have iPhone, will scrapbook

So I'm getting to know my way around my new iPhone, it finally feels familiar. I learn something new every day. It's an incredible piece of technology.

Recently I used the GPS to map out all of the scrapbook stores that I want to visit when I do a "shop hop" in Phoenix during Creative Escape 2009. Way cool ! It has a powerful GPS, combining maps, turn-by-turn directions, real-time traffic info, a digital compass, and Google Earth images. WOW

Today in the mail I got a copy of iPhone Life magazine. Huh? A whole mag dedicated to the iPhone? I guess so. I didn't order it or request it, I assume they send a freebie issue to new iPhone'ers. It looks interesting, I'll peruse it this weekend.

And I'm super excited that 2 of my worlds will intersect soon ... scrapbooking, meet the iPhone! On Monday, Scrapbooks Etc. magazine is set to launch "Scrap App" (cute name) for the iPhone. It'll be the first-ever mobile scrapbooking application. Sure sounds like fun! And another developer is putting the finishing touches on a digital scrapbooking app, due in Apple's App Store in mid-August ... go HERE for a sneak peek of it on an iPhone simulator. Looks pretty COOL !!! I can already see myself scrapbooking on my iPhone while on a trip!

Enjoy the weekend (can't believe it's August!),

a mystery RAK

You may recall how I've mentioned that attendees of Creative Escape 2009 often surprise each other with Random Acts of Kindness (RAKs) in the mail.

For some months now, a "mystery", "secret" RAK'er has been sending out beautiful earrings in the pink & green CE colors. Isn't that fun?!?!? And to my surprise and delight, a pair arrived in my mailbox today! I was tickled pink (and green)!

All we know about her is that she lives in Washington State. It's rumored that she'll be revealing herself during one of the CE parties. Can't wait to thank her in person! And to the mystery RAK'er: if you're reading my blog, thanks a bunch for your thoughtfulness!

CE begins in exactly 4 weeks! {excited}

iguana mania!

You know that you live in a tropical area when you see IGUANAS roaming around! Here's what Sal routinely sees when he walks around FAU's campus in Boca Raton:

They love to hang out at this lake area ... and there are LOTS of them! and some of them are BIG (think 4 or 5 feet long)!

P.S.

I've gotten some inquiries about the paper line we used in Debby's travel album workshop (see my 7/26 post) ... it's October Afternoon's brand-new "Road Map" collection. Cute stuff!

S.

scrapbooking fun with Donna & Debby !!!

WHEW! What a whirlwind weekend of scrapbooking FUN! I had intended to post about it throughout the weekend, but was just too exhausted when I got home each night, sorry! I almost overslept for Sunday's workshop.

As promised, here are some highlights from the 4 workshops that I took at Cherry Blossom Studio in Coconut Creek, Florida (about 30 minutes south of me). The store has a fab classroom, with floor-to-ceiling windows allowing lots of cheery daylight to stream in, raspberry-colored walls, BIG work tables to spread out your projects on, and a flatscreen TV up front for the teacher to give her PowerPoint presentation. Slick!

Anyway ... 2 of the classes were with Donna Downey & 2 were with Debby Schuh (who'll also be teaching at Creative Escape 2009). Too. Much. Fun. (note: the projects pics here are of class samples, created by their respective teachers ... because I haven't finished mine yet!):

me & Donna Downey (if I look tired, I was!):

As a nod to the fun I'm having with my new iPhone & iPod, I just had to pick up this new "iScrap" T-shirt! It made me chuckle. :-)

In Donna's "Fabric Scrapbooking" class, we made an entire album from her new canvas & fabric scrapbooking line (by Prima). The album is a hybrid of fabric & paper, I just love it! Donna, like me, enjoys browsing fabrics and buys them just because they're pretty to look at. We played with lots of paints, and Donna introduced us to unique techniques and products to take our sb'ing up a notch ... like using gel medium and modeling paste on our pages. Here's the front cover and a few of the inside pages:

Fun stuff, right? Like I needed another excuse to go to the fabric store!

And by the way sb'ing friends ... fyi ... Donna said that she's launching a sb'ing furniture line soon. Uh-oh, MORE temptations! *wink*

getting ready for Debby's "The Places We Go" travel album class:

There along with the class kit, my distress ink, and fave adhesive, you might have noticed a bag of M&M's. But these aren't just any M&M's ... my friend and fellow CE-er Vicki kindly gave them to me (thanks!) ... they're COCONUT M&M's, yummy!!! So, if you love coconut, especially with chocolate --- and hello, who doesn't??? --- then RUN don't WALK to your local Walgreens, Target, or store of that ilk to get yours. Even the packaging is super cute ... I'm such a sucker for palm trees! They're a "limited edition", so don't miss out!
But I digress. Back to the class ... Debby modeled this project after a vintage photo album that she had. We made the cover out of Tim Holtz's grungepaper ... with some paints and distress ink, the dull, gray stuff was amazingly transformed into this:

It has the look and texture of leather, but it's totally synthetic (and you know how I'm all about being "animal-friendly"!). And it looks incredibly "vintage". Here's a sample of some of the inside pages:

Cute huh?

Here's me & Debby ... and, yes, my shirt does say "Runs with decorative scissors" ... I like to wear fun(ny) scrapbooking T-shirts to these events.

So that's only 1/2 the classes! Two more to go ...

"Bloom" by Donna was an album class with a mixed-media approach ... fabric, paint, acrylic, Glimmer Mist, etc. Loved it, especially the happy color palette ... yellow, turquoise blue, red, green. The fabrics (bold prints) that we used are by designer Heather Bailey, who's also teaching at Creative Escape next month. The incredible thing is that the album pages are all made of cardboard ... yes, as in from a box that was cut up into pieces! Here's the clear acrylic cover and a peek at some of the album pages:

OK, one more workshop to go! It was an artist trading card (ATC) class ... they are little 3.5" x 2.5" cards ... each one is like a mini scrapbook page, and they're typically put on display, hung vertically in a rotating holder, rather than in an album. This time, I did finish the project! So here are the ATCs that I made:a close-up view:
Debby gave us some great ideas for these adorable little things!

After today's workshop, Sal met me at the store and took me to lunch next door at Lime Mexican Grill. They have such fresh (!!!) salsa and some yummy vegetarian choices on the menu. What a nice way to end a fun-filled scrapping weekend!

Now I need to try to get all the paint and ink off my fingers!

Have a great week,

... summer ...

(photo credit: TripAdvisor.com)

Doesn't this photo just scream "summer" ?!?!? I saw it in an ad and just had to share it. I love the colorful, beachy chairs ... so inviting! They're a reminder to get outside this weekend to enjoy the warm & sunny July weather.

Tonight I'm off to my local scrapbook store for the first of 4 amazing workshops that I'll be taking throughout the weekend. I signed-up for them months ago, the anticipation has been fun! Tonight is the first of 2 workshops with Donna Downey, it'll be great to finally meet her ... she's a big "celeb" among us scrapbookers! And the popular Debby Schuh will also be teaching workshops. Wow, what a combo! I'll be back here with details, pics, and maybe even some video (???) of all the projects.

Enjoy the weekend,

ArubaTube

So yesterday I decided to start playing with the video camera in my iPhone. Dang, it's so easy to figure out! ... no manual required. Love that.

Anyway, here's my first video ... of our sweet Aruba, enjoying a little time poolside:

I love that now I can so easily upload my own videos to my blog ... more to come!

Thanks for stopping by,

say cheese!

The first photo I took with the camera in my iPhone ... our furAngel, Buddy:

(yesterday was) Leah's special day!

I feel so bad ... yesterday was my niece Leah's 9th birthday! ... she lives in Gulfport, Florida ... and I didn't get to post here about it ... so sorry Leah! But Aunt Susan had a bad headache all day Sunday...

We hope that you had a fun day, full of smiles! Happy belated birthday! :-)

Love,

Aunt Susan, Uncle Sal, Buddy & Aruba

a rainy Monday

Hey there ~ hope you had a fab weekend!

It's a rainy Monday here in SoFla today. A good chance to get caught up on stuff "indoors" (like blogging).

Sal and I had a good weekend ... we spent most of Saturday afternoon getting our new iPhone plans set up (they finally arrived!) and ... we're also upgrading to a faster Internet connection ... finally, and thank goodness! Ours is too slow, so frustrating right? Websites are so graphic- and video-intensive now that a fast connection is almost a must. Anyway, our new connection will be activated on Tuesday and I can't wait!

We've been playing with our new iPhones ... so easy to use, right out of the box! It's such an intuitive gadget that I haven't had to refer to the manual even once. OK, I'll admit that we did attend an iPhone workshop at the Apple Store, which was a helpful overview (they offer free iPhone workshops, fyi).

I've begun building my iPod playlist ... I started with a couple of fun tunes that are always a (perfect) part of the festivities at Creative Escape (Gwen Stefani's The Sweet Escape and Natasha Bedingfield's Pocket Full of Sunshine). And adding apps is a hoot, I especially love the cool travel-themed ones like Rick Steves, Travel Channel Go!, live air traffic control tower radios ... good stuff! I enjoy customizing too ... I plan to add my fave ringtone (Lionel Richie's Hello) and some manatee wallpaper. And Sal has changed the default language for his entire iPhone to Italian (!!!) ... how cool is that?

That said, we do have a couple of complaints (gasp!) ... the clear screen protectors that we bought are, well, garbage. I'm taking them back! Anyone have a recommendation? And we wish the iPhone microphone was better ... our voices sound a bit "muffled" during phone calls. Not liking that! Anyone else experience this, and/or have suggestions? I guess no technology is perfect, but I plan to chat with Apple...

Overall, tho, we're enjoying our new phones, which left us with one dilemma...what to do with our old (ok, ancient) phones? I recently read that there are millions of used cell phones sitting in drawers or worse, in landfills (an environmental nightmare!). Instead, how about donating/recycling yours? I found a great program that makes it easy ... Cell Phones For Soldiers.

Simply print out a postage-paid shipping label, mail your cell phone (and accessories like chargers) to their recycler, and CPFS will receive the proceeds from the recycler. That money gets used to buy calling cards for troops, who can then stay in touch with their families. Everyone wins ... the troops, the recycler, and our planet.

Enjoy the week ahead ... see ya!

... round 4 ...

Gosh, I guess I've been MIA all week ?!?!?

Today I took Buddy for his 4th round of chemo. He's doing pretty well on it, considering. Just some expected side effects. He has a finicky appetite ... sometimes only eating crunchy kibbles, sometimes only soft/moist canned food. And at times, he needs to be hand-fed. He lost a small patch of fur on one of his hind legs. And last week I noticed that he has lost most of his whiskers too. It makes me sad, but gosh it sure could be worse. He's in remission ... and that's what counts! {so thankful} With every "remission progress exam", I get more nervous. As many of you probably unfortunately know firsthand, cancer feels like a dark cloud that's always hovering, following you around.

I also recently discovered a "lump" near Buddy's face. My heart sank. The oncologist examined it today and, thankfully, she said that it's a common, benign cyst that doesn't concern her. Whew, that's a relief !!!

And Buddy and I have a new tradition ... on "chemo days", we stop at Sonic on the way home from the clinic. Since it's a drive-in, they deliver the food to the car, which is perfect since, of course, I can't leave Buddy alone to go inside and order. I bring along some treats for him, and we sit in the car and have a snack together. Quality time. Plus, junk food = coping mechanism. (footnote: drinks & slushes are 1/2 price from 2:00 til 4:00 pm at Sonic!)

Thanks for stopping by!

it's Gina's special day!

Happy 10th birthday today to my niece, Gina! She lives in Philadelphia, PA.

We hope you have a FUN & FABULOUS day with lots of smiles, Gina! :-)

Love,

Aunt Susan, Uncle Sal, Buddy & Aruba

yum!

Tomorrow is "Free Slurpee Day" at 7-Eleven stores (how apropos, since Saturday is 7-11).

So stop by and get a free 7.11 ounce Slurpee ... how refreshing on a hot July day!

Enjoy the weekend,

CE + friends = fun!

Earlier this week, I got some terrific news from my friend Diane in Montana ... she will be attending Creative Escape 2009 too! WOO HOO

That's awesome, we'll have such a fun time! We met back in 2007 while attending Creating Keepsakes University in Orlando, and have kept in touch ever since (here we are at CKU ... from left, Diane, me, & another friend Lilian):

Can't wait to see you again, Diane! You're gonna love CE !!! :-)

guess what iGot?

Sal and I had a fun holiday weekend, hope you did too! :-)

Our 4th of July was spent as planned, no glitches with the weather ... it was perfect! We played in the pool, took a nap, enjoyed fireworks at the beach.

Sunday was a more productive day, getting stuff done that we've been putting off. One of those was getting new cell phones. Gosh, I hate shopping for them (and the requisite new contract), UGH !!! Reminds me of car shopping (ick!). Nothing seems very straightforward ... so much fine print to sift through. But, an afternoon of comparison shopping led us to decide on ... iPhones! Now, iPay. *ha ha ha* No, really, we're super excited!!! We currently have cell phones that are several years old, they're electronic "dinosaurs". So, we've (finally) upgraded. Boy, we had a lot of learning and catching-up to do, technology-wise! Did you know that cell phones come with built-in cameras now? {kidding}

Actually, we don't have them yet. We chose the latest & greatest iPhone 3Gs model, which had to be pre-ordered and should arrive later this week. But I already got my SUPER-FUN lime green custom iPhone cover though!

So if you have the iPhone, I'd love to hear what you think of it? What are your favorite Apps? And any other FYI's you'd like to share in order to get me up-to-speed on my new gadget. Thanks!

The excitement of our new phones has offset the fact that Sal's Jetta wouldn't start this morning...hey, it must be Monday! But AAA Roadside got here in a flash, and we got the car to the shop.

Have a great week,

go Fourth!

So what are your plans on this 4th of July?

Sal and I plan to relax, play in the pool, and watch fireworks tonight at the beach. The City of Delray Beach puts on a great show! Love to watch it with my toes in the sand. I recently found out that DB has the largest fireworks display in all of Florida, wow!

Have fun celebrating freedom today. And a special thanks to our troops!

Susan

happy July!

Wow, so here we are beginning a new month ... I enjoy the first few days of each month the most, it's like getting a fresh start ... 12 times a year. But 2009 is now half over, can you believe it???

And to my Canadian readers --- happy Canada Day today!

The excitement sure is building for Creative Escape 2009! Now that we've turned the calendar to July, I can officially say that I'll be heading to Arizona for the event next month. WOO HOO! On their website, they're teasing us with "sneak peeks" of the workshops. Looks like a lot of fun awaits!

This year, I pre-ordered my CE mug (cute, isn't it?) because last year I wanted to get one during the event, but they ran out ... so I missed out.

Have a great Wednesday,