Quad Cities Marathon

I am so excited to report. . . I ran the 5k portion of the Quad Cities Marathon this morning with my friends Renee and Kathryn - - my first race EVER!! I have decided while training for this race that I LOVE to run (despite the fact that running on gravel means sucking road dust into my lungs and practically twisting my ankles on loose gravel). I have been faithfully running since spring. I finished the race today with a time of 25 minutes and 46 seconds (that is 4th place in my division - women aged 30-35, 3rd place of women aged 35) The fact that I am 35 and just started training this spring makes me INCREDIBLY happy with my time - - but I WANT TO WIN!! I am hoping to run the Turkey Trot this fall and the Bix next July so that I will have something else to keep me motivated and running this winter. :-)


Also - congrats to Angie Dieterich who ran the HALF MARATHON this morning and got 3rd place in women her age that ran it! Way to go Angie!

New Photo Art Blog!!

I had 8 Eskay Art photo orders to fill this week. . .and decided it is time to create a blog for this little monster I have created, so it is HERE.

Please visit and become a follower to stay updated as to my latest Photo Art creations. (All followers to my new blog will receive a one dollar credit for their first order - - just let me know when your order is placed).

Beauty and Rituals

Paul wanted us to all watch the football game last night - - so I thought it would be a good time for me to work on some layouts.

For the first layout, beauty, I used some stencils I had and spray-painted each letter. I then outlined them with pen and chalk. Then I stitched part of each letter to make them stand out a little bit more. I used that same chalk around the whole layout and picture.

The second layout, rituals, uses lots of thickers, punches and a cutout.

P.S. - for you sports fans, the Giants ended up winning last night by kicking a field goal in the last seconds at about 11:15. :-)

Isabella Order

My latest order I received on Etsy is for a little girl's room. She happens to have the Isabella Lilac/Green bedding collection from Target (as shown on the basket above) - - and the Photo Art was made to match it.

Good Day

I don't normally do just a general update sort of post. . .but today thought I should. First of all I am the lucky winner at the Mosh Posh blog - - and I will be getting a surprise of buttons in the mail soon - - I can't wait to see them!!


Second, Skyler asked if I would post a picture of her new invention. This is a kitty house with a built in feeder. Skyler says when they get done eating they can just pull their head in like a turtle and they are in their house. Notice how happy this kitten looks. :-) Skyler's kittens just hang around like ragdolls while she dresses, feeds and carries the little things - some pictures cannot be posted for fear of retaliation from PETA, but let's just say these kittens are VERY patient with this 9-year-old who loves them very much.

Birthday Cards Galore

We have had a tremendous amount of birthdays lately - - I haven't even posted some of the cards made. . .however, here are 3 more I made for this weekend.


This first card is my favorite just paper, rub-ons and ink.

This second card used a tag off a pair of Skyler's jeans that I kept for just this sort of thing and some playing cards that I roughed up a bit.

For this last card, I cut out the monkey images from the cardboard of a package of pencils I bought for Skyler's school supplies.

More Bday Cards

I haven't posted in a while and thought I would post these bday cards I created.

My Birthday Present!!

I am so excited!! I got my chickens this morning (6 hens and a rooster) - and they are in the new coop Paul built for me for my birthday. Paul did an AWESOME job on the coop and it was so much fun helping as much as I could (which I know wasn't a lot - I'm definitely not a construction worker. . .and if it took everyone an hour to dig a 3 foot post hole - there wouldn't be much fence in the world)! I will try to have a good coop picture posted within the next few days - - Here is the best picture I could get of my Dominique Chickens. They are considered calm, good setters, good layers, hardy - - - pretty much everything I wanted!! I just sat and watched them for quite a while after getting them in the coop. The rooster is VERY excited to have his own batch of hens to himself!! He has been crowing like mad - which I think is AWESOME too!! My neighbors might not be as excited as me - but maybe I'll share some eggs to make 'em happier :-)

The Sweetest Things & Friend Card

Here are some cards I made up recently. The top one I used some old flowers I had taken apart, some old buttons and Stampin' Up rub-ons. The bottom one also uses Stampin' Up rub-ons, some thread, Stampin' Up corner rounder, Maya Road Ribbon and scraps from some paper I recently bought - - but since their scraps I can't remember the manufacturer :-)

New Blog - The Grissoms' Garage

We decided to set up a separate blog mainly mainly to showcase our hunting along with some hunting stories of our friends. So go check out our new Grissoms Garage blog. We will be updating it pretty regularly when October 1st arrives.