This, That, and Other Things

Wow!  January is almost gone!  I must be getting old when the long month of January goes by fast!
Today is the last chance to order and still receive the January Stamp of the Month and the specials in the Inspiration brochure.  And then tomorrow...drum roll, please....the brand new Spring/Summer 2011 Idea Book goes live!!  I'm so excited about the new product line in this catalog.  Such beautifully designed papers and stamps.  I want it all!  Check it all out by clicking on the link on the left (Shop with me) or if you'd prefer your own copy, I've installed a Paypal button so you may order through my blog.  The $5.00 cost is to cover shipping charges.  I have a limited quantity of Idea Books, so don't wait too long to order yours!

Glenn has been busy doing his "safety thing" prior to the start of the Southeast Area Rally in Brooksville, FL.  The official start is Tuesday.  We've had fun seeing old friends and making new ones these past couple of days.   There has been potlucks to attend and "happy hours" to enjoy and a couple of dinners in town.  One evening, I was just about done cooking dinner when Beth O. stopped by to talk to Glenn.  He wasn't here, so we chatted while I cooked (and that was the day I had out some scrapping stuff, so the coach was a bit of a mess).  Then Glenn showed up, then Beth's husband, Donnie.  Next thing we know, 3 other couples joined the group.  Seems "happy hour" was at our place!  It was a bit crowded, but fun!  Before I knew it, I was stowing dinner in the fridge and we joined the crowd for dinner at Cody's Steakhouse.  Guess dinner was ready for the next day!

The motorhomes have been rolling in all day with the last of the volunteers and the start of the attendees.  We have a front row seat to all the "goings on"!  It'll be great for the parade.  I've heard 1100 coaches are expected to attend.  It's always fun to see the aerial pictures when everyone is parked.

On the creative side, I took a couple of days to put together some layouts using some of my "other brand" supplies.  I brought out my Close To My Heart How-To books (pictured above) and a stack of paper and manage to put together about 14 two page layouts.  The books make it SO easy! These will be ready when I get in the mood to print pictures and do some embellishing.  I need to use up some of my "stash" to make room for the new products I'm hoping to buy.  I only have so much room to store my supplies, so it's "use up the old, make room for new".

We are enjoying the mid 70's today with some clouds.  Much better than what's at home!  Too bad rain is expected for the majority of the rally.  Maybe the forecast will be wrong, fingers crossed!

"Perry" Projects

In March, we will attend the Family Motor Coach Association Family Reunion and Motorhome Showcase in Perry, Georgia.  What a mouth-full!  Glenn is the Safety Officer for these conventions, this will be his 7th convention he has worked in this position.  It runs from March 14 -17, but we go in a week early (March 8, my b-day!).  After the first convention, I learned I'd better be able to entertain myself because I see little of Glenn during these 2 weeks.  So, I decided to start teaching some craft classes.

This year I will be teaching 4 classes.  I finished up my samples so I thought I would post them here for you to see.

 The first two are for the class called "Spread Your Wings Workshop".  It features CTMH "Wings" paper pack (X7135B), Stickease (X7135C) and the new Flip Flap Assortment (Z1325).  The first picture shows the layout closed, the second, open.

 The above picture shows "Southern Homecoming" layout.  "Southern Homecoming" is the theme for the convention.  This class will feature the CTMH paper pack "Fanfare"(X7138B) and the "Pennant Alphabet"(E1018) stamp set.

This photo shows  my Papercraft Techniques class.  I will be teaching 12 different techniques that can be used in card making, scrapbooking and other paper crafts.  We will be using the Sanding Kit (Z1294), the Dry Embossing/Scoring Stylus (Z608) and the Spray Pen (Z1380) all of which the students will take home with them!

Here is the "Cheery, Cherry Recipe Box".  This features the "Cherry-O" paper pack (now retired) and the CTMH Recipe Box.

I really look forward to teaching these classes!  We always have a great time and I have the pleasure of meeting new crafty friends!

If you have any questions pertaining to these classes, please contact me!

By the way, in previous years, these conventions have been for owners of motorhomes only, but this year they have opened it up to owners of fifth wheel, travel trailers and other RV's.  For more details on attending this convention, please go to http://www.fmca.com/

Close call!

Tuesday (1/25), we moved from the Thousand Trails Orlando campground to the Hernando County Airport for the SouthEast Area Rally of the Family MotorCoach Association.  I followed Glenn this time instead of towing the truck.  He is still concerned about the fuel leak that we thought was fixed.  All went well and when we got parked the left leveler even worked!!  We are parked right on the main drag near the office with full hookups.  There ARE rewards for volunteering!  Glenn will be the Safety Officer for this rally.

Cool!  As I'm writng this, I looked out the window and noticed the "markers" they just dropped from an airplane to check wind speed and direction (I'm guessing at this!).  Glenn had heard they would be a lot of practicing going on with drops and parachutists this month.  Extra entertainment!

Back to my story....Bad weather was predicted for Tuesday afternoon and evening in Florida.  We were glad to get set up before it came in.  We watched the skies and the radar and about 4:30pm, Glenn decided to pull in the slides of the motorhome and move to a steel building on the property to weather out the storm (us not the motorhome).  It is rated for up to 120 mph winds.  It was a nasty looking sky as we stood at the doorway watching.  Then the rain and wind came hard and fast!  It was a good thing the tents weren't up and there were no trees around.  I'm sure we would have seen some damage. 

About 5:30pm it was looking like the worst was over so 6 couples headed out to dinner.  Just about a mile down the road, we could see a lot of tree limbs down and at least one metal roof laying on the side of the road.  Not sure if it was a tornado, but what a mess!  And in just one small area.  We are so fortunate that we had no damage to the motorhomes parked here and especially glad we didn't get any hail!  BTW, we ate at the Red Mule.  It was a small, pub-type eatery.  The sandwiches were delicious and we had a lot of laughs with the group!

Glenn has been busy doing his "safety thing" here prior to the start of the rally.  It officially runs Feb.2 - 6.  Every day, more volunteers arrive, the big vendor tent is being constructed and soon the display motorhomes will arrive.  We have attended the rally several times, but never as volunteers, so it is fun to watch everything come together.

While Glenn has been busy, I'm finally trying out some digital scrapbooking!  Close To My Heart (CTMH) has a wonderful, FREE program.  In the past couple of days, I have made 4 - 2 page layouts while sitting comfortably on the couch.  And no mess!  The beauty of this program is I pay nothing until I order the pages and since the digital papers match the "real", I can re-create these pages with traditional materials if I want to play with paper and glue.  All of the design work is done so I know exactly what materials I need to pull out to make the pages.  If you would like to check out this program, just click on the "Studio J" badge on the sidebar of this blog.

Settling In

What a ride!!  We missed the snow (heard there were one foot drifts on our driveway!) but had to deal with the remnants of the ice storm that hit Atlanta.  I couldn't believe how bad the interstate was 2 days after the storm!  Our freeways would be in better shape DURING the storm!  Huge amounts of ice still on the road and chunks missing so it was "ice road potholes".   At one point, we heard the truckers ahead of us were sliding sideways on a sloping curve!  Yikes!  Glenn could feel the front end of the motorhome sliding a little, but managed to keep it under control.  Had no choice!  The ramps were even worse and I can't imagine the side streets if the freeway was that bad!  Friends we met while working at Amazon.com were caught in the storm in Calhoun, GA.  They spent 2 nights in a motel and when the finally got on the road, we were just a short distance behind them!  It was nice because they could call and warn us about conditions ahead.  A ways south of Atlanta, the roads cleared up and it was smooth sailing to our destination - Clermont, FL.  Our last evening on the road, we stopped and had dinner with Sandi and Dave, our "lookouts".  It was fun to catch up with them at the Cracker Barrel near Valdosta, GA.
We continued on after dinner, stopping to top off the propane tank and fuel tank.  Spent the night at the Florida Welcome Center then made it to the campground by noon.  We didn't park in the our usual section of the campground, which is in "the woods".  Love that area, but there is a lot of vegetation between the sites and Glenn was afraid he'd need to be crawling around the motorhome, fixing the levelers the weren't working when we left home.  Turns out, they do work!  We think the switch is going bad so it may need to be replaced.  We have a nice site, close to the lodge and pool and a great view of the sunsets.
Thursday, Glenn made the trip to Sun City Center to visit his stepmom, Dorothy.  She will be 102 this year and not doing too well.  He didn't spend the whole day as planned, he could see his visit was tiring her out.  I spent the day putting things back in order in the motorhome and adding to Glenn's "honey-do" list.  A lot of little fix-ups need done including putting the pocket door back on it's track.  Seems the rough ice road jiggled it off!
Yesterday we attended the Tampa RV SuperShow.  We met up with Sandi and Dave for lunch and had fun checking out the latest RV's and the supply vendors.  As you went to the various parts of the show, you could collect Mardi Gras beads.  When you had all six colors, you could get in the "money booth".  It was a booth with fake dollars and a blower.  When you were zipped in the booth, they turned on the blower and you had to catch as many dollars as you could in 15 seconds.  Not as easy as you'd think!  Between Glenn and I we caught $25 dollars to spend at the Camping World booth.   We ended up with 2 folding side tables for outside and a collapsible trash can for only $2.11 out of pocket.  Not bad!  Debra and Butch had given us their tickets to get in so we didn't do too bad for the day.
We also joined Escapees, a camping group we've heard about for years.  They have many events and a campground system plus discounts to many other campgrounds.  We'll try it for a year and see if we like it and use it.
Today we are planning to finished "setting up" our site and maybe even play some water volleyball if the water in the pool isn't too cold.

Dodging the weather bullet

We had planned to leave tomorrow morning but word is we'll be getting 3 to 5 inches of snow starting tomorrow morning.  So, as soon as we pick up the motorhome this afternoon and get it loaded, we will head south.  We hope to get ahead of this storm and come in behind the storm in the south.  At least if we are unfortunate enough to get stuck on the freeway or in a rest area, we will have food, drink,and a bathroom with us!  Hmmmm, maybe in that situation we could pick up some extra cash selling coffee, cocoa and turns in the bathroom!  LOL

On the crafty side, I got one of my samples done for the FMCA Convention.  I will posting pictures here later on.  Stay tuned!

Good News!

Well, it looks like a $1.00 part could fix the motorhome!  Of course, labor will be a wee bit more, don't even want to think about that!!  Anyway, if our luck holds we will be Florida bound Tuesday morning.   We didn't get out of Ohio in time - it's supposed to be 1 below zero tonight!  But we are warm and cozy by the fire tonight  and so is the motorhome at the repair shop.  Well, it's not by a fire, I hope!!

While Glenn did his thing on the computer, I went to lunch with my good friend Robin.  Robin and I met some 25 years ago when we both worked at a craft store.  Can't believe it's been that long!  Robin is one of those friends that you might not see for years, but we can get together and talk like it was just yesterday we saw each other.  A good kind of friend to have and I'm blessed with a few!

That reminds me of a plaque I saw today in a catalogue.  It read "A good friend will bail you out of jail, but a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "WOW, that was fun!"  Love it!

Inspiration!

January always make me want to get creative, how about you?  I think it stems from my childhood when we would receive a paint-by-number kit or some other crafty gift for Christmas.  As soon as the tree was down and the decorations put away, I would get started painting or whatever.  I would be creating right now, but I didn't get all the supplies I need out of the motorhome before taking it into the shop for repairs.  Ugh!  That and I KNOW there is chocolate in there I can get to, either.  Double ugh!  Not nice to separate a woman from her crafts AND chocolate - could get dangerous around here!

Anyway, since I can't create I'll tell you where you can find some great inspiration.  Visit my Close To My Heart website at http://www.marcieronken.myctmh.com/ !  First, go to the "Shop Online" tab and check out January's special brochure "Inspiration".  This is a transition brochure between 3 Idea Books a year to 2 a year.  The next Idea Book will launch February 1, 1011 and will be active until the end of July.  I've seen a peak and it will be fabulous!  Ok, back to "Inspiration".  This introduces our newest paper pack "Wings".  Love, love, love it!  And the stamp sets are to die for!  When you purchase the "Wings" Workshop on the Go, you will get special discounts on these stamp sets.  I can't wait to use the newest alphabet set "Bohemian Alphabet"!

What is Workshop on The Go?  Glad you asked!  CTMH offers these kits in each Idea Book and on our websites.  These include a complete Level 2 paper pack (12 patterned papers, 10 cardstock), an exclusive stamp set, an assortment of matching embellishments and a guide for both scrapbook pages and cards.  All this for just $29.95!  These could be your Kit of the Month.  Just treat yourself to one a month and you'll always have lots of inspiration!


One more inspiring place to visit is also on my CTMH website.  Check out the CTMH TV tab.  Lots of espisodes available to watch to get a ton ideas for your papercrafting.

Palm trees in January?

You may have noticed my blog background is of palm trees.  Not exactly an Ohio winter scene!  Well, Florida is where we SHOULD be right now.  We were due in Clermont (near Orlando) on Jan. 4, however, Glenn discovered a fuel leak in the motorhome.  We couldn't get it in for repairs until today, Jan. 6.  With any luck (notice the crossed fingers) we will be on our way tomorrow with only a small dent in the wallet, but that's being very optimistic!

In the meantime, we will just chill in the house with #1 son and his wife.  They are living here while we travel.  They have a condo for sale (anyone in the market?) with plans to build on our property when it sells.  Great for us, we can travel with the knowledge that the house is being looked after!

My plan today is to learn more about blogging and setting up mine plus I hope to begin to work on samples for the classes I will be teaching at the Family Motor Coach Association's Family Reunion in Perry, GA in March.

Welcome!

It seems my life has been a pile of scraps!  But that's a good thing!  My creative side was nurtured by my mother who was always doing something crafty.  Besides the usual coloring, cutting, painting,and paste, my crafting began with making clothes for Barbie.  I would use the fabric scraps leftover from the clothes Mom would sew for my 2 sisters and 1 brother.  By the time I was in high school, it was a fight to see who got to use the sewing machine, Mom or me!  Sewing led me to many other crafts, from knitting and quilting to basket making and everything in between, all creating "scraps".  That has led me to my most recent passion - scrapbooking!  I wanted to be able to share the wonderful photos of the places we visit and not have them sit on the computer.  Which led me to Close To My Heart, the stamping and scrapbook company.  You'll hear LOTS about that as we go along.  I hope this blog will give me the push to get more done so I can share the results with you.

 Of course, cooking makes scraps for the compost pile and I love getting other gardener's "scrap plants".

Anyway, my hope is to keep up this blog and share "scraps" of my creations, our travels, and life in general.

Be patient, though, I'm techno-challenged and this will be a learning experience!