Isn't it beautiful?

For those of you that know me in real life, you know that I am really hung up on good customer service. If I get it, I have to phone a manager or let a supervisor know on the spot. Then I tell lots of people about it! If I get poor customer service, ack. Look out.

Let me tell you about FANTASTIC customer service. I'm sure that you have noticed my beautiful custom designed blog! The fabulous Vicki provided this service for me. She quizzed me to determine my needs and then went to town with her amazing HTML prowess. For those of you that are tech geeks, you say "Meh". For those of us that don't have the time or patience or desire to learn how to do this? This service rocks. So. Are you a blogger? Go check it out. Worth every penny. And tell Vicki that I sent you, will you? And one more thing---if you have your blog made "to go", let me know so I can come and see it!

Ella Sketch #6

Here is the final sketch in the current Ella Publishing series for Donna Jannuzzi. If you want to play along, the sketch is posted here. If you create a  layout and post it, you will be entered for a chance to win a Cricut Expression. (see fine print on the Ella Blog please!)

Here's the Week 6 sketch:

There are several other versions in the blog entry, showing just how flexible sketches are. To show even more flexibility, here's my version. I flipped the pages and moved the journaling a bit. The journaling is a snippet from a Facebook update:

"Do you ever get used to stepping on Nerf darts and thinking that you've just stepped in something nasty before you figure out what you stepped on?"

This kit is one I keep going back to again and again. It's called Celebrate the Every Day. It was a 365 kit done for a design competition. Unfortunately, the TOU has been separated from the kit. I don't know who to credit. Let me know if you figure it out! (I can't read the designer name on the label of the kit!)

February 12 of 12

The kit is Every Day Moments Sampler from Little Red Scraps.

Ella Sketch #5

This kit is called Starshine. It is from Lisa at Kandy Kane Creations. Journaling reads:

Every year, we watch The Christmas Story and every year he asks if he can have a BB gun. This year, Papa came through with one. Before his first lesson, Papa determined that he is left eye dominant. We quickly found out that he is pretty accurate with a BB gun. What can I say? It runs in the family. Be careful please, don't shoot your eye out!

Soap Box Commentary: Canadians and Americans and the California Cows

It is interesting for me to watch coverage of the Olympics in Vancouver from my couch here in the Deep South. Let's face it, every where you go you find all types of people. Our experience in Canada exposed us to people from all parts of the world. This is one of my favorite parts of Ontario. We have friends from Romania, England, Ireland, India, Jamaica, Quebec, PEI, Australia.......the list goes on. We also have friends who are 4th generation Canadians. They are all very different. Different speech patterns, food preferences, family customs, family structures, religions, creeds and colors. (see, I've already adjusted my spelling....spelled  "colours" for my Canadian readers) The United States is similar, but I did find the diversity of our little corner of the world to be greater.  This leads me back to watching the Olympic coverage. The stereotypes involved as the Canadian people are introduced is mind boggling. I understand that there is an attempt being made to introduce Americans to Canadian culture. I get that. I find it all amusing.

This morning I was watching TV on a well-earned lazy morning. It is President's Day today here in the States and "Family Day" in Ontario. Here in the US, it is a good excuse to shop furniture sales if you are so inclined. In Ontario, families are encouraged to spend the day together. Beer sales also go up. Most months include a long weekend in Ontario for some holiday or other. February was missing one, so the government slipped this one in a year ago. It caused a big bru ha ha because lots of businesses now had to provide more paid time off and lost revenue at the same time. Also, from an American perspective, amusing. I digress.

As I was sitting on the couch, a commercial for the California Cows came on. It's about "Kirstin" the newcomer cow from Canada. Hilarious. I had to rewind the DVR 3 times to watch it. I went to the California Cow website to do a bit of research for you. I'm not sure how I missed it, but they had "auditions" for new cows. Here's Kirstin's audition. And here's where they announce that she's won. Once again, I'm rolling with laughter. They get it. In these few commercials, they've captured the stereotypes and made fun of them. Brilliant advertising. I wonder if they have Canadians on staff?

Ella Sketch #4

 

This is sketch #4 from the Ella Publishing Blog, sketch by Donna Jannuzzi.  The kit is called Tingleberry, by Lee-Anne Shone, you can find her blog here. I purposely left out additional embellishments because the paper is pretty busy and I wanted to focus on the photos. Journaling reads:

It is really helpful to have a camera in my I-phone. I pay more attention to my environment and I'm able to capture and remember things I see.  I like to photograph things that amuse me as evidenced by the "NO WHINING sign from the Jazzercise center wall and this tire cover that I saw in the Kroger parking lot.

365 2009

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