MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful & happily memorable Christmas! We are getting to the point of winding down here & assembling the new & getting rid of some of the old (my big new comfy computer chair & the flat, ragged old one, for instance!)

We had a great time with just the family & then spent the day today with my side of the family for a delicious brunch! Too much good food & lots of great conversation. But, it gets to point that all in all, it's time to go home & finally wind down. Ahhhh.....

I just wanted to share a couple of very simply decorated pocket calendars that I made for my step mom & step sister. I forgot to add the little red jewels to the yellow scallop like I did on the green one, but I added it before giving it. It definitely needed them. They were simple & I just used the blingy pearl-like paper that you get in a pad at Walmart for the yellow & green portions. The pattern papers are from a 6x6 pad from Cosmo Cricket. CUTE stuff!! The little bling hearts were Mary Engelbright stickers from Michael's $ bin! Too cute & cheap to pass up, don'tcha think??

They both seemed to really like them quite a lot & I'm glad they did.





























Well, I want to keep this short today so, here's hoping all went well with you & yours this holiday & that you all have a fantastic & very blessed New Year!!

Only days away....

from Santa's big scene! Are you all ready for his arrival? I'm almost there, but even as early as I start most years, & I did start a little early this year, I just seem to be doing tons of last minute stuff & still searching for that one gift that seems to elude me. This year, its a smaller version of a George Foreman grill with removable plates for my son. First, I debated about even getting it for him, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it was something he could use for years to come. He loves to make grilled chicken breast wraps & that might be something he can take with him to college next year. I figured if it had the removable grilling plates, he might be more likely to wash it after each use, but that is still up for debate. You would know what I mean if you saw his bedroom. I already feel so sorry for any of his future room mates & future wife. LOL!!

I will have to try to remember to take some pictures of our tree & house lights. Our tree is not done any kind of elaborate theme, except for maybe family traditional, but I think it's beautiful every year & Brooke is already starting to expect certain items to be on the tree year after year. She is in love the animated Angel that tops the tree. I've had her for at least 18 years & fear that she won't have many more years left in her.

I have a bit of crafting to do today, but the projects aren't nothing much. I'm altering a couple of those pocket/purse calendars for my step-mom & step-sister. So far, I'm drawing a blank for the designs, but maybe once I get going, something good will out of it. LOL!

I don't know if anyone has been able to open my blog, I got a message from my friend Andrea that she can't get it to open, so maybe that's why I haven't had any replies to my posts lately. I don't know what the problem might be unless it's the new wintery background I changed to. so, if you're able to read my blog, please leave me a little message letting me know you've been here. Otherwise, I guess I'll change my background again to see if that's the problem.

Thanks for stopping by & if I don't get another post up before Christmas, here's hoping that you & your families all have a safe & gloriously memorable Christmas & a very blessed New Year!

Something I may have missed....?

I don't think that I posted this at the time that I actually finished it, but I could be wrong. I didn't see it when I did my search.

However, if I am repeating myself, then that's OK too, since this is season appropriate right now!
(If you want to see it in a larger view, just click on the picture)








This is a word sign that I altered for a GOOD customer of mine. She wanted it done with a snowman theme. It took me FOREVER to complete because at the time of her order, I knew I wanted the Bazzill Diamond Bling card stock. Wouldn't you know that it was not available anywhere!!! I mean anywhere too! My local scrapbook store had it on back order for months until they closed their doors, then I went to another store & they had it on back order for-ever! I searched every online store I could find, big & small & they either didn't carry it or it was on back order with them too. What was the deal here? The real catch was that this exact color was being pushed in every scrapbook magazine since before I even needed it & yet no one had it to begin with. So frustrating & bless my customer's heart for being so understanding in the looooooong wait. Lucky for me, it was going in a room that she has dedicated to snowmen all year round, so she wasn't really pushing the issue. But still, who wants to wait almost a year for something like this?

Anyway, a 3rd scrapbook store that was an hour away, that had closed their doors at the exact same time as when she placed the order (go figure!), had reopened under new owners & by the time I finally got to go check them out (3 months later) they had it in stock! Woo hoo!!! I literally had to go to town on getting this baby done. Since I had waited so long to get the paper I needed, I nearly forgot what my original plan was for the design. Memory, don't fail me now! If it did fail me, I may have over compensated for it in the end. LOL!

She seemed totally thrilled with it. She even gave me a $5 tip & a huge hug! I thought I would cry when she gave me the hug.

I don't think I would, or even could, make another like this one again. Some of the stuff I used on it was a couple of years old & I had to do some serious digging to find enough snowman things to put on it. Lots of long hours on the Cricut machine too.

On a sort of different topic, yet not, the kiddo had a 2 hour delay today because of lake effect snow. It was the delay she needed to hopefully help her recoup on her sleep after not getting enough at her friend's birthday sleepover on Saturday night. She was definitely feeling some jet lag, without the jet! LOL! We didn't get much of the snow on Monday, but apparently overnight we got hit pretty good & it's been almost non-stop today.



















Brooke & I managed to get a small batch of sugar cookies made last night, but I know it won't be the last. These are her favorite to make & eat. I make the cookies so big & a bit thicker that one batch of dough doesn't make very many. Brooke likes to use her own little mini cutters & rolling pin. They're really good if you put mini chocolate chips or the mini M&M's on them. Of course, everything is better with chocolate, don't you think? ;-) Oh, & now I might get to use the 1st failed fudge recipe as frosting, since that was the consistency it had.

I suppose I'll end this post for now. I have some things to get done & a few errands to run before I go pick Brooke up from school.

God Bless & have a great day!

I'm linking this up at House of Hepworths

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

How is the weather in your neck of the woods? If you're in the Eastern half of the United States, then it's probably cold & snowy! Right now, we're in a break with the beautiful sun shining and blue skies peaking out of the wispy clouds, but that can all change in a heartbeat around here in Northern Indiana. We're so close to Lake Michigan that it's not uncommon for us to get hit some threatening snow storms all because of a condition called Lake Effect snow. We haven't gotten it as bad as they were predicting, but there's still another day of it possible, I guess.

I haven't posted any pictures of anything I have made in a while. And to be honest, I haven't made anything since my craft show. I also don't like to show too much of the stuff I sell, since there are so many people out there looking for ideas themselves - myself included! So, I like to keep some of my best kept secrets a secret. I already know I'll have many copy cats of my things next year. It's just easier to copy the stuff than buy it.

So, here's a card that I actually made earlier this year & never got around to posting. I just love the Teresa Collins stuff! This line, and I can't even recall which one it is, was perfect for making cards, since the sentiments are already made up on the card stock!

It's not easy to tell in this picture, but the scalloped sentiment is pop dotted & then I cut out diamond shapes from the same line of coordinating paper & black card stock from the Provocraft Jasmine cartridge. I really liked the slight curve of the lines. I added the butter cream colored flowers to match the same color of the bottom layer design & some black pearls for centers finished them off. I think the bottom layer had some other kind of sentiment that didn't work with what I had in mind, but I love blue & yellow together, so I was able to make it all work with layering one sentiment over another. I embossed the center black diamond shape in the herringbone design to repeat the printed pattern of the other diamond shapes.



















I was just out & boy, has the wind really picked up & it feels so bitterly cold now! Ugh! I think tonight would be the perfect hot chocolate night snuggled up on the couch with my family with a big crackling fire going in the fireplace watching some fun holiday shows while eating freshly baked Christmas cookies. Mmmmmm.....sounds perfect & even hubby's unemployment can't dash this kind of fun.

God Bless & have a great day!

Thanksgiving weekend - survived!?

Well, the big 4 day weekend is over & the fun parts are over for us. We had a wonderful dinner at my step-sister's house. It's such a blessing for all of us that she was able to do this since she has come such a long, hard way in the past 3 1/2 years with her leukemia battles & the set backs she's endured with her Graph vs. Host disease & has amazingly overcome! It was definitely a day to be Thankful for!

It was also her son's 18th birthday that day! He & my son are just a few weeks apart in age. He is such a handsome young man too that's sort of soft spoken.

As usual, there was too much food, but then again, it wouldn't be a blessed one without that too. You should always be thankful everyday if you have enough to eat!

There was fun conversation & my step-sister cracked open this cool 2 tiered crayon holder full of crayons & some pretty coloring pages that she printed off from the Crayola site that were free! If you want to check them out, just click on the underlined word Crayola to get your own.

I was glad for a wonderful Thanksgiving, because in the afternoon of Black Friday, after we were done shopping, Alan got the call from his boss that he is going to be laid off until the beginning of April, tentatively. We always anticipate this happening, but it seems to come earlier & earlier every year. This time, it was a whole month earlier! I am not what you would call a real planner or anything like that, but I find it difficult to make ends meet in the winter months anyway. So, by the end of Aug or Sept., I start stocking up on non-perishable items like toilet paper, tissues, paper towels, ALL laundry & cleaning items, pasta, sauces, flour, sugar.... you get the idea. My laundry room ends up looking like a mini supermarket by November. It's usually my hope to only need to buy milk, bread, eggs, meats & whatever else we may necessarily need. I guess it's good that I didn't run out & buy the laptop I was so hoping for with my craft show money. I was almost going to on Black Friday, but I guess God was talking to me & I actually listened & talked myself out going through with it. It looks like I'm using that money for other more important things now & that most likely means I didn't need that laptop after all. If I'm meant to have one, He will see to it that I get it - now is not that time.

But, on a lighter note...did you go out for the early morning Black Friday sales??? Yep, I did! I was up at 3:00 am & out the door by 3:30. I hit my local Walmart since I'm not driving 30-60 minutes to wait OUTSIDE when it's only 18 degrees! I might be a little off, but I'm not stupid either! No deal is worth frost bite to me! At least at Walmart you can be indoors. I like the way they did it this year over last year. I wanted to get a Nintendo DS for my daughter. I was surprised to see that there was no line. Hmmmm.....so I go up to the lady & ask about the NDS & she asks if I want 1 or 2? I only need one, so she gives me a wristband that technically "holds" one for me until 11:00. COOL!! I can actually go shop around the store without having to miss out on the other bargains they have going on. Finally, they got a little smarter! I did still end up missing out on the Cricut Holly Jolly Christmas Lite cartridge, but I got 2 other new ones I wanted. I was able to get the cute pet one & the tiny Dancer too. I almost didn't get them because I thought that I was getting a laptop & then buying a program like SCAL2 or MTC so that I wouldn't need to buy carts anymore. My plans were dashed again. Why? On our way home from shopping, my husband got the call from his boss that he's laid off until April. I pray that my husband can find a better job somewhere else & soon. He so deserves better.

So, today is Monday & it's back to the same routine, but different since Alan is home. Although he went to my dad's house this morning to install some ceiling fans that they've wanted put in, so that will keep him busy & give us a little extra cash to help out.

And so I will end this long post that still has no pictures to show you anything fun & creative, but it doesn't even look like anyone is reading this blog anymore anyway.

God Bless & have a great day!

Organization!

Well, I don't think my house will EVER be one of those that is totally organized, but we have put a gallant effort into it this weekend. Maybe I'm just sick & tired of the chaotic look around me, I don't know, but it is in desperate need of attention. And the funny part is that we're not even having Thanksgiving here! My sister is coming to stay with us, like she does every holiday, but she has Down's Syndrome & could care less how messy my house is - well to a certain degree anyway.

It started with not being able to sell Brooke's bedroom set. We had them all unloaded & moved out to the far garage for 3 garage sales earlier this fall. They didn't sell, so before loading them back into the house, we thought we'd give Craigslist a try. Well, we got a bogus offer that apparently in turn caused us to lose out on a legitimate sale because we put them on hold. So, after a 2nd no response listing on CL, we decided to bring them back into the house & Brooke can use them for the winter & we'll try our luck again next spring. With all the prep work necessary for getting those large pieces back into her room, it started a cleaning frenzy that must have bled into today. I decided that the good Lord has given me plenty of nice warm days to get the rest of my outdoor stuff put away that I really should not waste another not getting that done. There was a lot more to just putting things away, my new garden shed still had all the tools & wood left in it from the work that was done in the summer. Then, the purpose of the garden shed being built in the first place, was to get MY stuff out of the garage so that DH could open his truck door open a little further. Of course all that stuff HAD to come out of there tonight! It couldn't wait until tomorrow when it was a bit warmer. Don't get me wrong, it feels good to see that garden shed looking like what it was meant for instead of disheveled mess of tools, sawdust & debris all over the place. I really can't wait to get the finishing touches done to that too & start landscaping around it next year.

If you were to come into our home right now, you wouldn't think that we were on the organization trail, but it's still in progress as we're doing other rearranging. It always seems as though it's a series of events just to get to the ONE end result. And the sad thing is, you're wore out before you reach your final destination & give up before IT gets done. I sure hope we can stay on track to the end. My poor house deserves it.

On another topic, I went to one of my distant neighbor's house today as she was having a craft show in her house. I have met her once when she came to one of our garage sales last year. I've even bought a few things from some of her garage sales. Her house is very awesomely decorated outside! I just had to see what it looked like on the inside. UNIQUE! I would have to say that she has some very cool furniture pieces & the prices were fabulous! I would have to change the colors though since it seems like she's really into bright colors. I noticed a lot of hot pink, lime green & sunshine yellow around. I could have done much more damage than I did, but I still have that laptop in my head that I really want, so I'm trying to be good with my spending. I did get a triple folding shutter that has a chalkboard on the last shutter, that was only $10! I think it would be charming to display small signs or ornaments for my craft shows with a sign for the prices. I also picked up a tall, narrow, galvanized pail that she had painted red. I was going to paint it a different color, but I'm thinking now I may not & just add some type of Christmas design on it & leave it red.

Well, it's getting late & I'm getting a bit tired from all the work I did today. Alan has the house all nice & cozy with a fire going. That's probably what's putting me to sleep.

Have a good weekend & if I don't post before Thursday, have a Wonderful & safe Thanksgiving!

God Bless & have a great day!

Breathe........

Well, I am happy to say that I can finally get a bit of a breather now. My two back to back craft shows are done & I am thrilled to say that they were both a HUGE success for me! I now have enough funds from my sales to purchase a fairly decent laptop now & a set of tires for my van! WOO HOO!!

I was also happy to hear from many customers that my friend & I have a "fan base" following for the shows we participate in. We even had a few say that they only come to those shows to come to our booth every year! How cool is that??

I was glad to notice that when it was all said & done, I only had 2 long flat totes of stuff to bring back home instead of an entire van load!

The worst part of the last craft show was that my hubby made the poor judgment to try to burn some leaves while I was out, but thinking that he had them all extinguished, left to bring me lunch & then wait it out to help me load up after the show. He had only been at the show for probably 15 minutes when he got a call from the neighbor that our woods were on fire!! Lucky for us (the Lord was watching over us for sure!) the wind was blowing in a northerly direction, but if it had been blowing to the south, it would have taken our house, since he wasn't that far from it to begin with. We also started to get a few light rain showers & that help keep things in a check a bit too. Ya know, I was gonna make a questionable remark to him on the phone about burning leaves so close to the time for him to leave, but I let it go...you can bet we have a new leaf burning rule now! Here is what it looks like today. Some of the pics don't show the black real well, but whatever looks darker on the ground is the burnt part.








































Also, that same day, a friend came to the craft show & told me that she was awoken at 4:30 a.m. to discover that THEIR woods was on fire! Can you say Holy Smokes! Luckily, theirs wasn't too serious either, but pretty scary, none the less.

So, after a pretty hectic month, I think it's safe to say that I can take a tiny breather. It will be short lived since my house is a total wreck from neglect & I can't even really blame my family since most of the mess is mine from making crafts. I can blame my daughter for the one in the living room though. NONE of that is mine.

Well, it's getting close to bedtime here for the kiddo, so I will keep in touch again soon! Hope everyone is getting things around for the American celebration next week. I can't believe Thanksgiving is already upon us!

PS...have you been checking out the black Friday sales? Oooooh!

November...already? (*sigh)

It just seems like yesterday we were getting ready for the beginning of school & now we're getting ready for the rush of the holiday season. Where does the time go anyway? It must be faster than the speed of light the older you get, I swear. I know now exactly what my parents meant when they would tell me as a child that I will wish back for the days when I thought time was dragging on, because it will just fly by the older you get.

Well, it was still October this past weekend & our community celebrated Trick-or-Treat night on Sat. instead of Sunday, which actually was the 31st. It was a great night for it although it was a bit breezy, Brooke didn't seem to mind at all. I dressed her up as a Witch, "which" she did not want to be at first. I told her the costume was not a scary witch, but a pretty witch & she was OK with that as long as I didn't paint her face green. LOL I promised her that I would not & had something very pretty in mind for her face instead.

This is her & her dad posing for me. I didn't dress up this year as I didn't feel like going to the trouble just for riding around in the van. DH was disappointed, but got over it & informed me that next year, I WILL be dressing up!


















This is the best close-up I could get of Brooke's face with the stenciling work I did using my Cricut & some stamp ink with body shimmer. I thought the ink would be darker, so it didn't show up all that well, but she loved it.


















I just love the look of her costume here with the sun at her back while she's running down someone's driveway. She was having a wonderful time & she brought home quite a load too! The surprising part was, even though the economy is hard this year & people aren't spending much money, she barely got any junk filler candy like the sweetarts, tootsie rolls, bubble gum pieces, instead, she had the Mother Load of candy bars & even a few full sized ones! Lucky for her dad & I, those were ones that she didn't like, but we DO! :-D


















Here are the pumpkins we managed to get carved out on Friday night. Brooke did a great job on her first one & I have to say that the carving tools that come with the Pumpkin Master sets are great for a child her age. She could have finished the whole thing if her arm wasn't getting tired before she finished the mouth. DH's pumpkin is the IH symbol for International Harvester (his tractor) with a few lightening bolts, since it IS Halloween. Brooke wanted a pumpkin carved out of the cute little kitty face from one of the Pumpkin Master sets I have, but it was definitely too complicated for her, so I did that one & it was almost more than I could handle & did lose an eyelid above the left eye before it was all over with. LOL















This is one of the sights we seen walking around during TOT. He didn't appear to be with anyone, just walking around, which was pretty cool!







Well, I just wanted to get this posted before it was too late. Now I have to get going on making more stuff for my craft show these next 2 weekends. I don't want to reveal anything that I'm making just yet, as I don't want to create any competition for myself by having others recreating the same stuff for the same shows. We all copy others, myself included, but when you come up with something that is your own, you don't want to spoil it by having others show up with the same stuff as you. It's kinda like showing up at a party and having someone else wear the same designer gown as you (not that I'll ever know this, but it's the same idea).

I do plan to take photos of my booth this time, as long as I don't forget my camera again. I am sharing a booth with a friend, so not everything in the booth is mine. I might be on the ball, but I'm not THAT good! LOL!

God Bless & have a great day!

Which way am I going?

I swear I have been a glutton for punishment lately & then throw in some additional things that were unexpected & you might say I'm headed for a nervous breakdown. LOL!! Just kiddin - I think?

It has been really crazy buzy for me lately & I think I'm going to lose it any minute, but I've managed to muddle through with pretty good success, if I do say so myself. I'm not done yet, so the rest remains to be seen, but I can breather for a moment today, although it will might be just a short breath.

We went on a 3 day camping trip on the first weekend of Oct. to mid/southern Indiana for the Covered Bridge Festival near the Turkey Run State Park location. We didn't camp there, but instead stayed in the Shades State Park. It was our fist time there, but really enjoyed it. We checked out a few new places to us for the Covered Bridge Festival (CBF) & found some really great flea markets for future trips. We also checked out a couple of the old stand-by's because we love them so much. We headed to a tiny town called Veedersburg & spent most of the day at that flea market. Got some great finds & deals! I bought some Persimmon pulp in hopes of making some Persimmon cookies or some other baked good with it. I had a persimmon "cake" a few years ago that was sooooo yummy & then I bought some Amish persimmon cookies this year & they were delicious too! I should have gone back & got her recipe, but I'm gonna have to wing it now.

then we went a little further south of Veedersburg to another tiny local called Steam Corners. This was a good sized flea market that we did not manage to get all the way through, but will hit again in the future.

Of course, you can't go to the CBF without hitting the town of Mansfield. OMG! This place is huge & totally packed! The guy that has the biggest lot with the cheapest parking fee ($3) has to be making his millions during that festival alone. Wow!! It was the perfect week for this festival the entire time, so there had to be millions of people coming. The weather was gorgeous, the leaves were turning & it was just so picturesque! We had an amazing time!

Then, upon our return home, my DH decides that if we're going to do a hayride for our DD's birthday party, we should have it the very next weekend! That wouldn't be too bad, BUT I promised Brooke that I would make her party invitations & she had chose the cut of Ariel on one of my Cricut cartridges. So now, I have to pump out 12 detailed invitations & try to figure out how to get them passed out to her friends & a few children I don't know their parents to even call & give a heads up to. Well, her teacher somewhat begrudgingly (it's against school policy) handed out the invitations & we ended up having a great turnout & another perfect day for an outdoor party! The kids had a blast just playing in the leaves & just running around after the hayride, which was a hit too! I guess the worst part of the whole thing was the wasted $20 cake that the kids barely ate, even after they were all fighting over who was going to have a piece with frosting flowers on it. Kids...whatever. It didn't bother me as much as it did my husband. He really hates waste. I don't care for it either, but it was this one time.

Well, now I'm onto getting ready for our next camping trip & parent teacher conferences were tonight. So far, my little kiddo is doing exceptionally well, not quite as sure about the big kiddo that is officially a legal adult as of Sunday, the 17th. When did THAT happen???

God Bless & have a great day!

So busy!!!

It is getting to be my very busy time of the year & it's not even Christmas yet!! October is such a crazy month for me. First, we are cleaning out the garage of all the remaining garage sale stuff. Done. Next, we are planning on going camping, so we have to get everything ready for that. Started. Then, DH thinks I should do our daughter's birthday party for the weekend of the 16th. What? Ummm....ok. Then, we're going camping again. Fun! Then, there's Halloween. More fun! After that, I have one craft show & then another the next week. I am not even close to being ready for 2 shows. I have so much stuff laying around waiting to be worked on, it's not even funny.

Here's the scenario as it will unfold....my husband will expect me to work on the things that HE feels are the priorities now. Then, when it comes to crunch time for my shows, he'll be saying stuff like, why weren't you working on this stuff a few weeks ago? WHAT??!! Gee dear....you thought other things were MY priority first.

Oh, and I can't forget that it's getting to be crunch time for helping my son fill out all those college applications & all that good stuff. He had a college fair the other night, so there was more time lost. Not wasted IF my son gets into where he wants to go cheaper than what it actually costs & he actually becomes a Dr. in Physical Therapy. I never thought I might be able to say I'm the mother of a doctor! Any who... I'm getting sidetracked.

Now mind you, I HAVE been working on stuff for these shows since the beginning of the year in Jan. Then, one show was in question of even happening & then it was officially canceled only to be officially on again a month later. Oh, Heaven help me!

So, in between all the other stuff that's been going on, I've been forcing myself to still fit in time to get my stuff ready. I don't make the progress I wish I was, due to design issues or creative block that results in wasted product. Did I mention that that really irritates me?

I have really gotten quite a bit accomplished, just not in the manner I wish I was. Take hand sanitizer & soap bottles, for instance. I have tons of these waiting to be decorated, but I only have one of each made. How do you go to a show & only show up with one hand sanitizer bottle & one soap dispenser bottle? Sell them as one of a kind? Hmmm...I don't think that works for stuff like that, do you? No. It doesn't.

So anyway, in case you're looking for craft show inspiration to use, here may be a few ideas. I just hope you're NOT doing the same shows I am.

Home Decor style Plate



















Winter/Christmas Decor Plate




















Baby wipe containers, still working on the tractor one tho.



















I have other things that I've finished for the sale, but those items are top secret, because I feel that they're very unique & I do not want to risk any competition for those sales. I had something last year that I made the mistake of posting online once & sure enough, someone else at the show made something so very close (almost identical) you know they had to copy it thinking they'd be the only one at that show, but ah, that was not the case. So, when it comes to something that I think is a hot seller, I wait to post any pictures until it's all over. Other stuff, doesn't bother me as much, maybe. It's tough enough to make someone want to spend their money at these shows during tough times, so you have to be EXTRA creative & cheaper than the rest if you want them to spend their hard earned money at your booth.

So here's keeping my fingers crossed that I get all my stuff done when it needs to get done!

God Bless & have a great day!