Cruise 2011

Hello all! As promised, I have some photos of the cruise and two videos =) I'm currently working on a video of the Dream Works: Move It! Move It! Parade, but my video editor wasn't wanting to be nice. I will post it when I get it made though =) Since I have sooo many photos, I will provide links below [the photos] for additional photos =) I had a wonderful time. It was much bigger than the previous cruise I had went on, but I wasn't too impressed with the food on the larger boat =/ Now what I was impressed with was Burger King's food in Grand Cayman. They have what fast food food is supposed to be. It was soooo much better than the Burger King's here. Not to mention, the people were nicer than here. We were trying to figure out where the beach was & a customer happened to hear us & told us exactly how to get there. Very friendly. That would never happen here, lol. Of all the places we went to, Grand Cayman was my favorite. There's much more stuff to do there without worrying about if you're going to get left.



Funny Haiti Wood Carving - VIDEO
FlowRider - VIDEO

Cruise 2011
Mexico
Grand Cayman
Haiti
Jamaica
Dream Works: Move It! Move It!

PSN Class Action Lawsuit Filed

The Rothken law firm has filed a federal class action lawsuit against Sony on behalf of "approximately 77 million" PlayStation Network users who are unable to access the PSN. According to the suit, Sony failed to maintain a proper firewall and "computer security system," "failure to properly encrypt data," "unauthorized storage and retention of data," and violation of "Payment Card Industry Data Standard(s) and rules and regulations." The suit categorizes the time between Sony learning of the problem and informing the public as an undue delay, saying that it prevented consumers from making informed decision as to "whether to change credit card numbers, close the exposed accounts, check their credit reports, or take other mitigating actions."

Read more HERE.

You can view the complaint here.

It's a Southern Thang

^^^Click image to go to treasury^^^

Rate Me =)

Good evening bloggers, just letting you all know that you can now rate this blog. If you look in the upper right side, you'll see a rating icon/image. I signed up on Blogged and my blog was rated 7.5 out of 10. Not bad I'd say. :) You can rate it by clicking here & click on Review This Blog. If you submit a review (& I hope you do), please keep the following four things in mind:

1. Do not write personal attacks on the author or other users. Please focus your critique on the just the blog.
2. Do not promote a site in your review.
3. Please don't use curse words in your review.
4. Do not write incentive reviews. The "I gave you a 10, now you do the same" type of reviews will be not be accepted.

Blogged can delete or edit any comments that are abusive, considered spam, use foul language or are off-topic.

With that being said, please review/comment this blog on the link.

Sales & updates

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was pretty good. We went to our 3rd sale this past Saturday. We found tons of stuff, including TONS of comics. Let's just say one of those comics will pay for everything we bought that day :-) If you're interested in comics, let me know & I'll contact you. Later that night (or Sunday), I ordered us some business cards & made a website for us. Be sure to check it out: Horry County Pickers & let me know what you think of it :) Aside from sales, I ended up seeing Red Riding Hood & Paul. I had a HORRIBLE experience at Red Riding Hood, but the movie was WONDERFUL. Why was the experience horrible? Click here to find out. Paul was a cute movie =)

As I was typing this, I made THREE sales on Etsy. It was from the same person, but still three sales. Talk about making a girl's day :D

I've also updated my photography website. Check it out here & let me know what you think.

XoXo

Holiday Ornaments

Today's feature comes to use from Leanne in Orlando. Her shop is called Holiday Ornaments. The perfect shop for Christmas ornaments. I had the pleasure to have a Q&A with her. Check it out below & don't forget to check her out.

Q How did you come up with your shop name?
A Since I hand design ornaments for the holidays, I felt like Leanne's Handmade Holiday would be a great choice. Unfortunately Handmade Holiday was already in use when I signed up for Etsy, so Holiday Ornaments seemed like the next best option.

Q How did you hear about Etsy?
A A girlfriend of mine told me about it, and thought it would be a perfect avenue for me to sell my ornaments.

Q How long have you been on Etsy?
A Since the end of August, 2010.

Q Is Etsy a full time job or something you do on the side?
A This is my passion, so no - it's not a full time job. Would I like it to be? Absolutely!

Q Since you make handmade items, do you buy handmade as well?
A Without a doubt! I'm a true believer in supporting my fellow crafters, and have made many dear friends through Etsy.

Q Do you prefer handmade over factory made?
A Handmade, hands down!

Q What is one of your favorite items that you've made?
A I claim that each new ornament I design is my favorite - it's crazy! But, I really love all the symmetrical look of striped materials.


Q What's the hardest part about the items you make?
A They're extremely time consuming. Each ornament is made from an individually folded piece of fabric or ribbon, which is strategically placed to make a quilted pattern. From beginning (prepping fabric and ribbons, etc.) to completion (adding bows, hangers and embellishments), each ornament takes between 2 and 3 hours to complete!



Q What inspires you?
A All it takes is a trip to my favorite fabric store - or to turn the corner and see the holiday ribbon aisle in any craft store. It's pure nirvana...

Q What would you say to a person just starting out in the handmade world?
A Don't give up. When I initially began making my ornaments many, many years ago - let's just say that they were *less* then appealing. Had I given up, I wouldn't be where I am today! As with anything, if you persevere, you can be successful at anything.

You can find her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/HandmadeHoliday



Tomorrows feature: #14 Steufel

A Collection of News

Last night, another contest ended. I wasn't sure if I was winning or not considering vote counts wouldn't show up. Well, I went the The Sun News this morning, & I WON! Yaay. Won best adult costume. Prize: $100 gift card to the movies. Finding out you won something is one way to start off your day :) Thank you to all that voted.


Click image to enlarge.

Now, on a serious note, I would like to bring up an important issue; FaceBook. I happened to be looking in the activity feed yesterday & came across a post from CBS News. Now, if you have them added, you already know what I'm talking about. For those of you who don't, I shall explain. It appears that a NJ pastor is blaming FaceBook for marital problems. He ordered 50 married church officials to delete their FaceBook account or resign from their leadership. Harsh? Yes. Now before I go any further, I just want to say that this "pastor" doesn't sound like a pastor at all. More like a person trying to control other people's lives. Westboro Baptist Church comes to mind as well. If you don't agree, then I'm sorry but I'm just voicing my opinion. It's one thing to not like FaceBook, but to FORCE people to delete their account...Now that's crossing the line. I went to church up until age 16/17 & our pastor never FORCED us to do anything. Moving on before I get off topic. According to CBS News, "Miller (the pastor) said he has spoken from the pulpit before about the dangers of Facebook, asking married couples to give each other their passwords to the site." Miller also states "What happens is someone from yesterday surfaces, it leads to conversations and there have been physical meet-ups. The temptation is just too great." I'm sorry, but if your spouse is going to cheat on you with their ex, they're going to do it with or without FaceBook. FaceBook is a WEBSITE. Blaming a WEBSITE for marital issues is like blaming a website for killings. It's not FaceBook's fault the spouse decides to go to his or her ex. FaceBook didn't hold a gun to their head & tell them to do it. How stupid can one be to believe FaceBook causes marital issue. It's not FaceBook that cause marital issues, it's the people without control. If your spouse saw their ex at a store, bar, etc. the same thing would happen their just like it would have on FaceBook. If any of you agree with this so-called pastor, then I'm sorry, but I'm not taking back anything I just said. In my opinion, you can't blame a website for cheating. You can read the full article here.

Now that I'm done ranting :), the Christmas feature contest is still open. Click here for your chance to be featured during Dec 1 - Dec 25. As long as you make Christmas items, you can enter. Entry submissions will end Nov. 28, 2010 @ 11:59pm.

The Weekend & Christmas

Good morning! How is every one in blog land today? This is the earliest I have EVER written a blog, ha. But I just can't get back to sleep (it's 10:10am & I was up around 8am). This weekend has been a interesting one. Friday I was sick with the flu. That was no fun. I went out & bought some *nasty* Theroflu (the kind you drink). I had to chase it down with another drink. I had a MASSIVE headache & terrible body aches, along with a unfriendly fever. After one pack of Theroflu, the headache eased up just a little. I laid down on the couch to take a nap, only to end up freezing (& it wasn't even cold in here). I had three blankets & a sweat shirt. I could feel my body heat, so I knew that wasn't good when I was still cold. I finally managed to force my self to take another pack of Theroflu (way after the 4 hour mark). That pack was the last pack I took. I went to bed shortly after, only to wake up in a sweat in the middle of the night. I knew the fever had finally broken. When I finally woke up, the body aches were gone, & so was the fever. My ears still felt a lil stopped up, but as of today, I am FLU FREE. Thank God! That mess sucks big time. All I have now is a little cough & a little runny nose. Other than that, I feel wonderful :) The hubby got sick as well, but I don't think he had it as bad as I did. He took Theroflu too & is almost 100% better as well. Theroflu may taste nasty, but it works wonders.

Getting better isn't all the good news I have. Yesterday, we finally got the Halloween decor down & put up Christmas. Yes, already. I like to make it worth while instead of only having it up three weeks. I even got the tree up & lighted, after having a battle with Midnight (the kitten) that is. However, I discovered this morning that Calli (our other cat) may just be our Christmas cat. I found her sound asleep under the tree this morning, lol. I'll post outside photos later. It's kinda cold out & I'm kinda warm & cozy :D

Also, two more costume contests have started for voting. You can find them up above the giveaway section up top. The first one ends Nov 15, the second ends Nov 17 & you can vote each hour, & the third I'm not sure when it ends. To vote on the first one, click the banner, scroll down past my photos, & click "Click here to read or post comments.". You can rate & comment all at once. To vote on the second one, click on "Serial Killer Zombie", then scroll down & click "Save Vote". You can also leave comments there, but you must sign in. And finally, to vote on the third one, click on the banner, & click on "Click here to post comments.".

Last, but not least of the good news, Black Water FX (our shop) has now opened a Christmas section. I have to finish up painting the items (hopefully today), then I can post 'em up in the shop :)

Now that I'm done chit-chatting, how was your weekend? Have you decorated for Christmas yet? Speaking of Christmas, should I decor my blog for Christmas, or is it too early?
XoXo