Do something!

Are you a lover of handmade items like

handmade baby quilts, craft fair toys, knit scarfs and hats, retro toys, cloth diaper wraps, hand smocked dresses, collectible dolls, children's books and school supplies

if you love these things then you need to do something about CPSIA. One of my favorite artists and creator of wonderful handmade items for children is Gretchen of Chichiboulie . She has a wonderful post that explains it all here. She even has links to how we can contact our state representatives and senators. The law sounds good in theory; remove all lead from anything a child comes into contact with. But it in reality it would cause so many more problems because ithas not been well written or thought out.

So go ahead and do something to make a difference. I did.

"Crack"berry...a sign of the times.

So, this is my new best friend, a little device I affectionately call the "Crack"berry (the new Blackberry Storm). It is hard to believe that just 10 years ago I don't think I even owned a cell phone. If I did it was my first and it was a large and heavy analog model.

My photos were printed out from canisters of film I would always forget to take for developing. When I got them back they were printed versions I could hold in my hand. I filed them away in their little envelopes until I could scrapbook them (yes, even 10 years ago I was a scrapper).

Music was on CD's (a recent development from cassette tapes) and it was played on a home stereo. My stereo had a cassette deck too because many of my old favorites were still in that format. My car only had the cassette deck so I dilligently made mix tapes of the CD's on my home stereo that could be played in the car for road trip enjoyment.

I had one email address I shared with my daughter (I still use that address to this day), and I had a desktop computer that accessed AOL with a dial up modem. I used an actual address book and I actually knew people's phones numbers (they usually only had one).

These days so much has changed. Technology is a huge part of my life and while sometimes I feel guilty for always being connected I am also thankful for it.

Today my new "crack"berry allows me tons of technological wonders all in one hand held device. I can call anyone and I don't need to know their number because it conveniently holds my contacts and captures new ones. It holds photos so I can carry my friends and family with me. It even shows me their pictures when they call. It has a 3.2 mexapixel camera (more than my first digital camera that used 3.5 inch floppy disks) so I can take pictures wherever I go. It is so nice to be able to prove the things you see and yet no one would believe :).

It holds as much music as my iPod (another technological wonder) and allows me to pick the songs that are played when someone calls. My Girl for Ashleigh, Hogwarts Theme for Janie, Bella's Lullaby for my Twilight friends, etc. I can hook it up to speakers and listen in stereo, just like the old days.

Today I have 4 email addresses I use for different purposes and if I choose I can have them all sent to my "crack"berry. For now it gets my work email and my original AOL address as well as unlimited text messages and Im conversations. I can surf the internet, watch episodes of my favorite TV shows (Grey's Anatomy anyone?) and download more music in seconds.

This came through on my "crack"berry the other day;

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2009 when...

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is thatthey don't have e-mail addresses. Myspace or facebook

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see ifanyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of thescreen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have thefirst 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic andyou turn around to go get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

AND NOW U R LAUGHING AT YOURSELF

What a difference a decade makes. My name is LeAnne, and I am addicted to my "crack"berry.

Gettin' Crafty

It has been a long time since I have posted any of my crafty creations. I am finally finding some time so here are a few of the things I have done recently.

This is Changito. I loveey him! Changito is a stamp line by Stampendous and they are so cute. This set is called Changito Cupid. I love these stamps because I get to"flock the monkey". I always use fun flock on Changito because who doesn't love a fuzzy monkey. The striped DP is by Heidi Grace and the strip of letter DP is from The Paper Company. Some nesties, some copics, some heart shaped epoxy stickers and viola!
This one is a Bella, Topiary Bella to be specific. The DP has flocked red hearts that are so cute and it's by Doodlebug Designs. I colored her with my copics (so fun to finally say that even if my collection is still small). I added more red flocking to the heart and sash on her dress as well as on her red purse and the hearts in her topiary. The paper flowers are from CTMH (colored with my red copic to match) and the dotty ribbon is by Bazzil Basics. I did this for a calendar page and I love how she came out.

This is another calendar page. Goodluckabella is the star here. I used a spring glitter stack from DCWV, embossed the green glitter paper with my cuttlebug and added shamrock ribbon.

It feels good to be creating again. Thanks for looking.

Nie is back!

After months of sleeping while the world rallied and prayers flowed Nie is back! She toched my life and if you are a reader of my blog you know why. If you don't remember then read this post. If you are reading this and wondering who is Nie and why do I care, then check out her blog here. Start with August and work your way to today. She'll touch you too.

Where did December go???

Wow, it's already the middle of January and I still don't know what happened to December, this year it went by so fast. Here are some highlights.

Cruisin...

I went on a western carribean cruise with some good friends the first week of December. It was a much needed vacation and I cannot wait to find time to do another one. Here are just a few of my favorite pics. This was my ship, The Carnival Inspiration.

These are my feet. I was relaxing on the Serenity deck (only adults allowed) on the very back of the ship. It was my favorite place to hang out and soak up the sun and read.

This is my friend Janie and her daughter Lisa. They were my cruise mates.

This is Chakkanab National Park in Cozumel, Mexico. We spent the day here, relaxing after a swim with the dolphins. This is me and my new friend Louis. Swimming with him was an amazing adventure.

After the cruise I spent the day in the Atlanta sirport trying to get home (the joys of cheap travel and flying standby). I fnally made it home in the wee hours of the morning. Ashleigh came home the next day for her three week vacation from school. We had just a week before we headed to Grand Junction for Christmas with the family. Ashleigh is 21 years old and has never spent a Christmas at home. We ALWAYS go to Grand Junction (with the exception of one year when she was three when all the relatives came east over the mountains). We have lots of traditions and I wouldn't change a thing.

Last year we lost my grandmother the day after Christmas. She lived a long and happy life and would have been 103 years old in January. She was missed and remembered, but we all felt good that this was the first Christmas she was able to spend with my grandpa...her EC in 17 years. I know they had a very Merry Christmas and we did too.

The new year came and without much hooplah, which is how I like it too tell the truth. And now it's January. January is my busiest time of year at work, but I have vowed to find time to do what I enjoy so stay tuned if you read my blog for the crafty stuff....it's coming soon!