ANOTHER Spider! This one's yellow!

Ugh! Ya know, I love South Carolina, but these bugs are DRIVING ME CRAZY! This is the 3rd CrAzY looking spider we have seen now, check a few posts down for the other two... Do you know what kind this one is???




UPDATE: A few hours after posting this, I found this great post-

Writing Spider, Scribbler, Black and Yellow Argiope (Argiope aurantia)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/69/
On Jul 25, 2006, melody from Benton, KY
(Zone 7a) wrote:This is a very large and intimidating looking spider, but in reality, it's a great bug catcher, and rarely leaves it's web.

The female's body can be nearly 1 1/2" long not counting the legs. The male, who is rarely seen, is much smaller, between 1/4" and 3/8". He is not as brightly colored, and only has one purpose in life.

The female spins the large web with the distinctive zig-zag down the middle, and is the one people see in their gardens.

While this spider is seen all across the US and southern Canada, it isn't common in the Rocky Mountains and the Canadian Great Basin area.

Because of it's large web, that it maintains by eating it each evening and spinning a new one before dawn, people have come to enjoy them in their out of the way garden areas and co-exist with them easily.


ANOTHER Update: LOOK! We JUST found the male not too far away also!
Another update: It started to rain HARD and I went out to look at my spider. Here she is holding on to her web with her back legs. Too cool!

Hunter's First Day of School Scrapbooking Layouts!

Here are some layouts that I put together this morning!

Hunter's First Day of School!

Here is our little guy today on his first day of 2nd grade! Uniform and everything! Whaaa! I swear when I woke him up this morning he had grown over night!

This is Hunter's new teacher!


Update: Well, we just got back and he was so excited. He said, "I had a GREAT, GREAT, PERFECT day in second grade!" Yahoo!

Alvin and the Chipmunks

OK, so my son and I LOVE Alvin and the Chipmunks and we were so excited to know that they are making a movie that will be out at Christmas time! Here is the movie trailer and then below a clip of Hunter dancing and singing to the CD's that I bought for him a few years ago! He is MAKING everyone dance with him, lol! Good thing I was behind the camera!





Here it is slowed down and you can hear when Alvin talks at the end how it sounds like the real "Dave" because it's Ross Bagdasarian Jr. voice, who is the real "David Seville's" son.

Spiders!!! Eeeuuuww!

OK, so I went to let the dogs outside and THIS is what had strung a web across the deck! Do you know what kind of spider it is? If so, post a comment!



OK! Here is ANOTHER ONE! It came crawling out of the garage when we were taking Hunter to his first day of school! It looks like he is missing a leg. August 20th...

My Niece, Jolie

I love my little niece, she is so adorable! Here are some layouts that I did with the "Little Princess" digital kit. You can get this kit to do you own special girly layouts on my website at: http://www.topline-creations.com/kreativekarma

P.S. There is also a "Little Prince" kit like this one for boys too! ;o)

Facebook.com

If you already have not joined Facebook.com, you MUST! It rocks, it's awesome, it's amazing, it's great! BETTER than MySpace by FAR! Check it out today!

(I don''t get paid to post this, I just love Facebook!)

About Facebook

Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.

Anyone can join Facebook

All that's needed to join Facebook is a valid email address. To connect with coworkers or classmates, use your school or work email address to register. Once you register, join a regional network to connect with the people in your area.

Discover the people around you

Facebook is made up of many networks, each based around a company, region, or school. Join the networks that reflect your real-life communities to learn more about the people who work, live, or study around you.

Do more

Facebook's Platform enables anyone, anywhere, to build complete applications that you can choose to us e. The possibilities are endless. Define your experience on Facebook by choosing applications that are useful and relevant to your world.

Keep it private

At Facebook, we believe that people should have control over how they share their information and who can see it. People can only see the profiles of confirmed friends and the people in their networks. You can use our privacy settings at any time to control who can see what on Facebook.

About the company

For corpora te information and press materials, check out our press page.

Learn more

To learn more about Facebook before joining, take our Site Tour.

Simpsonize Me!

OK, with the Simpsons movie coming out today, they have been really advertising a lot. One of the things they have come up with is to "Simpsonize" yourself. Since DH is a big fan of the Simpsons, I thought I would Simpsonize my family. Check out how funny!!!

My Scrapbook Room

I have been working on getting my scrapbooking room/ office all unpacked and put together. I know it's going to take a long time because I only have money to do a little at a time for what I really want it to look like and since we are only renting this house for now, I won't be painting the walls at all.

Here is the starting of the first of my "Kreative Korners"


I will post some before and after pictures later as it comes together!!!

How to Get Burnt Popcorn Smell out of the Microwave

OK, I was upstairs in my scrapbook/office working on the computer and Hunter wanted some popcorn. I have let him make it himself before but this time I forgot we only had the small bags and I gave him the time of 3 minutes 30 seconds instead of the 1:30 that the small bag calls for.

I hear him put it in and I hear it popping, but didn't really think anything about it. THEN, he comes over to the base of the stairs with this smile on his face and says, " Mommy, the popcorn is still going, and it's doing something, you should come see!" He had never seen smoke like this and I am sure he had no idea that it was burning! I ran downstairs not knowing that it was burning until I turned the corner into the kitchen. OH MY HECK! There was smoke pouring out of the microwave! I did the wrong thing and opened the micro door. I should have just turned it off, but opening it makes it turn off.... here I am screaming,m OH MY GOSH it's BURNING!!! IT'S BURNING! I turned the vent fan on full blast, in the meantime Hunter went and hid in his closet, lol! I ran around the house closing all the doors to the rooms and opening up the outside doors and windows. Then I was calling for Hunter, I needed to get him out because I was coughing. I heard this little voice in his room and opened his closet door, there he was with a frightened look on his face. Poor little guy! We both ran outside with the dogs, poor hamster, she was probably hiding in her bed under the chips, lol!

While we were outside I told Hunter that it was a good thing to come get me but the next time, he needed to come get me and then GO OUTSIDE right away, not hide in his closet, I explained that if it was a real fire he could have been trapped inside. SOOOO, all in all it was a good learning experience for him. NOW, here I am on the internet to find out how to get that nasty smell out of my microwave! Maybe this will help someone else!

Eeeew! What is that? How can I get it out?

Steps

1. Take a new sponge and a small bucket of water.
2. Wipe down the entire inside of the microwave.
3. Then place a bowl of water in the microwave for a few minutes. 5-6 minutes should be fine.
4. Wipe out the microwave again with new water.
5. Cook some strong smelling food in the microwave. Vegetables, pizza, etc.
6. Wipe out the microwave again.
7. Let it open for a while.
8. Repeat steps 1-4 and 6-7 as many times as it takes.

Alternate Method

1. Get a non-metallic bowl and fill with fresh lemon juice.
2. Put it in the microwave for more than 5 minutes.
3. Wipe down your microwave.
4. Get more fresh lemon juice and do it again.

Tips

• Any Citrus fruit will do, such as lemon, lime or orange, as will vinegar.

Warnings

• Never use household cleaning products in a microwave because even microparticles of it could start a fire if not cleaned out for at least a few days.
• Never put a metallic object in the microwave. It will blow your microwave up.

Things You'll Need

• Lemon
• Non metallic bowl
• microwave
• Cloth

OK, and I like this one too... I like the idea of dropping some sort of cool extract in the water. The thing I did wrong that I now know is that I wiped it with Clorox wipes instead of just water and paper towel. Hope my food doesn't get too many cleaning chemicals in it :|

Getting Rid of that Burnt Popcorn Smell in the Microwave

To get rid of this awful lingering stink, fill as large
microwave-safe bowl with one cup of water and sprinkle
your favorite spice like cinnamon or add several drops of
vanilla or lemon extract. Bring to a boil. You must let
it sit inside for 10 to 15 minutes to cool down. Simply
wipe the walls down with paper towels. Leave the door open
to further air it out. 

Family Flip Blocks

Well, lots of people have been asking me about the project I did for the TLC convention and how I did it. SO here are the instructions...

Materials:
1 wooden flip alphabet. You can get these on eBay

1 Runway - Caroline Collection -Circles Kit, Retail Price: $8.95

1 Family - Memory Gems, Retail Price: $5.95

1 Arrows/Brackets - Memory Gems Retail Price: $5.95

1 Singles/Rows - Memory Gems Retail Price: $5.95

1 Caroline Collection - Drizzle Outerwear Retail Price: $8.95

2 Caroline Collection - Rub-ons, Retail Price: $7.95

1 or 2 Sparkle Rub-on letters, depending on how many of each letter you need for names. Retail Price: $9.95

You can find all of these things on my Breezy website at http://mybreezyshop.com/faithsisters/

You also need:

-Mod Podge by Plaid, I used the Acid Free Matte for paper, it's in a blue bottle, you can get it at a craft store. You will use this to adhere ALL of the paper and photos to the blocks. You will also put a coat of it over everything when you are done.
-Red Paint for the block edges.
-Light Yellow Paint for the little anchors that hold the toy together
-Brown Ink, to ink the edges of the blocks

QUOTE(Adriane H. @ Jul 25 2007, 09:13 PM)

Adriane: KARMA THIS IS F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C!!!

HOW did you get the circle so perfectly cut and aligned?

Karma: This is from our diecut circles... I just took the squares off of the frame and bunched the squares together and set the circle die where I wanted it. Then I took my exacto knife and cut it where the edges met. Then I mod podged it onto the block.


Adriane: HOW did you get the paper all the way around each cube? Do you have to take the cube out or just cut the paper to the size of each of the 4 sides and glue it on?

Karma: I took all the squares off and I painted them all dark red. I actually also rubbed them with Radiant Pearls and then dipped them in embossing powder and heated the powder on. It gives it a shiny look, but I noticed the embossing was pealing off, so you can just paint the block edges. To get the paper on the blocks I just measured them and cut the paper out to the size I needed and mod podged it on. I snaded the edges and then inked the edges. It made a great finished look.

Adriane: HOW come my projects never look this professional??!!

Karma: LOL, this was a spur of the moment decision to do this. A week before convention when I was unpacking my sb room and found the letter flipper that I had wanted to do this with for a long time. And since it was for the contest, I spent a LOT of time on it, like over 17 hours!

Adriane: Keep the ideas flowin' like the salmon of Capistrano...as my buddy Jim Carey would say!!

Karma: HAHAHA, I love Jim Carey quotes! "That's it, I've had it with this dump! We got no food, we got no jobs, our pet's heads are falling off!!"

TLC Convention - A Success!

This last weekend I attended my first TLC convention. People were asking me how it differed from the LP conventions, lol! There wasn't much difference accept people were a LOT more happy all around! What a breath of fresh air! The new product rocks, the projects were great! I was very happy that I could be there. I was introduced as the newest design team member. I am eager to get started on my assignments! I will be doing 14 pages from the Urban Threads Circles and 14 pages from the Urban Threads Shapes for the LifeTimez digital software and then later on in August I will be doing a Cruise theme when I get my new computer! If you have any ideas to contribute, please post them in the comments section!

Here is a picture of the attendees at convention (I am located at the top facing left, second from the middle on the right!):


Jan Pepe made this digital book out of the professional convention photos and we will have a chance to buy this gem! What a great business tool it will be, I can't wait to get mine!!!

From Texas to South Carolina!

YES, we moved! DH got a new job in South Carolina and he is really lovin' it! SC is sure a beautiful state. The area that we are living is amazing and I am really loving it! It's always hard to leave your friends, but I really think that this move was something that we needed for the whole family! (Miss you Jamie!)

Here are some pictures on our way there!