Daisy's Dilly Doings

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T12:44:00.000-05:00

Just a very Merry Christmas from our household to you and yours. Enjoy the day with friends and family.

Hugs

Haven't forgotten this blog!!

2011-12-07T10:29:00.001-05:00

Really I haven't but we are just having some personal problems that leave my brain too drained and its better to blog with a full brain--right???

I did get a new Keurig coffee maker and boy am I loving it!! I am not a coffee drinker but the teas and cocoa are awesome. Okay I guess they don't really taste any better than the regular stuff but its so much more easier just to plug and brew. I also get 2 free packs of k-cups so I'm going to get something really good--Iced Tea!! Sweet at that. I'll let you all know if it's worth anything.

Are you all ready for Christmas?? I haven't even started mine yet and thats bad for me. Thankfully I had made a HUGE amount of soap this year and had lots left over so guess what everyone is getting for their gift???Nothing like being a crafter with left over goodies.

Its snowing in our neck of the woods right now. I thought we were suppose to miss it but lo and behold this morning all that drizzle turned to icy balls and now snow. It could have been worse as we are above freezing so that kept the wet stuff from turning to icy stuff.

Got a birthday coming up on Sat and my bones have been aching for over a month now. Its the funniest thing, that every year just about a month before my birthday my bones start to ache then just right after they return to normal. Little odd isn't it. But hey I'm thankful to God for having made it to 55 (will be!!) and not to have been majorly sick . My grand kids tell me I am at the half century mark plus and boy does that make one feel really good!! LOL !!!

I will try to get back on before the year is up but we may be faced with moving ( rental house up for sale and one never knows what the new owners will do) so just can't guarantee anything. I do hope each of you have the greatest holiday ever and enjoy the time with your families. Enjoy your day

2011-10-21T12:06:00.002-04:00

testing-having trouble with blogger--this is a test

A few more pendants

2011-08-20T12:56:00.000-04:00

Here are a few of the bigger pendants and the backs showing some of the glitter

Some better pictures

2011-08-20T12:45:00.000-04:00

Here are a few better shots of the ornaments and necklaces.

Some ornaments

2011-08-06T15:19:00.000-04:00

These are not top notch quality pictures. The lighting in my house is rotten but it will give you an idea what the ornaments look like. Enjoy

Its the lone stranger-or the missing blogger

2011-07-25T12:51:00.000-04:00

I am not going to say a word about how I'm sorry ( even though I truly am) I haven't been on. Summer is just a crazy time around our place. I'm babysitting full time, trying to get ready for a big 2 day craft show/festival in Sept, and deal with a swollen leg and other family problems. And on top of that my uncles garden has finally decided to explode and I get what my aunt doesn't use ( usually alot!!). I just did 4 pints of refrigerator pickles and have a bag full more to do in the next day or so. Plus the kids are screaming Zucchini Bread!! Its a good thing the tomatoes are a bit late coming on or I would never get caught up. OOh and lets not forget to mention that my DH just called and told me they messed up on his check for the coming pay day--not good.

I have no idea what I did to my leg-well its my hip area but since we are just coming out of a 4 month reduced hours work I can't afford to go to the doctor for another couple of weeks. I can't sit long periods ( or on hard surfaces) can't stand long and have to stretch out several times a day. None of this is good when one needs to do things.

Aside from all the rottenness I have made some headway on somethings. I finally was able to get some glass cabochons and diamond glaze ( before the work cutbacks ) so I could try my hand at that craft . Getting the bubbles out has proved to be harder than it looks online. However once one gets the hang of controlling the glaze its pretty easy. I'm all for trying the glass slides now that I know how this works.

I won't be making any more soap right now until this bunch sells a bit. Don't want to get too much going and not be able to get rid of it. The natural soaps are selling very well but I just had to make some fun stuff. I did reduce the sizing of my bars and redo alot of the soap sicles and cupcakes. I just didn't like the icing on the cupcakes as it was rubbery and I couldn't get past that. Thankfully the icing is all I will have to toss from those as I can rebatch the base itself.

How about this heat!!!! Yesterday was our first real day of relief when a slight cold front dropped temps down to 75*. Before that we were dealing with temps of nearly 100* ( some areas around us did reach 100 and beyond) with heat indexes of 112* or higher. Our poor AC unit could not keep up with the demand. We actually had to go driving around just to get cool. Hate to see the electric bill this coming month!!!

Well laundry is calling my name and I really need to snap the green beans so they can go into the freezer. Its a good thing I can multi task and not go too awfully crazy but then most mothers/ grandmothers have learned how to do this. And if you aren't there yet you will be one day. You'll know you've reached perfection when you can juggle a baby in one arm, cook with the other, talk on the phone, all the while trying not to trip over the other one or two young ins that are under your feet and have hair left at the end of the day.

Enjoy your summer and yes the kids will be going back to school very soon-unless you home school then you are in trouble!! Have fun.

Another Great Giveaway from Creating from The Heart

2011-06-27T18:59:00.001-04:00

Shes at it again!!! You really have to jump over to Melissas blog and check out this grand giveaway but while you are there don't forget to also check out her awesome creations as those are better than the giveaway!!

http://keepsakesbymelissa.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-3rd-blogaversary-giveaway.html

Hello!!!

2011-06-05T15:21:00.000-04:00

Gosh it seems like a long time since I actually got on here to post anything doesn't it!!! Okay so I'm a rotten blogger I just can't help it!!
I've been having a dilly time posting comments on any ones blog. I guess Blogger is having headaches or something. Whatever the reason I just can't post anything. I was using Explorer as my browser but had to switch to Google Chrome in order to play the games over on FaceBook. So I decided to do a Google search and see if my blog is listed-----IT IS!!!! Its weird to see the blog out there in cyberland but I'm sure zillions of others are listed too. Guess we all should feel special.

Not alot has been happening in our little world. I tried selling the soaps and crafts at a flea market and that went belly up. It was almost horrible but it was a learning experience so all wasn't lost. Plus on our last day there God let a man stop in who just needed to talk. So even though the sales were low that day was special. God knows where to put you and why you're there even if you don't understand it.

The soaps are fine but I do have to rebatch many and add extra scent. The ones I had put a GOOD dose of fragrance in was still smelling good and was just about the right scent soooooo I've done a couple new batches and added some extra scent and now its a wait and see type thing!. I'll be glad when I finally learn the ropes of soap making. The All Natural soaps are the easiest to make and I've gotten those down pat pretty quick. My goal is to become all natural by next year. However I still like the smells of certain fragrances and they are alot cheaper than essential oils. We'll just see how things go.

As for the woodcrafting side of my business-oooh my I thought I was sunk when my scroll saw died!!!!! Just up and quit on me during a cutting event. All I could do was cry. I loved that saw and the way it cut and the fact I could do some really tight curves. OOOh yeah it was good. But as with all good things they come to an end. I had held on to my old saw but I had lost half the parts and the only type blades I could use were pinned end ones. This saw was twice the age as my new one and twice as rusted so I held out little hope of it working. Would you believe I fired up that baby and it purrs like a kitten!!! I couldn't believe it. I mean here it was old, rusted and worn out yet it totally blew the younger model out of the water ( do I sense a moral to the story here???? LOL) . So now I'm back in business yet having to reteach myself on that ole baby. The heat does make it hard to be outside but I did get a few dozen ornaments cut out and ready to go. Bring on the craft shows!!!

And finally I ask any of you prayer warriors out there to help me pray for my friend Dee. Shes got gangrene in her foot and clearly said if its entered her bone she will not have an amputation opting rather to let life run its course.I can't go into personal details here but I do just ask you to remember her as this is hard for all those involved. Plus it sooo brings back memories of losing my mother to something very similar.

Okay enough tears and news. Will try to post a little more regular haven't I promised this before????) but don't hold me to it as the first craft show is in Sept and its a 2 day event so I've got to be cracking the whip and get things going. Enjoy this awesome summer heat and hopefully all the rotten storm systems are out to sea.

Hugs, Vicki

A Great giveaway!!!

2011-05-15T14:33:00.000-04:00

Melissa from "creating from the Heart" is having another of her awesome giveaways!!! Why not go over a have a peek and while you're there be sure to check out her wonderful creations.

http://keepsakesbymelissa.blogspot.com/2011/05/its-giveaway-time.html

Lokking for 25 followers (or Likes) on FB

2011-04-29T10:56:00.000-04:00

Good morning all. Hope this finds everyone high and dry with no damage from the recent storms. Just when I thought we were over them here another round comes thru late yesterday evening. Thankfully it was fast moving and non damaging.

Are (or have you-not sure when it was on) watching the Royal Wedding?? I don't get into that but its everywhere and one just can't get past it. I do wish the new couple great marriage success and a long happy life together.

Now I'm looking for 25 "likes " on Face Book ( see FB link on side). Not for a gloat but to get recognized. Guess it will generate more hits that way. I only have 7 so I still have a ways to go!!! Once I reach that number I will be giving away a bar of my soaps ( only good to United States residents at this time-sorry). I would love to include all my out of state friends but each country is different in regulations/laws and until I can fully study all laws I'll have to stick to selling soaps/bath supplies here in America. You are free to join as I am also displaying my paper crafts and will be putting on my woodcraft things so I might have to consider something in that line for the rest of you!!

I do appreciate each and everyone of you for taking the time to comment or just read my nutty posts. I know sometimes I get too carried away but that's just who I am.

Right now I'm about to fight with my beloved GD to get her to do schooling. She wants to be a vet when she grows up and she's got that TV set to The Animal Planet!! Most kids love cartoons but not this one, she's into those animals right now and something tells me she just won't outgrow it.

Until later, have a wonderful day filled with lots of laughter and sunshine! Or if its filled with rain and dark clouds just look for that silver lining. Either way enjoy

Daisys Dilly Creations--Newsletter

2011-04-27T11:06:00.001-04:00

Okay not exactly sure just how well the newsletter is going to show but going to give it a try here. Hopefully I can learn to send it email in the future. Enjoy-----Updated Just click on image to enlarge enough to read!! Works great

Added a FaceBook Page

2011-04-27T11:00:00.000-04:00

After reading all the marketing tips and ideas I decided to list myself on Face Book. Maybe not a 100% grandest idea but alot of my friends are there so will see how it goes. With hubby's job taking a big cut back (OUCH!!) I have decided its time to get rolling in my side business.I know things are tough everywhere so I'm not going to go on about how bad we are here as this current financial thing isn't a "me" thing its an "US" thing. We are all getting hit in areas that we just can't help but we can pick ourselves up and look for ways to make money. Mine just happens to be crafting and soap making. I will be operating on a shoe string budget but it will not effect the quality of my items. I don't care how low you are on money you should always do your best work with the best materials. I've searched the Internet high and low for the best soap bases as well as the best fragrances and herbs. I also use top line plywood for my wood crafts and I take my time doing the needed work. I hope this doesn't sound like I'm trying to put myself on any type of pedestal as that's not my goal. Rather my goal is to offer you the best product at a reasonable price.

Also I'm not begging you to join me on Face Book but just letting you know I am there if you want to come have a look. I do need to get better pictures of the things posted so bear with me in that area.

Thanks for taking your time to visit with me

The soaps are rolling in !!

2011-03-06T16:16:00.000-05:00

lavender, chamomile, rmore lavender and rosebud

chamomile,neoplitan, and some cookies

my (not) so wonderful iced cupcakes!!

my very pretty mini bundt cakes-love these

DAISY'S DANDELION DREAMS

Okay lets try this again and see where things land!! This new blogger takes a bit of getting use to doesn't it. Kinda types dead center!! OOOOh well at least it lets me put the pics in-somewhat straight!

After a zillion messed up bars I finally hit on some good type things. The Neoplitan bars are by far the best bar I've made. The first batch came out smelling soo yummy I had to remind everyone it was soap and not real! The cupcakes were another thing that ,even though they are a bit messed up (can't icing worth a flip as is and then to try doing it with soap-ooh my) they turned out kinda cute. Those are real candy sprinkles on top so I'm thinking these will appeal to kids for sure. I mean what kid doesn't like to make a mess. Over time they dissolve into the icing base but the color is still very visible and very messy. Next ones will have more of an adultish type sprinkles.Then I got a very expensive silicon mold for the mini bundt cakes but after one batch I was glad I paid the extra for this mold. These cakes are just adorable!!! They weigh in about the same as my bars but the details on the mold was just awesome. I decided not to add icing to these. My all time favorite scent on these so far is the Almond,Cherry. At first it was a bit overwhelming but when I wrapped them the other day they have mellowed out to a really wonderful smell.

Now to the herbal soaps--oooh boy what can I say here. This is where your level of soap making really shows. I'm sure a seasoned soaper would know that herbs turn your base a really yucky brown but since I am not seasoned I had no idea . I had made up a wonderful batch of very pretty Rosebud -just the right shade of pink/white with not too much flower in it. Then lo and behold a couple days later I go to wrap them and nearly died!! Nearly every bar had turned a deathy shade of brown. I think about 10 bars survived without the drastic color change and I can't figure out why. The other herbals are changing too but with the added coloring they aren't too bad. The plain white ones had to go as they got just too dark for my liking.

I've also found that one doesn't need to buy tons of molds-though I do have a few-but rather they can use what's on had at home or buy some really cheap things at the "mart" stores. Drawer organizers make the best molds and the soap releases very easy. The worset thing I got an idea to use was a copper jello mold!! Not one of my better ideas for sure as it took me a few hours to release the soap yet the detailing was great.

I'm not done with my newest adventure. I do think I like this much better than woodcrafting but doubting if the profits will be as good as they are with the wood. Almost everyone and his brother is selling sooaps these days so one does have to make a niche in the market. I'm just hoping to break even this year and then go from there.

Hope you enjoyed looking at my first round of goodies and hoping to be back with more later . Enjoy your day and hopefully by now the snow is melting in your area and Spring is right around the corner.

Giveaway from Swirlydoos

2011-02-08T08:52:00.002-05:00

Swirlydoos is having a great giveaway. Stop over at the blog and grab you a chance

http://swirlydoos.blogspot.com/2011/02/cha-goodies-giveaway.html.

Easy as that

Hummmm.....

2011-01-30T09:43:00.002-05:00

....something seems a bit wrong with the date (lol) . I mean wasn't it just yesterday I was bidding an old year goodbye and now I'm about to say farewell to an entire month---No way. Honestly where did the time go!!!! I can only blame it on , well me I guess as there's no other reason.

On a better note. My first batch of soap arrived a few days ago and I've been happily creating a mess. I had this crazy idea that soap making was going to be a breeze---boy did I get a wake up call!!! Yes cutting the base and melting it is something very easy and if you just want to pour a single layer you've got it made. However, if you want to pretty them up, add layers or other crazy things then you've got to think things thru. I learned the hard way that one needs to cut ALL (sorry for the shout) the needed base up before starting the layering and one doesn't mix ingredients into a super hot base or you'll get The Blob. Plus if you want to layer you better not be afraid of rubbing alcohol because thats what binds your layers! I have been experimenting with natural coloring and the likes and found some spices make awesome coloring and that unsweetened cocoa powder is a real winner in a soap. I have managed to wipe out about 8 lbs of base and only made about 3 lbs of good looking soaps. Some of my first few bars are good enough to use just not pretty so I'll sell them as Usable just not pretty and mark the price accordingly. I've hit on 3 really great lines : Milk and Honey ( all natural), Neapolitan (super yummy smelling) and Cherries Jubilee (this one is my favorite by far) I did make an Oatmeal and french vanilla a few weeks back but I think I overdid the oatmeal but my family still loves it. And the worse thing I've made so far is the lavender bars!!! I did not grind up my buds like suggested and let me tell ya the end result was less than appealing. So will need to grind grind grind the lavender next time. I'll also be working on some Chamomile and need to remember to grind those flowers as well. Anyhow thats what soap making is all about. One just needs to learn to keep notes and write down everything they do as that way they will know what/where it went wrong. I have found the best molds are turning out to be silicon as you can just peel them off once the soap is set. Now my next biggest hurdle is Pricing. Any suggestions as to what you'd be willing to pay for a natural soap bar??? I'm leaning towards $4.00-$4.50 for the 4 to 5 oz ones depending what all goes into it. To about $3.00 or so for the smaller sizes. I don't want to over kill anyone but I would like some (even a teeny bit) of profit.

Right now I'm battling another virus bug-only makes about the 5th time in a few short months. Not sure why I'm being hit with all this junk. I guess maybe it's just my season to get whammied.

Well just wanted to drop in ,say hello and let my followers know what I've been up to. Take care, have a wonderful day and wish me luck with this soap stuff.

Another year gone and an awesome giveawaty

2010-12-31T13:00:00.002-05:00

Before I start my actual post let me tell ya about this great give away that Melissa (Creating from the heart ) is having. She's offering A CuttleBug and goodies!!!! Go over and check it out and while you are there have a look at some of her awesome things she does!! She is incredible (http://keepsakesbymelissa.blogspot.com/2010/12/end-of-year-giveaway.html ).

Can you believe another year has bit the dust-well lets give it a few hours here! I mean where did time go??? Seems like only yesterday I was trying to find all my stuff from when we had moved (Dec 09)(-shoot I still can't find half my stuff (wink) ) . However when I really sit back and reflect on this past year I have to say things were alot better this year than they had been. This year hubby didn't have to take off work due to his health (aside from minor sickness) , we were able to pay off all our high interest credit cards and I was able to get back to my crafting shows!!! I'm human and I complain (sometimes cry) about all the "things" I think I need but God kept HIS hands upon us and we never once went hungry, we never failed to be able to pay our bills and none of us got seriously sick. Plus DD and hubby still have jobs and in this area that is a HUGE blessing. What the new year will hold is only Gods knowledge but whatever shape it takes I know I'll always be in the Masters hand and what HE puts upon us is only what we can handle and with everything we can't HE makes a way for us to get thru it.

Also I want to thank each and everyone of my followers for sticking with me thru another year. Y'all mean so very much to me and I look forward to another great year with all of you. Hopefully GD will provide us with some silliness but she is starting to enter that-do not laugh at me stage. Enjoy the New Year and stay safe if you plan to go celebrate tonight

Hugs to all

Vicki

Merry Christmas

2010-12-21T08:29:00.003-05:00

As the days draw closer to Christmas I just want to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas. I hope each of you get something wonderful. but if the Big guy doesn't bring you what you really really wanted try not to focus on that too much because if you have a warm house, food on the table, your health and a source of income you have far more than alot of people these days.

I saw this wonderful tidbit on Facebook this morning and thought I'd pass it on

Santa lives in the North Pole
Jesus lives everywhere
Santa rides in a sleigh
Jesus rides on the wind
Santa comes but once a year
Jesus is ever-present
Santa supplies you some goodies
Jesus supplies ALL your needs
Santa comes down the chimney uninvited
Jesus stands at the door and knocks then enters into your heart.

Merry Christmas. Enjoy the time with your family and friends.

Correct link to store

2010-12-10T15:46:00.003-05:00

Okay not exactly sure what is happening with Bloggger-it or just may be this new computer but the store link isn't the correct one so we'll try again.

http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/

while I'm at it let me try the direct link for the kitshttp://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_187&products_id=6214

http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_187&products_id=6208

Winter Wishes and My Blue Christmas

2010-12-10T15:22:00.004-05:00

CuddleBeez's has two new wonderful kits out!!! The first is called My Blue Christmas . It is filled with all the goodness of a Christmas kit in colors that are just awesome. This beautiful kit would also create a great winter LO and how about using it for that winter wedding--tooo stunning. Its on sale here (for awhile so hurry over)--well can't seem to get the link to post so hop over to the store and look for CuddleBeez's scraps .

http://http//www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/

The other is called Winter Wishes and is more of a country themed kit. Think all those winter/Christmas photos you take while at the cabin!! Or out cutting the tree. I see Christmas cards here. Again this is on sale for a limited time so don't delay,.

Have a great day .

oooHHH I wanna cry!!!

2010-12-03T12:45:00.003-05:00

Sorry if that sounds a bit too much but I lost ALL my data on the old computer before I could transfer it over. All my scrap booking data, all the files I hadn't backed up and there was plenty of school related stuff that I hadn't gotten on to flash/disc. How did this happen????? I'm not even real sure but I had let my daughter use the old computer and well I guess as usual she went into places she shouldn't have. I will have to see if there is anyway to retrieve alot of that data or if it's just gone forever out into the ever growing cyper graveyard. OOOh well it's not really worth killing anyone over but I sure won't let her touch my new computer.

Been getting any snow in your area? It was coming down pretty good earlier then just stopped. However I think the forecast is calling for some heavier stuff to moving in later tonight or by morning. We are suppose to be on the lighter end of this but I think the last time they told us that we ended up with over 12"!!!! Never trust a weather man!

I'm just loving this new computer but this wireless keyboard is all ready proving to be a battery eater. I need to figure out how it shuts off. The mouse shuts down fine but this keyboard just keeps going. Windows 7 hasn't been too awfully hard to use but it did take me a bit to figure out how to transfer some scrapbook templates into my program. Right now I am without a printer as my HP Photosmart doesn't work with Windows 7 and the new Dell wireless won't connect to wireless without first being hooked up to wireless. Really need to get it up and running as I really use the printer alot.

Well right now we are in the middle of a cake bake off event and I have to be the judge and taster --yumm yumm Styrofoam cakes!!! Whatever happen to just baby dolls and tea parties???

Dude I got a Dell!!!

2010-12-01T16:54:00.002-05:00

Wow I did really get a brand new Dell Inspiron Touch screen with Windows 7 64 bit6s!!!! It is sooo awesome but boy does it show me I don't know a thing about computers. It came almost set up so that wasn't an issue but trying to save files etc has proved to be a challenge. It also came WIFI ready so that saved on cable cost. Right now I'm set up in the kitchen but hoping to get it in the bedroom by the weekend. !!!!

Well it had to happen--snow and lots of it and wouldn't you know it I have to get out into this mess tonight. Hubby is working over so I will have to go get him in about an hour or so. Hoping the roads stay semi dry because the temps are freezing so any wetness will cause ice!!!

Okay this has to be short as daughter is off work. Hope the cat stays off the computer because I have some things going on!!!

Have an awesome day-snow or rain.

Craft Show success

2010-11-15T10:07:00.002-05:00

Can we say thank goodness the craft show is over!!! I had certainly forgotten just how very busy this show was. For an hour after the show opened it was dead but then---then it hit and we stayed busy til nearly the end of the show. I had so many people tell us that they had missed us last year. Makes one feel kinda good.

My youngest daughter and her family also came down and stayed til shows end then helped us to repack. With 4 adults and 3 kids we had the stuff boxed and loaded in 30 minutes!!! It helped that I had sold quite a bit and didn't really have as much stuff as usual but that extra help was a blessing to hubby.

I had made 8 reindeer, in various sizes, (hoping to get some pictures on later) and sold ALL 8 of them--7 went to Indiana and one to Cincinnati!! I expected to sell one or two of these ( prices ranged from $14.95-$8.95) but to sell all of them was great. I know I could have likely priced them higher but my goal isn't to get rich I just enjoy clearing a profit so lower prices means more sales. I also sold nearly 95 ornaments, some paper goods and some of my older nutcrackers I had made back in 2006 ( I hang on to it all don't I )

After the show hubby and I went out to eat and guess what I couldn't eat but one small plate-we had gone to a buffet bar that we like. I was so tired, had a major headache and my leg hurt. We didn't even hit the craft stores as normal---wow !!! I came home, checked some emails and was in bed snoring by 9 pm. Hummmmmmm something was going on and about 2:30 I found out. I woke up with severe stomach pains and verily made it upstairs to bathroom before I exploded!!!! Yuck!!! And double yuck. I was down in bed ALL day yesterday and today I'm still feeling a bit wobbly but at least I can sit up. Wasn't able to do that yesterday as every time I had to get up I nearly passed out. Not sure what hit me but I tell ya it felt like a semi-truck loaded with gravel. But I am glad it waited til after my show just hated that I had to miss another church service.

This year at my show I decided to start a newsletter . I got several responses so I'm excited and will be working on that in the near future. While this is mainly for news on my craft shows everyone is welcome to sign up and I hope to be offering some free samples --not digital downloads, sorry --but real items to those who want to share a snail mail addy. Until I learn how to do things my newsletters will likely come as attachments but I know there are ways to get images in ones mail and I will learn how!!!!

Well granddaughter is hungry and my eyes are wobbling again so I better get off. Hope every one has a wonderful week and no one gets that nasty gravel truck virus!!!

More LO's and yes I'm behind!!

2010-10-30T09:47:00.008-04:00

All right I'll admit it I'm seriously behind on way tooooo much. But I've had grand kids and they just wear me out. Two are very high energy, one is a sassy mouth tweeny and one is rotten and wants to hang constantly, however I love them to pieces and hate to see them grow up.

Now on to the LO's-----Cuddlebeez's has some really awesome kits out lately. The top LO is from Fall Is (http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_187&products_id=5752) and the other is called A Season(http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_187&products_id=5801) --and I noticed that they are still on sale so better hurry.

Cuddlebeez's always has some of the most delightful elements in her kits and these two are no exception. While they both have a fallish tone to them A Season could easily do a heritage themed LO . I just love these kits-well okay I love all Cuddlebeez's kits and not because I'm on her team (LOL) but because she does an incredible job on all her stuff and that makes for some great LOs.

I do ask that you keep her in prayer as the last I heard her father had been rushed to the hospital so just keep this family uplifted .

Well it's back to the ole crafting place as I have bath salts to make and reindeer to finish and only 2 more weeks to get things done--OOOH MY!!! Good thing I work well under pressure ( I think it kicks me into high gear and makes me realize that if I don't get it done then I'm sunk!)

Have a great day and don't forget to run over to The Studio and pick up some-or all of Cuddlebeez's wonderful kits.

PS just noticed that the text colors were different up a ways!! Thats what I get when I mess with things but still hope you enjoy it.

Cuddlebeez's Scraps is back!!!

2010-10-02T12:17:00.004-04:00

Cuddlebeez's is back!!! After some time off Cuddlebeezs has come back. And what's great is she ask me to be on her team again!!!! Thank you soo much Brenda!!

Not only is she back with some great awesome kits but she has a new web site and a totally new blog (http://thecuddlebeezblog.blogspot.com/) From here you can access the website.

This LO if from the Fall Days kit ( available at the Digital Scrapbooking Studio--http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=5751). It has 18 papers, tons of flowers,ribbons, trims and frames. The colors are awesome in blues, reds, golden yellows, browish and greens in both printed and plain. Enough for just about any type of LO you want..

And you know what else is great??? This kit is 40% off!! Not sure how long this sale is going to last so I suggest you jump over and grab yours. Didn't make the sale? No problem as it's still a great price at $4.00

I will be working on the next kit-Fall Is ( it's on sale as well)--over the weekend and hope to get a LO posted in the next couple days.

Enjoy the day.

A short post...

2010-09-25T11:39:00.003-04:00

Just a note to let everyone know I'm back on my feet. I don't think that was allergies I had-LOL!!!! It just left me drained and the fact that I don't really get any "me" time doesn't help whenever I get sick.

I really am trying to make up for the lost time and working OT t get some more crafting done. I just finished up 6 more ornaments and hopefully will get to work on more today. I do need to get more things cut out because I'll be starting on the last bunch and I like to keep things ahead.

It finally cooled again and boy am I glad. It hit the high 90's here for about 3 days so I had to turn back on the air. We also got a tad bit of rain but it didn't put a dent in the drought we are having. Forecast is calling for more rain in the next couple days so I guess I need to get out there and do the wardance or whatever it was they did centuries ago to bring rain!!! Watch for me on Amercias Funniest Videos!!!

Enjoy your day

Not A good day and 2 new blogs

2010-09-17T12:13:00.002-04:00

Ugggh!! It's just one of those "I don't feel good" days. " I just want to sleep but can't because of my GD. We are suppose to be doing some schooling , however I can't see that happening. She certainly is liking it. I feel like a balloon all stuffed up with cotton or something. Likely sinus or allergies doing me in.

I started a new blog---a painting /woodcrafting one called Daisy's Dilly Creations (http://daisysdillycreations.blogspot.com/) . My friend Northern Star Ca has also got one going-A Brush With Friends ( http://abrushwithfriends.blogspot.com/) I know for a fact she is going to be having a give away on her blog here in the very near future. You might want to hop over there and see what she is up to (wink). Mine will just likely showcase some of my stuff, though I really would like to do a tutorial on how to use a scroll saw. That will have to wait for awhile though

.We are hoping that these blogs will open a new door for those interested in painting. Also we would love to hear how you got your start in painting/woodworking and what do you do with all those wonderful creations you make. Or are you a seasoned painter and have something to add . We'll take it all and hopefullly have a blast . So come on over and visit with us.Enjoy the day

Some Ornaments

2010-09-12T19:03:00.006-04:00

Thought I would give y'all a little taste of what I really love doing. OOOOh don't get me wrong I love to play with the card making and I truly have fallen in love with the stamping stuff but wood craft painting is really where my heart is. I try to add alot of fine detailing to each and everyone of my ornaments. I have also started adding mini bells to all of them as well as some decorative snow or clear fabric paint.. I've painted most all these ornaments shown ( except the bottom 2 which are new this year ) a few dozen times . They are my bigger type ones ( 4 x5" or abouts) and so much easier to detail and paint then the smaller ones. I was afraid that this size wouldn't sell well- because after all most people buy them for their trees, however they have been my top sellers!!!! I've even had orders for them which really took me by surprise.

Now I'm not sure what this year will bring with all the unemployment and all but I'm hoping things will turn out okay. I will be having some more pictures in a few days of the newer things I'm doing for this year .

Well its off to Facebook I go to play a few games and then off to bed. Have a great evening .

Keyboard shut me down

2010-09-10T14:47:00.003-04:00

Sorry if the last part of my post seemed odd but I hit the keyboard the wrong way and it shut me down soo fast I didn't know what hit me. I really need a new one.

But as I was saying---I will try to get the pictures posted sometime next week. I want them to be condensed and not have a zillion single ones on here. I really need to speed up the painting yet I doubt if that will happen.

Have a great day .

Clouds

2010-09-10T13:50:00.006-04:00

Have you ever stretched out on the grass in your backyard or on a hillside and gazed up at the clouds? Do you ever play a game to see who can make the most shapes out of the clouds? I use to do this when I was a child. I'd find me a good spot then find me one of those willy type grasses to chew on before spending hours just lying there gazing up at all those fluffy marshmellow clouds and trying to see what shapes I could make out of them. Now my grandkids like to do it from the comfort of the car-no backyards for us these days as we live in town where yard space is a premium. We have a 45 minute drive to church on Sundays and there is a couple areas where the skies open up and the flat land appears-almost like being in the open Plains area. Just endless acres of corn ,soybeans and clear beautiful blue skies. We were driving up to this city the other day to get our glasses when I decided that these awesome looking clouds needed to be on film. The further up into the area we got the lower these clouds came until it seemed they were just floating above our van. It was just a relaxing feeling to be there in the clouds without ever leaving the ground. I went off into lala land for a short time !! Did I ever see any shapes in these clouds? I never really looked but I saw GD eyeballing them with a passion and then a big grin came across her face so I know she saw something wonderful up there. It's truly odd sometimes where we find our minutes of peaceatiude ( not a real word I know !) I hope today that you can find that special place and just drift off to another world-even if only for a few brief minurtes because its well worth that 5 or 10 minute trip. You might even find yourself totally refreshed and ready to tackle that craft room that needs to be cleaned!!

One last note-I have some pictures of my ornaments but want to get them

I can see clearly now....

2010-08-30T15:42:00.003-04:00

The scratches are gone,
I can see clearly now the lens are renewed....It's a bright sunshiny day. (I had a bunch more of that song in my brain but it seems to have taken a trip elsewhere!! )

I just got new glasses and I thought they were great until I have decided that the bifocal might be in the wrong spot. However I can see much better with these than the older ones ( had them 5 yrs!!!!!) which were just about out the door. Does anyone else hold out that long getting glasses or is it just penny pinching me??? With a $500.00 + price tag I try to make them last as long as they will go. I don't know about you but I sure don't have that kind of money just lying around . I will need to make sure I go to have my eyes checked every year now as I have beginning cataracts. I want to catch them as soon as possible.

Not much else going on here lately. I am sooo very thankful school started back on the 16th . It's been so peaceful here without a house full of wild GDs. As for the painting---HA! I'm betting if I get one group of ornaments done a week I'm doing something amazing and if I reach my goal of 300 it will be a downright miracle. I did have a few from a couple years ago so that is saving me somewhat but I know I will have repeat customers and they always want something new. On the plus side to this mess I did manage to get alot of wood cut out and it is ready to be painted. Just wish me luck and hopefully I will have some pictures to post by middle of next month.

Well just wanted to drop y'all a line and let you know I didn't end up in the ole nut house-as of yet at least. Have a great week and hopefully Fall is in the air at your home. I personally can't wait for that wonderful season. Enjoy today.

Good news

2010-08-05T21:31:00.003-04:00

Hello its me again !!! Can we all say school time school time hurry up!!! I never thought I would be in such a hurry to see the ole school system come back to life but that was before I opted to watch the grandgirls. I still have alot of patients but the older I get the less of it I seem to have lately. And when you have 4 girls who just die to give you grey hair---well I'm sure every grandparent knows where I'm coming from. The 3 youngest ones decided they just needed to explore the upstairs rooftop and they didn't seem to care if they could have been killed,ooh no that just never entered their minds. Not to mention we have electric lines hanging very close to that back roof. While they didn't get the board of education applied to them they did get one very long sermon type speech. Do I think it made a dent in them--never!!!! That's exactly why I just pray for angels to protect them.

Now to some great news. Ems has been pretty sick lately but after some testing it was determined she didn't have the Lyme sickness they thought she had. They started talking seizures so she underwent a series of testing last week and today I went with DD to see what the doctor had to say. She seems to be fine in that area -there were no abnormalities in her MRI or ERG so they have cleared her of that. They couldn't, however say what caused the first seizure. Her sugar level has been up a bit and her liver has some issues so maybe there is something with that but as far as I'm concerned she's okay and that is one answered prayer.

The painting is coming along as well as expected. I also cut my own wood so that is throwing me behind a bit because of the heat ( too hot to be outside for very long). I only have until the first week in Nov to really get anything done so you can see how crazy this all is!!! Even with all the the time limitations I will take my time and do my best job because its far better to have a good product than to have a zillion things and they all be poorly done.

Hope everyone is still having a good summer and once again can we all say Let School Begin!!!!

A quick hello

2010-07-21T16:51:00.003-04:00

Sorry everyone about not being on latley but boy it has been one long hot summmer. Plus having all the grandkids here every day leaves me drained for sure. Both of the designers I Ct for have left-so I really have nothing to post as of late. I didn't have any ink for the ole printer and I have been unable to do any card making and then I decided to go back into the woodcraft painting. I have 3 months before my first show ,wish me luck in that area. Sooo okay that about sums up things here. I will try to get back and at least drop a few lines becasue nobody likes a dead bloglady!!! And surley there will be something funny going on somewhere.

Enjoy what is left of summer and lets hope it starts to cool off soon.

Sodium benzoate, broken finger and lyme disease

2010-06-27T12:28:00.006-04:00

Can we say oooh my!! It was a wild day at our house yesterday and this past week. Most of you know from my past post that one of our GDs has food dye reactions--well guess what we found another trigger food!!! All week the kids have been munching on carrots and ranch dressing and we have been going crazy trying to figure out why the bouts of violence was never ending. I decided to look over my food list again and when I did I saw that I had miss a key ingredient, next to the yellow the sodium benzoate has the same effect on her !!!! OOOh what joy. She has enough of the stuff in her system to last 2 or 3 weeks. I thought she was eating a safe food--dumb me for not paying closer attention to the list and ALL the ingredients on it. However I feel we may need to take her in for some testing because the violence is growing worse and that has me very concerned. It's possible she is ADHD. Time will tell I guess.

And now to the broken finger-no it's not the wild one who did this but our oldest GD Abbs. She was asked to do something for her mother and in her tweeny style took a fit and slammed Mr. car door onto her left hand-OUCH!!! Thankfully it hit right where there wasn't much damage..She's been crying about it though and of course she has learned her lesson--maybe.

.Our GD Ems had gone to camp this past week and when we picked her up on Friday she was very overheated and very pale. It has been super hot in our area so this wasn't too surprising. DD was able to make a call and get her in to the doctor . The kid was soo wiped out that she fell asleep on my lap while waiting to be seen. Her doctor said just to watch her because all her vitals were normal and her coloring had returned. Okay so home we came and let her rest til her mother returned from work. Fast forward to the following day(yesterday). Again Ems came to stay with us and from the start she just didn't seem right. She was very droopy and not at all lively and we knew she did not have her medication (ADHD) so we knew this wasn't normal. Well she ate and then around 9 pm or so auntie took her upstairs for a shower and just as soon as they returned to the downstairs Ems started twitching then starting to turn a bit pale. Grandpa got on the phone to her mother and just about that time Ems passed out cold and we couldn't get her to respond. I called her mother and she said call 911. In the meantime Ems step father is flying down the road ( they live about 5 blocks from us) and her jumps from the van , grabs Ems and I had to stop him-well about then he passed out cold and hits his head on the porch railing!!! Well if all this isn;t enough to cause a heart attack- GD Shy is screaming Auntie is flipping out and the other two grand kids arrive with their mother and now the whole place is going crazy. The squad comes flying in and does a zillion on the scene checks before agreeing perhaps Ems needed to go to the ER for some more checking out.

In the course of examining Ems the Er doctor discovers a rash of sorts on her knee. I knew right away it was a tick bite because I had read somewhere about the bulls eye at the site bite. Trouble is with Ems bite it wasn't your typical bulls eye markings so the doctor wasn't 100%. He sent another doctor in to look. Neither of them would come right out and say the word but the Er doctor started Ems on antibiotics and told us to take a picture of the rash. When I got home-around 2 am this morn--I got to searching the Internet and it was pretty scary because with all the symptoms Ems had she was close to stage 2 of this sickness. She's still one sick little girl and the rash is bright red again this morning but hoping that with medication she will improve and be her wild little self in a few days. I just ask those of you who pray to keep her uplifted in prayer and for a speedy recovery.

Have a safe day and stay cool if you happen to be in this heat wave.

Kiki

2010-06-16T14:40:00.004-04:00

Hope everyone is having a great week and staying safe from all the rain and storms that seem to be sweeping our country!!! Here in Ohio we have had some mighty rain and some very vivid lightining. I am so very glad our house sits on a slope and all the water runs straight down the hill or we might very well be like so many others--flooded!!

CuddleBeez's has a new kit out called Kiki. The colors remind me of a southwestern theme but it is also has some of my favorite things--butterflies and flowers. Since I didn't have anything southwesternly I chose a silly goose picture and you can see how well that went with this great kit.

Kiki is available here(http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_187&products_id=5112) and here (http://bouquetofpixels.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_46&products_id=2499) . I'm sure you will love this as much as I do.

Ruth

2010-06-02T12:39:00.005-04:00

CuddleBeez's has a new kit out called Ruth and it is filled with divine goodness as usual. There are ribbons, flowers and of course my favorite butterflies!! As well as tons of other goodies--like in over 70 elements,and 18 papers and 2 alphabet! Can't get any better than that can you. You can find this great kit here (http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_187&products_id=4930) and here (http://bouquetofpixels.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_46&products_id=2478&zenid=4566e04d0abc2d2de4add176afea47e5). You can also hop on over to her blog and pick up some great freebies (http://cuddlebeezscraps.blogspot.com/) and boy does she have some great ones on there. You can also see more of the new kit while you are there so have fun shopping and visiting.

Happy Anniversary Whimsie Doodles

2010-05-08T15:22:00.005-04:00

Whimsie Doodles is turning 1 !!!!! You can get a glimpse of all the newest items here-(http://www.whimsiedoodles.blogspot.com/) as well as see what all they look like colored and on cards or projects or just hop over to the store-there is a link on the side that takes you directly there (http://www.whimsiedoodles.com/index.html )

I added it just in case you wanted to hop directly there.

For their first anniversary they also had a blog hop . Not sure if that is still going but you can still check out all the awesome goodies the girls made. And they did do an awesome job!!!

I made up a couple cards for the card challenge . The top one is made from a free digi stamp that they gave away at their group page at Paper Craft Planet --here is the welcome page (http://www.papercraftplanet.com/forum/categories/welcome-to-paper-craft-planet/listForCategory) and here is the group page link (http://www.papercraftplanet.com/group/whimsiedoodles) Sign up is free and easy so why not check it out

Okay back to the cards!!! the top one is the Geisha ( check out whats new in the store and you'll find her) I used a digital paper for the back ground and colored the girl using Martha Steward markers. I then added more paper scraps, a ribbon and another digital stamp for the saying. I did one in black as well but the coloring looked a little bad after I had posted it online.

The next card is called Swing Leah and is in the Little ones catagory. The papers and all items on it are from a Scrap Orchard digital kit called Spring time in the orchard ( except the butterfly and that is from Modern June's kit- DayDreamer). I wasn't planning on putting her on this but when I came across this I couldn't resist. It's almost as if she is flying thru the sky and looking down upon those flowers. I topped the card off with small flowery buttons and a saying I had lying around.

Why not hop on over and check out all the goodies and who knows you might just buy the entire store!!!

OOOh me OOOOh my All this dye is makin me cry!!!

2010-04-28T13:01:00.003-04:00

Cry is a total understatement. I'm screaming. Now what is going on you might ask yourself and what in the world does dye have to do with screaming and crying????You might suppose I'm talking about the dye we use to change color in clothes--ooh how I wish. But nooo this dye is the stuff our food companies put into our food sources and expect us to tolerate. They just assume that the average person doen't know or care about what goes into their food. Sure we look for things like sodium and sugar but have you ever stopped to read HOW much dye is actually in our food. I sure didn't until GD started having reactions to it. At first we just thought it was the red dyes becuase when she was younger and got sick I would give her a popular childrens brand of cold/flu medicine and of course it was either red or purple. We noticed that she seemed to act very badly--hitting, screaming, biting etc--just after she had this stuff. We thought it might just be her bad behavior but after taking an antibotic that was red colored and her having the same reaction I started doing research on the red dyes. Okay easy enough but then I started reading about the yellow dyes or at least I thought I had read enough. We stopped ginving her everything that was made using red or yellow dyes and you know that in itself is alot since those 2 colors make alot more colors. for the past couple years we have done away with things that are colored and started giving her only clear or white colored stuff. Again her behavior started to take a wild ride and I spent countless hours crying after having to deal with her and these wild fits she takes. I was beginning to think that something more sinister was going on with her. However, one day I was doing more research--mostly just googling and happened across a blog that gave me hope and more answers. Food Dye Diaries (http://fooddyediaries.blogspot.com/) . IT was like finding Tut's gold and living to tell about it. Not only was there someone else who had a child like ours but she also did alot of research so the rest of us can stay sane. Through some of her links I found a list of foods that contained dyes I didn't even know about and the foods they are hidden in. We had been allowing GD to have some golden arches ice cream and when we did she seemed to be going crazy again. We were right on the verge of taking away all sugars thinking that may be the trigger until I started reading the food list at IATP brain food selector (http://www.iatp.org/brainfoodselector/ ) and what do you think was on that list???? Those golden arches ice cream in the shakes, the very same thing they use in the regular cones. Who would have known that something we thought was a safe food was actually a trigger food .

I have slowly been cleaning out all the stuff she can't have but am still finding out I haven't gotten it all because this morning she ate something and ---well schooling is shot and so are my nerves. I just wish I was a stronger person because I'd like to go to these food companies and start banging heads or better yet let them have a day with GD after she has eaten some of their wonderful food. Some countries have banned certain dyes but here in the good ole US of A we still allow these companies to inject us with this stuff and tell us it is safe. BAH HUMBUG!!!

Okay I better stop before one of these places slaps me with a law suit and even though you can't squeeze blood from a turnip they could still make life hard. I will say that if we all started going organic the prices of organic foods would go down and companies would have to change the way things are done. Also if you have a child who is acting bad or has symptoms of ADHD try looking into what they are eating and checking for those hidedn dyes in their food sources.

Good luck and have a great day--even while crying.

Something a little different

2010-04-24T17:32:00.003-04:00

Well as you can see this isn't a card or scrapbook LO but rather a door hanger. Michelle Perkett Studio at Paper Craft Planet (http://www.papercraftplanet.com/group/michelleperkett ) has reached 300+ members ( once you see her stuff you'll know why) and as part of the celebration Lynne--http://doodlebuglynne.blogspot.com/2010/04/door-hanger-tutorial-challenge.html---has posted a door hanger challenge and if you hurry you can still have time to play. She is also offering a $15.00 gift voucher to Michelle's Etsy store--http://www.etsy.com/shop/michelleperkett--(I can only dream of winning that!!). Lynne used a wooden door hanger for her creation but some of us used good ole chipboard, aka cereal boxes or the likes.

I used an Anna Griffin paper for my first layer and had just planned to use that as it was lovely but alas little ole me messed it up. However, since in crafting I never make a mistake (wink) I added a second layer of paper. Not exactly sure what it is-some sort of vellum but feels like a soft cloth. I do know it cost me nearly $2.00 for an 8.5x 11 sheet a couple years back!!! You know it had to sparke my buds for me to pay that for it. After the first layer was glued onto the chipboard I added the bigger trim, thus the huge mistake because I tore the paper trying to reposition my trim. I wanted to cry but that is when I chose to add the 2nd layer and go on. I then added the thin gold cording. The stamp I used is called "Marry, Mary" and comes with a saying and some flowers . I printed her off onto my tracing paper then colored with the Martha Steward markers. I added glitter to the centers of the yellow flowers and the water. I decided Mary needed just a littlemore so I got out my button collection, picked some flowery one then decided to highlight some of the raised swirls on the paper. To top her off I put on a couple dragonflies and a buttterfly as well as the big white/gold flower on top.

Granddaughter is waiting patiently for this creation but I'm going to be a bit selfish for just a couple days so I can admire it!!!

Tiddly Inks challenge card

2010-04-23T12:45:00.005-04:00

Tiddly Inks is having a challenge--the first one if I read correctly. Use any of the Tiddly Inks digital stamps to be entered into the challenge.

(http://tiddlyinkschallenge.blogspot.com/). No Tiddly Ink stamps??? Well just go over to the Paper Craft Planet ( http://www.papercraftplanet.com/forum/categories/welcome-to-paper-craft-planet/listForCategory sign up then go on the hunt for the Tiddly Inks group, click join and you are in.Once there you will find a lot of freebies. By the way all this is free and fun. But say you don't really want to join another forum then you could just hop over to the Tiddly Inks store (http://tiddlyinks.com/) and grab you an image or two and still play along. You can also hop over to the blog page --http://tiddlyinks.blogspot.com/--to see what else is going on. Anyway you do it I know you will love Tiddly Inks just as much as I do.

The one on this card is a freebie and all my papers this round are scraps I have around--you know the "real" stuff!!!

I don't expect to win any prize with this card but it was fun to do and will make a cute birthday card or one to send to a friend.

Another card

2010-04-21T17:58:00.004-04:00

Just wanted to show off another of my cards I did. I did this one for the card sketch challenge over at SplitCoast Stampers -card sketch SC276-(http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ ) . The daisies are a digital stamp from Sweet and Sassy Stamps -called April Daisy-(http://sweetnsassystamps.biz/shop/index.php?main_page ) that I won on a bloghop from Gotta Have Paper (http://gottahavepaper.blogspot.com/) . I used both digital papers and regular paper for this. The green/black background is from Ellie Lash's digital kit called Delicious. I used decorative scissors to cut the yellow strip of paper then wrapped that in brown ribbon. I added small pink gemstones to the outer edges and glitter to the flower centers. I printed my daisies onto tracing paper then colored the back side with Martha Stewart markers. I think one can make a card without spending tons of money on supplies and still have an awesome looking card--well I think it's awesome looking anyhow . I'm now working on the next sketch SC277 and if you like to play around with cards and stamps why not go over to SplitCoast Stamps forums and sign up, it's free and easy not to mention fun!!!

Songs of My Heart

2010-04-20T16:59:00.002-04:00

I'm sure Lori is about ready to send me packing as a CT member!!!! I should have had these LO's posted weeks ago. Soooo very sorry Lori.

3Dog Designs has a few new kits out and these LO's come from her cute set of minis called Songs of My Heart series. Each one is great in itself but you can get the bundle--which includes all the songs minis; This Love, Tainted Love, Endless Love ( LO's are from these kits and in this order ) as well as L is for and the solid papers for these kits--20 in all!! I happen to know it's only $5.00 at My Life and Scrap (http://mylifeandscrap.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_100&products_id=2096 ) . So if any of these colors appeal to you then why not go grab one or so of the minis, still better yet get the bundle and save a bundle. And while you are over at the store why not check out the rest of her awesome kits because I'm sure you will find something you just can't live without. (http://mylifeandscrap.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=47&zenid=7d1165a88294e7f65495cd167ef716cd)

Happy shopping.

American Honey

2010-04-12T18:32:00.004-04:00

This LO is from a fantastic designer called Modern June. I recently came across her`blog (http://confessionsofamodernjune.blogspot.com/) as she was offering a super birthday kit freebie and I loved the colors in it. Well after one look at her incredible kits and I was hooked. She is a super talented lady with a flair for beautiful colors. She later offered a sneak peek and a free kit to one lucky poster and I was lucky enough to win this kit called American Honey. It's right up my alley with the butterflies and flowers-two of my favorite things in digital scrapbooking . She is now selling at Scrapables (http://www.scrapable.net/shop/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=106&sort=add_date&sort_direction=&page=1),

GingerScraps (http://store.gingerscraps.net/Modern-June/) and at Digi Scrapbook Mania ( http://scrapbookingmania.com/store/ModernJune/) . So if you like the colors in this kit why not stop by one of her stores and pick it up. Better yet why not stop by her blog and say hello .

Summer Romance

2010-04-06T18:34:00.003-04:00

Wow I am really running behind!!! This was suppose to be here yesterday.

This is CuddleBeez Scraps newest kit called Summer Romance. I love love love the colors in this kit. and that alphabet is just stunning, it also includes numbers. Most of the papers are solids but there are a couple that is patterned so don't fret . The elements , all 40 + of them, are simply adorable with flowers and buttons, bows and butterflies. It's just overall incredible.

It's also for sale over at CuddleBeez's stores. At Digital Scrapbooking Studio (http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_187&products_id=4647)

And at Bouguest of Pixel (http://bouquetofpixels.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_46&products_id=2393&zenid=9647a4caf8803a10787c9012693a926a)

So why not jump over to one of these fine stores and grab this stunning kit and if you hurry it's on sale at the Digital Scrapbooking Studio for a mere $ 2.00. Now that's one awesome deal for one great kit.

Have a wonderful day .

Happy Easter and thank you

2010-04-02T15:32:00.003-04:00

Well I guess ole blogger finally got fixed. I tried for a couple hours to post and it wouldn't let me do a thing. Noticed there were others saying the same thing as well. Probably that full moon thing that always messes with the web.

Just wanted to drop in and wish everyone a very Happy Easter. To me it's more of a christian event but however you celebrate I hope it's with family and you have a great time.

I also want to say thank you to those who leave me encouraging comments here. It means the world to me. Sometimes I'm really down and I come on to find some nice comment and it cheers me up.

Also I want to say thanks to my followers. I never dreamt anyone would like this crazy blog well enough to follow it and I do appreciate each and every one of you. You just never know what you will be getting from me do you!!!!!

Well I have the house to myself so I'm off to play around with my card making . Again have a great Easter weekend and enjoy life. I'll be back Monday to post another LO from CuddleBeez's newest kit called Summer Romance. It's beautiful.

Another card

2010-03-30T10:29:00.003-04:00

Okay here is another attempt at my card making. This one is for Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #106 (http://tayloredexpressions.blogspot.com/ ). I know I can't stand up to the "big Guys" but everyone has to start somewhere don't they???

I did use real cardstock with this one--at least for the background and ribbon area. I then scanned that paper and made my envelope using heavy weight printer paper. Of course you know me and the glitter I had to have it so I added glitter accents to the flowers and butterfly. I glued buttons onto the smaller yellow flowers and added these and the other things with 1/16" pop dots. This card will go to a friend who just recently had to downsize due to her hubby's disabilites. She's feeling a bit blue so hoping the brighter colors will give her a cheer.

Okay I'm off to post this to the other site and then get started on another sketch challenge. Gosh these are fun aren't they. Have a great day.

?????

2010-03-24T15:06:00.002-04:00

Well I'm not exactly sure what happened with the last post as it just cut me off in mid post, but I just want to say I hope to do more of these great cards sketches and maybe just maybe I can get some real supplies and start making some stunning cards like I see everywhere.

Have a great day .

My first card sketch---that I dared reveal !!!

2010-03-24T14:52:00.002-04:00

Okay this is my first public card and I'm a bit scared. I know it's not the best in show--shoot it probaly doesn't even rank anyway near there but I love the card sketches and want to play along with some of the blogs. Soooo I found a blog--Inspirational Card Sketch Blog (

http://icsketches.blogspot.com/ ) where the rules weren't too hard to follow. In fact all they have to do is see something of the actual sketch in the card and they will accept it. I don't have any actual paper supplies so I just used what I had in the digital department. i then added glittere to the butterfly and around the edges of my saying. I actually liked the flattened image much better but I doubt if that would qualify so I created this instead.

Spring Portrait

2010-03-20T12:36:00.010-04:00

Today I have a couple LO's from CuddleBeez Scraps newest kit called Spring Portrait. This is one awesome kit with the soft pastel colors and the great alphabet. It is filled with delicate flowers ,bows ,ribbons as well as other cute elements that are sure to please . And the most stunning papers in all sorts of pastel colors.

The alpahbet is a delicate pastel lilac inside a stunning silver outline that makes it stand out. It has little loops on the top so the more advacned user can make it look as if its going thru a ribbon. This kit is really worth hopping over to one of the stores and picking up. After all Easter is nearly upon us as is the rebirth of Springs goodness and this kit is just the thing to do these Los in.

Spring Portrait is available at Digital Scrapbooking Studio (http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_187&products_id=4558 ) and at Bouquet Of Pixel (http://bouquetofpixels.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_46&products_id=2363 ) .

Brenda also sells at Butter Blush (

http://butterflyblushdesigns.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=11&sort=20a&page=2&zenid=d42ba31f200539f0a73ee2e0d56e5772) so be sure to check out one of these great stores for this and other great CuddleBeez Scraps kits .

This groundhog didn't see its shadow!!!

2010-03-18T09:19:00.002-04:00

Spring has officially arrived!! Or at least this groundhog says it has but mother nature may have a final say so who knows.

Back to the groundhog. Would you believe we live in town and this critter lives right next door to us. I see these fat butterballs alongside the road all the time but never have I had the pleasure ( or displeasure depending on your view ) of having one so very close. I was out walking the dog 2 days ago and Mr. Dog spotted Mr. Groundhog before I did and let me just tell ya I nearly met this critter face to face as my dog pulled me across the yard!!!! However, I did manage to get a hold on dog and let the groundhog live to see another day. Or should I say I lived to see another day. I don't usually carry my camera with me whenever I'm out with the dog because he does pull me soooo hard that I don't want to risk breaking my camera so it has been hard to get a picture of this jittery critter---until yesterday. Yesterday Mr. Groundhog was just too hungry to care about what was going on around him so I was able to run inside, get the camera and get several great shots before he got done eating. My GD was having a field day just watching this animal munch grass and look around. Okay Okay I know groundhogs are bad for a garden and the likes but hey why destroy nature when it's doing you no harm. I know people who would go out of their way just to kill this poor creature simply because they don't like anything that doesn't have 2 legs. As for me and my family we are nature lovers and as long as it doesn't have 8 legs and beedy eyes I'm okay with it. I may even accept the 8 legged thing as long as its well out of reach and not on my shoulder or hair--yeakkkk.

So as I close I will just say that Spring has arrived in the wonderful state of Ohio simply because Mr. Groundhog says it has. Thank you my dear friend groundhog---now watch it snow a couple feet !!!!!!

I'll be back later today or tomorrow with a LO from CuddleBeez's newest kit called Spring Portrait. It's adorable. Enjoy the super weather and have a great day even if its cloudy.

Spring or just a tease????

2010-03-08T08:34:00.002-05:00

The weather the last several days has just been awesome. It's been a bit nipping in the mornings and late evenings but otherwise fantastic. The sun has been on high and the clouds have taken on a wonderful fluff---aaaaaahhh just the most wonderful type of weather. However, I have lived in this area long enough to know this is likely just a tease. It's not even close to Easter and I know from past experience we are likely to be hit again with more snow and super cold temps. OOOh not like in Feb ( hopefully) but in the 8 yrs I've been back in the state there has only been a couple times it was super nice on Easter. About 3 or 4 years ago the kids were hunting eggs in a mini blizzard and we had the grill fired up and cooking out. We still laugh about that one. As a child I can remember building an igloo instead of hunting eggs ( now you know that had to be a lot of snow). So as much as I want the winter to scale back and be over I know it probably won't be true so I will just enjoy the sunshine and nice temps while they are here . Hopefully you are doing the same.

This past weekend was our GD Emmy's 9th birthday. Boy how time is flying by. She has done sooo many things the doctors said she never would. Hopefully as she ages she will do far more. Oh I know she will never be 100% but God has done soooo very much for her that even some of her doctors are amazed.

I must get ready for schooling time so if you are having wonderful weather enjoy it and if you aren't ---enjoy it as well because without the rain/snow we wouldn't get those wonderful and beautiful spring flowers.

I'm not tellin.....

2010-02-24T14:53:00.008-05:00

Okay okay I will tell...it's snowing out again!!!!!! And the flurries are coming down hot and heavy but at least we aren't in the middle of a white out ( that was a bit wild even from inside). We had a couple really wonderful days with temps in the high 40's and not a snowflake in the sky. Ahhhhha that was wonderful but alas I knew it couldn't last this time of year. I'm just very glad I don't live on the East Coast (USA) as they are once again getting pounded with very wild weather and even those who live in the southern part of the country have been getting more than their fair share of this stuff. Crazy crazy for sure.

My grandkids came across a song they all enjoy called Skunk in my trunk. Its a silly song and we all get a tickle out of it. Some of the words are..he's stickin up your automobile-forget about your roses he's stinkin' up your noses--mom's hair is gonna get frizzy---not in that order but I don't have the words or I'd write them all out so you could get a chuckle like we do. Now if anyone has ever hit one of these smelly critters you certainly can relate to this song and even if you happen upon one allready dead----oooooh my it's worse than hitting it . It's not unusual to see ones that have been hit but it's very unusual to see a live one but on our way home from church this past Sunday we took a back road ( and I do mean backroad!!!!--horsepath type) and lo and behold what do we see but Speaky Skunk live and in person. He was just strolling along side the road like he owned it but hey I wasn't going to argue with him, would you??? The kids got such a kick out of seeing this as all they had ever seen was a dead one. It was kinda awesome to see this animal in its natural surroundings and we just had to watch until it gave a warning squirt and truddle off into the woodsy area.

They say these black and white smell balls make some of the most wonderful pets but I think I'll just take their word for it--how about you???

Enjoy and remember---there's a skunk he's in your trunk.........

Don't ya just luv give aways

2010-02-19T09:30:00.003-05:00

Melissa from Creating from the Heart is having a fantastic giveaway. Horray!!!! She is giving away a Friskars Scalloped Daisy Embossing border punch, a 12 x 12 sheet of Sassafras Lass nerdy flag banner, a set of Kaiser Craft stamps, and a Memory Keepers ulitmate cutting tool set. How cool is that!!! Now I'm not much of a paper crafter but I do love love love to make my own cards and with some supplies being out of my finanical range this would be an awesome win.

But you can get a chance to win as well. Just hop over to her blog (http://keepsakesbymelissa.blogspot.com/2010/02/giveaway-time.html ) and post a comment . It's just that easy and it's fun to see what your other blog mates are up to as well. So have some fun and good luck to everyone .

Here comes round 3!

2010-02-15T09:56:00.003-05:00

Yup it's snowing again and again it's coming down about an inch per hour (or less!!!) It's only 10 am here and I'm not sure what time the storm came thru as it wasn't doing anything at 6 am but when I got back up at 8 the streets were allready getting covered. This round of snow looks like the fine stuff and the wind is blowing so that means drifting and bigger drifts on our hillside. I can just see myself going down this alley on one foot!!!!! And probably eating some snow when I go face first into it.

Anyhoooooow.....The forecast is calling for us to end up with about 5-9" depending in what area you live in and since we seem to be in the main path of things this year I'm expecting us to be in the higher range. Go figure.

Well for most of us this a day of vacation so stay safe and warm and let's all group together and call for spring!!! Because even for a snow lover like me this is getting to be way tooooo much of the fluffy stuffy.

Hugs

Family Man

2010-02-12T18:20:00.005-05:00

CuddleBeez's is releasing a new kit tomorrow called Family Man. It's full of all the wonderful colors and elements that you come to expect in her kits. The papers range in colors from light blue to dark blue as well a grayish browns, plain and patterned. While this kit is directed towards the man in your life it also has enough beautiful elements to do a feminine LO. There is also a rustic type alphabet included, and who couldn't use another alphabet!!!

Check out the stores tomorrow for this kit. It will be at Digital Scrapbooking Studio (http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/ ) . And at Bouquet of Pixels in CuddleBeez's store (http://bouquetofpixels.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=46&zenid=ae97034d423091aa070f09fe94a38105) . So trot right on over and pick up this great kit for yourself and let me see those great LOs.

Have a great night and hope everyone is surviving all this crazy weather!!!

Round 2!!!!

2010-02-09T13:09:00.003-05:00

We are in the middle of a snow storm!!! There was a point that I couldn't hardly see the tree out my window. The forecasters are saying, that at times we are getting an inch per every half hour!!!! We got hit with about 6.5" this last weekend and now they are forecasting an additional 6"-8" for this area. The snowflakes are sooo huge they look like silver dollars and bigger. I just wish I could get a picture of them. Right now it's let up some but that won't last long.

Hubby is at work and I'm hoping he can get a ride home or he'll just be stuck there. I can't even get the car unburied let alone drive in this stuff.

We live on a slight slope and walking the dog is proving to be a challenge in this type weather. He tends to pull me and Ive been afraid I will fall so I've been carrying my cell phone just in case I go down. Well guess what---yup I fell today. He gave me an unexpected jerk and I went sliding and next think I knew I'm eating snow. When I tried to get up he pulled again and again I went sliding. I was looking around hoping there wasn't a soul around to see the comical event of me trying to get back to my feet and the dog bouncing all over me like I was down there to play with him!!!! Thankfully I managed to land in a soft snow bank but was still in the road ( alley way ) so getting a grip wasn't that easy. However I did get back up and felt the pain--betting I have a big bruise later on. I'll be glad when Mr. Dog can get a pen build and go out on his own.!!

Hoping everyone will stay safe and warm during this storm.

New forecast and somewhat new blog!!!

2010-02-05T13:25:00.002-05:00

Well first off I think we have dodged the worst of the snow storm as we are getting more of the rain/snow mix. They are still forecasting us to be in the 6"-9" range but the first batch of snow has allready melted and I haven't seen much else currently. The system moved a bit futher up than first expected so that has done some good---unless we end up with the ice and that isn't nice. Just give me snow any ole day. I do feel for those on the East Coast though as they won't be dodging any bullets, in fact they are going to get hit with all the ammo winter can provide. Sorry guys .

How do you like my new blog look??? I've been dying to try something new and then I saw a video on how to change ones header--sounded easy enough and it was. However the back grounds and side bars aren't exactely what I would like so I still need to learn how to do them. The background sounds like it will be much harder as instructions said you needed to save to hosting place then use code--not my thing so we'll have to wait and see on that. Still I'm liking what I see so far. This new look is from Kathryn Estry and a kit called Sassy Pants. It's sold as a perfectly sized blogware. I got mine at Gotta Pixel.

Well not much time to post today so enjoy all this lovely weather but if you are in the worst of it stay safe and enjoy that fireplace and a nice cuppa cocoa.

Hugs, Vicki

Feeling better , Supreme Team Contest and winter storm warning

2010-02-04T14:03:00.006-05:00

Wow I'm feeling much better today but still clogged up and coughing. I've gone thru 3 cans of Lysol and trying to keep hands washed every time I cough or sneeze but just don't always remember. Hoping it all leaves our house soon however hubby hasn't had it yet sooooooo.....I guess you know what that means!!!!

A forum I belong to ( Go Digital Scrapbooking) is having what they call the Supreme Team Contest. Members get a free kit to do a LO and then have a week to complete it and get it posted before they are judged to see if they go on to round 2 ( from there rounds 3 and 4) . Last time I made it to the 2nd round and this is my LO for this time. There are all ready alot of awesome LO's in the gallery so I'm not sure I have a chance this time or not. This kit was a little hard to work with as it was a sewing type kit by Tricia Curtis called Sew Chic and most of the elements were sewing things. I did manage to find inspiration while looking thru my photos. I found this scanned picture of my oldest daughter that I extracted and made transparent. This was taken when she was about 1 1/2 yrs old. I remember it like it was yesterday because that little dress was way too big for her but my GM bought it so I felt I needed to let the kid use it. This picture also makes me feel a little sad because I had the 11 x 14 original in an oval frame with an oval bubble glass lid that we lost in our house fire back in 1981. I got this smaller photo back when my mother died in 2001. I didn't even realize she had had it til we started digging thru those endless unnamed/undated stack of pictures. Anyhow....enough of the sad memories. There was one element in this kit that was kinda fun and that was the made by tag!!!! I kinda added our names down there on it and when my DD saw it she just rolled her eyes. I think she's secretly hoping no one notices!!! By the way she is now 33 1/2 and that is her current look down there by the faded flower. She looks just like here father, in fact all 3 of my kids look like him.
Okay okay enough of the silliness. If you happen to get out into cyber space why not drop over to Go Digital and see all the great LOs. (http://www.godigitalscrapbooking.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=1111) I don't think you need to register just to view.

Anyone else out there under the gun for a winter storm??? They are forecasting up to 6" plus some ice for our area. We could get more or less and hopefully nothing at all. I seriously doubt if we'll miss this mess as I think it's forecasted to go a bit into the south. All this because that crazy groundhog saw his shadow the other day!!!

Well I best be off as we still have some schooling to do--yeah right but at least I will try to get going. Have a great day and enjoy God's blessing of life.

The bug has arrived....

2010-02-01T14:16:00.004-05:00

....For about the 3rd time that is!!!! I can't keep enough Lysol on hand to keep the germs at bay so we are now all battling that dreaded virus again. I spend the night gasping for air due to clogged passageways and that isn't fun. GD has been running a fever all weekend but it hasn't gotten too high so we are treating it ourselves. We had to miss church Sunday due to this crazy stuff and I don't like that but no use infecting more souls than need be.

I'm not sure all this sickness isn't related to the weather changes lately. One day cold the next up to 40 (F) degrees. Then before we know what has hit us the temps bottom out again and we go into another deep freeze. I like snow but I do not like the bitter cold we have had this year.

In unrelated news I have to give my hubby a big hug as he made a deep sacrifice for the family yesterday. It's been no secret to most of my friends (here and online) that since we had to move in Dec we have been having it rough. I've had to bury my pride a few times and ask for help to get food and that is not easy. I know God supplies us and sometimes we need to look outside the box so to speak for HE is suppling us but just using others to help us. Well we have, or should I say had, a riding lawn mower that was my hubby's one prize possession. He loved that thing and with his bad back and hip it was also a real necessity for him . This house has no yard so to speak and it was just sitting in storage with the hopes we could find a home with a yard. However, a friend wanted to buy it and hubby let it go. I know he was crying inside because it had taken him a few years to get one. Part of me was jumping for joy yet the other part of me was crying as well. I just ask God to let hubby get a better one in the futher and I know HE will. In the mean time I had a holiday at the store.

I spent the weekend making cards with my digital stuff and trying to prefect envelopes to go with them. I know most crafters would use a template and hand cut their envelopes but not me I like to be difficult and try to do it digitally. Well guess what I managed to make one for the 5 x 5 cards and one for the 5 x 7 cards and they fit onto an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper. I may have to tweek them a bit after printing but they fit the cards just fine. I feel like a real rocket scientist yet I know there are probably templates out there on the market so I can't take any true credit!!!!

Okay I've been a chatter box today and my head is starting to hurt so I better get off here and spray the keyboard with another round of Lysol then go douse myself with something!!

Have a great day

Pollyanna and Whispers of Love

2010-01-25T11:55:00.006-05:00

Well I'm not sure what is going on with Blogger today but these pictures are a little funky..

Okay maybe all I needed to do was scroll them down a bit

Todays LOs come from two simply wonderful kits by CuddleBeezs called Whispers of Love and Pollyanna which are allready in the stores. They are available here at Digital Scrapbooking Studio(http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=53&zenid=71dac4e3fab2cbb09932a52f9c145226) and here at Bouquet of Pixels (

http://bouquetofpixels.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_46)

Whispers of Love says it all. This kit has the great soft colors suitable for those baby LOs but also works well with all pictures. It has buttons and bows as well as flowers and many other fantastic elements and some of the dreamiest papers. It also comes with some great word art.

Pollyanna is filled with muted browns,blues and greens and lots of super elements and papers that aim to please. This kit may have a female title but as you can see from my LO it is well suited for all those "manly" type photos as well.

Both of these kits are the greatest so why not run on over to the store of choice and grab yourselves a copy of each and don't forget to be on the lookout for the new Marmelade kit that is coming out on the 27th.

Marmelade

2010-01-21T12:51:00.001-05:00

Here is my Lo using Cuddlebeez's kit Marmelade which will be available in her stores on Jan 27th.

I love the colors of this kit and the elements are incredible!!!!The name almost makes you want to eat it up doesn't it! So why not run over to Bouguest of Pixels (http://bouquetofpixels.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=27)

or Digital Scrapbooking Studio (http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=53&zenid=f6707caf588d716896ac3aa27e0d06bc)

on the 27th and pick up this wonderful kit.

Wheeeeewho I made the Cuddlebeez team!!!

2010-01-19T13:56:00.006-05:00

Allright call me a crazy emotional woman but I love Cuddlebeez's stuff and when she ran a ct call I had to apply. I didn't figure I stood a chance as I really still am developing my style--whatever that may be!! I tend to over do it on the embellies but I do what I like and not many others like what I do! Some want simple and elegant, others what style and grace and I'm not sure what some really look for in a team member. It's really hard to make a team so when one does it's reason to celebrate.

Cuddlebeez's kits were some of the first ones I bought whenI first started doing this digi stuff. I love her style and her softness to most of her kits. The Dragondian Jewel is probably my number one favorite kit. The colors are great for either male or female photos and since I have mostly girl pics I tend to pick kits that will work well with them.

You can take a look at her kits here at Bouquet of Pixels (http://bouquetofpixels.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=27)

And at Digital Scrapbooking Studio -Okay the link isn't working right now but I will post it later. Here is the main home page so go have a look at these really awesome kits (http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com/

So in closing I will say again that I am very excited to be working on this great team.

It had to happen and The rest of the story (or a mystery is solved)

2010-01-09T12:12:00.003-05:00

Okay I knew we couldn't last forever without getting the Jan. snows. It started snowing about 9:45 am on the 7th and at times came down sooo heavily you couldn't see across town. This picture was taken from the upstairs bedroom and I don't know if you can see how hard it's snowing or not. Thankfully it was a feathery type snow and all we ended up with was 6"-7". It could have been much worse because last year at this time we had over 20" of the stuff!!!!. Alot of places closed down early on Thurs and schools just decided not to risk opening. Fun fun fun!!!

I really don't mind the snow as I was born on a snowy day but this bitter cold stuff really has to go. Yesterday hubby had taken a vacation day (he wasn't sure he could get out to work so he just took off) and we went to the store. It was a chilly 11 degrees (F) when we started out. I have no idea what the wind chill was but I'm betting it was 0 or below. By the time we got down and headed home it had only warmed up 1 degree . I seriously shouldn't complain because there are parts of the country that have temps at -51 or below and that isn't counting the wind chill !!!

Today it's still spitting snow but again it's light and feathery so I don't expect it to amount to anything. Some of the roads are still a bit slick but all the main ones are drivable. Forecast is calling for a heat wave by mid week--all the way up to 32 !!!! We migh have to dig out the summer stuff. !!

Well now for the rest of the story..... A few post back I recorded an event that scared us to death here and we had found a tag that scared me even more but that all was solved after a few stops at the locale gas company. We never smelled anything more burning until just right after I made my last post on New Years Eve. I hadn't even signed off yet when hubby ask me to come downstairs and I told him to give me a few. So I finished up my post and then headed down. I didn't have to do any more than step into the hallway and I could smell it---more burning wires!!!! I didn't panic this time but this round it was much heavier than the first time it occured. I went to the kitchen to shut down the washer and the fan and I could smell it very strongly. Our kitchen area is directly over the furnance so we assumed it was just coming thru the vents. Hubby went down to the basement and yelled up he couldn't smell anything down there and I stated that I could no longer smell it up here. So I put the ole bloodhound nose to work and started sniffing around the kitchen. The washer was smelling a little so I turned it back on and it was fine. however when I got to the fan I could smell the wiring burning and I knew righjt then and there what was going on. Although the fan was operating normally siomething was causing it to burn inside. Now let me tell ya I had been leaving that fan on--24 hrs-- to draw the warm heat out of the kitchen and into the other rooms. I rarely shut it off whenever we left and that kinda puts a chill in me. But the main thing is now we knew what caused the burning smell and we corrected the problem. God takes care of us and I'm glad we were able to find out where our problem was before we lost everything due to a fire. I now refuse to leave a fan going unless we are right here to see to it.

And with that I will say good bye and hope each of you are having a great year and those of you who aren't in the middle of a deep freeze try not to laugh at those of us who are because summer is right around the bend and I know how hot it can get in your part of the country!!!

Have a great day.

GoodBye 2009

2009-12-31T14:19:00.003-05:00

It is soo hard to believe that another year is about to pass us by. I mean think about it didn't this year just start!!!! Right now it's about 2:30 here in Ohio and still a few hours left in this gloomy drizzly day.

Are you one of those millions of people who make resolutions or are you like me?? I'm the type who says whatever comes comes and whatever I do I do. This way I won't think of myself as a failure and no one can accuse me of not holding on to my promises. I guess you might call that a cowards way out but hey it's good for the self esteem.!!

Thinking back on this year it's been another rough one, I lost an uncle back in Feb (he had cancer but at least didn't suffer long as some have), Hubby was off work too much and then we had to up and move earlier this month. Finances have taken a major hit and there have been times I had to decide do we eat or pay bills? But even with all the ups and downs i am very thankful that I still have my health ( I might ache like a dying horse but at least I can still walk and breathe on my own.) and hubby still has his job. We have a much nicer place to live and our car is still running well. I remember one sermon where our pastor preached about not looking at what you don't have but rather be thankful for what you do have and it will make the nots a little less painful. How very true this is but in todays society all we can dwell on in what we don't have. We are a people who must have more more more and we are never satisfied with the things God has given us. I'm guilty as charged in that area so if I have to make one resolution this year it is to stop with the give more and start to appreciate what I have allready been given. It's not an easy thing to do and I'm sure it won't take place over night but with God's help and a little less cowardliness on my behalf I think I will make it. No let me restate that and say I WILL MAKE IT.

So to all of you I say Happy New Year and try not to make too many resolutions !!! But good luck with the ones you do make , hope you can pull them all off.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-23T08:36:00.002-05:00

I know it's only the 23rd but if I don't get this out now I know me I never will!!!!

Tonight we will be going to MIL's for dinner and the likes. The grandkids like going to Granny's as they know she always tries to buy them each something--how she keeps doing it is beyond me especially with 7 grands and 10 great grands but this woman saves up all year just for this one day. Normally we give in return but this year with the move and the likes we are lucky to keep a roof over our heads and she understands. It's about family and being together anyhow so I don't dwell on the material side of Christmas.

Tomorrow I will be hosting a Christmas Eve cookie bake off with the grandkids. Cooking with kids is always fun and this is only the 2nd time in many years I've been able to do this. I make my own colored sugar and icing so there's always an array of messiness but thats what makes it fun. Plus this year I have a kitchen big enough to get everyone in at the same time so no taking turns and everyone can make a mess at the same time--Hoorray!! I must admit thought I did cheat a bit on the cookie dough because I bought the pre-made stuff for the sugar and gingerbread ones. I do plan to make my own dough for the Neapolitan (and I know thats a misspell!) ones. I will have to do that the first thing tomorrow morning so they will be ready by noon--yipes I had completely forgot that I told DD soooo early. Oh well I'll make it and if not we'll have what we have.

Then on Christmas Day I will be cooking-so what else is new in that department. I was suppose to get Thanksgiving Day off and what do you think happen--yeah I had to cook and move. That was not fun at all. And to have all those people in a house filled with boxes--wonderful day. We will be having ham, green bean casserole ( made with my garden's beans-yummy), mashed potatoes and if I don't forget to buy them--gravy and rolls. With 9 or 10 mouths to feed this food won't last long. Oh we might have some left overs but we usually divvy them up for each family to take home and have a late night snack or the next's days dinner with. Also if I can find them in the freezer I do plan on making a cherry cobbler and apple pie. Cobbler I can do as it's a very simple thing but I'm not too sure about that apple pie thing as I usually buy mine pre-made ( Can you tell what kind of cook I am by now ????).

We were suppose to have a white Christmas day but the forecast has since changed to a rainy day so Santa will need the row boat at least for the first half of the trip. Not sure what he will need to get home with.!!

Now for the rest of the story involving the furnace. I went to the gas company that following Monday and they said it hadn't been fixed or the tag would have been removed. Our caretaker said it was fixed and provided papers to show it had. I haven't had any more issues since we removed the halogen bulb from the stairwell light so maybe just maybe that was where the actual problem was in the first place. I do keep several windows cracked just to be on the safe side. I have detectors in several rooms but one can never be too careful.

Well as usual I have rattled on big time. I want to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and a bright New Year. May your week be filled with family and the love of Jesus. And if you don't have anyone to spend time with then drop me a comment and I will come visit with you.

Hugs, Vicki

Things are hoppin' and a new forum

2009-12-12T14:18:00.002-05:00

Well first off I need to say sorry for not being on lately but we had to up and move rather quickly and that hurt. We were just fine and dandy in our former house until the landlady's son started making threats to us and barged into our house, pushing my GD. Boy was I hopping mad but then law enforcement couldn't do anything much except give them a warning as they had witnesses saying that never happened. So we decided that we would just move and let them have their ole house. It didn't take long to find another place to live but money was a big issue. God worked that out so within a 2 week span we moved. And can you imagine the junk we had after being in the same place for 8 1/2 yrs!!!!

Our new rental is an older type house. I want to say a brick colonial or victoria. Not bad but with noooo yard. It's also very cold upstairs as the current owners didn't see the need to put vents in the floors for heat. Anyhow it's managable and with a small heater it stays fair up here. When we moved in we looked the house over fairly well or so we thought. You know when you move into an older house you are looking at ther likelyhood of bad or older wiring so it's a risk you take in that area. You learn not to over load the plugs etc but you certainly don't expect your furnance to be wicked.

This morning I was awaken to what smelled like wiring burning so I gave a yell upstairs to DD and GD and they were out of bed in a bound. I called the local police dept and ask for the non-emergency number to the FD but was advised to just call 911. So I did and I told the dispatcher not to send them down with all the bells and whistles and what do you think they did!!!! Came with sirens blaring to the top of all get out. That scared GD more than the thought of an actual fire. All she wanted was her Tinkerdollie but we told her to get out. I got the dog out and then went to the basement to see if anything was puffing down there. I couldn't see a thing. The firemen came in and checked the entire house over three or 4 times, they also checked my smoke detectors and then headed for the basement. Well lo and behold they found something mighty important. I was standing outside the door when one of them ask how long we had been in this house and I stated a bit over a week. He was holding a tag in his hand and ask the other fireman to make sure he was reading things right then he told me to have a look. I would like to say at this point I nearly fainted because right there attached to the main gas line on the furnance is a tag that clearly states this appliance is unsafe to operate. ( I took pictures and will post the tag next post). So now I have to play a waiting game. I will go Monday to the local gas company and see if they just failed to remove the tag or if we were hoodwinked so to speak. Because let me tell you this probably isn't going to end pretty if we find out they rented us this place knowing there was an unsafe furnance. It cost us every bit of $2000.00 to make this move and buddy I aim to make them pay me every penny back and then some if I have to move. I hope that doesn't sound too ugly but I have no other choice in the matter. What would any of you do in this case??

Now if all that wasn't bad enough to fizzle ones nerves, just about an hour ago GD decided to burn babies hair off. She was hiding and we knew she was up to something and then when I saw baby I ask how she got burnt hair. It took us a bit to get the answer out of her and in the mean time we are smelling smoke again!!!!!! This one turned out to just be a case of sticking baby's hair on the halogen light in the hall way but it was puffing away when we finally found it!!!!! I removed the bulb in one quick hurry and GD got the lecture of a life time. I'm not sure it did an ounce of good as this child is one who tries the very being of a soul. She's just too inquizative and wants to see how things work. Well you know the type and if not I'll send her your way and let you find out!!!!!

We did tell GD todays events were good practice for her but that she did a couple things very wrong and it could have cost her. First she came back into the house without being told it was ok then she ran upstairs and got her Tinkerbaby. I didn't even see her do either but then I was sooo frizzled I couldn't even remember the insurance companys name. Not sure if that comes from turning a year older or just being plain scared.Or maybe both!!!

Well now that that very long post is out of the way let me tell you about a new forum I joined called Demin and Daisies (http://denimanddaisies.net/forum/) It also has a store which has some great digi kits in it so if you are looking for a new place to visit or buy why not try them. Right now,since things are just getting going, things are a bit quiet but once this place takes off it's going to be great.

Okay I've rattled on long enough today. I was going to post my latest LO but realized I deleted the folder from my computer to free up space so that will have to wait as well. I must say goodbye for now but watch for me and as Paul Harvey use to say THE REST OF THE STORY!!!

Finally made a creative team!!!!

2009-11-13T18:35:00.003-05:00

Can we say hoorray!!! I finally got accepted as a CT member. Chicken Socks Designs and 3 Dog Designs, 2 very awesome ladies and I am very honored to be part of this great team. Now I can use this blog for something other than craziness--well don't count that out !!!

The first layout is from a collab they did together called "Guess How Much" I love the rich colors of this kit and yes they had my favorite thing in there---butterflies. You will likely see butterflies in alot of my LO's.

The other Lo is called Wildflower Garden by ChickenSocks designs. Again if you look real hard you will see the butterfly. And this kit has another of my favorite thing or should I say things--flowers.

You can find these and other kits by this great team here at Denim and Daisies (http://denimanddaisies.net/shoppe/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4 )--almost posted the wrong link -yipes but it would have gone straight to one of the above LO's. Sooooo you should hop on over to the store and check things out and while there why not go sign up for the great forum.

Forgive me for such deep spacing but I am still trying to figure out how to edit without erasing my entire post--great thought only happen once ya know-ha! HA!

Have a great night and will likely be posting much more. Okay just previewed my post and the spacing seems fine which is great.

Okay! Okay!

2009-11-09T17:12:00.002-05:00

Allright I know it's been almost a month since I posted anything but seriously it just doesn't seem that long. Besides nothing important or funny has been going on in my life. Right now some of us are battling the flu bug. Currently it's just the normal stuff and I'm praying it doesn't turn into anything more serious.

Did everyone get out this past weekend for NSD?? I was only able to buy 2 items this year but I do have my eyes on some really neat Christmas things. I've been doing alot of hybrid stuff lately and with my new version of Scrapbook Max I'm able to make my own .png items to use with the templates ( like the Abby Album and the Basic Grey bracket album ) I still have to use others work but at least I can make up some great pages then clip them. I've probably got over 50 sets made up and now all I need is the pictures!!!!

I guess I shouldn't say nothing important has happen. I did get a LO published in my scrapbooking programs newsletter. They chose my LO as the opening one!! That made me happy as I normally don't produce design winning pages. There was no prize to go with it just the honor. And then a new forum/store opened up called Denim and Daisies.net and I was picked for a gallery position so that's something.

The weather has been fairly nice for Nov in Ohio. We had alot of cold days in Oct so maybe we'll get a little taste of summer without all the high humidity. It is cloudy today with a chance of rain but still very pleasant.

Well I need to sign off as my head is throbbing again and all this clicking of the keyboard isn't helping matters any. I'll try not to go a full month this next time but don't hold me to that.!!!!

I'm still kickin'!!!

2009-10-11T16:54:00.003-04:00

Okay I'll admit its been way too long since I've posted anything. I guess I just got burn out and been under alot of stress which does bad things to ones mind and body.

First off we have been going nutty dealing with the insurance company--they are refusing to pay for hubby's back surgery. We have been running back and forth to doctors offices and spending money I don't think we need to for such craziness. Right now we are on hold and still hoping to get the surgery approved before too much more time passes. The back is only getting worse and if things keep up hubby won't be able to walk. two of his disc are nearly gone so I can't figure out what the hold up is.

Then there is schooling---ooooh wow that is a subject just in itself but I'm in it for the long haul--even if I don't have any hair left at the end of the day. Some subjects come really easy then others are such a struggle and then we have state testing at months end. Not sure what that is to prove unless it has to do with continued funding for the school. We allready had to battle the governor once to keep going on. It's just a never ending battle to force us to put our kids in the public system.

And the weather!!!!We have had nothing but rain rain rain. I was beginning to wonder if we needed Noah and his ark . Today we get sunshine but it certainly is coolish for this time of year. We never really had much summer and then when we did it was super hot. Now the leaves are changing and its getting really beautiful here. I love this time of year and I swear each year the trees burst brighter with their color changes. When the sun shines and hits those brilliant shades of golds , oranges, and reds----it's sooo grand. I could live forever in Fall. The smell of burning wood in the crisp night air and the sound of the geese starting their homeward journay---uuuuummmm.

We went over to the Hocking Hills area yesterday . It's been years since we've been there and then never in the Fall. While it's a very long drive it's worth every mile. W#e didn't get a chance to walk any of the awesome trails this round and the grands weren't pleased about that but some of those places have dangerous drop offs and we have daredevils!!!

Another of my favorite thing is the old country barns . Don't know why I've taken to barns but this love affair has been going on for years and now that I live around soo many--well you know what I take alot of pics of.

Well I've got to get off here and start on tomorrow's lessons. Enjoy the Fall changes if you live in an area that has them and if not just enjoy the day.

Rainy Sunday

2009-09-20T19:07:00.005-04:00

Today it is doing something we haven't seen alot of lately--rain!!! It's been heavy at times and I think the worse of it is now over. I won't complain too awfully much as our yard was beginning to look like a dust bowl. The grandkids were going on though as we had told them--if it didn't rain we would go to the park for an outing today. Some of them cried all the way home. I truly was sorry but we had a great couple of past days and there is always next week---well if God allows.

This past week was granddaughter's 6th birthday. She woke up on Tuesday and informed me she was now offically 6 yrs old--1 5--is how she put it. I said now hold on 15 will come soon enough, it should be 1 plus 5= 6. For a couple days she kept putting it as 1 5. I don't want to close my eyes as it's likely to happen ( 15 that is!!!). On the weekend her mother had arrange to have a co worker bring over a pony so the kids could ride. I know all day Friday none of them could sit still . I'm sure the teachers had their hands full trying to get the other girls to sit still. The big time arrived at 6 pm and when I heard all the squeals I knew the pony had arrived. Well imagine our surprise whenever they unloaded the trailer and there was the pony and a mustang and---a llama.

This is Autumn. She was not thrilled to be in town but she did let everyone stroke her neck and make a fuss over her. I think all the kids as well as the adults got a kick out of the llama. I know we nearly had a couple dozen accidents on our street from people just trying to get a look at her. It was said we should charge for all the looks and the owners would be rich!!! The grands had a wonderful time and were even nice enough to allow some uninvited kids take a few rides on the horses. My oldest granddaughter took to that mustang like a fish to water!! I'm sure I know what she will be asking for come Christmas.

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On Saturday we had the birthday party but it was only just family. All the kids still had a blast and that's what was important. It was a fun week-end and one I wish we could have more often. The kids couldn't stop talking about their great time and I doubt if one of them put up a fight going to bed on Saturday night.

By the way I maxed out my SD card as I took over 150 pictures!!! But hey isn't that what a grandma is for???

Hope everyone has a great upcoming week and finds some fun things to do

Saturday

2009-09-12T13:08:00.002-04:00

Today is a wonderful pre-fall day here--not too hot, not too cold. I can hardly wait for the leaves to turn but that means we have to have a nice good frost first and I am not looking forward to that part of Fall. Maybe the leaves will change without all that nastiness.

This week has been rather nice. I went to the fair this year ( it was free day so we took it). I didn't stay long but it's been a few years since I'd been there so it was nice to see what the 4H's had been up to and all the other things that go along with a county fair. It was very hot that day so I didn't stick around that long.

Then on Friday we had our annual home school picnic. There wasn't a great turn out but at least it was a really nice day and the kids all had a good time. For most this was probably the first time they had taken a break all day. I find that a child will do better school work when they are allowed a few breaks between lessons--or at least that is how it is around here.

Following the picnic I was able to have a wonderful visit with Candie from Candi'es creations(http://candiescreations.blogspot.com/2009/09/patchy-fall-kit-revisited09freebie.html)
We had discovered we leave near each other and were finally able to get together. She is a super sweet lady and I'm so very lucky to have gotten the chance to meet her. If you get the chance drop over by her blog and say hello.

Today I rearranged my school area-again!!! I never was one to leave things the same way for very long plus I got tired of not being able to see out the window.

The dog is still around. She still sleeps out on my front porch in the chair and she still runs all day. We did learn she had had puppies under one of the trailers behind us and the owner had taken them to the pound. I guess that would explain the saddeness on the dog's face but at least there isn't a few dozen youngsters running around to get killed or starve. Or worse come live with me!!!!!!! I tell ya that female dog can eat like a horse so this week I bought a huge bag of dog kibbles. My dog has decided he now whats to eat kibbles so he gets his fair share .

Well the day is speeding away and I still have laundry to get done. Have a grand day ans see you at next post.

Rantin' and Ravin'

2009-09-04T14:20:00.002-04:00

Well for the time being I don't have any dilliness to report and this post isn't the nicest--just an angry one I guess as I don't swear. This is about all those helpless animals out in out society that seem to be thought of as trash. Why do we discard a dog or cat just because they have lost their cuteness? Would we throw our child out of a running car just because we couldn't afford to feed them? Or would we turn our spouses out in an unknown neighbor hood (well that might be a thought!!!!). Of course not as we would be charged with a crime. So why then is it okay to discard our animals like that? Recently a big ole dog showed up in our neighborhood. I didn't pay much attention to it as there are always dogs getting loss but they soon return home so you get use to seeing them. However, there is now one in the area that seems to have been dumped. I knew it was there but never really took a look at it til the other day and when I did I just wanted to cry. The poor thing was sooo skinny you could see all the rib bones and then some. I also noticed that it was a she. She is a big ugly dog and scared to death of people in general so theres no getting close to her. But I couldn't take it any longer and against my better judgement I bought some bagged dog food and left it out back for her. It was gone in no time. Well then we learned she had been sleeping on our front porch in a chair so I left some food and water out there the last couple nights. I peeked out this morning and she was sleeping like a log in that chair and I just started crying. We are not allowed to have another animal especially a big female dog--we have a male who isn't fixed!!! and that would spell trouble for certain. But on the flip side I can't even imagine to think what this poor helpless dog is thinking and if she is crying as well. I know I'm asking for trouble but just call me the champion of animal rights cuz I am not going to let her starve to death right before my eyes. Oh sure I could turn a deaf ear like everyone else is and just pretend the problem will go away or be killed on the road. But this poor dog didn't ask for this mess and I'm going to do all I can to help her get out of it. Yes I'm likely to take a few choice words from my landlady and others in the area who hate animals but so be it. I think I can handle it. I could say that I hoped whomever did this would end up on the streets themselves but i won't be that cruel especially since the unemployment in our area is at 17% and it could likely happen. I will say however, that if we are going to take on the resposibility of an animal we should carry it thru to the end. Still I know animals are just trash to most folks and there will never be any laws to help them so hopefully there will be more people out there like me to help the helpless 4 legged population

Questions

2009-08-30T16:13:00.002-04:00

Today is kind of a sad day for me here--no I'm not going to write about dead deer or the likes but my soul is sad. Why do we live in a society that builds moutains out of mole hills or thinks just because an old man hugs a young girl he has evil on his mind? My granddaughters were asked not to hug a certain older gentlemen at church merely because someone thought it didn't look good. Those kids are this old man's livelyhood and bring joy to him each week. They are never alone with him and he has never made any remarks to cause me any concern. I watched this couple during church and it's like the life has been snuffed out of them. I don't think I'm angry only sad. All I can do is hope God works things out. Sorry for such a pitiful post and hopefully I will be back later this week with some dilliness.

Something to ponder

2009-08-23T19:02:00.002-04:00

Let me start off by saying I have been having major trouble walking the last few days. I have a big bruise on the right knee where I fell last week. And back pain---I guess its a delayed reaction and I'm hoping it will all go away soon.

While going over some of the blogs I follow I came across one that gave ideas on writing prompts. It gave a list of things that one could write about on their blogs. The one I liked the most was "your favorite song and why". I love Casting Crowns "Praise you Thru this Storm" or as I call it Praise you in this storm. It's a song that just gets to the heart no matter if you are in a trial or not. It's a song that brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it and one that uplifts as well. And this is why it speaks to me: Several Years ago I had my first mammogram and it came back postive. I was given exactly 3 days to return for a repeat test. In these 3 days I was also praying for 3 of my grandkids as they were in a bad situation and I knew things had to be resolved or else. I felt an overwhelming power come over me and I knew God had heard my prayers for them. I tried not to worry about the test I was facing but the drive to the hospital was like a million mile drive--never ending but too close. Just as I pulled into the parking lot this song came on and I sat there and cried. I said "Lord whatever today hold I know You hold the keys to unlock it. Help me not to be afraid". The song ended and I went inside. I was taken right in and retested and then I sat and waited. They came back and ask me to redo this test and the look on the nurses face wasn't one you wanted to see. She looked very concerned but assured me everything was allright--yeah right. Anyhow I went back to wait once more. Well would you believe they ask me to do it a third time and this round they made sure they squeezed the life out of me. All I could think of was this thing must be massive and they were trying to figure out the best way to tell me. Finally I was called back to the doctor's room. He ask me if I wanted to sit and I said no thanks. And then he began, "Well I just want to show you what we found on the first test". When he pointed to that xray I went right thru the floor. The mass was the size of a fist and I could just imagine what the future held for me. And then his voice came thru my fog--"I would like you to see what we found today " My eyes followed his finger to a new xray and I nearly fainted " I don't know what happened here " he was saying "but there is nothing here" I let out a Thank You Lord and slapped that ole doctor on the back and started crying. As I left the room I think I heard him say softly "Yes thank you Lord for not taking another life" That song gave me the courage to face the fear and to accept whatever was to come. It still speaks to me even today because no matter what we are going thru I know God is always with us and He doesn't always step in and remove the stumbling blocks from before us. Trials and test are hard but this is how we grow in faith. So if you are facing a trial know that there is hope and you will emerge a stronger, newer person because God is no respecter of persons. If He touched me He will touch you. Just Praise Him Thru The Storm.

Is it Tuesday allready???

2009-08-18T16:05:00.002-04:00

Wow I sure can't believe it's Tuesday allready. Where did the weekend go? Where did last week go for that matter.

I'm still in a bit of pain from a fall I took the other day--ouch! But it was rather funny because I did the splits across the kitchen floor. Now I'm not sure what I stepped on that caused me to go sliding but there was a PowerPuff Girls magnet on the floor dangerously close to where I landed. I knew the minute I felt myself going I wasn't going to stop until I hit rock bottom or in this case the kitchen floor. It all happened so very quickly and I'm glad that I put down that knife I had just picked up. Now I'm no little lady and the term "The bigger they are the harder they fall" is certainly true. I came down hard on my right knee then bent my left leg under me. How I ever managed not to break anything is beyond me but I guess God looks after stressed grandmas too. I will have to say thank you to my wonderful hubby for moving soo fast--right out of the room laughing as he went. He claimed there wasn't any use in him hurting his back worse than it was. Now if that's not true love I don't know what is!!!!

Those gourds (last post) might just be mini pumpkins. They've gone from green to orange even after picking and the vine is now twice as long as it was before. I thought pumpkins came on orange but some say they come on green and then change as they get bigger. I guess that would make sense because of the size. I also have 3 more growing so each granddaughter will be able to have a pumpkin and I get to keep one too. And those nasty bugs were squash borers and they are now eating away at my zucchini--I say let'em have all they want!

Hubby's surgery is scheduled for Oct. 9th. I don't think we are ready for it--financial wise that is. We are just now getting back on track from his being off last time and we were hoping for a later date. I think the closer it gets the more afraid he is getting. I know the doctor makes it all look so quick and easy but we are talking major surgery here-I don't care if it is with a laser it's still major. Since we have to walk down a small flight of stairs to our room we've put a small bed in the livingroom and that's where he will be for awhile. And that's when I will be able to sleep in peace!!!! OOOh I say that but after 33 1/2 yrs I'm not too sure I look forward to sleeping alone at least not for the first couple days, after that I might get use to it.

Well son finally got his travel trailer and they are likely now living in it. His plan is to continue working for this year and see how much they can save up before hitting the road. I guess when God calls you He will help you with the money and likes. I just know this is a major life change for them and hoping they can stand the trials that come with it.

School is going well but granddaughter has had a couple melt downs. I am trying not to stress her too much and we split our lessons in smaller time frames. I also have rewards if she does all her work without a fuss. That seems to be working well but she wasn't happy with me today as she didn't earn anything. I'm betting she will be the best little girl in the world tomorrow.

Well this post has been a bit long today so I better sign out and start the kings meal. Try to find something funny in your day--even if it is falling across the kitchen floor(without injury)

My gourds and Sunday news

2009-08-09T14:32:00.005-04:00

Well I promised a view of my huge gourds and I aim to please.I completely forgot about posting as I've been busy with assorted issues.I finally had to pick the gourds as most of them were infested with some type of worm. I will do a search here later today to see if I can find out what these ugly nasty things are. They seem to have gone in thru the stem area and ate the plant from the inside out. Just another nasty creature who wrecks havoc on one's garden. I've actually gotten enough tomatoes for 2 batches of salsa. I gave our neighbor some and still had enough for the freezer. And on top of that we made a stop today at an old friends and they had tomatoes coming out their ears so we got a very large bag full. Now I can make some zesty tomatoes for the future winter soups.

It's gotten hot again but I doubt if that will last--at least it hasn't so far. We'll have a week or so of really hot stuff then a raging cold front comes thru and it feels like fall. In fact there is another front due in by mid week. OOOh well that's nature's crazy way.

We will be starting our schooling on Monday. I've been working up lesson lists-even though we use the K12 program I still like to put my own stuff in. one good thing about home schooling is that if you disagree with a lesson you can simply skip it and you can't do that with regular schooling. Plus kids learn way too much extra in the public school system (if you know what I mean). There are pros and cons of home schooling such as lack of people interaction and proms etc. However, the pros are that a student who is slower than the average kid can take the time they need to learn. Also if you have a hyper kid (like we do) you don'tr have to worry about getting those calls from the teacher. Our school Ohio Virtural Academy has a good many interacting events so kids do get together.

Our son is about to embark on a new venture. He wants to be an evangelist so they have now sold all their stuff and will soon be getting a travel trailer. Not sure when they plan to hit the road but I doubt if it will be too long in the making. This hasn't been an easy decision for them and there have been a few tears along the road but when God calls you one doesn't turn their back. I wish them God's protection.

All the scarlet fever seems to have run its course and the grandkids are now back to normal. We were able to get back to church and I'm glad. I don't like missing unless its a have to case. Well I'm off to make some Zesty Tomatoes and other goodies. Have a great day

August 3rd layout

2009-08-05T09:36:00.002-04:00

These layouts are getting harder and harder to come up with. I only have so many pictures and I hate to use the same ones over and over but sometimes certain pictures make the best layouts

Ababgail is feeling better and the rash is staring to go away. She broke out like this when she was a few months old and we wonder now if it could have been scarlet fever back then? I don't remember if she ran a fever or not but I do recall the doctor giving her an antibotic so who knows. And so far no one else is breaking out so hoping all is past.

We had some really heabvy rain yesterday--all day and the electric did kick out and shut me down. Today is cloudy and cooler but no rain in the forecast.

Have a great day and here is the link for the CuddleBeez contest(http://cuddlebeezscraps30in30.blogspot.com/)

Aug 2nd layout and scarlet fever

2009-08-04T11:56:00.003-04:00

Here is my new cotest layout. I love the colors and they matched the dress and wings just perfectly. Emily always takes awesome pictures and I love using her in my layouts. She's also always getting into trouble--even with that wonderful halo hanging over her head!!! Emily was born with a few disabilities and the doctors said she would never do certain things. However, God had other plans for her and while she still has issues she's doing all that stuff the doctors said she couldn't.

Now for the scarlet fever issue! Our youngest granddaughter broke out last weekend but we thought it was chicken pox. Even our local ER doctor couldn't figure it out and sent her home with a steriod. Thankfully she didn't have it bad and is fairly cleared up. BUUUUT yesterday daughter called and ask me to run oldest granddaughter, Abagail to the ER because she had this crazy rash really bad. No biggie . I run them out and about an hr later get a call a said I need to come get them as the ER doctor decided he wasn't going to see any more patients. Can you believe that????? Well in the course of complaining and talking the term scarlet fever came up. I dropped the clan off at their house and rushed home to do a search on scarlet fever. The very minute I saw the symptoms I nearly died and then when I saw the pictures---well lets just say I didn't waste any time getting back to daughters place and we took Abagail to another town. After about 5 hrs the doctor confirmed our fears--scarlet fever. However, this stuff isn't nearly as fearsome nor deadly as it use to be and with antibiotic Abagail will be cleared up in no time. Still we have a least 2 more grandkids who can and probably will come down with the stuff. Just hoping it stays clear of us adults.

Well we are in for a round of strong storms so I want to get this published before the electric kicks out and I lose it all. Have a good day and hopefully no scarlet fever your way.

Aug 1st layout

2009-08-02T21:11:00.002-04:00

Here is my new layout for the CuddleBeez's contest (http://cuddlebeezscraps30in30.blogspot.com/). This is the funniest layout i've done simply because of the picture. Emily got the camera and caught her sisters on film. I laugh everytime I see this picture. Emily is the funniest child and she's always getting into trouble but that's just her nature and I wouldn't change her for anything.

Enjoy

Past contest layouts

2009-08-02T19:08:00.002-04:00

Thought I would post some of my past layouts to the Cuddlebeez's contest so people can see my work.

Enjoy

Another day's layout and the hybrid album

2009-08-02T12:35:00.005-04:00

Here is the July 31st CuddleBeez's contest layout. I'm #2 again but thats only a number and doesn't mean anything in the standings. I really like how this one turned out. It's one of two that I have of my granddaughter in Texas.

As promised I also took some pictures of the butterfly hybrid project I was working on. I might have to uplaod the pics in another post as blogger seems to have frozen up on me but I will see. Okay I don't really like how this all turned out but but at least the pictures are here

The top one is from the indivual books I am doing for each of the girls. I liked the way the pages looked when I outlined them in black. The other two pictures are of the very first book I did. I like the way you can add the digital look as well as making use of regular scrapbook supplies. This cute little album was well worth the $5.00(US dollars) I spent on it. Here is a link to the direct product and right now it's on sale for $3.75 so if you want it go grab it up because you will love it. (http://www.littledreamerdesigns.com/newshoppe/product.php?productid=932&cat=0&page=6) This designer also has some other cute templates and if you can't use a PSD file she will make you a PNG file. Her name is Michelle Filo or With love from Mushy designs.

I will make a seperate post for the gourds. All this rain is really causing them to go to town.

Have a great day.

Contest layouts

2009-08-01T07:57:00.003-04:00

Nothing really exciting has been happening here as of late. I've been working on some contest layouts at CuddleBeez's scraps (http://cuddlebeezscraps30in30.blogspot.com/) .My entry for July 30th is entry #2. If you get a chance come by and vote for me. I don't think I create amazing layouts but the grandkids seem to think they are wonderful so that's what counts.

I entered into another couple ones as well but they will be random drawings and that's even harder to win.

I found the cutest hybrid project while surfing awhile back. It's a butterfly album from Michelle Filo (I will get the link and post it here). I originally had wanted to do it just like the preview I'd seen and even had Michelle make me a PNG file but I soon discovered it was easier to do my own thing. The first one I did was of my 4 granddaughters that live here in Ohio. I had picked up some chipboard lettering sometime back so I used that on the front cover to spell adorable then I added some foamy flowers and doodles. Inside I did a bit of digital layouts and printed ones. I will try to get a pic of it on here in the next couple days. Again it's not amazing but it is cute and may inspire someone. I'm now working on one for each of the 4 and if my daughter in law will ever send me any photos of my 3 grands there in Texas I will make them one as well. I'm not sure how boys will appreciate butterflies but maybe I can find a truck or something.

Well the tomatoes are offically toasted. There's no dening that they have the blight. I've been picking the big green ones just as soon as they get an ounce of coloring to them and so far they've been okay. But each day I go out to that garden and see those poor drooping tomatoes I just want to cry. I was so hoping for several batches of salsa and stewing tomatoes this year however nature had other ideas and it won't happen. I've also just about picked out the green beans, thank goodness!!! I only planted a small patch of them but they did very well this year and I managed, for a change, to beat the bugs. We do have some really strange gourds growing in the flower bed and the garden. They look like pumpkins , the mini type, but some are the green and yellow types. Those babies aren't your average sized gourds---oooh no they look more like those mini round watermelons( I think they are called sugar babies) you buy. Now I recall throwing out some gourds but they certainly didn't look anything like these things are looking. And the leaves are sooo huge. I guess it never occured to me to get a picture but I think I will. I just know we won't need to buy any gourds or pumpkins for the fall decorating this year and I will save my seeds.

Okay I've probably rattled on long enough today. It's just so quiet here this morning that I wasn't distracted--a very rare event for me. However I will say goodbye and get out there and get me some pictures of my --well I guess I will call them gourds until I know better. Have a blessed day.

Am I the only one who cries?

2009-07-24T19:56:00.002-04:00

I'll admit I'm a very sensitive person. I tend to let things get to me that the average person just ignores. I cry over road kill all the time. I don't care if it's your everyday pet or the local wildlife. It just plain and simple effects me. However, I was totally unprepared for the effect that a tiny baby deer would have on me. This little guy (or gal) couldn't have been but a few weeks old-it wasn't even as big as a Great Dane yet. Now I realize that in most areas deer are considered to be pest. True they will eat a garden in one feeding or put a major dent in ones fender, but for the most part the ones here eat the grasses in the open fields. It's not unusual to see small deer dead along the roadway so why when I saw this tiny creature dead in the middle of the road did it hit me so hard? Could it have been the mother in me crying for her baby? Was it just my tender nature? Was I thinking could it have been avoided? It was after all very foggy this morning and maybe Jr was just following mommy across a path that seemed safe to them both. All I know is that I can't seem to stop the tears whenever I think about that tiny image. No one stopping, no one caring as after all it was just another pest they didn't have to deal with.
By late afternoon all that was left of this baby was just the rust colored stain on the road.
Am I the only one who cries?

so where is summer?????

2009-07-23T10:17:00.002-04:00

Okay is it July in the USA or is it Fall??? I mean after all we are suppose to be having heat that we can't stand but instead we are shivering and putting on the woolies. This is just plain crazy. I know in my last post the heat was on but let me tell ya it certainly didn't last . Yesterday it rained all day long. Now don't get me wrong we needed that type of rain as the garden was terribly dry but come on---it's only 70 today and that's stretching it. I'm not to sure I buy this global warming stuff!!!

In other news hubby went to see spine specialist on Tuesday and there will be surgery sometime in Oct. He will have to have 2 disc and a hip replacement. They say this isn't as bad as it use to be (they use lasers now) and that hubby should be out of hospital in 24-36 hrs. They don't know my man--he's kind of a baby when it comes to pain! However, I say if this will help then go for it as I'm really tired of not being able to sleep at nights. I did tell him (before we found this out) that I was ready for Ricky and Lucy beds ( separate ones) because I just couldn't go any longer without sleep.

Well there's not much more to chat about today. The rain has made me lazy--like I need an excuse!!! I will keep this blog posted on the surgery event and ask that you please pray for us in that area because we have already taken a hit in the ole pocketbook and this one will likely do us in. Still I know my God will help us as He always does but it helps to have friends praying with us.

Enjoy your day or night and chat later

Saber kitty

2009-07-14T12:12:00.003-04:00

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later. Summer heat has set in and I spend alto of time sitting in front of the computer trying to stay cool. For the longest time we were having cooler than normal temperatures but alas no more as the heat is back to stay.

My garden has taken a hit from the strange weather. My cucumbers have toasted and now my tomatoes have the late blight so they will soon be gone. I'm an organic gardener and I will not use chemicals in any form so I guess the tomatoes are history. Don't know what causes blight but they are saying this could be as bad as the Irtish potato famine way back in the 1800's. To me that sounds pretty serious, but I guess only time will tell. At least the beans are coming on strong so guess what we will be eating alot of this winter!!!

Hubby finally went back to work and the house is quiet for the most part. Yesterday was almost downright boring as it was just granddaughter and I. It's been a long time since it's just been the 2 of us. We did get outside for about an hour and while out she decided we had to make friends with the saber tooth kitty. This kid has an imagine a mile long (being an only child isn't easy) but a saber tooth??? I told her I didn't want to make friends with that type of kitty but she claimed it was friendly---until it bit my hand!!!!! Does that sound friendly to you?? Me either so I shooed the thing away. It then went to sit under her blanket tent and growled at me every time I moved. After an hour I decided it was time for kitty to return to the wild. Well kitty didn't want to go anywhere so I had to take the broom to it. Granddaughter informed me that saber kitty would be there waiting for me the next time I went outside. I told her kitty was just imaginary and it wouldn't hurt a flea. She said "okay. And it was wrong of me to say it would bite you. I'm sorry." I told her it was okay to play pretend and that if saber kitty was still there later he could come back to play. (Being any only child is hard sometimes!!). That seemed to make her happy but kitty was still kinda mad at me because of the broom. I just shook my head and we went in. However, I could have sworn I heard a low growl as we went thru the kitchen door--sure do hope it was the dog growling at saberkitty and not kitty growling at me!!!!!

Whooohooo! I'm a star at last

2009-07-08T12:10:00.002-04:00

Well at least for the month of July. On one of my forum groups (http://craftbuddy.com/ ) I was chosen for Crafter of the Month for July. Now I don't suppose this is a great honor except for the memebers there but it's always nice to be reconized. Craft Buddy is the only forum I've been on that is truely a close knit community. When one hurts the rest of us hurt and if someone needs encouragement we uplift them. I've made many lasting friends there and there are some close enough for me to visit when I get the chance. Our fearless leader, Fred has made some great changes to the site since I joined last year so if you get a chance stop over and say hello to the crew. I'm Daisydilly over there or Vicki depending on who is doing the chatting---and speaking of chat they have a weekly live chat on Wednesdays. It's a great way to get to know more about your friends without the world seeing your post. Hope to see y'all soon

Happy Birthday America

2009-07-03T09:41:00.002-04:00

Can you believe tomorrow is the 4th of July and it's the day we American's celebrate the liberation of our country. Some say this is the date that America became a country but that's not true , as that occured when the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock (I'm no history buff so feel free to correct me ).
This post will be short as we have many things going on today but I just wanted to drop in and say Happy 4th to America.
Enjoy your weekend and if it's hot where you are try to stay cool-- as for us we are trying to stay warm!!! (it's just been downright coolish).

Big Foot spotted in Ohio

2009-06-30T13:16:00.003-04:00

Its been a few days since I've written anything and it's kinda hurting to type today. Ole arthur is visiting my right hand and is making my life miserable. It's been awhile since my last visit from arthur but when he comes around he stays for too long.

We've been rather busy as of late. We are getting ready for a yard sale and on top of that we are moving our storage unit so we've found all sorts of goodies for the sale. We should have done this sooner but we all know how that goes!!

On top of all the moving we've also had to go back and forth to the town where hubby works and the doctors office is. We see alot of strange things on our travels but when I saw BigFoot I nearly died. Now we've seen buffalo,emu, paca/llamas and even a zebra. There's also been reports of bear and coyote in our area but BigFoot!!!!

I truely thought I was seeing things so I made hubby slow down so I could get a pic of the thing. I mean there it was right in the middle of the field-just standing there and not moving. I was sure we were going to get a ticket as this road is a main thrufair and usually busy but this day it was quiet.

Now I know what's going thru your minds-the lady is nuttier than a fruit cake!! and maybe worse but honestly I have a picture of it. And it is a pretty darn good one too. So I'm hoping to go down in history as actually seeing BigFoot and capturing it on film.

You may scroll down to see picture.

What do you want to be when you grow up

2009-06-23T12:17:00.002-04:00

We went out riding this morning and while we were in the middle of nowhere our granddaughter shouted out that when she grows up she wants to be an artist like grandma. Well grandma is no artist but I do like to doodle and paint . I do decorative woodcrafting ornaments-my favorite designer is Renee Mullins.
But her statement got my memory to rolling. I recall saying that when I grew up I wanted to be an artist. I would spend hours locked in my room designing paper dolls and their outfits. Those dolls had to be just right-not barbie dollish but just right in looks . I had pages and pages of them for years until I lost everything in a house fire back in 1979.
I also wanted to be a writer. I got this bug when I was in the 6th grade and met my friend Cathy. We would spend hours making up crazy stories about 2 characters called Cat Curry and Hannah Hayes ( fictional sisters of the famous outlaws Kid Curry and Hannibal Hayes--some may remember the series Alias Smith and Jones!!). We soon went on to make up things about our other famous shows, Rawhide, Rat Patrol. You know all those crazy shows. She may never know this but I continued to write up until a few years ago then just quit. I figured it was a waste of time and I'd never be famous.
Well lo and behold I decided to do a blog and now I can make my dream a reality. And who knows maybe I'll be discovered!!(ha ha)

So what do you want to be when you grow up? Never say you are too old to make those dreams come true but instead see what you can do to make them come true. It's easier than you think.

Have an awesome day and enjoy life.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-20T11:25:00.002-04:00

Hope all of you are enjoying your weekend. It's starting to get really hot here in Ohio but I won't complain as it was very cool just last week.

Tomorrow we will celebrate Father's Day. Here we will be cooking out today and going to church tomorrow.

Is your father still alive? Mine died in 1999. Though he wasn't a big part of my life growing up I loved him and even today miss him greatly. For the first couple years I couldn't walk past the card aisles without breaking into tears. I never failed to send him a card on his birthday, fathers day or just any time I felt like it. Cards were my way of saying I love you when I couldn't do it in person.

I guess we never really appreciate our loved ones while they are alive and sure we all have issues with these special people but someday they won't be here for us. So if your father is still alive give him a hug and tell him thank you for all he's put up with over the years. And have a very wonderful day .

Daisys Daily Dillys

2009-06-19T11:50:00.000-04:00

Okay I am going to try this again as I messed up the first time!! You can tell this is my first attempt at a blog but I will learn.

I wanted to name my blog something catchy but really don't know if it will show. Most days in my house are crazy as we are co-raising our 5 yr old graddaughter. I say co-raising because her mother is in the evenings and Saturday but otherwise the job is mine. I also home school here and let me tell you that is something that rally drives me dilly! But she can't sit still and I refuse to do the medicine thing so crazy or not I will do it.

Right now hubby is off work due to sickness so that only adds to the craziness here. He's due to go back to work in early July. This puts a pinch in the ole wallet but God has taken care of us so I refuse to worry anymore.

I'm going to try my hand at S4H. I'm not the greatest at creating layouts but I'm trying to learn really quickly so I will be ready by Fall.

Since this is my first post I won't rattle on forever.

Hope everyone has an awesome day and appericates whatGod has given them.