I Hate Household Chores. I Love Giveaways.

Okay, so....this morning I went to unload the dishes since The Hubbums had kindly run the dishwasher the other day. We now have a lovely sink full that need to go INTO said washer, so I wanted to get the clean ones put away and the dirty ones in just so we can start the cycle all over a-freaking-gain.

So. I open the dishwasher. I look inside and start to pull items from the bottom rack. They look a bit 'not clean enough' but sometimes our washer leaves a bit of a residue (I hate it, but I deal) so I figure it's no big deal. Then I notice that one look like it really isn't clean. I mean, it's rinsed and all, but not clean. I bumped the rack and THEN noticed that the lovely fancy little soap thingy is still IN the dispenser and not dissolved at ALL!

So, I look at it and figure it must be because it was put in upside down and one side is thinner than the other. I find that odd, since the whole thing actually dissolves, but whatever. So...I run the load again.

I do some stuff in the meantime. Like totally break my personal best on Bejeweled on Facebook. You know...important stuff. HA!

I go back to unload the dishes and start the process I intended to do earlier. Do you even KNOW what I found???!!!

Yup! Same deal. Only messier. It turns out I was right...the thinner side DOES, indeed, dissolve faster than the other side. So now I had a lovely goobery mess of undissolved dish soap STILL in the little dispenser thingy in the dishwasher. SOOoooo...I'm a bit more annoyed at this point, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE!

So, I'm standing there staring at my dishwasher as though it is going to magically tell me why this never-before-occurance has decided to fill my day with dishes. Then it hits me. Or actually....it hit the flexible cutting board sheet thingy. You know...those plastic ones that you have for meat, veggies, fish, etc. Yeah. Those. I had one in the dishwasher. Normal, right?

Wellllll.........here's the thing. I thought I would be brilliant and make the most of the space in my machine by sliding the mat in the front of the bottom drawer, and putting my real cutting board on the side, so everything fit nicely.

Yes. It fit just SWELL! The thing of it is....that STUPID DUMB HEADED PLASTIC CUTTING MAT BLOCKED THE SOAP DISPENSER!!!!

Yeah. I'm officially a genious. And no. I totally can't blame this on The Hubbums, because A. He's smarter than that and B. because I am pretty DARNED sure that I put it there. I suppose I could blame him for not catchin my idiocy, but that might be going a bit far.

So....here I am. Blogging. Procrastinating. Why? Because I totally need to do my Use Your Stash project and I haven't yet. Yup. It's totally due tonight. AND....I made brownies instead. So, I'm waiting for the brownies to come out of the oven and for the dishwasher to SUCCESSFULLY clean my dishes this time around and blogging. All so I can do the dishes AGAIN later. Thank the LORD that my husband does the laundry. I hate chores. And now, I am pretty sure that they actually hate me, too.

I DID however, find this amazing giveaway that I want to share with you guys, though! Stephanie over at Where'd All My Money Go (isn't that the cutest name for a scrappy blog EVER?! LOL!) is celebrating 25,000 hits with an amazing giveaway! One winner will get a gift card to the place of their choosing!!!! Hmmm....IKEA, 2Peas, Hero Arts, Michael's, Target????? Where would YOU pick?

Oh...and what the HECK chore do YOU despise? Or...do you have one that despises you? Because quite frankly...I don't actually MIND doing dishes! I just don't like doing them THREE FREAKING TIMES!!! Whew....Okay....oven just buzzed. I'm going to go have brownies now.

I TOTALLY {heart} Kawaii!!!!

***Don't forget to check out my post HERE to join in my month long Blogiversary Celebration! Also check out Friday's post for a great giveaway!***

No. Really. I do.

I can't get enough of it, actually.

Pure. Cute.

What could POSSIBLY be better than that? I love Kawaii!!!!

And...I WON SOME!!!! Yup! So....have you been over to TokyoBunny? Seriously. This may be the CUTEST blog EVER! I love it! And she awesomely offered a giveaway from Less Apathy More Cake...another totally cute Kawaii blog! Be prepared for a cute coma, here, folks because there is TOTALLY more Kawaii on these two blogs than one can really handle! I {HEART} it all!!!!!!

So here is the fun stuff that Melanye awesomely sent to me!





Yeah! I know! Isn't it fabulous?!!!! I'm in love! I am not sure what I am going to do with everything yet, but I know for sure that I will have some super cute candy apple and strawberry jewelry very soon! That monocle pin ROCKS! Seriously...how much do I love that?!

Oh! and she also included a great set of 3-D Making Memories stickers because she is awesome and totally sweet and saw that I scrapbook (a little...HA! LOL!) and thought I would use them...Ummmmm....Yeah!!!!! I will TOTALLY use them! They aren't in the picture because the colors didn't go with the cuteness of the other colors...I know...I have issues...

....no....


...I have the whole subscription. Trust me on this one.

But...the moral of the story is that you should totally check out Less Apathy More Cake on Etsy because the cuteness is so stinking amazingly fabulous! No, seriously, folks! You are going to love it!

And...for another huge dose of cuteness don't forget to check out Tokyo Bunny! LOVE IT!

Have a Super Cute Friday!!!

Oh....and if you happen to have any great links to your favorite Kawaii shops or blogs, I would love more. I'm all about the cute coma!

The Old Key - Vintage Thingies Thursday

***Don't forget to check out my post HERE to join in my month long Blogiversary Celebration! Also check out Friday's post for a great giveaway!***

There is just something fascinating to me about old keys. They instantly bring to mind visions of their former lives. What were they used for? Who held on to them? Who were they given to as an extension of trust? What did they treasure?



There are so many questions one can ask when it comes to old keys. They just seem to really hold a story. And the cool thing is...even though they all seem a bit the same, when one looks deeper, it is quickly discovered that, indeed, they are not the same. Each is forged in a unique manner rendering it a solitary treasure. I just love that. My old house actually used an old skeleton key for the front door. Our house key was actually one of those long, dramatic things! LOL! It was fabulous!

These are some old keys that a friend sent to me. They are a bit thinner and smaller than the one that secured (HA!) our front door. I think these were perhaps meant to lock secrets inside of small boxes. To secure treasure in an ornately decorated coffer. I don't really know what they went to, but I do know that they are fabulous for crafting!

I created this tag from an old hoodie that was beyond wear. I simply cut the fabric to size, folded the top and added the eyelet and chain. I misted the fabric with Glimmer Mist to give it a vintage color and a bit of shimmer to play on the magic of it all. I stamped the Santa Clause figure using CTMH Archival Black ink and then I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink along the edges of the tag. I smudged some Distress Stickles along the edges in Old Linen to give more shimmer. I love that! Then I stitched on the large red ribbon and the key accents. I added the 'jinglebells' by stringing them together on embroidery floss and then stapling them to the tag.


This is yet another thing I love about vintage stuff! You can totally create new stuff that looks vintage and incorporate the new and old together! My rusty vintage keys were absolutely perfect for this project!


This post is a part of Vintage Thingies Thursday at Colorado Lady. Check out her blog for a great list of participants with some WAY cool vintage stuff!!! Click on the image below!

Wordless Wednesday - Just Say'n

***Don't forget to check out my post HERE to join in my month long Blogiversary Celebration! Also check out Friday's post for a great giveaway!***

Hee-hee. Yup! That's me, folks! LOL! Blame the fabulous Liz Kartchner for the totally awesome glasses! She found them at Forever 21, just in case you want to be wicked crazy cool like me!

For More Wordless Wednesday (sort of) posts check out these links: Wordless Wednesday, 5 Minutes for Mom, and 7 Clown Circus!

The Most Important Women In My LIfe

***Don't forget to check out my post HERE to join in my month long Blogiversary Celebration! Also check out Friday's post for a great giveaway!***

Have you ever dropped over at the Method Playground challenge blog? Basically, you are looking at a fantastic group of women who put together challenges that encourage you to try new techniques and think outside of the proverbial box. You know....that one....that we all get stuck in and can't get out despite our scratching at the walls and screaming wildly.....

....yeah. that one.

So...I love the challenges and the designers are amazing, but for some reason I just don't get to actually DOING the challenges very often. You know...life and such...and perhaps a bit of that miserable box. So...I decided to jump on one the other night and I am so glad I did! The page that I created is different from my usual, but still so very me! I love it!

And the best part is that it features the two most important women in my life! My fabulous Mom and my super cute sister! I loved the colors in these photographs and I really wanted to let them shine, so I was excited to create a layout that let them stand out so strongly! The challenge was to utilize cookie cutters and since they are getting absolutely ZERO use in my kitchen (Are you kidding me? Do you even KNOW how long it takes to roll out dough and cut it into cute shapes? Seriously? Not happening around here, folks. I'll stick to cupcakes, thanks! LOL!), I figured I'd pull out a set of heart shaped cutters and trace them to use as masks on my layout. Here is the result!


Oh, for the cuteness of it all! I love it! Really. I do. It makes me smile. Big. Just say'n.

I hope you have a super fabulous Tuesday and I hope that you will challenge yourself to step out of said proverbial box today. What do you want to do? It doesn't have to be craft related - maybe make something new for dinner, try a new place at lunch, or buy yourself a top you love even if it doesn't look like the rest of your wardrobe. It's good for you. Trust me on this one. I know things.

How Do YOU use Colored Pencils in your Crafting?

***Don't forget to check out my post HERE to join in my month long Blogiversary Celebration! Also check out Friday's post for a great giveaway!***

The new Use Your Stash challenge is up and folks, it's a good one! Do you want to know WHY it is a good one? Because it gets you using your stash and reminds you to pull out something that is EASY to use and produces great results! This week is all about COLORED PENCILS!!!

Now, as you know, I do quite a bit of stamping, so I actually use my colored pencils a lot. I wanted to take this challenge to another level, so this is what I created using colored pencils:

Yup! Those are real live colored pencils attached directly to the layout! LOL! I love it! To create the border I first cut each of the pencils in half and then sharpened the ones that were originally the 'bottom' of the pencil. Fortunately, it is totally back to school time so I was able to get a pack of Crayola Colored Pencils for $1 at WalMart. I figured that is cheaper than most scrapbook embellishments! HA! I attached them with Super Tape by ThermoWeb and then I wove the ribbon (two pieces) through the pencils to finish and unify the look.

I then proceeded to take LOTS and LOTS of photos of the pencils! LOL! I love color!!!!!! No, seriously, folks. I really do. And I really love photographing it like this, so I took a bunch of shots! HA! Who knows...maybe I'll come up with some great plan for them! LOL!

So, there you have it! Now head on over to Use Your Stash and participate in this week's challenge! It's fun!!!

What do you think? Over the top or just plain fun?

*Feature Friday* A Forest Frolic - Shop Review and Giveaway! *Closed*

***Don't forget to check out my post HERE to join in my month long Blogiversary Celebration! I added two items to the prize last night! It's a great start already!***

Now...on to the SHOW!



I am SO SUPER EXCITED to introduce you to Jamie of A Forest Frolic! Her blog and her Etsy shop share this fabulous name and let me be the one to tell you that both are magical places to visit!

Are you a paper crafter? Do you have a love for all things paper? Do you enjoy using handmade embellishments? Well, guess WHAT!!!??!!! I have found a home for you! Jamie offers all kinds of fabulous handmade pieces to add to your cards, scrapbook pages, and altered projects!

Like these gorgeous Rock Star embellishments for starters! Aren't they just fabulous?! I love the glitter and the run and funky rustic look of them! So fun!



And these tags are just fantastic! Seriously! Hand-painted, inked gorgeousness, I am telling you! TO DIE FOR! I love them!

But....Jamie doesn't only create embellishments - she also carries gorgeous finished designs in her shop!



The answer is yes. I am in love with this piece! She is a CUPCAKE FAIRY!!! Seriously? Who THINKS of this kind of wonderfullness? Really? I am so in love! For reals! IN. LOVE. WITH. IT.



And...as you all know...a great gnome IS the way to my heart! This my be my absolute FAVORITE piece from A Forest Frolic! Isn't he just wonderful? He leaves me speechless and that's hard to do. I just love him! Oh! And see those absolutely AMAZING party hats in the background...Yup! Jamie made those, too, and you can find them here!

But, again, that is NOT ALL! (I know...you are already in a trance from all of this goodness, but I MUST continue!) You have totally GOT to check out the jewelry in A Forest Frolic!


For the CUTENESS of it all, here folks! Are those not adorable? Don't answer that! I already know they are! Simply fantastic!

AND.....Because Jamie is the sweetest thing ever - she is offering a fabulous giveaway to one Just Jingle reader! (I know...she's amazing, what can I say?)

The winner will receive a fun bundle of goodies from A Forest Frolic including 1 Fabric Card, 2 Paper Punches (winner's choice!) AND some Sweet Japanese Doll Tags!!!

Isn't that a fabulous prize pack?!!!

Okay, so here is how you can win!

* Visit A Forest Frolic and tell me your favorite item not mentioned in my review! (There is LOTS to choose from!) ***REQUIRED***

Optional Extra Entries:
* Follow Just Jingle and leave a comment letting me know (optional)
* Visit A Forest Frolic and leave a comment here letting me know. Leave Jamie some comment love over there, too! (optional)
* Follow A Forest Frolic and Just Jingle on Twitter AND Tweet about this giveaway - Leave a comment with a direct link to your Tweet!
* Make a purchase from A Forest Frolic while this giveaway is running and get THREE extra entries! Leave THREE comments with a link to the item you purchased. (This will be confirmed)

All entries must be received by Sunday, August 16, 2009.