This should be the last “returned”swap I have to post – until I get some more in the mail and scan them in. That could be weeks of course…
This is the flower swap out of New York.
This is appropriate for May Day which is coming right up.
I know that I have said that i love valentine’s day swaps but i LIKE THIS ONE BETTER THAN MOST – IT WAS THE CARD SWAP.
i THINK SIX OF US SIGNED UP ON sss AND WE SWAP ADDRESSES. then WE CREATE VALENTINE CARDS AND SEND ONE TO EVERYONE ON THE LIST. iN RETURN WE ALL GET RANDOM HANDMADE VALENTINE CARDS IN THE MAIL FROM THE BEGINING OF February TO THE 14TH. i FOR ONE LOVE GETTING CARDS IN THE MAIL.
here IS WHAT CAME TO MY MAILBOX…
i LOVE THEM – THANK YOU LADIES!
The creation of ATC always seems to leave behind these extra cards when we are done. Maybe we start out making 20 for the swap and we increase that by 2 for a couple of people that you give them to and then you add two more so you make sure you have 22 “good ones”. Then, you send your 20 cards in and by the time they are returned 4 people dropped out of the swap so now you have 4 more left over cards. You can see how you can have all these little cards piling up in a hurry.
My friend Marilyn (SSS) makes the most wonderful ATCs and she opts to post them on the MB and mail them out to people who ask for one on a first come first serve basis. I prefer to look for “Themeless Swaps” on Artfourtytwo.com. Of course these are not all scrapbook type but they are art just the same. Here is the return for a themeless swap that I participated in out of Kent, Washington.
I sent in 19 cards that were “extras” and I received 20 in return. I am currently working on sending another one of these themeless swaps out on a “Leftover Swap” in Missouri on the artfourtytwo.com MB.
Every once it in awhile it appears that I tell a little lie :-{
I kept thinking that I was much busier with all of those ATCs than it seems. For a bit they were consuming too much of my time. Hunter keeps one of all my ATCs in a nice plastic organizer so I looked through it last night. I found a few more and felt a little less crazy…
This was for a Live, Love, Laugh and Dream Swap for ATC Lovers in Idaho during March. I have not gotten the swap back yet but when I do it will be a set of the 4 cards.
Pink Ribbon Swap for the same group as the one above. We each sent in one extra for this swap so the hostess could frame them and put them in an auction for Breast Cancer Research Funding. I hope to get these back soon also.
This swap was titled “Circus” and it was a 3+1. I hope to receive 3 new ones back soon from Desoto, Texas.
This card is kind of old but still from this year. I submitted this one for a New Years Swap that I hosted. I wanted to make sure to thank Gay again for the RAK she sent on that swap…Thanks Gay!
This swap to create your own stamp on the ATC Lovers MB turned out really good. Again, participation is waning but that isn’t affecting the quality. Really nice ladies!
I think the snow is now a memory for this winter so we can look at the snowman atc swap. This swap was swapped out in Virginia where they had a lot of snow this year.
So cute and so many different ideas. Thank you to everyone who participated in the SSS Snowman swap!
I wish there were more participants in this one. I really liked making this card for some reason.
I find it interesting to see what people use for quotes. It is almost as if they are describing themselves. Most of these ladies I only know online and this is a glimpse of what they are like in real life.
Mine says that I like the vintage western and that I have made mistakes that I try to learn from.
When I read the “You haven’t had enough coffee until you can thread the sewing machine while it’s running” made me think of my sister.
This was a fun swap and maybe we can do it again next year or on a different MB (Message Board).
I mentioned that Valentine swaps are my favorite…I love red almost as much as purple.
This is the swap for ScrapSistersStudio.com which I hosted.
And from ATC Lovers we have these lovelies.
This one is for the Art42.com swap and you just had to use a heart. They have around 75 participants that all send in 4 cards; 3 are to be traded and the 4th is for the host. I sent in 2 sets of 4 so I got six back.
A very talented Nicole sent these cute little stickers in as R.A.K. (Random Acts of Kindness) to me with her Valentine ATCs. Thank you Nicole!
Sweet Julie sent these brads. So cute I don’t want to use them! Thank you Julie!
Gay RAKed me with the really cute stickers. Thank you so much Gay!
| Then there are the returned swaps… |
It is amazing how fast time flies and how many things there are to work on. I have enjoyed working on ATCs but I am starting to dread it because I don’t have enough time and it is becoming a chore. I have one more to complete and then I am going to take a break from swapping for awhile. Here are a couple more that I had to take pictures of and then I will follow up with what I received in the completed swaps that I have missed.
This went out to Virginia for a Snowman Swap.
This is one of my favorites and it went to Idaho for a Favorite Quote Swap.
Purple-who would have guessed? For a Flower Swap in New York.
This is the last one I have completed and it also went to Idaho but for a “Stamp It” Swap.
People always say that wonderful life changing events rise out of the most horrible things that happen to us. I think that is true in two instances and I never thought I would say this until now…
Warren got downsized June 23rd of last year from a company that will remain unnamed. This came on the heels of me getting downsized from another unnamed company on January 15, 2009. Oh joy!
We were managing with his job and my unemployment until the other shoe dropped. Boy did that make a deafening sound in our life. To say the least, we became those people, you know, the one’s that the stuff happens to…
Warren had a very high stress job and it seemed that management changed regularly which created a very bumpy ride along the way. Never the less, he was a trooper and kept doing his very best even though it became like paddling a canoe in white water rapids without an oar at times. The layoff came as a HUGE shock after being there 9-1/2 years.
Fortunately, our marriage survived where our credit did not. I guess you can call me lucky since I would rather have my husband than the best credit in the world. What a way to use the word “lucky”…
In September, we were able to create Triple E Promotions and get trained in the promotional products industry. The training is always ongoing since there are new products and companies coming on board daily. This has been a blessing and I hope it will continue to grow and support us in the future.
The second and largest life changing event happened when Warren got a call from Nosler in October. The request came for an interview based on a resume we had submitted back in June. He did not have real high hopes since he had interviewed there in 2000 when he was shopping to get out of Bright Wood.
Thankfully, this interview was different. Warren was asked to come back for a panel interview before he left the first meeting! He got hired, he learned, he passed his required test, he was released from his 90 day probation and put on the regular payroll and is currently going on 6 months with the company. He got a job but that was not the best thing…he is working for an awesome company with a family and people that are so wonderful and he is doing what he does best! And guess what – they truly appreciate him! I knew I could not be the only one who could see that he is awesome!
We, as a family, are truly grateful to the Nosler family for seeing Warren for who he is and for hiring him when we really needed some financial support.
I am personally thankful that there are still people who value hard work and honesty. Somehow that restores some of the damage in my head created by lay offs that affected this home.
For the second year in a row Hunter has attended the Youth Turkey Hunting Clinic held by ODFW. He liked it last year and wanted to return. Warren requested the information and I sent in the paperwork as soon as we received it. Turns out that Hunter won a prize for being the first person to sign up!
The weather was really cold and windy and we were in the middle of all those storms the first weekend in April. The clinic was up in the White River area by the Tygh Valley rodeo & fairgrounds.
I had goats ready to kid and several other things going on so I decided to sit this one out. Warren & Hunter actually ended up carpooling with Ken and Kayla Pieren. They all had a great time and Warren was kind enough to pack the camera and bring back some pictures.
Looks like good pattern to me! Good job Hunter!
Here is the really cool part – Just a little while prior to this clinic Hunter was told that he and Warren were going on a private turkey hunt down by White city on opening day! I will post some pictures and blog about this fun trip really soon.
That title ought to get some attention…
I have a picture of a wonderful little poodle I have come to know and love. His name is Copper, he is about a year old and belongs to the Shaver family. He is a beautiful color and he has a great personality. For anyone who doesn’t know, they don’t shed.
I had been teasing Warren that we should get another dog since all of ours are getting older. I really was just teasing….mostly.
For those of you that know me you probably know that I am getting up there in age and I just celebrated a milestone birthday – I turned 40. Not a huge deal to me even though it seemed to be a big deal to everyone who was asking me??? Not much bothers a person who sprouted her first grey hair when she was 16 and now has a head full of it – go figure… Besides, I will always be 5 years younger than my hubby! (love you sweetie!)
So, all of my teasing must have gotten to Warren because he asked me if I wanted a poodle puppy for my 40th birthday. Of course I could not say, “No dear, that would be very irresponsible of me to bring a pooping, peeing, whining and barking ball of fur into our house.” That would have just been silly!
Now, I am a 40 year old woman potty training a 4-1/2 month old fur ball who does not like to go outside… I wonder if this qualifies for my mid-life crisis?
Here is Miss Peaches (AKA Pooper)
So this is the adorable little fluff ball for the first month we’ve had her. She had a little grooming appointment last week and this is what she looks like now….
Still very cute but just not the same. I like the wild bushy look but it is just too hard to keep the rats out of the fur. Maybe we will just keep her face and feet shortened up next time…
Thank you Warren & Hunter for the perfect little present!
It is a chocolate moose of course!
The next question should be , “Why in the world is she posting a picture of a chocolate moose?”
Warren received a chocolate moose and a really nice screen printed shirt for his 3 month anniversary at Nosler!
He has been with the company now for almost 6 months and he is doing such a great job! Hunter and I are so proud of him and we think this is all really cool.
Thank you for taking such good care of us honey. We are so happy that you have a great job in a wonderful company with people who really appreciate you!
A couple of weeks ago we were able to join the Shaver family for some sporting clays at the Redmond Rod & Gun Club. It was 50 target “you pull”. Warren and Hunter shot with Carl, Sharon, Brandon and Cheryl. I went along to take pictures and observe.
This is Hunter with Carl on the first station. I like this picture a lot because I caught the shell in the air after it ejected.
This is Brandon and he was manning the throwing station.
This is Cheryl knocking the clays out of the air.
This picture shows the station where the clays practically got straight up and come straight down.
Here is Warren shooting while Carl gives him tips.
This is a picture of everyone at one of the shooting stations. It is also the only picture I managed to get with Sharon in it. How did Sharon manage to evade my camera for hours????
This was a really good time for the Espinola’s and we look forward to going again.
