12 Tags of Christmas Day 12

When I saw Tim's Day 12 tag I was beyond excited!!! I've been wanting to make a grunge rose ever since i got instructions from Liz. (Hi Liz and ATT gals!!!) Anyway, I just havent made the time. I did now and boy oh boy and I ever happy! This tag is my absolute favorite! I used Glimmer Mist, Lumiere paints and Rock Candy Distress Stickles on my rose. I think with more practice, my roses will get better. I had Glossy Accents EVERYWHERE when making this one. lol I printed the sheet music, tore it and added to my tag. I inked all over the stamped over the entire tag with various Club Scrap stamps. I was so suprised at how good this one came out. I hope you suprise yourself in your art too! Try a new technique or product. You never know what you will come up with. Happy Crafting!!

12 Tags of Christmas Day 11

OK, Day 11, almost done. Tim's tags have been so inspiring to me. I wasn't so sure about this one. I have nothing to make my own brads and no local scrapbook store. No, the Arts & Crafts Center on base doesn't count. lol Well, unless I want paper or stickers. They don't have cool new gadgets. Anyway....I thought on this one a bit then remembered a card my mom has that I made as a child in school. It was a flower made from a cupcake liner with a photo of me in the center! BRAVO! Good idea!!! I decided to use my daughter's smiling face as the center of the flower. The tag just took off from there. She loves horses so I knew I would use Close To My Heart set that I have with a running horse. I used Shabby Shutters and Scattered Straw on the background. The "Tis the Season" & snowflakes on the tag are Hanna Stamps. What happened to Hanna Stamps anyway? I sure do miss seeing new stamps on their site! Plus, I would love to buy more. Oh I got off track there. Back to my tag. lol The flash washed out the colors on this one. Its a bit darker in person. I stamped the horse in Walnut Stain directly onto the tag. I stamped another horse onto grunge paper and embossed it in black. Then I inked all over in Fired Brick. I smeared Rock Candy Distress Stickles all over the "Tis the season to be pretty" phrase. It sorta smudged the ink but that's ok. It only adds to the grungy look. (Yes, I know, this card isn't all that grungy. lol) The snowflakes are stamped using Faded Jeans Distress Ink. So have you done anything crafty today??? I sure hope you've found time to do something fun for yourself. Happy crafting!!!

12 Tags of Christmas Day 10

I have finished all 12 tags! I hope to get them all posted on my blog today. Day 10 took some work. Tim used metal tape sheets on his Day 10 tag. I used 2 layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. Instead of grungeboard letters & shapes, I used Thickers and Holiday House Foil Merry Mint from American Crafts. FYI, if you try this technique with Thickers, do not use the foam letters. Use the cardboard ones. If you click on the photo, it will bring it up larger. Notice the "fun" and "joy"? Those were the foam letters. They didn't come out as well as the other letters and shapes. When using foil, press it along each letter and shape gently before attaching the foil to your tag. I used Copics G09, BV08, B16, Y17 and R46 for my coloring. Go slowly with the Copics. One of mine was really juicy and the ink pooled a bit in a few spots. Happy crafting!

12 Tags of Christmas day 9

Yet another amazing tag from Tim.Somewhere, I have a pic of my daughter crying on Santa's lap. Maybe I will find it and make a tag more like Tim's. I love the ideas of using photos on tags!! I don't have his filmstrip ribbon so I made my own. I used Close To My Heart's Picture Perfect stamp. I stamped the image onto the plastic cover my Tim Holtz ruler cam in. Creative, I know. lol Staz On works great on plastic! These are pics from one of our trips to Tokyo Disneyland this year. The Mickey heads in rhinestone are EK Success. The 09 is American Crafts Thickers. I think the Mickey sticker is EK Success. The photo corners were white. I inked them with Weathered Wood ink. The background stamp is from Club Scrap. Remember, you can click on the photos for a larger view. I hope you are having a happy crafty day!!!

12 tags of Christmas Day 8

Tim's Day 8 tag is STUNNING!!! I will eventually make one like his with the music stamp, lamp etc. I just have to wait for the supplies to come in. So, I improvised yet again. I started this one by digging through my stash. The only key I had was the one that said "Dream". While searching through ny stamps, I stopped at Tropical Christmas by Close to my Heart. LOVE that set!! Its always been my dream to live at the beach. sssooooo, this tag was born! I again used the CTMH Jingle Borders for the background. This time on the vellum. The swirl on the tag is Club Scrap. The palm tree is embossed on grungeboard paper. I added bells from my stash and Stickles.

12 Tags of Christmas Day 7

Day 7 was the toughest tag for me so far. See Tim's amazing tag on his site. Stunning as always! :) I mixed stamps from several companies on this one! The wavy line background is Close to My Heart Jingle Borders. The snowman and snowflake are Inkadinkado. The white Swirl is Stampin Up's French Flair. I painted Jacquard Neopaque white paint onto French Flair. It seemed to soak into the tag. I tried wiping off the ink like Tim said. It just wasnt working for me. I decided to hand paint the swirls. I simply painted over the swirls that were stamped. It took awhile but I love the results. I used Distress Stickles on the snowman's scarf and hat. OH I almost forgot the coolest part about this tag experience. I don't have any of Tim's blank masking material. So, instead of using a post it note or piece of paper to make a mask, I searched the house for alternative. I have a digi photo frame sitting in the box that I haven't yet made the picture sd card for. On the front of the screen is a clear, lightly adhesived plastic sheet to protect the screen. I peeled it off and gently stuck it to a tag. I held my breath while I slowly tried to remove it from the tag. It worked!! It didn't stick!! I was so excited. I stamped the snowman using Staz On and it stayed. When I tried to wipe the paint off though, some of the Staz On snowman came off the "mask". So, while this isn't a replacement for Tim's blank mask, it sure was a temporary choice. I can see I am going to love masking once I get some of the blank mask material.

12 Tags of Christmas Day 6

Ok, I'm trying to play blogger catch up. lol I've had a nasty head cold and haven't spent much time online. I have however, completed my Tim tags every day. :) As you know by now, I have no Tim stamps. YET! They are on their way thanks to Croppinsville! Allie shipped the same day I ordered. Talk about amazing customer service!!! Check out Tim's tag. So, what stamps DID I use? The car is from Close to My Heart's Road Trip. The tree is from Tis the Season by Hanna Stamps. The tree is pretty thin so I stamped it 3 times on grungeboard paper. I then cute them all out, inked then and then layered. I didn't have the fluffy stuff Tim used so I used some sparkly stuff from my stash. I hope everyone is staying warm this winter. I've noticed the weather in the states is cold & snowy. Its rainy here in Japan today. The high today is in the mid 50s. I would love to see some snow here!

12 Tags of Christmas Day 5

Tim's tag today uses fragments to make ornaments. AWESOME!!!! Luckily, Laurel had sent me some fragments so I had a few to use for this lovely tag. I must say, I really like the way this one turned out. The stamp I used is Kodomo Tanabata. Scroll to the bottom of their page. I just pocked this stamp up 2 days ago when Michelle R and I went to shopping in Kichijoji. We went to Yuzawaya which is a 7 story craft store and crafters HEAVEN! I will be frequenting their store in the future! lol Ok I got off track again. lol Back to my tag...I stamped the image in Weathered Wood. I tried to emboss but it didn't work so well. I used Tim's blending tool to add green, brown and red to the stamped image. The gold swirls are made using Lumiere gold paint and Stampin Up's French flair. The gold border is stamped from Close to My Heart's Cupcake Sprinkles and embossed in gold. The stamps for the ornaments are Inkadinkado. I again used the gold Lumiere paint to make the top of the ornament. the hooks are green wire from my stash.

12 Tags of Christmas Day 4

Ok, y'all know how much I love Disney. Since I don't have any Tim stamps, I decided to make a Disney collage for this tag. You can see Tim's tag here. Like most of my tags, they are darker in person. As soon as there is a sunny day & I'm at home, I will take better pics of the tags. The flash really washes them out. At least you get the general idea. Ok, back to the tag....Disney collage background and Disney charm. The charm & chain are a bracelet that I will be giving my daughter for Christmas. The charm has tiny Mickey heads inside. wwwaaayyyyy cute! :) Notice the small Mickey heads on the tag? Its Mickey made from Sakura flower petals. Thanks to Michelle R. for finding that stamp for me! I stamped the image on a different piece of cardstock then cut out the Mickey heads. They pop off the tag just a tad. So, have you attempted anything crafty today? I hope so! Happy crafting!!

12 Tags Day 3

Tim Holtz made TWO tags for Day 3. This plaid technique with alcohol inks is so much fun!!!! Mine looks a bit brighter than it actually is due to the flash. I used Club Scrap stamps and glossy paper.

12 Tags of Christmas Day 2

Tim's art is absolutely amazing & inspiring! I am having so much fun with these tags. I don't have a lot of his supplies so I am improvising. Let me tell you its a great way to dust off those supplies in my stash and get them into a piece of art!
Instead of Tim's circle, I used corners from Autumn Leaves Heather Bailey line to frame my sentiment. Instead of Distress Embossing Powder, I simply brushed off some of the powder before using the heat gun. I used Inkadinkado (I think) stamps for the swirls in the corners. I do not own any Perfect Pearls. Yes, I know, sad. Feel free to mail me some. They don't sell them here & I haven't ordered them online yet. lol So what did I use instead? Watered down Lumiere gold paint. Cool huh?! Oh a reminder....Tim said make sure everything, including yourself, is covered before you flick the paint. He wasn't joking! It went everywhere. I have nothing around to attempt his gorgeous metal rose. Instead, I used a metal tag. Easy Peasy! lol So break out your supplies and give it a try! You don't have to make yours just like Tim's. Its all about creating! Happy Crafting!

FREE Printables!!!!

Yes, you heard that reight. (or rather read lol) There are fabulous FREE printables this month over at Ten Two Studios. Check it out!!! They list a new one every day this month. You just need to share the link. Enjoy & happy crafting!!!

12 Tags of Christmas Day 1

Ok crafters, like I said in my last post, Tim Holtz is doing his 12 Tags of Christmas again this year. His art is amazing. He gives step by step instructions. You can either copy his or use it to inspire you in other ways.
This is my tag from Day 1. I had to improvise a bit. I don't have any snowmen stamps so I decided to go a different route. I used the guitar from the Close To My Heart You Rock set. Well that just wont work with snowflakes so I thought I'd use the stars from their Shining Star set. I'm loving the crackles from the Rock Candy paint. I painted it on VERY thick. I can see that I will run out of this stuff soon. lol I dont have the paint dabbers so I used Jacquard's Neopaque white paint. I applied it with my finger to get into the swirls on the guitar. I dont have grungeboard so I stamped the guitar onto a piece of grungeboardish thick stuff that I had in my stash from working at the Arts & Crafts Center. It was shipped with diecut paper as a base to keep the paper flat. I used Frosted Lace Stickles since I don't have Picket Fence. I painted the chipboard swirl with the white paint and then added Crackle Accents over it. On the background of the tag, I did the stars from CTMH in black Staz On. I then stamped Stampin Ups French Flair in Weathered Wood. You cant really see the design much though. I didn't have the ink colors Tim used so I improvised on that too. I used Weathered Wood, Ancient Page Cobalt, black Staz On, and CS white.
I'm making these tags to hang on our tree this year. This one is for my ds who loves to play his electric guitar.

Ok, I know its been awhile...again lol

Ya know, sometimes life just gets in the way of...well...life. lol I intended to blog regularly all through surgery, recovery etc. We can all see that didn't happen. lol Anyway, its been a little over 7 weeks since my hysterectomy. Everything went great. I'm all healed and things are returning to normal. I's still tired but doc said that's to be expected and take it easy when tired. hhmm whatever. lol I am slowly getting back into a workout routine. My crafting life however is wonderful. Tim Holtz is doing his 12 tags of Christmas again this year. Check them out. He's AWESOME!!! I hope to post my tags for each day. Well, I'm off to decorate the Christmas tree. I hope everyone has a glorious, crafty day!!!

Melor is gone!

Typhoon Melor worked itself into a Super Typhoon (category 5 hurricane), then weakened into a Category 2, then 1 before reaching us. After a tiny bit of wind and a long rainstorm, Melor is no longer bothering us. The satellite view shows clouds all over Japan but it is a GORGEOUS sunny day here. There are very few clouds in the sky. The birds are singing. The crickets are chirping. The temperature is perfect. Its a glorious day. PLUS, we are all on administrative leave today so that means a day off WITH pay! Wwwooohhhoooo! The all clear will be given in about 45 minutes but the store is staying closed. Even better news!!! :) That means, I only have 2 more work days left. I can't wait!!!

So much going on......

First, to explain the photo.....there is a Super Typhoon brewing out in the Pacific. That translates into a Cat 5 Hurricane. Its headed our way! It is projected to be a cat 1 by the time it hits land though. Just to be safe, I am going "hurricane shopping" today. I will keep y'all updated on its progress.
Second, I quit my job. Yes, the one I was so excited to start less than a year ago. Yes, the one I was so happy with. Basically, a bunch of drama happened & all 3 of us "sales clerks" quit. You can only do your managers job for so long before you get disgusted with the situation and leave. I refuse to do her job for half of what she gets paid and let her get away with it. She's had 2 years to learn her job and the computer system and she still hasn't. I wont enable her anymore! My last day is the 10th. I am so excited!!!! I can't wait! I will be going back to college in January and looking for another job around that time too.
Lastly.....My mom called last week to say my aunt had passed away. (my dad's sister) She's been in the hospital for about 2 months now so it was no shock. What was a shock was not being told before it was in the newspaper. My parents divorced when I was young. Mom read the obituary and immediately called me. My dad's side of the family didnt want to call me until after the memorial service so I didnt spend so much money on last minute air fare. Oh well. Nothing I can do about that. I was very angry when it happened but I've moved on now. She is no longer in pain and thats what matters. Her request was that donations be made to Susan G. Komen or the ASPCA in her honor instead of flowers. Thats what I will be doing. I plan to do a tribute album to her once my dad sends me the photos. So, hug your loved ones tight and tell them how much they mean to you!!

I'm back!

Yes, I know, I know. I've been gone far too long. So much has happened. Basically, I quit my job so I'll have more time for "me time" now. My last day at work will be the October 11th. I'm having a hysterectomy on the 13th. I will be blogging about the hysterectomy process a bit. My pre-op appointment is Friday so I should know a bit more then. All I know for now is that the doc is going in through one of my c-section scars so I dont have additional scaring. I will stay in the hospital for at least 2 days. Oh and I'm keeping my ovaries due to my age and the added risk of breast cancer that hormone therapy poses.
I have been crafting during my absence. I participated in Summer Camp at Club Scrap. I completed TONS of layouts during the 5 week PSL. It was a blast and got me out of my rut. The above picture is of all the layouts I completed. I hope everyone has had a productive and fun summer. Fall is here in Japan. I will be sharing fall foliage pics as soon as the rain stops.

Mt Asama Eruption Video

I found a link that shows video the eruption of Mt. Asama. Its dark but you still get the idea.

Project 365...Catch Up!

Here are the pics I didnt get a chance to post last week.

Pic 18... "Real Ingredients" hhhhmmmm If this jar of salsa now has "Real Ingredients" then I wonder what Taco Bell salsa used to contain?????

Pic 19 ..."Time to get CRUNKY!" Ya know, some days ya feel "crunk" and others ya just don't. Try this tasty snack and you too can be Crunky!!! lol


Pic 20... "Quilt 1" This is one of the 2 GORGEOUS quilts hanging at work.


Pic 21... "Quilt 2" This is the other quilt hanging at work. The details in these 2 quilts is amazing. Once I find out more info about them, I will share with y'all.


Pic 22... "Still Life" This is a painting that is also hanging in our class room at work. The pic is a weird angle because the painting is hung very high on the wall.

Project 365..... Pic 23 Mount Asama is erupting!!!!

I will post my other 365 pics later. For now, I just HAD to share this!!!! No, that isn't snow or frost on my car. Its volcanic ash! Mount Asama is about 65 miles from here. Its Northwest of Tokyo.


Japan’s Mount Asama Erupts, Spreading Ash on Tokyo

By Takahiko Hyuga and Tak Kumakura

Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Mount Asama volcano in central Japan erupted overnight, spreading ash as far as central Tokyo 150 kilometers (93 miles) away.

The volcano had a “small” eruption at 1:51 a.m. local time, throwing rocks up to 1 kilometer, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on its Web site. There were no reports of damage or injuries.

“I woke up after midnight to the sound and shake of the eruption,” Daisuke Tanaka, 24, a convenience-store attendant, who lives about 20 kilometers away from the mountain, said by telephone today. “The sound was as if an airplane was taking off nearby and it continued for 30 minutes.”

The 2,568 meter peak, which last had a minor eruption in August last year, is one of the most active volcanoes in Japan. A major eruption in 1783 killed more than 1,000 people. The meteorological agency yesterday raised its alert level, prohibiting people from entering the area around the volcano, after recording an increase in seismic activity.

Japan has had several major volcanic eruptions in the recent past. Mount Usu on the northern island of Hokkaido erupted in 2000, forcing more than 15,000 residents to evacuate.

In the same year, about 3,000 people were evacuated when Mount Oyama on Miyake Island off Tokyo erupted. And in 1991, 43 people died after an eruption of Mount Unzen on the southern island of Kyushu.

To contact the reporters on this story: Takahiko Hyuga in Tokyo at thyuga@bloomberg.net; Tak Kumakura in Tokyo tkumakura@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 1, 2009 20:04 EST

And the winner iiiiiissssss.................

Faye!!!!!


Faye said...
Wow! I have been dying to try copics and this would be wonderful!! Thanks

January 20, 2009 9:59 AM



Congrats on winning my first ever blog candy!

Blog Candy Winner announced soon!

Howdy gals! sorry I haven't been around. My dd will draw the winner of my blog candy during the Super bowl half time show. We don't get to watch the commercials here. :( Guess I'll have to watch them online. I'm not sure if we get to watch half time or not. I'll let y'all know. Thanks again to everyone who entered. I've had so much fun checking out y'alls blogs.

I've been tagged!

Lori tagged me! For this one, I have to go to my pictures and look in the 6th folder and post the 6th picture and explain it. I am also to pick 6 friends that visit my blog that I would like to get to know better and let them know that they have been tagged. Also post a link to the person that tagged me. Click on Lori's name above to visit her blog.
My pic is one of a teabox that I made. Actually, its made for drinking sake from. Teabags fit perfectly so I altered the box a bit. I stained it with Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink. I then stamped tea cups, teapots and tea phrases all over the box. I haven't decided who to give this to yet.Its sitting in my china cabinet looking cute. :)
So who am I tagging??? hhhhmmmm lets see, how about.....
Lorraine
Jacqueline
Megs
Robin
Kim
Lastel

Thanks again to everyone for sharing my blog candy. Its so cool to see people from all over the world stop by and visit! Good luck everyone!!!!

Project 365...Pic 17 Shower Me With Gifts Galore

So I am FINALLY working on our wedding scrapbook. This is one of several layouts of my wedding shower. I was going to edit out the mess on my table but it shows part of the creating process. I will show close ups of the layout earlier. You cant really see in this pic where I wrote "with gifts galore" under "Shower me". I also drew a stitched border on both pages. Frizzybella is colored with Copics and chalk. I really need to get flesh colored Copics! lol I wanted her pants to look like jeans.

Project 365...Pic 16 Wine & Cheese mmmmm

Hubby & I occasionally have wine & cheese night. This night was a bit different from others. The only brie we could find was in a small box at the commissary. When I opened the box, out came a can. What?! Cheese in a can? and not the spray kind of can cheese either lol The next abnormal (at least for us) was the wine in a box. We always try a different bottle of wine. We have a list of the ones we liked while in Texas. NONE of those are sold here! We've started our list all over. We decided to give the box wine a chance. The one we got doesn't go so well with cheese & apples. I think next time, I will serve it with a rich, decadent, fattening dessert. That should be much better!

Project 365...Pic 15 We've Been Framed!

Yesterday hubby & I took a "Framing & Mat Cutting Class". It was so much fun. Now I understand why special order frames cost so much. Its a lot of work but well worth it. With both the pics we framed, we were able to cover parts of the photo we didn't want to show. (empty space & our dining table lol) I love how mine turned out.
Thanks again to everyone for entering to win my blog candy! Keep spreading the word and entering.

Project 365...Pic 14 Narnia is finished!

It took me awhile but I FINALLY finished reading The Chronicles of Narnia. I must say, the books are so much better than the movies! Isn't that usually the case though?! I know it was with Twilight too! If you liked the Narnia movies, I highly suggest you read the books. See if your local library has them. I purchased this one at Sam's Club. I planned to read it on the 13 hour plane ride to Japan. I never did but at least I finally finished. lol

Project 365...Pic 13 Dinner at the Great Taj Mahal

Ok, so its not THE Taj Mahal. However, the restuarant we tried today is called Great Taj Mahal. We ordered the chicken & vegetable curry and naan. Naan is an amazing bread! Compare the size of the naan with the chopsticks. It is HUGE! Hubby found a recipe for me to try. hhmmm not sure about that. I'd just rather pay them 283 yen and be done with it. lol The curry was spicy but not too spicy. You can choose levels 0 - 6. Zero is no spice, 6 is the hottest they make. Mine was a 3. mmmmmm yummy! After we ate, they packaged up our leftovers then served us hot chai. I can see this being a fav spot in the future!

Time for a change!

I decided it was about time to change the look of my blog. Cheryl has an adorable background so I went where she went. lol Go see Allie over at http://alliebrownslayouts.blogspot.com/. She not only has fabulous layouts and headers, she lists instructions for adding them to your blog! All I did for my header was add my text to her header. (Hope you dont mind Allie.)

Please be patient

Blogger is giving me a hard time about changing my page layout. Hopefully, I can get this fixed soon.

Project 365...Pic 12

mmmmm Some days you just need an ice cold Guinness in a frosted, chilled mug. Tasty!

Memories Cubed instructional video

For my cube, I used papers from Club Scrap's "Gimme a Ring", January 2009 kit. The stamps I used are from Kodomo. The one in the pic for Day 10 is one of the stamp designs I am giving away in my blog candy. As you can tell from some of the pics, its hard to get a clear stamped image on this cube if you stamp after you assemble the cube. I suggest you stamp prior to assembly. I did it this way because I was unsure how it would turn out. Its a good thing. I messed up a step and ended up tearing apart my cube to redo it a few times. If you follow Tricia's directions exactly though, you should have no problem. lol I got ahead of her and skipped one part. Pause is a wonderful feature in videos! ;)

Project 365...Pic 11

Today was like Christmas at work. Well, almost. We received tons boxes but can't put the tiems on the shelves yet. We have to have the invoice first. This is the boxes we received from Inkadinkado. I can't wait to get my inky hands all over those stamps! I have images of gorgeous art flowing through my head! lol
Don't forget to enter to win my blog candy!

Project 365...Pic 10

Today I worked on a cube project, using Club Scrap's Memories Cubed instructions. I learned that the images, without a doubt, need to be stamped BEFORE the cube is assembled. You can tell exactly why in this photo.
Thanks again to everyone for spreading the word about my blog candy. I wish I had enough to give to everyone! If you haven't entered yet, you still have time!

More Blog candy!

Check it out......

LuLu has some great candy to celebrate her bday.

Butterfly Award.......

aaawwww Isnt Janet the sweetest! She gave me this gorgeous award! I love butterlies. I am so thirlled to receive this award. Sorry it took me awhile to post it Janet. *blush* I really do love it. Thanks!!! sssooooo, without further ado, I award this to.....







Debby
Sharon
Joan
Luanne
Neith
Karen
Teresa
Deby
Viv
Miss Bootybella Herself ;)

Project 365...Pic 9

Today at work, I made examples for the upcoming Valentine card making class that I will be teaching. They had to be relatively simple and inexpensive cards. This class is open to ages 5 and up. We also wanted the class to be inexpensive. These two cards are my two choices. I hope we have enough people interested in the class.
Don't forget to enter to win my blog candy!

Project 365...Pic 8

So my pic for yesterday is of part of the balloons we inflated at work. We had several orders for Saturday. One was for 70, yes seventy, latex balloons! I tried several angles and like this one best. I think next time, I will have all the balloons in their corral and see how that one looks.
Thanks to everyone who has entered my blog candy so far. I am working on replying to everyone.

Project 365....Day 7

So my pic today is a self portrait. I know I cut off the top of my head but this is the best pic out of all of the ones I took. I got my hair cut for the first time here by one of the Japanese gals at the salon. I was a bit nervous at first. I've gotten mixed reviews about their services. I will definitely be going back to the same girl. I LOVE how it turned out.

Project 365...Pic 6

I took this one yesterday but didn't have energy to post it after work. This is the drink/napkin station at one if the food courts here. All the way to the left is a sink to wash your hands I guess but there is no soap or napkins. Next to that are 2 wet napkin dispensers. You push the button up front and it dispenses a warm rolled up napkin. They use these to clean their hands before eating a meal. On the right of that is the water dispenser. Most of the restaurants in the food court offer plastic reusable cups to get all the water you want. :) The two trash cans all the way to the right are for separating your trash. All burnable trash (yes they burn their paper trash here) goes in one container and everything else in another.

Blog Candy!

I will update this post randomly today as I find more candy. Here is a FABU one for Kerry's anniversary. Check it out!
Go see the gorgeous bracelet Gabrie is giving away!
Tasha is celebrating & giving away some cool goodies too!
Don't forget my blog candy either. :)

Project 365.....Pic 5

Today's pic is a sunset view of Mt. Fuji. I wish I could take a pic without the power lines in view. They block the view from every location here. One day we will take a trip right up Fuji. Imagine what those pics will be like!! I got several great and a few so-so sunset shots. Its kinda hard to get a good one when the sun is right in your eyes. lol

Blog Candy here!!!

Ok gals, you've waited patiently and now here is my first ever blog candy...





Whats up for grabs?? TWO Kodomo stamps and FIVE Copic markers of your color choice! The Copics in the photo are NOT the ones you will get. I just snapped the pic with 5 from my stash. :) You get to pick your own colors. How cool is that??? To be entered, all you have to do is share my blog candy somewhere then show me the link. The more places you share, the more entries you get. :) On January 31st, I will print out all names, toss them in a bowl and have my daughter pick a name from the bowl. Good luck everyone!!

Project 365....Pic 4

Today my boss ordered me a Japanese bento lunch. Basically, they have a set menu, you call and order the food you want each day & they bring it to your workplace. I have to ask her later what everything was. It was very tasty. It only cost 300 yen. (about $3.40) I tried several angles and like this pic best.

Blog candy coming soon!

So I have a few goodies that I'm putting together for blog candy. Once everything is all together, I will take a pic and post. Be sure and check back soon! I think this is one you will love. (at least I hope so lol)

Project 365....Pic 3

So this pic is nothing glamorous, nothing fancy. It just shows the majority of my Club Scrap stash. Also shows hubby's junk in the front closet where I store my paper crafting goodies. lol I have more of these pizza boxes in my bedroom closet upstairs. Each box contains a different color family. (red, orange, yellow, etc) I also have boxes for specific themes. (Disney, hockey, birthdays) My goal is to use up some of this stash. These papers would look MUCH better as completed pages than they do sitting in boxes, waiting to be turned into works of art.

Project 365....Pic 2

Here is my 2nd pic. I used a French Press Coffee Maker today for the first time. I took several pics as I plan on putting this in my "Coffee" scrapbook. If you have time and want to, try googling Project 365. You will find a wide variety of pics from everyone's daily lives. Very interesting idea. I rather like this one. Today, when our photojournalism teacher comes in at work, I might try and talk him into teaching me to develop film. I would love to do a project like this with my SLR camera. Sadly, the film developing options here in Japan are either crazy expensive or poor quality. I might try someplace like snapfish. If you have tried one of those mail your film off to be developed places, please let me know. I would love to hear everyone's opinions.

Project 365...Pic 1

Yes, I am late getting started but better late than never, right? :) So basically, I will be taking a pic a day to record our daily life. Here is my first pic.Pretty generic, I know but its my work schedule for the month. I love the freebie calendar I got from work. It list both Japanese and American holidays. Mt Fuji is in the background of every page. You will eventually get to see them all.

I'm still alive! :)

Thanks to everyone for their concern while I disappeared. I'm still here. Kinda in a funk, but still here. Work hours are finally getting regular. Hopefully, I will have more time to play. The "man flue" is still lingering at my house. As soon as its gone & he heads back to work, I will be back posting more often. I've neglected my blog as well as my pals over at PAO. I DID reorganize some of my scrapping supplies over the holidays. I brought all my Club Scrap boxes to the downstairs closet so I can access them easier. I also made swatches of the cardstock stash I have. I'll post a pic when the camera is done charging, I organized all my other papers according to brand. I took pics too so I wont buy duplicates. lol I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. I promise, promise, promise not to be so scarce in the future!