF!!!  she put him on hold, when she came back she said the vendor canceled it cause they were out of stock. She further stated that the vendor was responsible for letting HD know so they could inform me...by the way it was canceled 3 days after she processed the order...so we lost like 5 days that we shouldn't have and are you ready for this...the day before the local HD supervisor called me to say they had a few snow blowers in stock if i wanted to come get one, and I was like no, I ordered one offline, and was expecting delivery any day.
when we called him back the day after, they were all gone!!!

This was definitely me!!

ok I was STEAMED and using all kinds of colorful language! Which she informed me if I kept it up she would end the phone call, meanwhile in the background the hubster is chanting LAWYER, LAWYER!
Pretty was scared by both of our outbursts.

(not actually my Pretty as you can tell by her pictures in posts below)

So the gal comes back on the phone and tells us they found 1(one) and only 1 left in stock with any of their vendors, and they said it is smaller and not a key start, so we will give it to you 50% off...GREAT ---Happy dance again :)

 

I said to her ok, my bank has already pulled out the $900 from my bank for our "non-existant' snow blower...she said oh that charge will fall away by end of business today, and the new charge will not show up til tomorrow. We went back and forth over this for about 5 minutes as I was afraid both charges would be pulled out of my acct, and that would overdraw me.  She kept assuring me it would not happen, she said she would call back  when she found out about delivery. She did about 30 minuted later,Ron answered and  came by me (bathroom)  I reiterated again my concern about the 2 charges, she told Ron she heard me, and that it would not be an issue, and told him exactly what she told me...the one would "fall away" at the end of business that day, and the other wouldn't show up til the next day.  she also informed us that we could not get expedited delivery...it would standard 8-10 business days.

OK

 
OK what was my worse fear?  the bank and the money...the $900 wasn't put back yet and they charged me the $293 on top of that, which over drew me by about 80 dollars, then 3 small charges came in...AC Moore, Michael's and Netflix ...The bank took $105. I called The lady at HD back, and she said that is your banks mistsake, I said "NO...it is yours, I warned you about the bank, and you INSISTED that there would be no issues." She called the bank on my behalf trying to explain to them that the money should have been marked but not actually taken out, and the bank told her that is not how it works, and after a few hours she called me back, said the bank would not admit fault, so HD is going to credit my card $105 and if I do not have it by this coming Wednesday to call her back!!  BTW she also told us the snow blower was due to be delivered on March 1, we were like that is a lot more than 8-10 days...she said we do not count the weekends.



At 7:30 this morning we got a wake up phone call asking for directions to deliver the snowblower.
It is now here. BTW, she told us it was going to be an 18" model and it is a 22" model.   SO....

it still shows that here in ONE corporation one hand still does not know what the other is doing, and you get different info no matter who you talk to!  which is totally F____ed!!

But at least we got our snow blower...NOW it had BETTER SNOW AGAIN!!!   LMAO

Hope your day is calm and hissy-fit free!
HUGS,
Susan

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

I am sharing the SUNSHINE award

I was recently bestowed the SUNSHINE AWARD from Angela H of Scrap Journal of Angela Holt  ... Nicole of  Beadwright  also wanted to award me this!
THANKS SO MUCH LADIES!!

Now to pay it forward>>>>
This award goes to people I believe post interesting comments, and do art that I like. UNFORTUNATELY,  I can only pick 6 people/blogs  and there are a couple of Hundred blogs that I love. Basically it is for sharing some sunshine, some little thing that made my day brighter!

 

Here are lucky 6:

Micki from  Irish Muses  

Joni from   Joni's Things 

Linda from  A Crafting Journey 

Valerie from   The Sum of All Crafts

Bev from   Altered Paper Arts 


So here are the rules
Please share some sunshine with your fellow friends by:
Placing the Sunshine image on your blog or within your post.
Pass the award onto six bloggers
Link the nominees within your post.
Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

LOTS of BLOG CANDY

Here is a whole MESSA BLOG CANDY I HAVE FOUND FOR YOU ALL!



Bracelets giveaway  By Tamminnie's Designs:  http://tamminniesdesigns.blogspot.com/

HUGE pile of scrapping/crafty fun  From "Scrappin til the cows come home":  http://scrappintillthecowscomehome.blogspot.com/



NICE stamping goodies (including stamps) from "A Latte Inkin Fun":  http://alatteinkinfun.blogspot.com/2010/01/im-farmer-blog-candy.html


 
More stamps and other goodies from Cheryl at "sweet Design's by Cheryl" : http://sweeetdesignsbycheryl.blogspot.com/2010/01/1st-anniversary-blog-candy.html

I do not have a picture for the next one, but she shares a little tale, and speaks about being positive and THANKFUL, and is giving away a winter survival kit--sugar scrub,lib balm and others :)  Here's the link:
http://loloschild.blogspot.com/2010/02/thanksgiving-in-february.html



a surprise giveaway involving treasures of the sea from Vickie at "2 bags full"
http://vicki-2bagsfull.blogspot.com/

a vintage cookbook giveaway:

from Coralie from "charms of days"  other blog is (vintage cottage home)
http://charmsofdays.blogspot.com/2010/02/hot-german-potato-salad-and-cookbook.html



a HUGE vintage giveaway from Robin egg's blue!
http://whitelinenlavenderfield.blogspot.com/2010/02/robins-egg-blues-celebration-giveaway.html




anniversary giveaway from Nicole over at Bunney-Zoe
http://bunny-zoes.blogspot.com/2010/02/bunny-zoes-2-year-blogoversary-candy.html

 
Stempletante's giveaway:
http://stempeltante.blogspot.com/



3 give aways


 from
 
ABC toys  & crafts:
http://abctoysandcrafts.blogspot.com/



from Jacqui at Cat whiskers:
http://jacqui47.blogspot.com/2010/02/sweet-thank-you.html



from Stephanie at Pink Star creations:
http://pinkstarcreations.blogspot.com/

Well that should keep you all busy for a while :)  GOOD LUCK!!

I found one more and it is a doozie!!
  
YEPPERS, Fern is giving away $100 to spend as you wish :)
but there are some rules, and the deadline is fast approaching!!

and another one!!

an interesting book being given away by MOONCAT FARMS