A Couple of Cards and another book...

A couple of cards...

Earlier in the month, I wrapped up a Valentine's gift for Spencer's first grade teacher. At the last minute I realized that I didn't have a card for her. So, I whipped this up and was pleased that Spencer was impressed with it. :)

The vellum phrase is one I've had for a while so I am not sure of the manufacturer. The heart die cut was on a sheet with a few others that said stuff about "Best Buds" I think. I matted the vellum quote and heart die-cut with pink handmade paper, and tied on a ribbon. I used a scrap of patterned paper for the background.




Friends of ours have a little girl that just turned one. Unfortunately we had to miss the party due to a Cub Scouts commitment, but I made this card to go with her gift that we dropped off the next day. All of the patterned papers are SEI scraps. I keep a sheet of pre-printed greetings handy with my card supplies so I can whip up cards like this pretty easily.


I just finished another book (real, not audio). It was called "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd. When I was living with my sister around the holidays, it was lying around her house. She wasn't reading it so I grabbed it and used it as entertainment while I was there. But it took me forever to read it and I just finished it this week. It doesn't fit the genres that I'm normally drawn to - crime, law, etc. But it's a Southern novel set in South Carolina, so I couldn't pass that up. It was actually a good book and sometimes it's nice to take a break from the crime and gore.

A movie, A book...and of course, pictures

Happy Late Valentine's Day to all!
Here's a layout that I did a long time ago of 2004's Valentine's Day with Spencer. I don't even know if I have pictures of last year, and I didn't take any pictures this year either!

The layout shows Spencer helping me making supper - which were pink heart-shaped pancakes. We decked out the table and surrounding area with some Vday decorations and candles for ambiance. Spencer's special Heart Day gift was The Lion King 1 1/2 on DVD. It was a fun night!


a movie
My one Valentine's Wish (this year!) was to rent a chick flick that Matt & I normally would not watch - and I did. I chose "In Her Shoes" starring Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette, and Shirley MacLaine. It's based on the book, of the same name, by Jennifer Weiner. The book was recommended to me by my sister and I thoroughly enjoyed it, which is what enticed me to rent the movie. I enjoyed it as well, and would recommend it to others. There were discrepancies between the two, as there always is, but nothing that I considered unforgivable.

a book
Given my obnoxiously long commute to work (1+ hour each way), I have long since begun listening to "audiobooks"...something I would have normally considered nerdy or dorky. I began by getting books on CD at Cracker Barrell or the library - quickly learning that the selections were quite slim.

Being blessed with a thoughtful husband, I received an iPod Nano for Christmas and now have that as a means of listening to these "audiobooks". My eyes have now been opened to an endless library of downloadable prose...at quite the price! However, after picking my jaw up off the floor, I did find a way to get a few downloads for free. So, I have successfully listened to two of my three downloads and will be saddened with the third has come and gone...

The first audiobook I completed on my iPod was Patricia Cornwell's latest, Predator. She is one of my favorite authors and I finally was able to get "caught up" on her books. Predator is the latest in the Scarpetta series...which is my favorite of her books as well. It was a good read (or should I say a good listen), though I did find that I couldn't listen to it for too long of a time period.

The most recently finished book was James Patterson's Honeymoon. This one definitely held my attention. I found myself anticipating my car rides so that I could find out what was going to happen next. I love James Patterson and was definitely not disappointed by this book. Highly recommended!

Of course, Pictures!

This past weekend, we were lucky to have another couple come hang out at our new home with us. We are really enjoying have a nice place where people enjoy being! While they were there, we goofed off with the camera a bit and got a few good shots of us.

This is a picture of Matt and I (on the left) and this is Scott & Cameron, our friends (on the right).

















I also thought I'd throw in a few other pictures from not too long ago...why? Just because I LOVE pictures (and I just finally got a bunch of digital shots organized on my computer).

Guess who??? Yup-- it's me and Matt -- again. This was when we went out for his birthday in January.

This is from when we went out for Matt's birthday with Spencer. As you can see, Spencer was being a tad silly.

That's it for now... hope you enjoyed - ha ha!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Chronicles of a Southern Scrapper – that’s me. After dabbling in the concept of this “all the rage” thing called Blogs, I have decided to create myself a permanent home. I can’t promise you gossipy storylines of a soap opera, or political rantings worthy of water cooler talk. All I can offer is a little piece of me. I won’t be divulging any deep dark secrets or unleashing skeletons from my closet. To be frank, the idea of putting my existence out there for the world to see is a bit creepy. Here in my little piece of the vast universe we call the “world wide web”, you will only find tidbits of me that I feel like sharing. This online home will serve as an outlet for my ramblings – of which I have plenty, a gallery of sorts for my scrapbooking creations, and a studio to which I can post the latest and greatest of my photographic obsession. To no degree do I assume this is a place people will be dying to visit each and every day. But I do hope it will serve as a reference point to which I can point folks to see or read something that I would like to share with those willing to indulge.

I guess I should start off with a quick introduction of the key players in these future chronicles. Here we are: The female one -- that's me. The short, red-headed one -- that's my 7 year old stepson Spencer. The one that refuses to smile in pictures -- that's my husband of almost 4 years, Matt. The two stringy fellows in the back -- they're just props! This photo was taken at our church's Fall Festival in October of 2005. Not pictured: Rio, the four-legged overly-spoiled under-appreciative member of our family.



For today's rambling...
It actually snowed in sunny South Carolina today - can you believe it? After several months of abnormally warm winter weather (even for good 'ole South Kackilack), I was quite surprised to see white flakes falling from the sky this morning. It's way too warm to stick and I don't know if we'll be blessed with a snow able to create a day of fun - snow cream, snowball fights and watching Rio figure out how to go to the bathroom - but I hope we get at least one before winter's end...which is quickly approaching.