Organizing Frenzy

Ok, so I had a LOT of time on my hands while I was off work...and did some sufing (when I could - the scrolling made me nauseaus most days!)  on home organization websites, blogs, etc. THAT is where the Crap baskets came from (see my post HERE)

I was folding & putting away  laundry and was so angry at my T-shirt drawer because I couldn't fit them all in there...it was jammed and I had NO idea what was in there, and the poor shirts on the bottom NEVER got worn!  SOOOOOOOO, I looked up ways to organize T-shirts, and VOILA!  AMAZING what you can find when  you GOOGLE! LOL

Here is a before picture:

And here is the after....I DID get rid of a few that were stained and ratty, and it still looks crowded but at least its neat and tidy.  HERE is the blog that I got this from, but there are a TON of You Tube videos and blogs about them. AND this way, I can see the ones I have - the ones at the back are a bit harder to see but they are ones that don't fit right now! LOL

AFTER that, I felt soooo good, I decided to do my socks and undies drawers......... Forgot to take a BEFORE pic (but trust me, they were ATROCIOUS!) but here are the after pics: I just used some plastic bins I had kicking around  here that fit in the drawers. (bras on the left, undies in the next 2 - FOLDED (k, that's just weird for me!) and behind them are my sports bras and spanx!)

AND my socks!   Thin black socks that I wear EVERY day to work on the left, thin "coloured" socks in the middle, and white sport socks for work outs on the right. In behind them are my big thick winter wooly socks (NEED those here in Canada!!!)

There are still 2 drawers in my dresser that have to be done (Pajamas and Sweat pants/work out clothes) - but I was tired after that! LOL 

ANOTHER DAY!!!!  Lets see how long this lasts!!!!  BUT I'm on a mission to DECLUTTER my house & my life, so this is a first step!  Wish me luck!

IF you stuck around till here, thanks!  Now go organize something of yours!!!!
Hugs,
Chris

Crap Baskets!

Hahah, yup that is what I meant to type! Sorry if it offended anyone!  When I was home from work, I was surfing pinterest which led to some home organization blogs and came across one that used "crap baskets" - I was instantly intrigued so I kept reading.  My immediate reaction was "OMG she's been in my house"  LOL   Our kitchen table is not a table, it is a crap catcher!  When I would clean, I'd have little piles for Tim, for me, the office, or craftroom.......SO I thought I would try to contain that crap in cute little baskets from Michaels (regular $8.99, 50% off plus another 15% off discount!!!  Wheee!! Gotta love a good deal!!!!) 

I made tags - one for me, one for Tim & one for the office and I placed the baskets on the kitchen table (the lady in the original blog had them on her stairs but our stairs aren't wide enough and the dogs will more than likely knock them over!)  SO FAR SO GOOD - they are collecting crap! AND when the basket is full, we take it and put things away where they belong.  Anything goes in there - hair elastics, lotion bottles, nail clippers, bits and tools that Tim uses for his RC cars, there's a map in there right now..LOL....whatever is laying around on the table or counters that doesn't belong there...gets put in the basket!  Simple!

The office tag is an image from BUGABOO which is why I'm entering these into the  Catch the Bug November challenge - Anything Goes challenge!!! 

 

 Tim's tag is an image from Dustin Pike - it was a freebie awhile ago and it fits him PERFECTLY!!!!

 

 And my tag is a Tiddly Inks image that I just thought was cute! 

And those, are my crap baskets!!!


I am also entering this in the Little Red Wagon challenge which is COLOURING!  I did lots of colouring for the tags!!!

And lastly, entering this into Paper Crafting Journey which is Anything goes!


 Thanks for stopping by!!
hugs,
Chris

I'm leaving on a jet plane....don't know when......

HAHAHAH!!! Ok, seriously, you don't want me to finish singing for you!!!! BUT I am leaving tonight for ............ AUSTRALIA!!!!!

As some of you might remember, my sister & her family are living in Cairns, Queensland as she is on a teacher exchange! Well, I am headed there TONIGHT!!!!

Soooooooooooooo excited & so nervous! I've never flown that far! I am headed there with my other sister & her hubby. Tim is staying home with the dogs - I wish he were coming but he isn't much of a traveller & 16 hours on a plan is wayyyy too much for him!!! :(

Anyway, I have most of my DT stuff done and scheduled to post so hopefully Mr. Blogger is on top of things while I'm away! If I get a chance I will update with some pics here, but it depends how much fun we're having!!! LOL

Hugs,
Chris

Our trip to the West Coast

Tim & I took a little vacation to the West coast! We drove to BC & went and spent some time with his Dad on Vancouver Island. They live on 11 acres in the rain forest outside of Victoria, BC. BEAUTIFUL!!!! After that, we headed to Vancouver and spent some time there too! Here are a few pictures of our trip....nothing crafty today!!!!!

Me at the 2010 Olympic cauldron in Vancouver

a seal showing off

the Pacific Ocean

Tim

The in-law's & us

me & the Pacific Ocean

Tim & I in the "backyard" of his Dad's place (11 acres of rain forest!!)

Tim & I at Roger's Pass (the start of the trek through the Rocky Mountains)

We had fun, but I'm glad to be home!!!!

Chris

Our newest addition....

This is not craft related but wanted to share our newest family member! This is MINTY!

She is a rescued Bichon Shitzu (we think) and is 5 months old. She came to us completely UNTRAINED so we have our work cut out for us!!! She sleeps good through the night but we are having Potty issues!!!! We take her out every 30-45 min. but she doesn't pee or poop. We have training pads around the house, but nothing. She peed yesterday when I turned my back for a second - half on the pee pad & half on the floor (that's a good step, I think!)

She is in desperate need of a haircut -which she is getting on Thurs. so I will post new pics as I get them!!!! She is a cutie, and very sweet...and very playful!!!

Brick is thoroughly NOT impressed!!!! He looks so sad!! She just wants to play with him and he avoids her like the plague!!!! LOL He will come around I'm sure!!!

Here he is totally trying to ignore her...lol

Shaggy girl!!!! She is going to the Vet on Wed. too, to get her puppy shots and a check up. She has a busy week!!!! All this new stuff, new rules, new family, and new brothers (Tux tolerates her too, he just walks away when she tries to sniff him!).

Have a great week!!!!! I will have a crafty post for you later today!!!! I promise!!!!
Chris

Time for some "BRICK" action

For those of you who don't know, Brick is my dog! He is a bit of a wild man, as you will see in these pictures! He was a rescue we got about 6 years ago and he has kept us on our toes since then. He has some "issues" that has caused many a grey hairs, but thankfully he is DANG CUTE cuz that has saved his hide more than a few times!!! LOL Who needs kids when your dog is as needy, if not more?!!??! LOL



I wanted to take a little crafting break and share with you some pictures of our swimming trip last weekend. Brick LOVES to swim, as you can see by the intensity in his face waiting for me to throw the stick. It was COLD this day but he didn't care one bit!!!

Here are a few "LAUNCH" pictures - the lake was deep so there was no "wading" in for him, it was JUMP full bore to get that stick (we had a ball first but he put a hole in it and it sank!) He must have jumped at least 6 feet out!!!

This one cracks me up....he looks like Superman!

Belly flop!!

I'm flying!!!


Our big swimmer!!

Here is a short video we took too. (hopefuly it works!!!)

Blogger boo boos?!?!?

Is anyone else having trouble with scheduling posts on Blogger??? It seems my scheduled posts are not posting until I come in and re-enter the date....there is nothing different to what I normally do, date and time are now, it is "published" not a draft......

This has happened about 5 or 6 times now, and I worry that when I am away next week, my scheduled posts aren't going to "post". This is the same reason why my Blog hop post for Inky Impressions never posted on time!!! FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I changed the dates to 7/01/09 from 7/1/09 which Blogger automatically does.....and then it posts it immediately. BUT when I go to post options and type in 7/01/09...it sets it back to 7/1/09...does that make sense or am I rattling off stuff???

So, am I crazy? Or is there seriously something wrong? AM I missing something tiny? I know I'm not totally computer literate but I'm usually pretty good at figuring things out...this one has me stumped!!! ANY suggestions? ideas? hammers?? LOL

COME JOIN THE FUN!!!

LOTS of things to share with you today, so please read on so you don't miss a thing!!!!!

First, you still have ONE day left to join in on the Inky Impressions blog hop & enter for a chance to win the yummy candy!!!!! Head on over to Nicole's blog to start the hop!!!!! My hop post is at the top!!!!

Secondly, we want all of you stampers to come join us over at the Simon Says Challenge blog for a fun challenge using PINK & BROWN!!!! You can see my card HERE that I made for it!!! Let's try to get 150 entries this week!!!

Next, Bev has some great blog candy HERE to celebrate the new Women's Delight release on June 14th at Whiff of Joy!! Beautiful images!!! Go check it out, but don't get your hopes up, cuz I'm gonna win it!!! LOL

Lastly, I am going camping this weekend - a big group weekend to celebrate my sister and her hubbies 25th Anniversary!!! Should be fun!! I just hope it doesn't snow!!! LOL

I will have a post or two scheduled, as I was able to get a few projects photographed and uploaded!!! HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!

The Ugly Tree

Ok, where are my GREEN THUMB gardeners?? I NEED YOU!!! We have this horrible tree in our front yard, I don't even call it a Pine Tree - it is affectionately (or not) known as The Ugly Tree!!! So, this is a picture of the front of our house & the left side of the stairs. This tree is atrocious and NOTHING will grow there because of all the pine needles. Sooooooooooooooo, I need your advice!! What can we do with this??? It costs too much $$ to chop it down and rip out the stump, so that isn't an option this year, and I REALLY like the shade it gives us and the privacy. It blocks the mid-day sun from the deck. Should I case it in, and put decorative rocks in there? Is there ANYTHING that will grow under a pine tree??

My goal this Spring and Summer is to make the front of our house have more "curb appeal". I worked really hard on the right side of the yard, and it isn't so bad now. There are 2 trees on the right side, a Kelsey Crab Apple tree and a Nan King Cherry bush. I made a flower bed behind the trees and planted a shrub of some sort that gets pretty little flowers (LOL), some Lily of the Valley, some plants my neighbour lady gave me (can't remember what they are called but they survived the winter, so you can't go wrong with that!!!) and some ground cover stuff that gets pretty little yellow flowers (Golden stone or something?!?!) We'll see if that grows!!! LOL

BUT, my issue is this Ugly Tree and the area underneath it!!! Any hints? ideas? words of advice???

Missing: Mojo **REWARD**

Missing: My Mojo
Last seen: Feb. 8, 2009
Appearance: all sorts of colours, shapes, designs, is wearing ribbon and brads, charms and fibres
Characteristics: cute, full of ink, glitter splattered about,
Reward: Finder of my mojo will be rewarded with more blog postings, photos, cards and a great sense of humour (that is gone too, so if you find one, you might find the other!)

Please call 1-888-findmymojo if you spot it - but be careful, it is sneaky & likes to hide is the strangest places!

Thanks for your help!

A Valentine's Gift for me

I am feeling the LOVE today!! I got this GREAT package in the mail today from JACQUE, a very sweet member at Magnolia-licious Yahoo Group as a thank you for all the fun activities I do with them! It came at a really great time because I was very frustrated with some things that have been happening there & it made me realize that I do what I do because of people like Jacque!!! I have to NOT let the "cranky pants" get to me & to not take it personally!!!!

Here are the pics of the items she sent me! The card in itself is a gift - a piece of ART - so beautiful, but she also spoiled me with a bunch of goodies to play with (& eat!!)
Here is the card - isn't it gorgeous?? It is huge too (6x6) & it came with a handmade envie!!!!
THIS is the INSIDE of the card - amazing eh??? I LOVE IT!!!!

Here is the whole package of goodies!! 3 Valentine's stamps, 2 rolls of purple ribbon, a package of really cool Prima Obsessions (they are so pretty - I've never seen these ones before!) and the mailbox with all that chocolate (there is more inside the mailbox!!)

This little mailbox was FULL of DOVE chocolates (YUMMMM) - isn't it adorable?? I want to know where she bought these mailboxes...they are TOO cute!!!!

this is the side & front view.

THANKS JACQUE, you are one in a million!!!!!

Ice Fishing with my boys!

Yesterday, I went for a picnic/ice fishing trip with Tim and Brick. It was so gorgeous out (+7 Degrees Celsius). We took the BBQ and had smokies & snacks. I played with Brick while Tim fished (he didn't catch anything) Here are a few pics of our day!!! We had so much fun!!!! I was SO tried when we got home though - oy!!!!

Family picture - we were at Severn Reservoir, which is between Standard & Rosebud, about 80 km. east of Calgary. I'm not really sure what it "dams" up - it is just tiny little creeks that run along that area! Guess we'll have to check it out in the spring or summer!! This was one of Tim's NEW discoveries this winter!

Our handsome boy!!! He loves loves loves hanging outside where he can run and pee on everything and anything!!!!

These are our sled tracks - Tim & I both fit in the sled he uses for all his equipment and went for a little ride! I felt like a kid again! Wheeeeeeeeeee!

Me sledding & Brick chasing me - he's so silly!!! He isn't sure what to do so he jumps right in front of the sled - dummy!!! So this time I took the frisbee and threw it so he'd run AWAY from me!!! Good action shot!!

Brick - the FisherDog!

Tim fishing!


Me catching some RAYS!!!!! (Brick was waiting patiently for me to throw his frisbee that he kept dropping on my head!!!)

POOPED out POOCH!!!!! Look at him sprawled out on the ice - what a goof!!!! He is so funny!!! I love him to bits!!!!