These are the questions asked during the recent RAK Race.
Marilyn asked... Cool, a skittles RAK! Do I count? lol Yes, I've heard you. I think you nomally start with one, then two, on to three, then you tend to get lost.

scrapamac asked... that is sooooooooooo cool! Do I count? lol I'm not sure, check with Marilyn; she can help if your lost

gotscrapz- ckmb asked... am I the only one that hasn't seen skittles in person yet????????????????? No, 've heard this a lot. I think it's mostly lost of habbitat that's endangered them so.

PattiM asked... Skittles, Skittles, who wants some skittles?? I DO, I DO!!!! We ALL do!

Kay asked... Oh and that ATC is fab! I think mine is going to be the most boring one. I'm just not that creative!You're not the only one that didn't make the deadline! lol Mine did get "postmarked" ontime. Does that count? LOL They let you in the Post Office? What about the Wanted Signs?

luvzenkm2 (Leea) asked... so does this make you a frenzy starter? Oh course it does, I'm a trend setter, baby!

Lanita M/ divanurse CKMB asked...Did you custom color your skittles? Yep, I have a tutorial a couple of post below

Thanks every body for all your great comments is was so much fun be so popular; I loved reading them all.

So here is my quick tutorial on how to dye skittles in 6 easy steps...

1. Gather your skittles, alcohol ink, a bag-ette (mini baggie) and a paper towel

2. Bag you skittles, often I like to use a couple of colors because sometimes the base color will show though.

3. Drop 6-7 drops of Ranger Alcohol ink in the baggie. Experiment with mixing colors.

4. Shake - Shake, Shake, Shake. Shake, Shake, Shake. Shake your skittles

5. Pour your newly dyed skittles on a paper towel to dry.

6. Ohh and Ahhh, aren't they pretty?

Now who wants them? Let me know in a comment and I'll draw for a winner of these wild plum beauties Sunday at 3pm (PST)

We are gearing up for the Rose Festival Fireworks Show so I thought I'd throw up some pics of a previous year. Yep, beautiful kids and a beautiful city. We are blessed.

(These picture are from 2005, hopefully my photography skills have improved!)

I finally made those ATCs I've been designing in my head. They were due for a swap on Friday. Originally, they were due on 5/16 and when they extended the deadline to the 23rd I though, "Well, why can't people just do their on time?" Now I am all shades of embarrassed because I didn't even make the extended deadline.

This swap's theme was "Your favorite Bible verse", my fave is John 13:34

I give you a new commandment: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.

I had it printed on overhead transparencies at Staples. Then I stamped flourishes from Basic Grey (pink) and Inkadinkadoo (black) The butterflies are punched from DCWV glitterstack with MS triple butterfly punch. I Fun Flocked their little bodies. I hope my fellow swappers enjoy them.

Embellishment Redux

So, in a fervent effort to avoid a much larger task, I decided to re-organize my embellishments. I keep most of my small embellishments in a system of small acrylic boxes. Here a link to an old message board post where I tell all about my genius system: http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/mb/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=85775&p=741379&hilit=AMAC#p741379

Overtime, these guys can get a bit mixed up so I pulled them all out of their cases and reorganized them so that brads were with brads, rhinestones with rhinestones. It was pretty impressive to see my embellishment city

Now, there all back home, with only the fringes fraternizing with other embellies.

And I shared how I store my Skittles on the AMR board

http://amrforums.altrock182182.x10hosting.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8611&st=0&sk=t&sd=a#p101157

I've been using Google Reader for several months now, and I have to say, I love it, love it, love it. Right now I have read 65 blogs. Do you know how long it would take to check 65 blogs a day or four times a day? Neither do I, because I use Google Reader. Even when I only monitored 10 blogs, it would take a fair bit of time to link to the 10 blogs I read, often to find nothing new.

Here 10 reasons I love Google Reader. (Being a nerd doesn't count!)

1. Unread post are bold - I don't waste time reviewing old post.
2. I can organize blog into folders I named (Cards, CKMB, Company, Lifestyle, Portlandia, SB Celebs, SB News, Scrabooking and Stores are mine).
3. You can see how many other Google Readers are subscribing to your subscriptions. - Important info for nerds like me! My blog has 2 subscribers; thanks Marilyn and Christina!
4. You can still see the blog pics though the reader -I do have one pesky blog that doesn't show the pics, but 1/65 ain't bad!
5. If I can't see a pic (that darn 1/65) I can easily link right to either the post or blog. This is what I do to comment too.
6. Recommendations - Google Reader will recommend other blogs based on the subscription you already have - I've subscribed to several.
7. It's free!
8. Shared post - I can mark great post to share with my friend via this page http://www.google.com/reader/shared/13981102155271029266?hl=en.
9. If you use Google Reader too, I can add your shared page to "My Friends Shared Items" to see what you're finding interesting. -I'm nosy.
10. Shared Item Widget - lets me list my last 10 shared items from Reader on my blog without doing anything after the initial placement which was super easy. -Because I know you are all waiting with baited breath to see what I find interesting.

So I was directed to the Cricut MB by a post on the CKMB. I stayed a while and noticed that allot of the threads were frothing about "Skittles" I thought that's weired because most SBers prefer chocolates, don't they? Any, why would you put something so sticky on a card or page anyway? Never the one to just mind my own business and walk away, I poked around a bit, eventually I realized they were talking about these little acrylic bubbles you can glue to a page and it looks like a clear, glistening brad. They're really cool. (Some places call'em Baubles or Dew Drops) The next day, since I was at Michael's desperately seeking the new Cuttlebug folders and the Series 11 stamps, I popped by the floral sections because I too need Skittles. Baaa.... Baaa.... Baaa... oh... what was that?


Anyway....since they were on clearance, I bought one of each of the pink(light and dark mixed), yellow (three shades) and blue (light blue, clear and frosted). For two bucks each. I came hope and sorted my skittles, reveling in the bargin.




Then something called to me. "Tigardlilly.....there's more...." And what to my wondering eyes should appear, but threads about dyeing skittles, my dear! Uh huh, you can dye skittles with Ranger Alcohol Inks! (You know they come in 24 colors, plus you can mix them!)




I went back to my Michael's to buy more, but only the blue was left, so most of my creations are on the blue/white skittles.



Which brings me to my point, if any of you shop at MY Michael's; STAY AWAY FROM MY SKITTLES!!!!!! They mine, Mine, MINE. I'm serious; I called them. I call them all, in the entire metro area. NO, state. NO All of them. They're mine, they're all mine.