Babsarella's Pocketful of Sunshine

Simple Pleasures....

Looking forward to the weekend is one of life's simple pleasures. Especially where there are no rigid plans and all sorts of possibilities. Now that there are no Saturday dance classes for me to worry about, I suddenly have way more free time, and I am quite excited about that. The big challenge is trying to figure out what I want to do for fun, which is not such a bad thing at all!!

This weekend, I am planning to check out the flea market at the senior center on Saturday morning. Now I am not usually eager to get up early on Saturday since it is my only day to sleep in, but once I discovered that the antique shows there are pretty terrific, I figured it was worth checking it out. One of the vendors I have purchased from at the antique shows will be there, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be lucky enough to uncover some treasures.

In addition to the flea market, I am planning to watch a few movies. I am really excited about seeing the new Sex in the City movie. The previews looked great! I also picked up a few movies from Blockbuster earlier in the week that I also plan to watch. Last evening I watched A Good Woman, which was enjoyable but not great. I did love the scenery and costumes. It was set in the 1930's in Italy. Rich Americans and Brits having parties, sharing gossip, and living the good life. Ahhhh to dream!

I was actually hoping to be taking some classes with Tim Holtz on Saturday at a semi-local scrapbook store, but alas, I have not moved off the wait list. bummer. Anyhoo, not to be deterred by my interest in taking classes (now that I have some free Saturdays), I have signed up for this class next weekend at The Stamp Shack. I am looking forward to learning new techinques and sharing ideas with other creative people. I am also planning to check out the sample for this class while I am there, because it sounds interesting. Speaking of creativity, I just have to let you know that as of last evening, I have completed my father's day cards and gifts! I am so excited to be done early (because I am usually rushing around at the last minute like a chicken with my head cut off). I even started playing with some of the odds and ends still around to make a few more general occasion cards. Even dragged out the sewing machine to stitch on one too!! (Note to the wise...if you attach buttons with glue dots and then decide you want to hand stitch said buttons using thread, be prepared to throw out the ruined needle because it will be full of glue dot gook). Hope to squeeze in a little more playtime doing that during the weekend too.  

Miss B has finals next week, so much to her dislike, she will be spending a GOOD part of the weekend hitting the books. We are hoping to attend a little get together at church for our young priest who is leaving to a new position. Fr. Harry was such a delight and we will be sorry to see him leave, but as with all our young priests, once their 3 year training is complete they are given a new position so that another young priest can begin training.  

So, now you know what we have on the adjenda for the next couple of days.

Hope you have a weekend filled with all your simple pleasures...

The Learning Curve...

OK, so the photos have NOTHING to do with this post, really, but we can't have a post without photos now can we???

These are actually photos of the roses we got for Miss B for her recital. I just never got around to posting them. It never fails...you spend big money at the florist for roses and they never open, but you spend a reasonable sum for flowers at the grocery or dance recital, and they are totally beautiful!

Anyhoo, getting the the post...

I spent last evening getting my new version of AVG (my current anti-virus of choice, the FREE version) loaded on the laptop. I don't know why, but it would not let me upgrade from 7.5 to 8.0. I had to actually remove version 7.5 first. Of course it told me after I spent about 50 minutes uploading the new version. Then the next time I spent all that time uploading, I found out I had to load a patch from Microsoft. Grrrrr. Thought I was being smart and tried to load to the desktop. That did not work for some reason. But, luckily the 4th time was the charm.

After going through that, you would think I had more than enough frustration on the laptop, but nooooo. I was bound and determined to spend some time with PS Elements to try and learn about cloning. I even purchased one of the DUMMIES books for my version (6.0) recently, just to get a clue. Luckily, I think I have finally figured it out. I was also excited to play around and bring in the background from one photo into another. YEAH!!! Well, if you look closely you can see a bunch of mistakes, but that just means I need more practice. It was a big accomplishment, so I now feel like I am on my way to learning this bad boy program. It just takes LOTS of time and patience. If anyone has any great tips, I am most interested. Also, if anyone knows about using actions in PS Elements, I would love to hear from you too!

Once I had accomplished that, it was after 10pm, so I decided to call it a night and do a bit of reading. I finally started Audition by Barbara Walters, and wanted to read a few more chapters before going to bed. So far, I am really enjoying it.

I plan to be back working on Father's day cards and gifts this evening, and since dinner is gonna be left-overs, I am hoping to be pretty productive. (As least that's my game-plan).

Hope your day has been as beautiful as these flowers!!!

Relaxed and Refreshed...

It was a nice relaxing weekend on Hollywood Beach. My goal was to read and get a little sun (I know how bad it is, but I love it). I finished Home and The Memory Keepers Daughter, and found them both wonderful. Mark wanted to get get away from the day to day, even if it meant bringing his laptop and working part a lot of the time. Miss B had a couple friends along, so they did some fun things like cruising the boardwalk in one of the surrey bikes. I think they did this about 3 times over the course of the weekend. 

The girls also enjoyed wandering up and down the boardwalk, checking out the shops, stopping for ice cream, and just spending time together. (and a trip to Dave and Busters for dinner and games on Saturday evening when it was raining buckets).

For the most part, the weather was nice and at times there was quite the breeze. Some times a bit too much breeze. Our friends had their canopy break on Sunday, so we immediately took ours down so it would not have the same fate. Of course that much wind meant that an umbrella was not good either, so I just put on some extra lotion (SPF 70) to keep from getting burned (which worked very well). I have a tendency to over-do in the sun on this weekend, so I tried to be extra careful.

We ate at a couple of the local places on the Intercostal and we were quite surprised that they were not too crowded. Good for us, but maybe not so good for the restaurants. This particular place we went to several times...once for breakfast, and again for dinner.

They have some wonderful looking baked goods. And I really love the way they have this area set up for fresh bread.

The morning we ate breakfast there, we decided to walk. It is fun to people-watch, and we enjoyed the fresh air and getting some exercise (because mostly I just sit on my butt reading).

Here you can see the old-fashioned band shell. They still have concerts there on occasion, but we have never been to one. They don't seem to have them on holiday weekends.

Here you can see the cute little place we always stay (the smaller two-story building). It is run by Gracie, who came here ages ago with her young children (who are now grown and have grown children). It is very 50's style with mix-matched furniture and little kitchen areas, but it is clean and located in a perfect spot on the beach which is never real crowded.

On our last day there (yesterday), the breeze really kicked up, as did the waves, and the lifeguards were flyin the red flags for riptides. We were smart and stayed out of the water (actually, I hardly ever go in). When it got to the point that the sand was stinging me, I went back to the hotel and sat outside to finish my book. Our last fun thing was to take a walk on the beach and enjoy the beautiful weather (it had been overcast in the morning and was actually a bit cool to me). After the walk, we packed up and headed home. After a quick unload and picking up the 4-legged B (who was totally exhausted from her time at the doggie spa), Mark and I headed to the movies to see the new Indiana Jones flick. It was a fun watch and everything you would expect.

Unfortunately, vaca can not go on forever, so I am trying to get back in the groove and figure out where I left off on all my projects, putting everything away, and doing laundry. yuck.

Here's hoping you had a most wonderful and relaxing weekend too!! 

p.s. Only 2 more weeks of school for Miss B, and she got her classes for next year and they are CORRECT!!! WOO HOO!!! Keeping my fingers crossed that nothing problematic happens over the summer to mess with the classes.

Heading off to the beach...

Looking forward to some relaxation and a few good books. I've picked up this and this. As you can see, I kinda like biographies. I'll be bringing along a few magazines too. Keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will be nice.

I have been working on a card on and off for a few days, but I am still not finished, so I don't have anything creative to share.

Hope you have a most wonderful holiday weekend!

*Oh, and miracle of miracles...our passports arrived today. It only took a week and 1 day from the time we applied!! UNBELIEVEABLE!!!

** Still trying to get the hang of all these new Typepad changes.

***Happy with David Cook winning American Idol, but liked David Archuletta too. I think they are both destined for wonderful careers.

 

Where did this past week go???

WOW. I can't believe it has been almost a week since I posted here. I meant to do a post over the weekend, but one thing lead to another, and then the weekend was over.

Backing up to Thursday evening (while watching Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, and ER)...I decided to just play with some new papers and elements I had around. No theme, no end goal in mind, just have fun and see what happens. It was most enjoyable, and I need to do this more often (with all that extra time I'm gonna have when the dancing is done).

Several cards use some images that were a free download from the Stampington website. 

All of the cards use elements from new scrapbook lines they are now carrying at Michaels. I love the great color combinations and images. I believe they are from Amy Butler. Got a few 50% coupons, so between that and the sale on paper packages, I was able to get them at a good price. * I see that Michael's has some 50% coupons this week too!!!

Anyhow, that was about it for the creating. On Friday evening we rented Annie Hall and The Waterhorse. I had never seen Annie Hall, and Miss B wanted to watch. It was fun to see all the styles, but I am not a big Woody Allen fan, so it was just OK as far as plot and content. Plus the character of Alvie really got on my nerves after a while. The Waterhorse is a fictional tale about the Loch Ness monster. I enjoyed this a lot. Cute characters, and a bulldog...how could I not like it??

Over the weekend, Miss B had 4 recitals to participate in, with her studio's recital on Saturday afternoon. It was a nice production and she danced beautifully, but I could not believe how many rude people were up and down during the performance. And don't get me started on misbehaving children!!! Before we left on Saturday, I was playing around in PSE6 trying to understand the clone stamp tool (and it almost made us late to the recital...yikes). Talk about frustrating!!! I did find an online video that helps to explain how to use it, so I will be back playing again later this week.

Sunday was a day of running around and cleaning. Not something I really planned, but one thing lead to another, and I decided that yesterday was the day. Plus, the weather was very cooperative, so I figured I better take advantage. The good news is, now my patio, grill, and laundry room are clean and tidy. It is amazing how much dirt can accumulate on a covered and enclosed patio! And the grill...yuck. But, I probably grill several times a week, so it really needed to be done in order to prevent a major flare-up. Now, if I could only get up the nerve to tackle my office!! I think that might take more than a weekend!

In other news, Miss B was UBER-EXCITED to pass her learner's permit test!!! Now we have to go to the DMV to get the actual licence. UNFORTUNATELY they require a certified birth certificate...which we sent off to get her a passport. bummer. There may be one in the safe deposit box, but if not, we will have to wait for the other one to come back or order a new one (which I am gonna do anyway).

On Sunday evening, Mark and I watched Love in the time of Cholera. I really wanted to see this when it came out in the theater, but just never found the time. I liked it ok, but it was not as good as I expected.

I finally got a chance to photograph some flowers I received for Mother's day. Although they are a bit wilted now, the colors are amazing and I love the little pot they are in.

Of course, I had my trusty helper there while I was doin all the photography.

More flower photos...

Keepin an eye out for unwanted critters...

Well, you are now officially caught up. Hope you have a wonderful week and I'll try to post again soon...

Celebrating 100 Years

Can you imagine being able to celebrate your 100th birthday? Well, Karla's Aunt Caroline is due to celebrate her 100th birthday next month in Mt. Dora, FL and they are having a big bash!!

Karla mentioned on her blog that Aunt Caroline loves crafting and appreciates all the work and creativity that goes into making those special  projects. 

As unique birthday gift, she wanted to present her with 100 handmade cards and asked fellow bloggers if they would be interested in participating. Well, how can you pass up an opportunity to brighten the life of someone turning 100?!!! Not me...so last night I played around with a fun new image and some papers to make this card. I hope she will enjoy it and all the other 100+ cards she will receive.

Hope you are having a great week!!!

Happy Mother's Day

Sending Happy Mother's Day wishes to all the Mom's out there. Hope your day is as extra special as you are!!! Since this Sunday's Show and tell is all about Mother's Day, I thought I'd share a few of the cards and gifts I made this year for the special moms in my life (My Mom, My Mother-in-law, My Aunt Bev, My Aunt Grace, and My SIL Mary)...

First up are a few cards. (I'm not gonna say who gets what since a certain someone reads this blog and I want her to have a suprise).

 

This collage is for my Sister-in-law and it has photos of my MIL and FIL as children and as young adults.

This is a full view of the piece. In case you were wondering, the frame came from a vintage photo book.

Here is one I made for my Aunts. The photos are of my grandparents, and they wer