Many thoughts

This isn't going to be a coherent entry :) (Like it is ever. Huh)

First off, Thanks for the comments on the new look. I can't take credit for the new title "Expression Alley" though. While watching TV and creating the new header, I started thinking along the lines of "Expressing". This blog is all about expressing, afterall. Expressing in written form, or in art in the way of scrapping or stitching.

First thought was "Express Lane". Created the header and asked DH what he thinks. He said "Huh? This doesn't make any sense and makes me think of Grocery Store Express Checkout Lane." LOL! I said that this is where I express my thoughts, so it is *my* Express Lane. He said it still makes him think of the checkout lanes. Dumped it. Next thing he said was "Expression Alley". Bingo. My first thought was it's something out of Harry Potter. Diagon Alley, Expression Alley. Love it. I LOVE Harry Potter. So, that was it. The design was all mine. At first, I had Mehul and my picture in there too, but after rearranging things around, I liked this version best :)

Calendars. Again, I can't take credit for those either. They are quick pages by Ztampf. LOVE them. All I had to do was slide the photos in, and add the text. I had received a coupon from DigiShopTalk on my Birthday for 50% off Ztampf products, plus, they had a sale going on so the calendars were already marked down. I got them for about $2.00 I think. I ordered a bunch of stuff.

I am really happy how quickly I got done with the calendars. I'd been thinking about doing some sort of calendars for some time, and then I saw Erin's. WOW! (Sidenote: I am excited about her calendars. Can't wait to hear about the reaction they receive.) I wanted to do them, but was concerned about the shipping to India (which is where they're going). I wanted them to be ready to use, and didn't want to spend a whole lot ;) They are basically 4x6 photo size, front is the calendar and the back is the photo card, and they are laminated together. They came out to be $2.50 each! I got 15 done. Now, that's cheap!

One word of advice about Laminating at Staples. They charge separately for cutting the laminated sheets. We had used the big size sheets and inserted 5 calendars per sheet. They charge $2.00 for each piece they cut out! This does not include the cost of laminating. They hadn't told us this before, so we got a discount and got charged for 10 cuts instead of 15. We have a paper cutter and may even have cut it ourself if we had known. But, it's still cheap I think.

Holiday Cards. Got them out of the way too for the most part. I'm waiting on some addresses. My sister has just moved one month back, and my SIL too has recently moved. Got the rest sent already. I can't wait for their reactions. ATC cards are mailed out too. Now, I can rest easy.

Concluding thought. There is a party at our place this Saturday. Some of our friends couldn't attend the last one, so this one's for them! About 15 people excluding us. Menu has changed a little bit from the last time, but most main dishes have stayed the same. I'm trying to cut down the # of dishes that require cooking the day of. LOL. That wasn't fun!

Can I write an entry without a LO to show? Nope. Here it is.

Wishes Do Come True

Credits:
Just about everything from Lisa Whitney's ScrapArtist Apprentice kit "A Beautiful Mess". I got it for $2.00 (How come everything in this entry is $2.00?? That's mind boggling.) while the contest was going on.
Also used Steph Krush's Paper Tear.
I used Gina Miller's Fun with Fibers Pack 1 to create the twisty tie. Can you guess how much they're for?? LOL!