Happy New Year 2016

 Happy New Year Everyone,

 I do hope that your New Years will be special in every way! I hope that you have a safe New Year's Eve and if you are planning on having some New Year's drinks to celebrate please have a designated driver, take public transportation or even a taxi. Your Lives are very important to take chances with. None the less, Happy New Year 2016!!!!!

 Ok so I still have a million and 1 things to do but I just had to stop and take a breather. Part 1 of the newsletter is out.  Due to some technical difficulties (Not On My End) well maybe one part of my end, there will be a part 2 sometime tomorrow. I am really tired right now... I can sure say that. But here is the link that should take you to the blog.

http://audrajscrapsdesigns.blogspot.co.uk/

Keep in mind that this is the work of an amateur. I haven't published a newsletter in 21 years of this variety. I did do a few here and there but the format has changed as well as the subjects. Especially the format. I had easy templates to use way back in the day. They all had little square boxes that you typed and actually pasted photographs into and then they were printed out. The digital age has really come a long long way. In some ways for people like me, I am still stuck in the dark ages!

 Something is smelling in the fridge... so I need to figure out what that is.... (Don't Want To) but it needs to be taken care of. I just cannot imagine what it could be tho.

 Cisco is not eating his doggy food. He doesn't like this brand and I am sorry for that but it is what it is. He will eat when he gets hungry enough.

 Since I am a night owl I plan to do my big stuff tonight. I am really mind exhausted at the moment. I ordered dinner out tonight. I am too tired to try cooking or anything. I am going to nap for a bit tho and then get with it... Y'all be safe and have fun.... See you next year! BB

I Have Been Playing!

 Hi Everyone,

 I sure hope that this finds everyone doing well. It is a bit nippy here tonight and even tho it is 47 degrees here it felt much colder. Now 47 degrees is a bit nippy for me, but I put on my robe and was still really chilled. I thought that something just wasn't right so I went to check the heat and someone... Not naming names but one of my sons, the youngest one had accidentally turned on the air and not the heat. So now the heat is on, the room is nice and cozy and I am not shivering any longer.

 It is late here but it is one of those nights that sleep is elusive so I have been scrapping. This page is a bit different for me but I really had fun making it. I got these kits from Salt Town Studio. I mixed and matched but didn't it turn out pretty. The glitter sparkles is the only thing that I added from my stash of bling.

 I am really in the mood for dancing. Tomorrow night if all goes well then I am going with my friend Erica to a New Years Eve party. We have to wait and see tho because she might be called into work. She is a Police Dispatcher and sometimes they become short handed. I of course will totally understand if we cannot go but until the final word I am thinking about it.

 This is a page that I have done with my new coloring book called Fanciful Faces that Miss Edna sent to me. I did this one on a 12x12 size page so it came out a little fuller than the original but I liked the effect. I did a lot of shadowing on this page. I also did a lot of blending and with shades of blues and grays and purples with a touch of red. I loved this page because it was just a half face. I thought that it brought out a lot of character in the photo. I didn't highlight with black or even shadow with the black. It looks like it in some places but that is a dark blue actually. All in all I have had a wonderful time coloring and scrapping.

 I cleaned house today. Wore me out and I think that is why I am so wound up because I did so much in order to get my house in order for my brother and sister in law but they did not come. They were tired from the long drive so they stopped for the night about an hour away. Traffic was getting heavy as well so they called with their apologies. Maybe I will get to see them next time.

 I am still having problems with the size of the paper for the Newsletter for our new site. I may have to just use a regular blog post for the first time around. Tomorrow I am going to try for a different way and if that doesn't work then I will just use a regular blog post and do my best with that.
 I tried to set up a website today. What a nightmare that turned out to be. I will work on it again tomorrow as well.

 In the mean time it is nearly 2 in the morning and I am falling asleep here at the computer so I will say goodnight.... Be Happy and Safe my friends, until tomorrow.... BB

A Little Catching Up!

Hi Everyone,

 Playing a little catch up here. Not much to say as I have been feeling rather sick to my stomach and not doing so great in the depression department either. I am not going into details over it but let's just say that sometimes people can be cruel.

 We have big dinner plans for New Years and my brother and his wife will be spending the night tomorrow night so I am looking forward to that! That means tomorrow I need to get my butt in gear and do a few things. I planned on putting the Christmas things away but it didn't happen.

 Stomach is rolling along so I am getting off and laying down.... Indulge in something special this New Years just for you.... Let's make this a very good year! BB

Lost My Post

 Hi everyone,
 Well I lost my first post. Thankfully I wasn't very far into it. I don't know why blogger does this. One button hit will cost the entire post to disappear. It drives me nuts. I had misspelled a word and was trying to fix it thru spell checker and it was gone!

 This page is not mine. It belongs to Maureen Anderson, one of our fantastic Creative Team members for Audrajscrapsanddesigns.com
 Maureen will be featured in our first newsletter in January along with a few of her layouts. This is one of my favorite New Year 2016 pages. She is an awesome lady and I am honored that she accepted my request to be featured in the newsletter.
 Our newsletter will also have a freebie included for the month with information on upcoming events and sales. I hope that you will also join us and see what we are all about. Everyone is welcome.

 Christmas was really nice. In spite of the boys choosing to stay at home, Karyn and I went over to Carol and Barbara's house. Turkey, stuffing, desserts, green bean casserole, and the works. It was awesome and we had a blast. The weather was gorgeous. The entire day was lovely. Then I came home and crashed.
 New Years Karyn and I are making Green Chili enchiladas with guacamole, rice and beans and she is going to make a dessert.

 Here are some pics to share. They are so hiding from the camera....

 Well these are some of the pics.

 Karyn and Matt was like No No.... but I had them taken anyway. Can you see the gray in my hair? Everyone says it is the lights... Yeah right! Time for a color... and I need to get my hair cut too.

 I received some lovely gifts, Thank You Edna for the beautiful neck warmer, Everyone has fell in love with it. 2 coloring books.... YaY... The Goddess and Faces... many hours of peace there. The coffee and sweetener, and Cisco loves his treats from Pogo! Pots and plants, flowers and candy (Sugar Free) and Jonathan gave me a reindeer cup and Texas Pecan coffee which I am drinking now. So awesome! I can't think of everything that I received but I love them all and of course being with the family and friends was a very added boost to an already lovely day.

 I had no problems sleeping last night. I had my Cisco next to me and we cuddled and slept like babies. Just having a time waking up right now. Oh and before I forget, thank you all so very much for the calls, texts and emails.... I love all of you too.... and I hope that your Christmas was as wonderful as mine was.

 I am off of here for now. I have somethings that need to be done and it is already after 9:00 am so I better get to doing them..... Have a wonderful day. BB

It Felt Like Monday All Over Again

 Hi,

 It is Wednesday morning, but technically since I have yet to go to bed it is still Tuesday night if that makes any sense.

 We have been without water.... All day Monday. We got it back on Hooray sometime around 3:00am only to have it shut off at 9:00am. I was not happy. Not happy to Not be able to shower, do dishes, cook or even flush the toilets.
 The one bright spot was that my son brought us over a gallon of water which I used to make coffee for this morning.
 Just as I was fixing to get into the shower Jonathan texted me. Another water break... water turned off at 9:00 am.... Yeah it was like 9:05 and no water. Fast forward to a supper of scrambled eggs and gravy and biscuits. (Not Bad At All) but at 10:00 pm I had had enough. I was threatening to go to a Hotel/Motel and charge it to the apartment complex when seconds later Nathan came in to say... We have water...
 Well first things first... Dishwasher has been ready to go for a while now so I made sure the lines were open and flushed and turned that on. It is going to be done soon and I am going to have a shower and hit the hay as they say.

 I wrote a long post this morning and went to enter a link and lost my post. I was ready to spit fire! Attempted to re-write it but by that time I had little energy and had to do some pages for the sites and so I played around with that, did a couple of pages, Frosty above is one of them. The others are of my great niece and another of my sister in law's great grand kids and emailed those out, and tonight I got some new pictures of Celeste so I did a page for her.

 My birds are back so I am happy. I even saw a squirrel scampering about. My cat has become totally finiky and is not eating what I am giving her. She turns up her tail and walks away with her nose in the air.... Ok so obviously she is not as hungry as she claims to be!

 Cisco is fine. Thankfully he is returning to his old self. I am so relieved. And he is looking at me now as if to say "Mom it's time for bed". And he is right... But first there is a matter of a hot shower!

 BB everyone....

 Hi Everyone,

 I am back. It is now 3:00 am and I am still awake. At 2:00 am Cisco was miserable so I had Nathan to give him a bath since he was up with me. He has such dry skin. He didn't like it but you know what, he is sleeping like a baby right now. Plus he just gets dirty like we all do. He goes out and he gets dirt under his nails and then he scratches and that deposits the dirt into his fur and it makes him itch. But he is having a good sleep now. I wish that I was....

 But here I am and I am going to post some pictures that I have been meaning to put on my blog of my Christmas Table. It is fuller now with more gifts and Christmas cards and a few goodies that have been dropped off here and there but these were taken the first day after we shampooed the carpets and set the table by the windows.

That empty spot to the right is now filled with some of the most beautiful Christmas cards that I have received in quiet sometime.

 This is a long view of our bar. I have several small Christmas trees as well as my Angels, and shelf sitters.

 And this is a front shot of the bar. Also now added is candles that I found and some candy canes for the kiddos... So I may not have had a Traditional Christmas Tree this year but I am happy with what I have. I want to get a small tree for next year. Maybe a snow white one or a green flocked one. If I see a Fiber Optic I might even get one of those since I love watching the lights change colors. Perhaps for my room.

 Now I really like this one.. Not everyday that you see a tree like this... Isn't it just gorgeous? Well I think so. And it would be something that if I lived in my own home that I would keep up year around, perhaps just change out the ornaments every once in a while, like hearts for Valentines, and red white and blue for the 4th of July.... Just a thought...

 Now this last photo is from a program on my tablet that lets me color. I color in my book that Edna sent me for my birthday, but at night in bed I color sometimes to help me fall asleep. I thank you so much Edna for re-introducing me to the magic of coloring....

 Isn't this pretty...? Right now in my coloring book I am working on an owl. He is going to be really pretty when I am finished. I did him in shades of gray, brown and blue.

 Now these next set of pictures might take some of you way back... They took me on a trip down memory lane with my grandmother... See if you can guess what they are.....

Can you see what they are? Well it is a little difficult with out any clues so I will give you one more just to help you out.... Gosh I wish with all my heart that they still made these today but my Mother would disagree..... LOL.... but she would have had fond memories of these images.

 If you guessed Flour sacks then you would be correct! My grandmother use to make me the cutest sundresses from them when I was little. I use to have several of them when  I was a teenager, but we lost our home in a tornado when I was 12 or 13 and they were lost, but I can still remember them...
 And I suppose that this ends my trip into the past one more time. I hope that you enjoyed these pictures as much as I have in sharing them. Now I can clean out my folder that I have had them stored in to make room for new memories from long ago or a couple of funnies to share.

 How do you plan on celebrating New Years Eve? I have been invited to ring in the New Year with a friend of mine at a party at her church... food, music and fellowship. We will be home around 1:00 am or so, and it is close by so we will not have far to go.
 Now these plans are tentative. She works for the Police Department and could be called into work if an emergency arrives. But we went ahead and made these plans and we will just have to wait and see what the night brings. It will be fun to get out and socialize with new people. Me and my New Wheels are ready to go.
 Also she and I are planning to go downtown to the Capital after the first of the year. She is usually off on Tuesday and Wednesdays so we are making plans. Her name is Erica so you will probably hear me speak of her often.
 In fact let me share one of my favorite scrap pages with you that I did of her. What an awesome lady!

This is my friend Erica who doesn't weigh more than 100 pounds soaking wet with a pocket full of rocks... She is such a tiny little thing. 

She lives here in my apartment complex and she would walk her dog and we would say hello to each other on occassion. 

 One day I was really worried about my incision. This is before the visiting nurses came along and I knew that I needed some help in covering the wound. It was draining really badly and I was out front and she came around the corner. 

Something told me to just ask her to help me and I did and she said "Mam you have been on my mind for several days. Of course I will help you". And just like that, we hit it off and try to get together for a little while one day a week that she is off. One day she invited me over for Chicken and Dumplings and last week I took her a bowl of chili and she was like... "Oh your not going to believe this" and she pulled out a can of chili... "This is what I was going to eat." Funny how things happen and they really seem to happen to both Erica and I frequently. I will be thinking of her and the phone rings and it is her. Or she has a feeling that I need to talk to her and she will send me a text saying,  "Are you alright"?  Anyway I did these pages for her and it is funny how that happend. She wanted to know about my scrapbooking and I showed her a couple of pages and she was very interested in learning how to do them. I took her into my bathroom and took 2 pictures of her. She had big time doubts that I could do anything with those 2 ratty pictures as she liked to call them....  Ha... she has shown everyone these scrap book pages that I made of her and even sent them to her fiance. LOL.. 

Well this post just seemed to grow out of no where and now I suppose that I really should get off the computer and try to get some kind of sleep. I have to start a rough draft of the newsletter for Audrajscraps tomorrow and get that out of the way and then email it to her. Or try. Her computer bit the dust today. Oddly both of my designers lost their computers today. Lins has a computer tech trying to rescue her data from her hard drive. The good news there is that if not then everything is already in the stores and I think that she has the cloud as a back up as well, but she needs data for her game that she is playing. I know what it is like to lose everything.  And Heather... well her computer just up and died... So very strange that it happened to 2 designers on the very same night. I thought that perhaps they were hacked but both of them told me that it was past time that they needed to be replaced. It is just a really hard time of the year right at Christmas for both of them to come up with the extra money. 

 Anyway I have work for them to do tomorrow so I will say goodnight/good morning to everyone. Stay safe, stay happy and stay well. BB

Hello and Good Cheer

Hello,

 I cannot believe that it is so close to Christmas. I am really anxious for it to be over with in the scrapping world anyway. We are not having Christmas for the grand kids until January so that will work out just great. 

 I don't have much time tonight.  I am working on adding a friend to my blog and it is not working. I am not sure what is going on.

 Cisco is fine. The boys so far are doing well and I am hungry. I must find some food!

 Hugs everyone.... BB

I Can't Sleep

 Hi Everyone,

  I can't sleep so I thought that I would do a little page for a challenge called Red. I don't expect to win because the pages that are entered are just fabulous but who knows. I just keep up with it and see so many of the same people win all of the time so I am not really in their clique so I do not get my hopes up but from time to time I actually see a challenge that interests me and red seems to be the color of the season so red it is.

 I had a very busy day. I went grocery shopping and actually treated myself to 2 things. One I almost put back when I saw the price.... Big fat juicy red grapes..... $7.29  worth.... but I indulged and the next thing that I bought was a box of Queen Anne Chocolate Covered Cherries. I only buy them once a year and just one box and they are one of my favorites. I shared tho. I shared with Barbara and her aunt Carol and Nathan and Jonathan and by that time the box was gone but it was fine! Sharing is what Christmas should be about.

 I received my Christmas box from Miss Edna and tomorrow I will take a picture of everything on the table that is decorated. I didn't have much light tonight and even with the flash the pictures turned out dark so I will take one again tomorrow as we moved the living room around today when Carol steam cleaned my carpets... (My Christmas Present) and she hung a couple of pictures for me that I had in the back of my closet and I wanted to hang.
 She and I share so much in common. Especially Wicca so we had a lot to talk about. We both enjoy Garage Sales and plan on going to a flea market down in New Braunfels in January or February and may just spend the night somewhere, treat ourselves to a mini vacation.
 It was funny actually as Barbara was all for going and suggesting what we all could do and Carol and I looked at her at the same time. "Really? I thought that you was going to be with Matthew in Wisconsin.:
 "Ohhh Yeah.... I forgot." she said and we roared with laughter at her. We told her that we would do Girl Stuff when she got back home. For some reason after giving her the choice of hanging out with us two girls or going with Matthew... Matt won out.... We figured as much lol...

 Thank you Edna for the gifts.... I think Cisco knew right away his gift. Of course he had his nose in the box and pawed at it but I put it on the table with the rest of the presents. Edna, have you received your Christmas card? I mailed them out the same day but only 1 person has gotten theirs. I have another stack to mail out tomorrow. And then I am done with my cards. One to each of my grand children, and 2 more to friends and 1 to my sister that I had to call and get her address for. I can never remember her address and I know I have it in my address book but couldn't find it so I thought... You know it would be simpler just to call her so I did. She and I haven't really been able to touch base since Deborah passed away. She has been working a lot and she works nights and sleeps during the day so I had to wait to call her.

 I really need to try and get some sleep so I will close for now and say goodnight. Stay safe and until tomorrow... BB