My Red Truck

The 4 rules

2012-02-13T16:41:00.000-08:00

I heard these four rules for the first time this Sunday. You probably all heard them already but I really thought they were spot on and worth repeating!

Actually I think I need these stuck to my bathroom mirror!

Rule #1 God is God

Rule #2 I am NOT God

Rule #3 Admit you often get rule #2 and rule #1 mixed up

Rule #4 See rule #1

Hoping this brings you a sense of grace as much it did me!

Cheers!

Vickie

Wednesday refer a friend give away!

2012-02-08T15:26:00.000-08:00

I really love making cards, they are fun to put together, and inexpensive and I can easily give them out. If I was Oprah rich I think I would be constantly buying gifts for everyone, I so enjoy giving them. I also enjoy getting mail! In my old home I could tell when the mailman's car was in our small street by the sound of his engine. This new home, the mailman comes it seems at a different time each day and I can never hear him.

So in the spirit of giving and receiving, I want to give away the set of cards below. They are made using the Fox and Friends stamp set from Stampin up. You and a friend will receive one of each for a total of 5 cards each, I will even throw in the envelopes! The winner will be selected next Wednesday by Noon.

To enter:

Get a friend to follow my blog

Want Ad

2012-02-06T14:44:00.001-08:00

Want Ad
Happily married female seeking unconditional love, and forgiveness. I also require someone to listen to me even when I complain and am at my worst. Someone to provide a set of rules for me to live by and grants me salvation if I believe in them. It would help if you could provide a reference for all promises you have kept as well as a way to cover all my sins. Additionally I require a sense of joy and grace that will come by following you. A bonus would be eternal life.

I thought about this when I went to a new church thisSunday. Unfortunately I thought of this because the sermon was disjointed and couldn’t hold my attention. But I did get to thinking if I was to put a want ad together that would seek to satisfy all the “holes” I feel when I am restless this is how it would go. Funny once I finished it I saw so clearly the voice of the Holy Spirit saying yes there is only ONE that can provide all that!

Although I am late in posting this I thought it might give a reminder what following Him can bring. I don’t feel all the items in the want ad all the time. Often I hear the voice of God screaming YES!!!! This dear Vickie is what I have been trying to tell you! Lately I have felt there is something that I need to look very seriously at as I truly believe He is calling me to do something. When/if I can articulate thisI will. For now I am just thankful that I can come to Him often and He NEVER fails to listen. Often he responds very promptly and clearly, Hallelujah!!

Blessings
Vickie

What has kept me busy!

2012-01-29T13:49:00.000-08:00

I have a friend who is in the process of adopting a baby boy with special needs. She is raising money for this wonderful cause and I donated two items towards her auction. It won't raise enough on its own. Probably only enough to cover gas or paperwork but still it will get them just a little bit closer.

I started doing these prints for my nephews and nieces as well as my own kids. It is a fun project and I do enjoy coming up with different items for the letters. I use acrylic paint and add graphic markers for the accents. The middle is reserved for the recipients name.

Hope this post finds everyone crafting away!

Blessings!

Vickie

Sunday Thoughts

2012-01-22T12:58:00.000-08:00

Part of moving to a new city brings also finding a new church. We were very lucky to find a great church in Richmond. It really did feel like a second home to our family, which made it very hard to leave.
We have however at the suggestion of a dear friend found another promising church here in Franklin TN. I don't want to mention the pastor or church. We are struggling a bit with it and are unsure if we should stick it out or try another. It is a church in transition, the pastor is retiring after 25 years. A hard thing for the church community that is for sure. Our children have enjoyed their time at Sunday School and we like the atmosphere and what the church is doing. It is a church in the same denomination as our last so we do understand the underlying theology. The pastor however is the utter definition of loquacious. That is why we are struggling. He seems to be taking his last few months to instruct the church on how they should proceed. I do get some things out of what he is saying but often times are very distracted as I have no recollection on how it was before.

I did despite the above have a profound (for me) thought. I constantly feel restless. Like I am not doing enough, being good enough, etc. Part of that is my personality. I like to please, always have and always will. I see that in my daughter too.
It came to me while sitting in church listening to Revelations 2:1-7 and the pastor preaching that it is okay to feel restless. Even better, I am supposed to feel this way. We live in a fallen world, a sinful world and I shouldn't feel totally settled. I should rejoice and look forward to the time I will be called into Heaven. I can use the restless feeling to HIS glory. I don't know if you ever feel that sense of not belonging, of not feeling settled. I believe this is the Holy Spirit calling us to come into a relationship with Him. He uses this restlessness as a call to come, listen, and understand why all hope is in HIM and Grace can be accepted fully and completely. There is a reason that when praying you feel peace and a sense of steadiness. There is a reason that living in a fallen unstable world the Bible has lasted and been stable for so long! He is calling to us, to hear his word and find peace during his presence.

Thank you for listening and I truly pray that it will bring some light into your life and draw you closer to Him.

Until next time.
Blessings to you!

New Years Resolutions

2012-01-19T05:33:00.000-08:00

I always make resolutions each year. No I don't always fulfill them and I always mean to write them down but never do. Before our trip back "home" to Richmond VA I purchased a Scrapbook magazine to read while on the trip. I got inspired by the last photo in the magazine. Here is the project as pictured.

I am hoping that crafting my resolutions and publicly displaying them will hold me to them. So far so good!

My finished product consisted of the 7 Gypsies Receipt holder which I purchase from Three Peas in a bucket as well as some paper and findings. Below is my finished product. I really like it and it sits proudly on my bare mantle right now.

Here is the list of my resolutions, now they are out there in "blog land" so I have to hold true to them! :-)

Family: Family Game night weekly.
Physical: Yoga Three times a week.
Home: Finish Katherine's Room, Paint Emmett's room, Install Gallery Wall.
Spiritual: Prayer journal weekly, start a group bible study or one on my own.
Work: Weekly blog entries, formalize ideas for a business I have been thinking of for 5+ years.

Hope this post finds everyone fulfilling your resolutions! Remember we have a fresh start every day!

Until next time!

Folding card fanatic!

2012-01-15T13:00:00.000-08:00

I post recently that I have discovered folded cards. There are a vast amount of tutorials as well as videos out there. Also I realize that folded cards have been done before but I just recently found the confidence to try them. They are addicting.

I discovered two that I really am in love with. The examples are below. As I perfect my techniques I am hoping to make some videos and post them. I find videos more helpful to me especially when trying to execute the folded cards. For these two cards I used my Cricut (Nate's ABCs, Walk in My Garden and From my Kitchen). On the card with the car I added some of my stampin up stamps. I love the mix of the Cricut bits with the stamp bits and plan on doing more of this.

Hope this post finds everyone snug and cozy and crafting at home! We finally had a burst of cold weather here in Nashville and it even snowed!! Okay only about 2", and maybe not even that but it finally feels like winter here. We had a near 60 day followed by a 26 degree day! For those with bodies that respond negatively to temperature changes I know you feel my pain!! :-)

Until the next post! Cheers!! :-) hehe

Belated but still Merry!

2012-01-13T05:58:00.000-08:00

I discovered a folded card when I was working on my Christmas Cards. I am currently on a folded card craze! More about that in a future post.
Here are my Christmas cards from 2011! It feels very strange to say 2012.

I had a lot of fun using my Cricut this year. Especially using the Winter Woodland cartridge. I did manage to find a cute vintage postcard on Ebay which I used in the blue card. Traditionally I don't like to use "Xmas" however the style won me over. Hope this helps inspire some card making in you! :-)

Since you are more likely to act on something that you have written down I am hoping to post the project that will hold and display my new year's resolution in the next couple of weeks. Additionally my hubby found a very nice web cam in his vast collection so I am hoping to maybe post some video tutorials of the folded cards I have discovered.

Happy crafting everyone!!

Proof I have been up to crafty adventures!

2012-01-10T17:18:00.000-08:00

Although I have been silent on my blog I have in fact been up to quite a few crafty adventures!

Proof can be found here at my sister's blog. I made a "Matilda Jane" inspired set of outfits for my two nieces Audrey (one year old) and Celia (Age 4). This was a project that pushed my envelope a little bit. I typically shy away from projects that I have to mix patterns on. Mixing patterns usually over whelms me but knowing the recipients wouldn't be judgemental helped tremendously!

I don't have any better pictures as our good camera was off with my husband. The first outfit is similar to the knot dress with the "bloomer" like pants that seem to be all the rage. The second coordinating outfit is a modified a-line jumper with matching "bloomers". I like the fact they aren't identical just share the same fabrics. I love the a-line jumper because as Audrey grows she can where it as a top. When I had my own business this was a customer favorite for that reason.

Hope this finds everyone sticking to their resolutions! I found and awesome project to show case mine and hope to share this in the future.

Cheers!

Never too late?

2012-01-06T05:30:00.000-08:00

I am embarrassed at how long it has been since my last post. This is one of my new year’s resolutions. The local news around us has been abuzz with resolutions do and don'ts. One of the recommendations that seem to be repeated is to make your resolutions specific. So I am making resolutions that fall into 7 categories: Spiritual, Work, Home, Family, Physical, Mental, and Yard.
Since my work is mainly taking care of the kids I think this will grow to encompass my blog and other crafty ventures. One of my "work" goals is to post weekly on my blog. It may be just a few words or thoughts or a long post about what creative project I have launched into but it will be made weekly.

I had all intentions of posting the below thoughts before Christmas but well bronchitis got in the way! It hit me hard and landed me in bed for 3+ days.

While sitting in my Christmas Eve service at church I had a "light bulb" moment (sorry for the over used cliché).

It occurred to me that the birth of Jesus allowed some words to enter into our vocabulary that would not have the great meaning they have without this gift.

Given Jesus’s birth;
Sanctification, redemption, and sacrifice would not have the earth shattering meaning
We have a clear picture of what love, promises and forgiveness look like.
Joy has a separate and eternal meaning from happiness.

I plan on printing these truths and keeping them as a daily reminder. He truly is in the details as small as a word’s definition!

Happy New Year!

Country Living Fair / Post 3

2011-11-09T06:20:00.000-08:00

13) I loved this idea. This vendor took old books and used the covers and some of their pages, along with blank pages for journals. He used damaged books or those recycled from libraries.
14) Burlap & Lace. I really like the formality of lace pair with the utilitarian burlap. These were simple table runners. There were also place mats and matching napkins.
15) & 18) Quilts. I have never really been one to quilt nor have I had an interest in quilting until this trip. There were so many quilts on display. This vendor had a lot of kits available as well as other kits.
16) There were quite a few vendors selling their own pottery. This gentleman had his potter's wheel on display and I do believe there was an HGTV crew filming him so maybe we will see him on TV. He did a great job of explaining his process.
17) More fabric pumpkins! I actually fell in love with this one which has a pocket. I think this has made it on my to make list!

Country Living Fair / Post 2

2011-11-08T05:30:00.000-08:00

7) Fabric pumpkins! These were everywhere. Each vendor had their own take on them. This display was pretty cool. Not only did I love the pumpkins but they way she displayed them. Think, tiered cake stands but with tables.
8) I just loved this arrangement / display. It truly was incredible to see some of these displayed in the middle of a park.
9) I couldn't resist snapping a photo of this artist's work. He had maps of the US as well as other sculptures. I loved the idea of reusing jeans in artwork.
10) Re-Purpose!!! I got to visit this booth twice. For those of you that watch HGTV, this is Cash & Cari's store. Scroll down to see a picture of me and yes Cari!!!! I was so giddy to meet her.
11) Snapped a photo of this dog all ready for Halloween. Couldn't resist! This little fellow followed around his owner very loyally without a leash. Actually there were quite a few dogs around.
12) Beauty. All around us there was such a wonderful display of color. It was truly breathtaking and I so want to go back to Stone Mountain to explore it further.

I got to go!!!

2011-11-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I got a weekend away with my Mom. It was so wonderful. The perfect fall weekend to make it to the Atlanta Country Living Fair. The weather was absolutely perfect for fall. I plan on posting several times on what I found. I basically have broken into some categories of, what I saw, what I want to make and what I purchased!
So

Here begins my first post of what I saw.

1) Pumpkins! There was a central pumpkin patch which was very impressive and was used for many a background for a photos shoot or two!
2) Under a pavilion was the general store, they sold some country living items, including t-shirts. They also had some very pretty table-scapes. I loved this with old keys.
3) This was a display at one of the many food vendors in the "farmers market" area. I loved the wagon and flowers.
4) This was such a cool furniture booth. I loved the creative way she re-upholstered this chair. It wouldn't ever occur to me to do this asymmetrical treatment with ribbon.
5) At the same booth was this wing chair. I absolutely love how she adorned the back. What a great addition to a back of a chair that faces another area.
6) There were many witches shoes, but I loved these. This booth had candles set all over their booth and they smelled so quintessential fall!

I have wings!

2011-10-03T04:19:00.000-07:00

Again, thank you Pinterest for giving me ideas! I created the bird wings that were featured on Pinterest for my niece Celia. I love any project that I can get rid of some of the fabric I accumulated. This was such a easy and fun project. My two kids have requested some. As you can see I had to model the wings myself as I had no models at home at the time I completed these. Celia was nice enough to pose for a picture!

Autumn Wreath

2011-09-26T05:23:00.000-07:00

I can't find the link where I got this inspiration from but the idea wasn't solely my own. I am sure most of you out there love it when we can create something from scraps. This wreath cost me about $4.oo (for the wreath form and the pumpkins). The rest were scraps found in my stash!

This and That and some cards

2011-09-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

Best laid plans . . .well you all know the phrase. When you have fibromyalgia you often have to put all plans aside. With the change in weather here (was 100 degrees on Saturday and supposed to be a high of 68 on Monday) it triggered a "flare" "Flare" is a term used when your symptoms of associated with fibromyalgia all appear at once. Think the flu combined with being run over by a truck.

I have managed to create some cards inspired by ones I discovered on Pinterest. This is such a great resource! Here are the cards I created. September and October bring a bunch of birthdays in our family.

I hope (again best laid plans) to photograph my office this week. Want to get one more item up before I do.

Our newest members of the family

2011-08-25T04:30:00.000-07:00

Meet Harry and Harriet. They have been coming by every now and then. It has been exclusively them for pretty much the last week! Yes I am talking about Hummingbirds!

We purchased the feeder at Lowes back in July. There has been off and on traffic for a little while now, it increased tremendously over the last two weeks. Over the weekend there seemed to be a little fight over whose feeder it actually was. My hubby took some great photos of the handsome couple.

Two items of note. I switched the nectar to homemade, with no red dye. Secondly that is basil and yes I know you are supposed to deflower it! Just hadn't gotten around to it and I am glad that I hadn't as Harry (I think) really enjoyed it.

The kids and I have so enjoyed these birds. My four year old Emmett can actually distinguish between the male and female pretty accurately. We were both hanging out on the back porch and heard them flying around and chirping. It is breathtaking and a constant reminder of God's hand.

They must be getting used to use being around, when we approach the windows to look at them they are getting bolder by hanging around. Harry clearly was enamored by Emmett as he fluttered and hovered around the window as he was peering out watching him.

We are going to try and takes some more pictures of them close up. Hope you all enjoy!

On another note, my lovely hubby has graciously offered his unused office space to me So now I won't have to share my space with my two kids. As you can imagine I have been organizing and setting everything up eagerly! :-) Will post when I get it settled.

Just not sure how to post this . . .so being blunt and to the point!

2011-08-24T18:35:00.000-07:00

I pride myself (yes I know just saying this is asking God to give a lesson . .read on he does) in being in control. I have it together, there is nothing I can't tackle. No project I can't meet head on. Well that is until I put together the following mix:

New house + new city + two small kids + fibromyalgia + a puppy
= A Stressed out & Emotional Mom

Maggie is a wonderful puppy. She just did what puppies do nip, play, poop (in and out of the house), pea (in and out of the house), whine. Add that to my two kids and my health problems and by day 5 I was a wreck. It takes a tremendous amount to get me to the point I was at but she did it fully. Top it off my kids were terrified of the puppy. If they were around her either I had to be right beside them or they would perch themselves on the top of furniture and scream.

So after an emotional break down we decided to take Maggie back to the breeder. It was a very hard decision and not one done lightly. If you are judging me please show me some grace. I am so thankful for the lesson that I cannot do it all. That I need HIM with me and there are just some things I can't (gulp) do right now. I HATE saying I can't or no.

It broke my heart to disappoint my hubby's 8 year wait for a dog. It broke my heart to let her go but I know there is a better family out there for her.

So I also apologize for not posting. Sometime we will own a dog. Maybe an older one, probably when my kids are older.

I give anyone that has small kids, and a puppy due credit!!!! :-)

For the love of pillows!

2011-07-31T18:31:00.000-07:00

I had come up with idea that I wanted a round pleated pillow for my master bedroom. Of course I wanted to create it myself using leftover fabric from the valances. I tried to see if there was someone who had come up with a pattern (free of course) but couldn't. Now that I have come up with one myself of course I have decided to go a different route with the master bedroom pillows! :-) Gotta love creative creation. At least it didn't cost me anything but time. I created the muslin pattern and then used some leftover fabric from the guestroom.
I do like the results and used a vintage button to finish it off.

My loss can be your gain though! :-)

I thought a giveaway would be a great start to the weekend. Post as many times as you want, refer a friend and get entered twice! Just have your friend post who referred them.
I will draw the winner on Sunday!
The winner will receive the green toile pillow pictured above without stuffing. The pillow measures 16" in diameter, just needs stuffing and a needle and thread to close it up. I will also include the pattern to create another pillow.
So good luck and remember refer a friend and you get counted twice! :-)

Stay tuned too. . .I have a great sewing project I want to share next week. It involves the Thirty-One skirt purse and another Friday giveaway! :-)

Instructions for Pillow:

Linking up to:
I Heart Naptime
Sew Many Ways

Fun watering can craft!

2011-07-27T19:25:00.000-07:00

I do like Family Fun magazine. Admittedly it is a little overwhelming when the issues stack up and I haven't tackled any of the craft projects. I know creating stress for myself not a smart move.

We did one of the crafts this morning. In the May (yes I said May and I am fully aware it is July) issue it was the elephant water can project. We didn't make elephants. They made their own animals.

All it took was:
4 Milk jugs (to make a total of 2)
Hot glue gun
Sharp craft knife
Awl or ice pic

Most of the work I had to do and it was a bit tricky getting the "spout" onto the milk jug but perseverance and a lot of hot glue later we have some great water cans. Oh and it killed about an hour.

Oh yeah and it does entice the kids to water the flowers. They asked if they could water again tomorrow. They even used the water cans to water themselves when we broke out the slip and slide this afternoon! :-)

Air Ferns!

2011-07-18T19:27:00.001-07:00

My Mom and I were shopping in Franklin TN a couple of months ago. Which I should do an entire post on as this is the greatest small town ever! Seriously I could spend an entire day on the main street and never be bored.
We came across a small garden shop that was selling these beautiful simple glass vases and they each contained an Air Fern (also known as air plant).
In our new home we have a double window over our kitchen sink. It gets great indirect light, perfect for these air plants.

I hung three in front of my window hanging from a curtain rod. I plan on putting a simple valance to cover up the top. Ignore the green tape, the builder forgot to paint the entire wall and it needs to be touched up.

The other lovely thing about these plants are they are easy care! A spritz with some water every now and then.

We have been picked!

2011-07-16T18:33:00.000-07:00

Our family has been researching getting a dog for over 2 years now. I have an allergy to dogs that ranges from hives to throat closing. This required us to go through a breeder. We decided on a Goldendoodle (an offspring of a golden retriever, and poodle).

We visited a breeder this morning and all I can say we were picked. She bounded over to us, covered us in wet puppy kisses and generally just hung around us the entire visit. She would play with her other puppy mates then come back. Honestly never experienced anything like it. I was totally smitten and also surprised that we could be so sure which puppy was right for us.

So in a little under 2 weeks we will be bringing home a female Goldendoodle puppy. Now the fun and hard part. Just when I thought I was over potty training! :-)

Here are some awe ain't she cute pictures! Oh and maybe you could leave a comment and vote on a name?!?! We each have our favorite which is making it hard.

So what do you think, is she a

Maggie?

Roxie?

Lexy?

Cassidy?

To do List for Katherine's Room

2011-07-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

So I had posted yesterday my dauther's room that I have been working on. Here is the lenghthy to do list. If you are wondering where on earth I am this is where!

1) Drapes . . .I have searched for pink drapes and couldn't come up with any that suited so these will have to be hand made.
2) paint armoire and dresser -> This will have to wait for the fall.
3) Replace fabric in armoire with polka dots.
4) put shelving over the dresser
5) Find a better vanity table
6) Replace bedside table
7) Replace temporary blinds with plantation shutters.
8) Slip cover chair
9) Make duvet cover for comforter
Hmmm . . .yeah I have a lot to do.

Katherine's Room evolved.

2011-07-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

So I was holding out to publish my daughter's room when it was finished. Well hmmm. . .yeah see you next year! LOL
So here is how my daughter's room looks right now. I have a list of items to complete and will post them tomorrow.
I absolutely loved working on this room. I am also glad that I insisted on painting the room a couple shades lighter than what she had picked.

The trees are very "Dr. Seuss" as my hubby describes them. Didn't plan on making them this way they kind of evolved. My daughter wanted birch trees, she picked them out from a book. I am going to work more on the leaves as they don't look exactly how I want them to.

The banner above her bed is magnetic. I covered metal squares in fabric, now she has plenty of space to hang her photos, momentos and pictures. She loves to draw and collect. I am constantly finding small pieces of paper and drawings all over her room. I hung each banner with the 3M hooks that will come off without marking the walls. I LOVE this product.

The butterfilies are mirrors. The light reflects off them so sweetly.

Linking to: I Heart Naptime!

I am tired!

2011-07-06T20:26:00.000-07:00

This is a vent post! I apologize completely that my first post is a complaint. I came down with food poisoning while on vacation. Yes I said food poisoning. That shouldn't happen to anyone!
Apparently my depressed immune system couldn't handle recovery and this developed into a bacterial infection. I posted a while ago that I have fibromyalgia. Due to this I am on some heavy prescriptions, which my doctor suspects has also caused an ulcer. Really really???
I am 38, a mother of two small kids & a hubby has his own company so he works hard! I don't have the energy or time to deal with an ulcer and stomach issues.
So of course after finding all this out what did I have to do after? Of course drive home from Philadelphia to Nashville TN!
I drove for 14 hours including breaks(for my son to eat not me I couldn't eat)! I did stop overnight thankfully.
So after returning home & kissing the ground & actually looking forward to cleaning the house (3 weeks is longtime to be gone), I was ready for some stress free days.
Well no that was not destined to be. I returned home to find out my health insurance was screwed up and I was left with no health insurance. My family was covered but not me.
Being that my hubby is an entrepreneur we have to seek our own health insurance. Has any tried do this lately? Why oh why does this have to be so emotional and stressful?!?! The whole pre-existing condition thing is ridiculous! Hmmm let me see you will Cover me for everything but what I have already been diagnosed for?
So God is good, this is what I am left with. After my hubby's prayer at dinner I realize this. After talking to my Mother-N-Law who has been in the hospital for 50 days and she says she had a good day. After talking to my Mom and being able to vent. After hearing how much fun my daughter is having with my sister & niece, God is good.
Looking at this & being left with God is good is really awesome! I believe I need to start and end with this. I mean after all framing it all with God is good really colors anything after that.

On vacation!

2011-06-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

I should posted earlier! We are on an East Coast tour. We will be gone a total of three weeks!! I have serious blogger & creative withdraw! Of course we haven't been bored, a bout with food poisoning and a 4yr old needing stitches has kept us busy! Will have a blog posting marathon when I get back!

Hope everyone is loving their new summer schedule!

Cheers!

Vickie

Daughter's Room evolving. . .

2011-06-05T18:12:00.000-07:00

Another sneak peek of an element in my daughters room. A little galvanized sheet metal, some weather stripping and fabric cover. Working on it this week and will reveal what this is all used for soon! Any guesses?!?!?! :-)

101 uses for chalkboard adhesive paper!

2011-06-03T03:59:00.000-07:00

I have done a previous post using adhesive chalkboard paper I found at Micheal's. I believe I payed about $4.99 for a roll (I purchased two). It is truly amazing how many uses for this product I have found. Probably would be very easy to find a 101 uses for this paper.

The first use was the re-purposed window frame.

My second use was in the kitchen as well. The soap dispensers were found at target, but we were forever confusing which was hand soap and wish was dish soap. Using my Cricut, I cut the adhesive chalkboard paper and labeled them, and used chalk pens to write on them. I found it very easy to use this paper. In fact it worked to use my cutting mat that hand slightly less tack to it.

The third use was to label the allowance jars for my kids. I needed something that I could keep track of how much was in the jar. I was going to decorate them however i love the simplicity of them. I was going to invest in the jars that are electronic but being that I had the jars and the paper these were available and cost nothing.

Fabric Choices for Daughter's room

2011-06-02T04:30:00.000-07:00

I picked up some great fabric over the weekend for my daughter's room. I realized after I returned from the store I had some fabric in my stash that had the same colors in it. I am very bad at combining prints so some feedback is much appreciated. Should I add the floral into the mix or just keep the three solids and polka-dots? I am a little worried it will be too busy and always try to keep an odd number of elements.
The fabric will be used for accent elements only. The drapes will be simple and accented with some of the fabric as well.
So should it include the green checked fabric with the embroidered tulip?

Thanks so much for your feedback.

I am progressing well an the mural and am hoping to finish this up over the weekend. Stay tuned next week for the big reveal!

Current Project sneak peek! :-)

2011-05-31T04:48:00.000-07:00

Just a quick peek at what I am currently working on. The walls of my daughter's room are painted. I used Panache Pink by Sherwin Williams, Duration paint. Let me first say I LOVE this paint. The coverage was unbelievable.

I have some great ideas for my daughter's room. Originally I wanted to do an accent wall with diamonds in two different shades. She requested trees, so trees it will be.

If I don't have many blog posts this week you will know that I paint brush in hand working in a very pink room! :-) Well at least when I can with two kids at home.

I remember . .honor your service.

2011-05-30T08:13:00.001-07:00

I remember that my freedom isn't truly free. That it has been purchase by God through the death of his son.
I honor the sacrifice of so many to make sure my God given freedom stays in tact here on earth. Thank you so humbly for the choice you have taken or are currently making to serve us. I know it each day my daughter gets to choose from a wide selection of clothing, when I go to the grocery store and can fill up my cart, when I attend the church of my choice. I remember it when I can freely proclaim on a public space without the fear of torture that Jesus is my savior!

Thank you this Memorial Day for your service. We are humbly grateful for all the freedom that being an American under the protection of our armed forces grants us!

Anniversary!

2011-05-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

My hubby and I are celebrating our 10 year anniversary this year! 10 years ago today we were married. The day was fabulous despite it raining so very hard and so very much.
I thought I would share the details of our day. I know this is wedding season so very timely too! :-)
I loved my invitations, funny they matched my flowers so well. I totally didn't plan this at all just fell in love with the colors. My veil and tiara were from my Mom, she wore these on her wedding day. My flowers were a mixture of roses, lambs ear and I can't remember the other blue flower. The lambs ear has significance. I used to spend some time on my grandmother's farm during the summers. While she was gardening I can remember sitting and stroking the lambs ear. So soft and such a pretty silver green color. I had to have them in my wedding bouquet!
My sweet flower girls are grown up and teenagers now. They were my 2nd cousins. I made their dresses and loved the lines of the dress.
The first photo is of my Mom and Sister. I thought my Mom's dress was just stunning, the photo doesn't do it justice. The color of my bridesmaid dresses were a great blue, all the girls looked so great in the color. Just like all brides I thought they could wear the dress again, but yeah no not so much! :-)
The photo on the top right was me throwing my bouquet . .no there wasn't an accident. I designed the bouquet to come apart. It was made up of smaller bouquets that each had a "fortune" tied to it and came apart in mid air. Was a fun surprise!
The middle photo is a picture of my father-in-law and mother-in-law. My Mother-in-law's dress was also perfect and flattering.
My cake was just divine! Very simple in decoration, which is why I like it. The beauty of it was inside! It was a flour-less chocolate cake with a raspberry filling! YUMMO!
My wedding rings are still my all time favorite jewelry. I still look at them in awe, my hubby did such a great job selecting not only the ring but also the diamond itself.
Hope you enjoyed my stroll down memory lane. Sorry for the bad quality images, didn't have digital copies, so they had to be scanned in. If you are planning your wedding I hope that you have as much fun planning as I did. Truly I can look back on the planning and want to do it all over again. I enjoyed picking out and planning this event so much.

My new love!

2011-05-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

My lovely hubby Mr. Jackpot loves well manicured hands and pedicured feet. So yes he lets me get pampered often. One of the many reasons I affectionately call him Mr. Jackpot (thanks to my friend Pam for the idea)! He recently purchased a salon package for me from a local salon. The first visit was to get a manicure with a new shellac nail polish.

What is this?!?!? I call the salon and the lovely receptionist informs me that it is the greatest invention since sliced bread. Let me back up and share with you that I absolutely hate getting my nails done. Between having two small kids, and all my crafts the polish NEVER lasts more than 24 hours (typically less than 24 minutes). So when I was told my polish would last from 10 - 14 days and not chip I was intrigued and skeptical. They aren't acrylic nails so no thick nail to deal with or refills to be paid for. You do need a special pad to remove the polish or use acetone. It is not supposed to damage your nails.
Well after five full days of cleaning, cooking and doing crafts . . . .I have no chips, peeling polish and they are STILL shiny. OMG!!!! I am so hooked! Not exactly a budget friendly manicure but so worth it!

Sorry for the granny hands (The orange mark on my thumb is stampin ink) but had to share this news. I know so many Moms out there that share the same sentiment and had to share this with you!
The polish my salon used is CND, I am wearing Masquerade. On the website you can search for a salon near you on this site as well. Will let you know how they look in 5 more days. I do plan on getting this done again, though not sure when.

Teacher Gift.

2011-05-23T04:32:00.000-07:00

Coming from a house filled with teachers I have a few ideas of what not to give a teacher, or at least what my Mom and sister think aren't good teachers gifts. So I LOVE making my own . . .I know very surprising.

Here is my daughter's gift to her teacher. The tote is from Thirty One Gifts, I have filled it with handmade cards, a note block with matching pen and handmade flower clip, all tucked into a fabric gift bag. I do have an ulterior motive as I usually create four of each card and keep two for myself. Increases my card stash as I am making a gift, a win win!

Another transformed Crystal Light Container

2011-05-20T04:00:00.000-07:00

I purchased gift cards for my son's teachers and wanted an unexpected gift box. So again I took this:

and turned it into these:
I was at Michael's recently and discovered a line of customizable ribbons like I made above. They were really pretty but at $5.99 to $7.99 a bit steep for my budget. Who can pass up creating a package out of a recycled drink container and scrap paper! I used some scrap tulle, some shapes from my Cricut, and a stamp from my stash! Took me about 15 minutes. So frilly and fun.

I am hoping for the sun around our parts. I literally saw the sun for the first time Thursday in a week. No I didn't exaggerate, one solid week of gray Sky and rain. We also are celebrating the end of school next week! For an East coast girl this is a bit hard to accept but I have some fun things planned. Going to be a bit brave and post our summer list of things to do here. Maybe then I will actually get them done! :-)

Hope you all are able to enjoy these last weeks of kids in school!

Blessings!

Yummy . . .well if you like spinach.

2011-05-16T04:00:00.000-07:00

I Love trying new recipes and had the perfect opportunity tonight to try one out of the most recent Cooking Light magazine.
I made Spinach and Parmesan Souffle. We paired it with bread and a fruit salad.
The quality of the picture isn't good. Hubby has the nice new camera with him and my photos with the best light are fuzzy.

Folding Flower Tutorial

2011-05-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

First apologies, I am hoping this post is clear. Second sorry for the granny hands that need a manicure! :-)

I had a request to post how I made the folded flower in the gift box post. There are many tutorials out there for this, just google it. But here are the directions on how I created this. i have a few cards to make and plan on using this technique. Will post those soon.

Recycled Gift Box

2011-05-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

I am finding myself more and more trying not to throw things away that can be possibly used again. Trying to find that balance between becoming the next hoarder and finding time to actually re-purposing those items.

Can you guess what this gift package was made of?

My brother-n-law's birthday was coming up and I wanted a creative way to wrap a gift card. The Crystal Light plastic container fit perfectly. I wrapped it with scraps of card stock and scrapbook paper. The tag is made with a Stampn' Up! stamp and tag punch. I punch a whole in the top and pulled the ribbon through which made it easy to open.

So the next time you make iced tea don't throw that Crystal Light container away! I am going to post some more items that I have created with these containers. Can you tell we are big sweet tea drinkers?!?!?!?

Pulling together a Dining Room

2011-05-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the dining room in my old house.

When we moved I had the movers take the top of the hutch and put it in our basement. This actually all started with my husband wanting to replace our dining room set. It was not ours it was my Mom's. While I wasn't too enamored with it myself I have grown to love it for many reasons. One it was my Mom's, two I love the fact it is completely solid wood. Totally replacing the set is not in the budget plus I just can't get rid of something that there is nothing wrong with! :-)
Here are some design ideas I pulled together. Hoping to have the budget to do it all. The chairs might have to wait a while. I am horrible at pulling together patterns. I tend to stick to simple combinations. The dining room is the first room you see when you enter my home. So I thought it prudent to pull this room together first.
The blue square is the paint color, Windy Blue by Sherwin Williams. The carpet is staying, it is an antique given to us by my in-laws. I want to keep the table and the black bench. The buffet will stay too. I am trying to figure out drapes and chairs. Should I do colored chairs, or simple beige? The patterned squares are for the drapes and I am very unsure about these combinations. Any thoughts?

Here are some better pictures of our dining room and the table.

A Simple and in-expensive cord solution

2011-05-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

A nightly ritual for my hubby and I is too sit in our recliners (yes we are below the age of 80) and watch movies or TV. We LOVE media in our house . . .my hubby is the resident geek in the family which helps feed our love. The other thing we like to do is pull out our laptops and surf /read blogs (in my case) and work in his case. As a result we have a few cords in between our two recliners. We are always trying to de-tangle and figure which is hers and which is his cord.

I discovered this file holder/magazine holder in Steinmart this past week. It was inexpensive at $7.99 was wide enough and a hole to feed the cords through. Yeah!!! No longer will I have to view all the cords lying on the floor in between our chairs. I need to tidy it up a little bit more but wanted to share this idea.

You could even put a surge protector in the bottom and feed the cords through the hole at the top.

I want to put a "top" on it to really conceal the whole thing.

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T04:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

(These are cards that I made for my Mom and Mother-n-Law with Creative Memories Storybook Software. I used a few of the images from the software and others from vintage cards/postcards.)

My Favorite Things Saturday!

2011-05-07T05:01:00.000-07:00

Home Sweet Home

Our recent move has driven me to reflect on my past homes. My hubby and I have owned a total of 3 homes. We have built one, and purchased 2 new construction or spec homes. This move has caused me to realize how much "home" really means to me. Given the recent natural disasters it has not escaped me how much a home means to all of us. I have been blessed with always living in a house with a yard and in a good neighborhood. I don't think I truly reflected on this until I moved away for the very first time.
Being able to define a space allows me a creative outlet that I have taken for granted. I love being able to create rooms that reflects not only myself but my family. This is truly one of my biggest and life defining favorite things. From the blogs I have been following I know this to be true for so many people.

Here is my first house (well not mine, and not my very first - couldn't find a picture of that). This is the home I lived in for most of my childhood. These two pictures don't do it justice. It was a wonderful home. It had two very large boulders in the front yard with a rose bush and beautiful dogwood tree. To top it off it had an in-ground pool in the backyard complete with screened porch and a large boulder for drying off in the sun. The screened porch had a tin roof which I can still hear the sound the rain made on it!

My second home was in Texas. We purchased it before we were ever engaged. At that time rent prices were more expensive than home mortgages and it made financial sense to purchase. So yes I did "shack-up" before I was married. Not a choice for everyone but it was a right choice for us. We used Texas limestone for facade and fireplace. We watched this home be build from the foundation up it was so exciting and rewarding.

My third home was in Richmond VA and very much a typical Colonial in every sense. I plan on doing a complete home tour sometime soon to showcase it. We were there 10 years and I LOVED this house. Probably because the length of time I was there as much as the life events that happened while I was in the home. If I could hug a house I would have given this home a big bear hug. I will humbly admit that I did hug a wall or two prior to leaving!

My fourth home and current home is wonderful too. I am just discovering some of the things I love about it. It is in some ways so different from our previous home and then in others very similar. I am sure others have found they have new hobbies or interests once in a new home. I am discovering my green thumb. The Richmond house had hardly any shade. This home has a great position, it has a great mix of both sunny and shady spots. In the previous home I had to turn to a landscape architect to know what to plant where. Now I know what I want and where to put it. Well I am 10 years older and wiser so I guess that helps!

I hope that no matter where you are everyone reading this blog has a sense of home sweet home!

My Favorite Things Friday

2011-05-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

I had a very close relationship with my paternal grandfather. He gave me this letter to my father (Cecil) from Santa when I was in college. My mother had it framed for me and I have cherished it ever since.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the text:

Mr. Cecil Tate.

Dear Cecil:

Your letter received and I like to hear from and write little boys like you.

Depend on me boy to be at your home the night before Christmas. I will be there just as sure and the sun arose this morning and you depend on me. Will have lots and lots of toys and games for the boys in and around Seaford and if the roads are clear I think I will use the new truck, should it snow you be sure your father has the paths clear and that your mother has a good warm fire.

Be good boy, don't eat too much, always look both ways before you cross the roads as we don't want any sick or injured boys on Christmas or any other day.

Take good care of your brother, mother and father and I will be on the job.

Until Then,

your old friend

Santa

North Pole

Dec. 15 1940

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I especially love the typewriter that drops the letters. The fact that it came from my grandfather whose picture is in the dictionary next to cantankerous is even better!

Enjoy! I have two more favorite posts and then some great posts for next week!

My Favorite Things Thursday!

2011-05-05T04:00:00.000-07:00

I have had this dresser ever since I could remember. It was my mother's and was in her room and in mine ever since. It was a piece I never thought too much of until I moved out of the house. Funny how that is but I absolutely love it and it wouldn't feel like home unless this was in my house. It dawned on me one day that the top looks like a crown. No wonder I felt like a princess at times growing up (and I am sure acted like one at times too)!

I don't know its value nor its age but it will always be a very special piece to me.

Happy Thursday!

My Favorite Things Wednesday

2011-05-04T04:24:00.000-07:00

I have had the privilege of belonging to a group of women from the time my daughter was 6 months old. We formed a playgroup. The story of how I got invited into this group is nothing but God's work. We have been able to keep our friendships strong and have been witness to so many major events in each others lives. In has truly been a blessing to call these women my friends. So leaving Richmond VA to move to TN was hard for a variety of reasons. Leaving family, and friends was very overwhelming. A couple of nights before we left town we all got together for a dinner and they surprised me with this beautiful platter.

It was created by one of my dear friends and executed by each member. I have it proudly displayed in my kitchen. It reminds me constantly of our friendship and that God is good. A reminder that I absolutely need each and every day.

My Favorite Things Tuesday

2011-05-03T04:00:00.000-07:00

I decorated my daughter's room in dragonfies and ladybugs. Ever since then dragonflies have been my signature. I recieved a beautiful necklace on my 2nd Mother's day from my husband. I adore the necklace for so many reasons. It reminds me of being a Mom, of what a wonderful gift it is. It will always remind me of my daughter and how much being a Mom has changed me.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my favorite things. I am thinking of doing a link party where you all can share yours. Stay tuned!

My Favorite Things Monday

2011-05-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

Day 2 of my sharing favorite things. I should have prefaced the first post that my first and always favorite "thing" is my family! Which actually is a great segway into today's favorite thing which is Creative Memories software StoryBook and Memory manager. I have used both pieces of software for many years now and absolutely love them. I probably use the software if not once a day at least several times a week.
I have used the memory manager to catalog digitally all my photos. We have used it to create a slideshow of our beloved Nina when she passed. It made it so easy to do as I could pull up all photos within seconds of her that we had!
The Storybook software I use to create cards, scrapbook pages, pieces of Art, gift tags. . I could go on. I especially love using vintage cards and postcards and with this software I can digitally cut these up without harming the orginal. I know that I could use photoshop or some other software but these are not as easy to use. The software is so user friendly and makes it easy to alter photos that might take someone with more experienc to excute within a program like Photoshop.

Here is a sampling of some of the projects. You can also find some projects I have posted here, here, here and here and here. Okay I won't go on!

I should also mention that I am not a Creative Memories consultant! I just really love a good product. If you have questions specifically on the product I am sure you can find a creative memories consultant within your area but would be more than happy to answer them!

My favorite things

2011-04-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

I am going to post each day this week and share with you some of my favorite things. Some are old some are and some are brand new.
In honor of Sunday I wanted to share one of my new favorite things. In all honesty it is not my favorite thing. It was a gift I gave to my husband this Easter. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. I would love to say I purchased it from an antique store or a welder but I purchased it from Lifeway Christian store.
I love its simplicity and was pleasantly surprised at how the shadow is created from the lights in the kitchen. My hubby Mr. Jackpot picked the place right over the pantry door. A place we visit each day and plainly displayed where we can see it in the kitchen.

Stay tuned! I hope each of you enjoy each post!

Biting off more than you can screw! Punn intended.

2011-04-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

I purchased this shade at Ikea for our playroom.

Its bright red complimented the primary color scheme. I do want to have red accents in the downstairs great room / kitchen but a bright red velvet lamp shade just doesn't seem right above an eating area. I got the urge to change the boring pendant fixture the builder installed on a Monday afternoon.

I was going through my fabric stash . .trying to widdle it down when I stumbled across some fun and quirky fabric. So the plan was to cover the shade and swap out getting rid of glass shade. I hot glued the fabric to the shade. If you are going to venture doing this it is much easier to get the fabric on a shade when doing so on the bias. Also be careful what setting your hot glue gun is on as I burned my thumb doing so, should have been my first warning.

This project should have been simple just unscrew the glass coupling that holds it and put the Ikea shade in its place. Well yeah sure if whoever installed the light fixture did that correctly. But alas no they screwed it on crooked and the glass shade wouldn't come off.

So plan "B", get an inexpensive pendant kit from Home Depot ($14) and change it. Easy enough, done this before. Hmmm well would have been easy if whoever installed the fixture hadn't stripped the screws. So there I was on a ladder trying desperately to unscrew the pendent from the light box, crying by now and cursing the person who installed it. While I am perched on the top of the ladder, screwdriver in hand (yes the electricity turned off) the kids come screaming downstairs because they hear a siren. Of course being the responsible mother I am, I yelled at them, sent them back upstairs saying it was just a police siren.
More cursing and crying on my part then in the back of my head a small voice saying "hmm Vickie the Doppler effect is not working on that siren. You might want to notice the hail that is now falling outside."
I climb down the ladder pull out my phone and notice all the Weather Channel warnings and then it clicked. Crap there is a tornado coming! :-) So downstairs to the basement we go, some puppet shadows later and thankfully no tornado! Oh yeah and there is nothing like a tornado with two kids to make you really feel like an adult. You realize quickly instead of being the one coming unraveled you need to keep it together.

My wonderful husband managed to get the remaining stripped screw off and I was able to get my project gone bad done. Of course my hubby did manage to say he thought I bit off more than I could chew! He was right but only because someone couldn't screw right! :-)

Here is the before:

Here is the after:

What do you think? Better? So now I have to figure out what fabric to do for curtains to coordinate? I don't have enough fabric to make curtains for the kitchen. Do you think a cord cover would be over doing it? Would love some feedback!

I am hoping to keep the momentum going on the crafting so stay tuned.

I probably should have prefaced my previous post with the fact that I plan my menus a week in advance. from my blog browsing I realize a lot of other people do too. I wish I knew this a while ago as most of my friends joked with me about this. The planner that I am it never occurred to me that it was strange! :-) I found it necessary to prevent the question of "what is for dinner" and oh I don't feel like that. Of course this is only if you can read . .my four year old still asks the question What are we having for dinner. Which I am a bit befuddled by as the only thing the kid will eat is chicken nuggets! :-)
On the menu this week are a few items that will use the leftover ham from Easter. I must be used to still hosting large gatherings as I picked a ham from Costco which could have easily fed our small neighborhood.
Monday we had ham and cheese biscuits with a very yummy poppy seed spread. I think I look forward to these just as much as the Easter dinner.
We grilled out this weekend and have now gotten into the habit of grilling extra meat for later in the week. Usually it is chicken breasts which we did this week and it is so yummy over a salad. Also makes for a great easy quick meal.
I have a long standing stuffed shell recipe that calls for diced ham. Sound unusual but it is very good and freezes well. Our backyard neighbor just had a baby so I plan on surprising them with a meal.
To finish out our week I am making a LaBamba Casserole which has ground turkey, tomatoes and other Mexican ingredients. I have posted the recipe for the shells and LaBamba casserole. Will post pics of the dishes later.
Hoping to finally finish the pendant over the kitchen table. As usual that is taking far too long than expected. Oh and tonight and tomorrow here in Nashville are supposed to be filled with severe thunderstorms and possible tornadoes! Just call me Dorothy.

Stuffed Shells
4 Oz's (about 18-20) large pasta shells, cooked & drained
2 cups finely chopped cooked ham or turkey <-- the leftover ham from Easter is perfect for this recipe.
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Miracle Whip Salad Dressing
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 Tablespoons cold water
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
1 tablespoon margarine melted
1 teaspoons of Italian herbs
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Pour spaghetti sauce coating the bottom of the pan
Combine ham, ricotta cheese, salad dressing, Italian seasoning & onions mix lightly
Fill shells with ham mixture; place filled side up in a shallow baking dish.
Add 2 tablespoons cold water to dish; cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
Combine Parmesan cheese crumbs, parsley, and margarine, sprinkle over shells. Continue baking, uncovered, 5 minutes.

If you wish to microwave the dish . .omit the water. Cover dish and vent, microwave on high 7 to 8 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan mixture & let stand 5 minutes.
If you wish to freeze, omit the Parmesan mixture until you are ready to bake.

LaBamba Casserole
This recipe came from Cooking Light magazine, and is a crowd pleaser. I usually make this in two small pans and freeze a portion.

Hope everyone is enjoying spring like weather without the threat of tornadoes!

Window into a Menu

2011-04-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

I inherited two old windows from my Grandfather's estate. Not exactly
every one's cup of tea but to me they were two wonderful treasures. One window I turned into a mirror. The other was hanging in my old mudroom as a whiteboard. I found the whiteboard material at Lowes. The quality was never that good, it was hard work getting the ink off so we rarely used it.

I have tried several different vinyl blackboards on my pantry door only to have them either to be terribly off center or it tore. I got the idea to cover the white board in blackboard to use it as my menu planner. I purchased the adhesive blackboard material at Michaels for under $5.
I love the outcome and the fact that I now can look at my grandfather's window everyday. In the process I also discovered chalk ink (Wet Wipe). I always wondered how markets could get such creative and smooth lines on their chalkboards! I truly am in love! :-)
Of course now my creative mind is now turning over all the other things I can cove in blackboard adhesive! I will be sure to post.

A couple of tricks working with this. Go slowly! Use an old credit card or pastry scraper to smooth it down while putting the blackboard "contact paper" on. It tears very easily so if you need to re-position it tread lightly.

So whats on my menu this week? Stay tuned I'll post it tomorrow! :-)

Too cute!

2011-04-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

My hubby and I discovered Cheekwood here in TN over the weekend. I fell in love and it gave hubby a chance to play with his new camera. Our entire family had fun and I plan on posting about it later but wanted to share these pictures with you. I hope you get a chuckle out of them like I did. Honestly I think I might have been embarrassing my family a little with how tickled I was with these two squirrels.

They seemed to be okay with sharing a hole that was barely big enough for them to fit into. While we snapped away with our camera they both popped in and out of the hole several times. These are some of the good ones!

Enjoy and happy spring everyone!

Teaser: Light Project

2011-04-19T19:35:00.000-07:00

I cannot tell you how wonderful is to have my craft/creative mojo back! The story of how I changed this builder grade lamp from this:

Into a modified version of this:

Is in and of itself not a breathtaking or astonishing story. A very simple change but so much better. My next post will be the after photos. We are supposed to be getting our new kitchen table tomorrow so I want to wait to take pictures then.

What really is interesting is the story of actually getting the pendant fixture installed. It involves a tornado, electricity, some foul language, blood, a lot of sweat and yes tears! :-) I think we all have had those creative moments when the odds are stacked against us and we don't think it will ever be done.

Happy crafting!

Southern Hospitality

2011-04-18T20:26:00.000-07:00

Being in a new town, and new neighborhood I thought I would introduce myself and show a little southern hospitality to my new neighbors. I aboslutely love my Mom's Chocolate Chip Banana Bread recipe. So much so that I find myself secretly setting aside bananas to get a little too ripe, just to make the bread. It also is the perfect recipe to make with kids, they make great banana mashers. I think my neighbors were a little startled to see me at their door with a basket of bread but they got over it when they heard what it was. In true "Vickie" style I made simple bags (felt funny showing up with a brick of alumnium foil), stamped them and created a tag. I was even called "Suzy homemaker" by one neighbor, I am taking this as a compliment. I wanted to share the recipe, my way of saying welcome to my blog since I can't personally bake a loaf for each of you! Mom's Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

2 1/2 cups Flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs (you can sub Egg beaters)

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously grease 4 6"x3"x2" foil loaf pans. In a mediumbowl, stir flour baking soda and salt, set aside. In a large mixer bowl at medium speed beat sugar, oil and eggs until blended. Add bananas and beat until well blended. At low speed beat in flour mixture just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips, pour into loaf pans. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in foil pans for 10 min, remove from pans and cool on wire racks. Wrap in plastic wrap then foil and store overnight before serving.

Jewelry Display

2011-04-14T10:46:00.000-07:00

I have ~~amassed~~ collected a good amount of costume jewelry which doesn't fit into my jewelry box and tends to apparently have fights with my other more delicate necklaces. The other problem I was facing was having to go on a treasure hunt for the matching earrings. What is a crafty girl that has just moved to do? Well I unearthed the two message boards that were taken down prior to putting our house on the market. I recovered these and now have my very own botique jewelry display. I am going to hang both of these in my closet. I wish that this would allow me to always be accessorized but this is pushing it these days.

This was a a relatively simple project. Message boards can be found all over, I have seen them at many a goodwill / garage sale. I actually purchased two at a garage sale ($5 for both). I love the natural look of the linen and stamped a dragonfly on each. Besides the red truck (which I do have a stamp of) dragonflies are my signature. We decorated my daughters room in dragonflies and my first mother's day gift was a dragonfly pendant. All I needed was the two message boards, about a 1 1/2 yards of Linen and one package of quilt batting. You will also need scissors, staple gun, and T-pins. 1) Place the message board on top of the batting and cut out the shape leaving about a 3" boarder around it. Leave the board ontop of the batting.

2) Stretch the batting over the edge and place a staple in the center of each side pull nice and tight, then move on to the corners. To make the corners smooth cut at an angle from the corner of the batting to the corner of the board, then cut again from the side edge to the corner of the board, removing a triangular section.

3)Once done fold, the side over and staple, fold the top corner at an angle and staple leaving you with a smooth edge.

4)Staple the remaining edges. Repeat with your choice of fabric.

This could be done on a piece of MDF, or even cardboard. I wanted the extra plush of the batting to sink the T pin into in. The T pins can be purchased at most craft stores and even at office supply stores. Happy Crafting everyone!

Paint Colors

2011-04-02T20:40:00.000-07:00

What always seems like so exciting and enjoyable can quickly become overwhelming. Paint colors can totally become an obsessions. . . .I think I walked around with about 30 paint chips in my purse for the last 2 weeks! So here are some of the finalists.

Windy Blue Sherwin Williams SW6240

Macadamia Sherwin Williams SW6142

Of course my daughter really wanted to pick her own colors. It still totally confuses her little 8 year old head as to why her mother didn't paint her bedroom pink before she was born. She doesn't understand that in the womb she was just as stubborn as she is now and wouldn't cooperate and let us see she was a girl. So we did eventually did find out she was a girl but of course after I had picked out blue, green and dragonflies and lady bugs for a theme! :-)

Here is her choice:

Panache Pink by Sherwin Williams SW6848 I got some inspiration by the model home here in our neighbor hood but my daughter pinked the pink all by herself. We comprised a bit and I am painting one wall this color and the other walls a very diluted custom shade.

Here is a picture of her previous room.

Great way to create a keepsake.

2011-04-02T19:36:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine asked me to make a garter for her wedding out of the lace from her Mom's wedding veil. I wished I had taken a picture of the veil, it was cathedral length and had 3" lace bordering the entire veil. It was very pretty. After making the garter we had a lot of lace leftover. The bride wasn't sure what to do with the remainder of the lace. I asked if I could do something for her. I made 5 pillow cases and a couple small pillows out of the lace from the veil, wonderfully soft broadcloth and vintage buttons.

The bride was able to keep a few pillows for herself and give some to her sister and Mom. It ended up being a great way to keep something so special in the family. Hope it inspires some of you to do the same.

During this process of making the pillowcases, my Mom taught me a great easy way to make the pillows. I am hoping to share the instructions in a post soon!

What the wind brought to Nashville.

2011-03-26T20:36:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Nashville among the floods and tornado warnings. Yes you read that right. On Monday Feb. 28th we were among the crazy drivers heading west into the tornadoes and torrential rains. It took us over 8 hours to drive from Knoxville TN to Nashville.

We closed on the house on March 1st despite some last minute closing hiccups.

Let me forewarn those of you entering into the real estate market soon . . .it is crazy stressful. All the years of being extremely lenient has now made all parties involved overly cautious. Even one blemish on your credit and it is a show stopper. So all those financial guys saying to pay attention to your credit score and what is on it are so correct! Also realize you must have all papers ready . . .and I mean ALL. If you have pages 1 - 8 and 4 of them are blank they still need all 8!

I promise to post some pictures soon. As you can imagine moving 600+ miles away with two small kids is overwhelming stressful. I am so happy to report that both my kids are doing great and we have some sweet friends who have made the transition very sweet!

We have met two of our neighbors and hopeful once all the rain lets up we will meet more. I do absolutely love my house which is slowly feeling like home. The first two nights here I kept thinking someone was going to kick me out in the morning and tell me to go home. I still feel like a visitor most of the time but now that I am able to start unpacking my craft room it is starting to feel a little more real.

Here are a few pictures of just some of the many things I love about this house. I promise to start posting more pictures soon as we have made some color decisions! The first was easy . .my 8 year old daughter wants a pink room! :-)
We had a very modest master bedroom in Richmond but now we have a very large one with a sitting room no less! I have no idea what I am going to do with the space.

Love the LIGHT!!! I snapped this photo of the hallway. I love the light and the arch above. I am standing in the family room area looking out to the front door.

The VIEW. I still can't believe the view we have from both the front and back of the house. The above photo doesn't do it justice so I promise to post more.

Saying Goodbye and moving on!

2011-02-20T14:05:00.000-08:00

This past week as we prepare to make our move to Nashville TN I have been on a rollar coaster of emotions. If you could hug a house I would. I realized this week how much I put into my house both literally and figuratively! :-) Yes I look forward to starting over in a new home and the home we have the fortune and opportunity to purchase is wonderful. But this is the home where I brought my babies home to. This is the home I have laughed, cried, mourned, held celebrations, dinners made so many memories in. It is near impossible to picture another family here doing the same thing.
I also want to warn those entering the real estate market to be careful. We had to major hiccups that I truly thought were going to make every hair on my head turn gray! Two areas to watch out for; Appraisers and Banks. We had the unfortunate luck of getting a highly incompetent appraiser. You might think well no big deal you request a different one. Yeah one would think in a fair and just world this would be true but no it isn't. Secondly banks can do almost anything they want to like pulling a loan out from under you at the last minute! :-)
I plan on keeping everyone up to date on our progress but it might take a little while. Hope every one is eagerly awaiting spring as much as I am.

New Home!!!

2011-02-02T15:36:00.000-08:00

Well our 4 + month wait to sell our home finally paid off. We are under contract and boy does it feel good (most of the time). I don't remember another time in my life when my emotions were on a roller coaster, not even during my two pregnancies!

If all goes well we close on our existing house at the end of February and make our way to Brentwood TN closing on our new home on March 1st. Yes I said new home! We are very blessed to have everything fall into place so wonderfully. God is so in the details as I am very fully aware that this was not done of my own will.

Here are some pictures of our new home. I am so excited to share these and hope that this year i will be able to share with all of you my decorating journey!

Soon it will be what color, fabric should I use! I can't wait for that. Right now though I am overwhelmed with all the things that I will need to accomplish before the 25th. But if you have any color recommendations please post them. I have tried a variety of greens by digitally covering the areas on my computer but can't seem to come up with a color that really speaks to me for the kitchen/great room!

I do have a few crafts/DIY items to post before boxing up this house so stay tuned!

Can you guess what this is made from?

2011-01-11T18:40:00.000-08:00

I have had numerous comments on the way I display my holiday cards. I LOVE mail. I mean I even can detect the sound of the mail truck before it reaches my neighborhood. So needless to say I really enjoy getting all the holiday cards in the mail. It seems such a shame to me to put them in a basket, or a pile somewhere. I am not sure exactly where I got this idea but here is a picture of how I display my cards.

If you guessed a tomato cage you were right. I spray painted the cage white and turned it upside down. I put felt pads used for furniture and other objects on the bottom to not scratch my hardwood floor. I twisted the top portion together and secure with some floral wire. I glued some ribbons using a hot glue gun into the larger wooden bowl found at the craft store (which I had painted and glittered) and then glued the small bowl on top (actually the bottom of the bowl). This went on top of the "tree". Then using a variety of ribbons, I lost count at how many rolls, I tied all the ribbons around the rings of the "tree". This way I could have the tree out without it looking plain. I use small wooden clothes pins to attach the cards as I receive them to the ribbons and the tree itself.

Having two children born both in February I usually keep it out to display their birthday cards too.

By the way it is really hard to find tomato cages in the dead of winter. I did manage to find them at a local Southern States store. So if you get the urge to create this you might wait until the spring!

How to information & New Years Send off!

2011-01-03T13:06:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the delay in getting this information out to you! I found the inspiration and instructions for the snow men I posted previously from a Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Crafts magazine. These came from Johanna Parker, you can find her instructions here. I am in absolute crafters envy . . .her designs are just so whimsical and fun! I did enjoy working with this medium and plan on experimenting sometime in the future.

Right now my crafting adventures have to be kept to a minimum as we have our home STILL up for sale. I am very much looking forward to the time when my home won't be on display and can craft to me hearts desire. It is looking like we will possibly build when we relocate to Nashville TN. Which also means temporary housing of some manner. Has anyone reading this blog ever done this with two small kids? I know I am jumping the gun but I am a planner and a control freak. This basically boils down to insomnia because I go to sleep running all the what ifs, do we stay here and finish out school, how will this affect my children questions running through my head. So please post and share any tips you may have.

I truly hope that all of you are looking forward to 2011 with a full and joyful heart. With everything going on in the world I am fully aware that this is a daunting task for some. I know that the only way I can face 2011 with a full and joyful heart is because God loves me, is for me and even though it is hard sometimes I need to trust in that.

My seven year old daughter reminded me of this the other day. We were in the car and she said "Mom you know what I like about myself? I like that I have parents, that God made me and that God loves me!"

2010-12-24T12:12:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to each of you.

I was listening to some Christmas music yesterday which led me to dwell on the baby Jesus. I wondered if he was a fussy baby, if he had croup, if he gave his parent's trouble with sleeping. Did he fall asleep easily, take naps, spit out his veggies. Then I realized how awesome it is that our Lord, our savior, our redeemer was a baby, cried and was cared for by Mary. How awesome is this that I can today ponder these questions that he was fully human and needy of a Mother's affections.

I hope that each of you are able to spend a moment reflecting this. That you are known by him and are loved abundantly. May you realize you were loved so much that God give Jesus to all that will believe in him.

Merry Christmas and may you fully realize the Lord's blessings in your life!!!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-20T08:18:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas to all that celebrate it!

I love making my own Christmas Cards and the Creative Memories Storybook software helps me so much in creating these. Last year I purchased a few vintage postcards and used those to create my cards using the Storybook software. I was in one of my favorite shops around Easter last year and discovered a few vintage Christmas postcards and purchased them. I have so much fun scanning these in and creating my own cards using bits and pieces of each vintage postcard. Above is actually an Easter postcard that I found of Mary. I love this picture of her and cropped her to convert her to a Christmas Card. I think it captures the true meaning of Christmas so wonderfully.

Below are the other three cards I created using the software, our own family pictures and bits and pieces of the vintage post cards. I love the modern card of just the two kids, very different from the traditional feel of the other two. I used some of the tools in the Storybook software and I think this took me literally 2 minutes to create. Sometimes simple is better!

Enjoy!!!

New Craft Venture . .this is why I have been absent.

2010-12-14T16:23:00.000-08:00

I found the idea for this craft in a holiday craft magazine. I will have to scan the picture in to share. The craft used instant paper mache which I have never worked with before. Well at least since grade school!

I called them snowmen tassels and they came out very unique and very eccentric. They each had a their own personality and should have each had their own name. I would have named each individually if I had time more time! These were a labor of love to say the least. I enjoyed working with the paper mache and the more I made the better I became at working with the medium. I found the fast dry paper mache is better to work with and only takes a couple of days to dry! :-)

I would have taken some action shots but your hands get really messy and honestly no one else was around! I had to make these during naps or bed times as this was not a 3 year old friendly project. Or I should say not a project for a 3 year old while you are trying to sell your house at the same time! :-)

So here is the before picture:

And here are their pictures from their photos shoots. I made about 14 in all. This is just a sampling! I may try and perfect this as the medium was very fun to work with.

Gingersnaps!

2010-12-03T06:04:00.000-08:00

I love a good Gingersnap, it has to be crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside. My father-n-law also loves Gingersnap. We had my mother-n-law and father-n-law over for dinner Sunday night and to decorate the tree. I re-discovered the recipe when looking for a cooking recipe other than chocolate chip cookies. This is a great easy recipe and one of my tried and true. Thought I would share this recipe since it is that time of year when you are invited to cookie swaps! Enjoy!!!!

I should note that this recipe was in a publication called The Dinner Bells which was a collection of recipes benefiting St. Jame's church here in Richmond.

The Inn At Little Washington's Gingersnaps

3c flour

1 1/2 T. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. ginger

1 1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup plus 2 T. unsalted butter, softened & cut into pieces

1/2 cup dark molasses

2 eggs

Extra sugar for dipping dough

Mix all ingredients together. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in sugar. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Loosen cookies with spatula. Cookies will be soft but firm up as they cool. Cool for 30 minutes then transfer to paper towels. Freezes well.

Yields 3 dozen.

Days Til Christmas & Give away

2010-11-28T17:24:00.000-08:00

I loved viewing some great advent/Christmas countdown calenders recently on a few blogs. I had one that was victim to a stomach bug last year (you don't want to know, trust me) so I needed to replace it!

Always up for a challenge, I wanted to create one too. I decided to restrict myself to using only items I had on hand. I used some leftover fabric, my Cricut Expression machine with scrap paper, paint, ribbon, glue gun and magnets. The only challenge now is to find items small enough to fit in the 1/2" "bag"! I am hoping stickers, and mini candy canes will work. I also used a secret craft item to get the bags to be removeable from the countdown! One hint, I used them in another craft project I worked on.

Since I haven't done a give-away recently whomever can guess how the magnets on the back of the bags stick to the canvas, I will send them some handmade Christmas tags found in my July post

Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving! I was so thankful for jeans with stretch afterwards! :-) I had visions of Joey on Friends when he borrowed some maternity pants!

A little rock and a LONG story!

2010-11-21T05:30:00.000-08:00

I love giving gifts, actually I love creating gifts to give. When my daughter was less than 6 months old God decided to bless me with an encounter with a new Mom. Lori had just formed a playgroup and invited me. These girls have been my most cherished friends ever since. Lori also invited me to her church and had a large part with me re-discovering my Christian faith. I have been creating different gifts for Christmas for them for a few years now. Last year I made aprons out of vintage handkerchiefs. These turned out great and were a very fun project.
So this year I am a little hesitant or lacking confidence I should say and would love your feedback.

A little background first . . . We vacationed in Topsail, NC this year. It was a particular hard week for me as Mr. Jackpot had to work (the wonderful side effect of being your own boss) so I was on my own with my two kids for most of the week. I discovered that Topsail beaches have some wonderful polished rocks. These are thin and smooth and each has their own shape. Being that I was in a particular contemplative mood, I began thinking how God shapes each of us just like these rocks. He works constantly and lovingly to shape us into his image. Sometimes there are rough times just like the sand but it works for His glory to smooth us. Each individual rock gets his attention being placed in the right area of the vast ocean to be shaped, and made in the image he has of us.
I got to thinking that each of my precious girlfriends have been shaped just like each rock. We each carry our own story of how the Lord has worked in us. God is in control of each little tiny grain of sand and controls the vast expanse of oceans. I wanted to create a reminder for my girlfriends of how God’s hand is in everything and working for our good. I decided to pick a rock out for each of them. I took them home and painted a cross with a pink cloth on it. My thought is they could put it in there purse, nightstand, drawer and hopefully each time they see it / feel it they would think of this. I found myself holding a rock in my hand while on the beach and roll it, rubbing it and praying.

Here is the story I am going to place in a handmade pouch along with the painted rock:

I found this rock for you on the beach. It has been touched and created by God! He created this rock, placed it in the ocean and let the sand smooth it. He let the ocean turn it over to smooth and shape each edge against the sand. He let the ocean current carry it from place to place. He then delivered this rock on the beach, where I found it. When you hold this rock remember that God is in the details. He is in control of each grain of sand, each rock, each ocean, and each beach. He does all this for His glory and out of love.
During this Christmas time I am so thankful that His gift, given out of Love has made me holy in His sight, free of accusation. That His Love works on me every day to shape me. Remember that He is in all things both visible and invisible and that even the rough times are meant to shape us in His image just like this rock.
Your sister eternally in Christ.
Please give me your feedback. I am not sure if my “deep thoughts” and the rocks should be kept to me left plain or trust that God is in control and has given me this idea so I should follow through.

Thank you also for allowing me to post this without worrying about being judged or ridiculed!

Fibromyalgia . . .some random ramblings

2010-10-21T07:38:00.000-07:00

At my first post for October after being "absent" from the blogging world for a while I commented on some on and off health issues. I am not sure why I haven't shared that I have Fibromyalgia before but I am now. I have had a couple months of some severe "flares" as they are called. For those of you not familiar with the condition, the only way I can find to describe what it feels like is to wake up one morning feeling like you have the flu, & not the 24 hour kind! The run over by a mac truck, hurt from your head to your feet and feel like you are walking through quick sand type of flu.

It took me 2 years to be diagnosed and am still struggling. These last couple of weeks have been extremely rough. I know all those crafters out there can relate when you can't craft it actually adds to your stress. I also know that stress is a trigger for this condition but sometimes life stresses can't be avoided. So anyone else out there suffer from this? I am struggling with trying to find a treatment that provides me more "normal" weeks that not. It is truly a journey especially being used to a very active lifestyle and only requiring usually about 6 hrs of sleep. I now require at minimum 8 sometimes more and with a 3 & 7 year old home it is hard to get more than that. My hubby (I love how everyone has nicknames for their hubbys) so to quote someone in my bible study I will forever more call him my "jackpot"! As I was rambling . .Jackpot has been so supportive but also at the same time feels so helpless.

Anyway I wanted to post this out there as I know we all struggle with issues in our daily lives. If you are struggling too I am right along there with you. Funny since I have barely had the energy lately to lift my butt off the recliner your bloggers have been a creative life-line for me. So I guess this is a thank you and a motivation! Please keep crafting and posting because you really are providing a blessing to everyone out there!

I have plans on posting again soon but hey . . .as we all know the best laid plans . . . . .

Up-cycle and add some bling!

2010-10-19T19:29:00.000-07:00

Warning this project does require for some knowledge of sewing. However if you are able to sew a button on and work an iron . .you could sew (he he, sorry I couldn't resist this) do this !
I have been coveting these jeans from Coldwater Creek at the time they weren't on sale. Being that they were $150 these were not in my budget! So I decided to put my education to some use and create my own embroidered jeans. Off to good will where I purchased two pairs of jeans for a total of $6.99 (These were gap jeans by the way). Then off to Jo-Ann fabrics where I found pre-embroidered items that you can iron on. Which most craft stores have a great selection of iron on items these days. I knew that just ironing on wouldn't hold up to wash and wear or denim. So after ironing on the applique (on sale for $3.00/each) I used a blanket stitch to secure them to the denim (you could just use some small stitches and forgo the blanket stitch). I know a little tedious but I also added some bling and the same time, I had purchased some seed beads too. This is not usually me, I am not the bling type . .my Mother-n-law is and I love her style. So we all need a little "out of the box" moment and this was mine. I love how they turned out and for less than $12.00 (including tax) I got a pair of custom "blinged" jeans.

I highly recommend shopping for jeans at goodwill, they are all usually laundered (I actually did find a couple still with tags on them) and you can search through a variety of sizes and styles.

Boys will be boys?

2010-10-16T17:08:00.000-07:00

Having had my first child be a girl I am just really getting to discover the differences between boys and girls. Like having to say please don't climb the 2" overhang on the stairs until you are hanging 6 feet in the air. Or how did you get to be hanging from your wall shelf with nothing under you and it is 5 feet off the ground?
So now I get to say remember don't stand on the windowsill or you might break your arm. The pull of seeing a fire truck I will admit is probably strong but seriously. Stand on a windowsill, that is maybe 4" deep? So one fractured humerus later we have a 3 year old boy in a cast. The next dilemma was what can I dress you in!
So for those that need to know now or will need to know in the future here it is. By the way he has a cast that goes from below shoulder to around the thumb. I have found the fake layered t-shirts are working pretty good as I can cut off the sleeve at the short sleeve seam. This allows his good arm (argh I hate saying that) to be warm and use the short sleeve side to go on first over his bright red cast. The bonus is absolutely no sewing as the fake short sleeve is already hemmed! :-) Take a closer look at the photo at the top for the finished shirt! The white arm si the one with the cast. He wouldn't let us take the sleeve off the cast they put on when we left.
Hope this adds some help to other Moms of boys who love to climb and break arms!

Sorry , ,so sorry

2010-10-11T17:29:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the time between posts. I have good reasons though! The good and bad news is we are in the process of hopefully moving! :-) My husband has his own business which is great . .especially since he has been able to work from home for 8 years. His business is growing and he is needed in Nashville TN! So we have a wonderful house for sale in a suburb of Richmond VA.

In addition to being gone most of August, getting kids ready then settled into school, some off and on health issues and preparing a house for sale I have been a little distracted. Our home has been on the market for not quite 30 days and while the interest has been great no offers yet.

So I am soliciting advice on how to cope with two kids, a hubby who is traveling and keep a company afloat, all while trying to sell a house! :-)

If you have lived, or do live in Nashville some local information would be awesome. We are looking at houses sporadically but it is hard to do util we have a contract on our home here.

Here is a picture of my home for 10 years!

We have done some great updating and I will post later on some of our house features I love! But first could use some advice! Here are two areas in the home that I am debating to paint over. I hate to as they were both labors of love but I am realistic that it doesn't appeal to everyone.

The first up is in my family room. We have a large wall over the sofa and couldn't afford a large piece of art or many frames to fill the space at the time. I painted a block of color then highlighted the edge with a freehand detail to bring in the colors in the rest of the house. I have all intentions of conveying the frames with the house so the future owners could put their photos into the frames. But realistically I know not everyone likes these colors. My hubby is voting for putting a sign that says we could paint over it prior to closing. What do you all think?

The second area in question is the dining room. It is one of the first rooms I finished in the house. I stenciled the border (10 step process) but so worth it in my book. Our realtor is afraid potential buyers might think it is a wallpaper border. I haven't wanted or had the heart to paint over it! What is your opnion paint over it or leave it and offer to paint over it upon purchase. (By the way we have all the paint to paint over or have provie the future owners).

2010-08-13T16:55:00.000-07:00

Freebie Friday!

Hope this finds everyone doing well and looking forward to the end of summer as much as I am. I will be traveling heavily the next few weeks off and on so it will be hard for me to do many more freebie Fridays until September. I will try but forgive me if I am not able to! :-)

I have two wonderful children who decided to make their earthly debut both in February. This past birthday I had a lot of fun creating their themed birthday invitations using my Storybook software from Creative Memories.

My son's theme was rockets, he LOVES rockets and is in a different colored "rocket" each night as he blasts off to bed. My daughter loves Barbies so of course this was her theme.

I wanted to share these two invitations with you to show you how you can create wonderful invitations at a fraction of the cost on your own. I haven't purchased invitations or cards for years now.

The rocket invitation below was put together by hand but all the pieces were created on my computer or cut out using my Cricut machine (the greatest hubby on earth gave this to me for Christmas!). The Freebie part of this is the rocket image. Believe it or not I created this totally digitally using the storybook software. I just used the shape tools and cut the shapes I knew I wanted. So feel free to download this and use for your little astronaut!

The Barbie Party we had for my 7 year old daughter was so much fun! I planned a ton of games and will create a post regarding this party soon. If you are planning a barbie party for this age group I have the whole thing planned! Below is her invitation. The Freebie part are the three Barbie pictures. I created this line drawing by hand and scanned into my computer then imported into my Storybook software. My daughter and I had a blast digitally changing her dress color, shoes, present colors etc . . . So let your inner diva have fun with these images or share it with your Barbie lover in your family.

I hope you all enjoy these images and if you love to create your own cards feel free to use these to create some cards. My daughter loves to color her own Barbie in and also use some of my scraps of fabric to dress her barbie! She cuts the fabrics out and glues them on with a glue stick!
Have fun & I hope to post more frequently soon!!!

Freebie Friday! (and on time)!! :-)

2010-08-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

The winner is Kim! (send me an email with your mailing address & your choice of either the ladybug or the rocket fabric. I will get this shipped out to you, congrats!

Still Time left to win the tic tac toe game of your choice!!! Leave a comment by 12 pm tonight!
Freebie Friday!

So I posted this past Sunday that I would make this worth your while and I hope I have! So as my previous post said about bottle caps I have collected quite a few last summer. I have been trying to think of all the different crafts I can do such as the bottle cap magnets. I have come up with a tic tac toe game for kids (or adults who still think they are kids) that can travel with you. Yes using bottle caps . .wait I know you are asking for kids are you sure? Bottle caps will go right into their mouths . .no they won't!

So here is a peek and information on the giveaway that I try to have (failed completely last week).

For the Give away: Reply to this post by Sunday 12pm and on Monday morning I will announce the winner. The winner will be determined by random generator and must be a US citizen (sorry but I can't afford international shipping! :-) You will have your choice of the Rocket baby fabric or the ladybug & dragon fly fabric.

I will post a separate post regarding how to create this tic tac toe game using bottle caps! Here are more pictures of the game. Oh and this is not intended for kids under 3 as they may try to chew on the game pieces which contain magnets.

Here are pictures of the game and the game pieces. There is a triangular pocket on the left that holds the game pieces and it all rolls up to be easy to put in a bag. The pieces are parts of the fabric laminated with a magnet attached. The game "board" has the bottle caps under each square with padding under the bottle cap so it doesn't rip through the bottom. So no little hands getting to those bottle caps (the caps have all been washed but are safely under the fabric).

Tic Tac Toe Game Instructions

2010-08-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here is my attempt at documenting how to recreate this game. It had several iterations and I had trouble documenting this while my brain worked it out. To those of you that can do this my hat is off to you. This is far more difficult than I ever thought! :-)

Materials:

Fiberfil (stuffing - that white stuff that you stuff pillows and stuffed animals with.)

9 Bottle caps - washed and dried

10 magnets (make this the pro-magnets or heavy duty ones since they have to go through fabric).

Fabric, you will need two 9 1/2 X 9 1/2" squares. (Use light weight fabric for this as your magnets for your game pieces will need to go through the fabric.

Hot glue gun

>Items for your game pieces

Step one: Cut your square out of your desired fabric using pinking shears. Divide your square into 9, 3" squares (you need about a 1/4" all around for seams). I start by finding the center of the square and then measure from there. You will want to use chalk or pencil for this as you want it to show up. You can make your marked side be the back of the game.

Step two: Using your hot glue gun, place a quarter size portion of glue in the bottle cap (see picture) then place your fiberfill into the cap. You will want to make sure you have enough fiberfill to cover the edges but not too much to make the game too bulky.

Step Three: Place the two squares of fabric on top of each other making sure the marked side is on top. Using your zipper foot (so you can get close to the bottle caps) on your sewing machine sew your first lines to the left and right of the center column of squares. The picture doesn't show it however I recommend making two lines of stitching (see pictures of my freebie Friday post). This allows the game to fold up easier.

Step Four: Place your first bottle cap in the center of the square and then sewing your remaining lines. After the interior lines are sewn you can sew around the perimeter of the square. As you sew place your padded bottle caps into the squares. You will want to make sure that all your bottle caps are facing the right way!

Step Five: Make your game pieces. You can use the bottle cap magnet concept and do Xs and Os. Or as I did laminated fabric pieces, just glue the magnet to the back and you are ready to play. I thought of also using buttons, wood pieces from the craft store etc . . . Use your imagination to create a fun game. My daughter and I have fun with this game and I am always trying to entertain my two kids when we go out to eat.

Enjoy! Oh and I am sorry I don't have instructions to make the wrap to make this game portable. If you are crafty and can sew I know you will have no problems figuring this out. But I do intend plan on opening my Etsy store by the end of the summer and would like to sell these there. Don't want to give away all my secrets! :-)

My apologies!!! Freebie Friday Flop!

2010-08-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Freebie Friday Flop!!!
I apologize to everyone who reads my blog regarding me not posting a freebie Friday item until Sunday August 1st. I had all intentions but Mother Nature took control and wiped out our Electricity and Internet service until late Friday. Then of course kids and visiting family took precedence! (Sorry, I have to confess my blog usually doesn't come before kids)! :-)
So here is my Freebie Friday post much belated with a promise to fulfill my Friday obligation this week (and make it worth your while).

Freebie Cleaning Tip!

I can't claim ownership of this and will warn you that you will hate me after reading the next sentence. My wonderful kindred spirit house keeper (yes I have a house keeper, we eat lunch with her every other Tuesday and anxiously await her arrival) . .told me about a great natural way to keep my stainless steel dishwasher finger print and smudge free for at least a couple of days.

Here is the before picture of my grubby stainless steel dishwasher, now when I went to take this picture I was very pleased to realize it wasn't all that bad, not good for my demonstration but oh well I will NOT complain!

So to clean the dishwasher and keep finger prints from showing immediately, mix 4 tablespoons of olive oil to 1 cup of water. This ratio works for me but feel free to experiment. Oh and I used the extra virgin olive oil I cook with. I put this in a $1.00 spray bottle I purchased from target and use it only about 2XS a week. Very easy and simple. The only other note I have is to shake the bottle a bit before spraying as obviously oil and water don't mix!

Below is the "after" picture!

Hope this is helpful, the tip made me love my wonderful house keeper even more!

Happy Sunday!

Mudroom Redo

2010-07-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

I am going to apologize first, This is the wordiest post I have EVER done! Sorry about that but I thought maybe some of you could benefit from my quest for the best storage!!
I have been trying for years to renovate our mudroom. I took better before pictures but can't find them now! bummed! It has gone through many phases and storage ideas. I tried a table that was meant for the kitchen that was bar height to be used to pay bills etc. .. . We ended up using this as a dumping ground. An in-expensive bench found at Lowes ended up have shoes piled in front of it instead of in it. When we renovated our Attic I had an estimate done for built in cabinets and the estimate came back at almost $4000! Really!!! I thought truly I can come up with something that will work for under that!
Well it took me 3 years and it is finally done! Here are two pictures and I will try my best to describe everything. I searched so long to pull everything together and truly one trip to Ikea and another to Target and we are set!
Here is what I purchase and the approximate price:
Ikea Aspelund 3 door Wardrobe $199
2 small chests from Ikea for His & Her shoes, $39/each
2 baskets from Ikea $16.99
From Target, Barrel Planter for $19.99, 3 plastic drawer organizers $6.99/each, 3M Hooks (4 pkgs) 2.99/each, Post It organizers 2 pkgs for total of $12.00
Thirty OneSquare Utility Totes $24.50 each

Now math is so not my strong point but I believe this adds up to around $460. So for less than $500 and a lot of sweat (and blood). I managed to do the mudroom and have great storage and looks to boot! :-) I will have to confess, we did barter out the painting with a friend. We exchanged a 1 year old love seat for his painting services. It was so worth it! I did however thanks to many of you blogging about it do the wainscoting all by myself. It isn't the most perfect job but I am very impressed with the outcome.

Here is a picture of the wardrobe from Ikea!

This room was very hard to take a picture of the whole thing! Along the one wall as you can see, I have the Ikea wardrobe, baskets as mentioned on top for storage, and on either side of the ward robe I have "his" and "her" chests that my kids can sit on if needed and store the adult shoes. The art of the "Big girl panties" I posted before hangs on my side and on the other side is my hubby's art. He is the CTO of his own company so yes I am married to a geek (and love him deeply for it)! I got the idea for the art on another blog that has the "Be Calm and Carry On" link to it. The message board is on the left hand side of the room and it came from my Grandfather's farm window. When I got it the glass was already out if it and I tacked a white erase board on the back and hung it. It keeps phone numbers handy.

The photos below are from the inside of the wardrobe. I tried to maximize as much storage of out this 3 door wardrobe as I could! It has a hanging bar up top behind the two far left doors (one of which is mirrored!). Inside this I have an area for my kids shoes (the thirty one organizers with their names on it) and the pink and blue bins are for mittens/hats. On the inside of these doors I laminated a page with the days of the week, put it on a clipboard and hung this on a 3m hook. I am making one for each child and hope this will help them remember assignments and other activities. Behind the 3rd door of the wardrobe there are shelves, my husband & I each have a storage tote from Thirty One that holds our mail, gloves other "crap":-) The middle and bottom shelf I have put our file with the bills extra paper for our printer that we have downstairs, and used the 3M hooks to hang scissors, keys etc . . On the inside of the third door I found these great pockets from Post It. I was going to make and hang fabric pockets but these were already made and at a total of $12, it was a good bargain. I have one for coupons, another for menus and another for hubby's mail.

Freebie Friday!

2010-07-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

Winner!: Tammy from Flat Creek Farm

Congratulations Tammy please send me an email with your mailing information and I will get this out to you right away!

Freebie Friday and Give-away!

Almost didn't make it this week! The dog days of summer are really biting me here in VA! I can't believe we are looking at a weekend of 100+ days! UGH!!! Seriously I have been wanting Fall since June 1!

I really loved doing the bottle cap project I posted previously. The hardest part of the whole project was getting the photos to the right size. So I thought I would offer up a sheet of images that you can print out and use easily for the project. Just right click on the image below and you should be able to open it and print it out.

Now on to the giveaway!!! I will randomly select one poster to receive a set of the pictured bottle cap magnets below. The winner will be announced on Sunday, so you have until then to post. Thought I would extend this since I was so late in posting! (Please only US mailing addresses!)

Bottle cap Magnet Project

2010-07-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Usually during the summer I like to do some crafts with my Kids. Last year I created some custom art for their play room. This summer I decided to try something I have seen and wanted to do for a while. I collected a ton of bottle caps last summer and we selected some images to put into our bottle caps to make magnets. Her are the how to with pictures! The hands are those of my 7 year old daughter. This was a very fun project for her (not the pouring of the resin that should be for an adult only)! My 3 year old of course wanted to be in on it too (in the next to last picture below) and he could operate the punch by pressing it against the table. As usual when doing crafts with kids, check your inner "Martha" at the door.
Materials: 1" circular punch, bottle caps (cleaned and not bent), glue, Resin & the catalyst, old cookie tray, magnets.

1) Select your photos and print. I used a photo editing tool to scale my photos down to 1.5" square.

2) Using a 1" circular punch to cut out your photos. (I wouldn't recommend hand cutting) The circular punch can be picked up for under $10 at any craft store that sells scrapbook products.

3) Glue down your photos to the inside of your bottle cap. Note: Wash your caps before using and use only those that are flat and not bent.

6) Using Clear Casting Resin & the catalyst, follow the directions and mix the two together. I used the measurements for the 1/4" single cast technique. When they say mix in a well ventilated area they mean. This stuff SMELLS!!! So I would use this either outside or in a well ventilated garage.

7) Use an old cookie tray and place the bottle caps on the tray. You want a very even surface, mine was not and some of them are filled incorrectly. Once the catalyst is mixed with the resin pour the solution into your bottle caps. Note: Use gloves and you do not want this stuff on your hands. You need to fill each cap to the top and not over.

8) Allow to set over night and then you can hot glue the magnets on the back. You can also create thumbtacks instead!

I am thinking of doing some for family Christmas presents. The best one is that of my great great grandfather and is in Sepia. There was some distortion of colors but I don't think I waited for the glue to dry. Have fun and if you try it let me see!!! :-)

Art inspired yet again by my kids!

2010-07-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

Okay for the last week I have felt like hollering "Put on our Big girl Panties and deal with it!" It seemed like everything my daughter decided was too hard she would give up on. This is not something new and totally against my personality which is to keep at it until you figure it out. . . . . .aka stubbornness. So I created this piece of art to hang in my newly remodeled mud room. I will see this every time I leave or enter the house, I figure it is a good mantra to head out the day with. While I was painting the panties my daughter came into the room and with a very concerned face asked "uh . . Mom why are you painting a pair of panties?" Made for a funny conversation. I plan on posting pics of the mud room later in the week as I am trying to put the finishing touches on it. Oh and I need ideas for a companion piece to hang on my husband's side of the room. Any ideas for funny but cute sayings with a masculine feel?
Thinking of offering this for sale in an Etsy store, so please tell me what you think!!!!

Freebie Friday! Christmas In July Theme

2010-07-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

Update!

Hmmm I know you are all waiting on the edge of your seats to know who has won!!! ;-) Congratulations to the Winner: Osage Bluff Quilter!!! Please send me an email with your mailing address and I will get these out to you directly!

Hopefully I will gain some more followers soon, who are interested in my give aways. I know I am a new blogger and it will take time! So thanks for all that are listening out there and hope you have a great July. I think retailers are trying to cash in on Christmas in July as I see it all over the place. They are either hoping for better sales or are trying to keep people cooled down by reminding them of winter.

I know there have been several other blogs out there that have done a Christmas in July post so I thought I would borrow that idea.
One of my favorite things to do at Christmas time is to send cards out. Believe it or not (actually if you know me this isn't a stretch to imagine) I used to do a handmade small watercolor for each card I would send. Yes this took me a while however I was young, and single! Now married, with 2 kids I value sleep too much to take on that endeavor again. However I always make my own cards in some way. Last year I used the Creative Memories Storybook software to create my cards using vintage Christmas Post cards I scanned into the software.
Above are the examples of the cards I sent out (just the fronts). I used parts of each vintage postcard to create my own using the cutting tools within the software. This became quite addicting! I also loved that I could virtually cut the postcards up without having to touch the original at all.
In the spirit of Freebie Friday I have created a small tag for you to use on your own. Again please use this for your own creations and not for profit!

Since I do love giving . . .post a comment and I will use a random number generator to give that poster the set of tags pictured below. You will recieve in the mail (USA only please) a set of 6 tags (2 of each). 4 of them have glitter embelishment. These are all original creations from parts and pieces of vintage post cards. The back is blank so you could write your own message or continue embelishing if you like! I will announce the winner on Saturday! Good Luck!

Exploring Priscilla Hommon's Album

2010-07-11T18:05:00.001-07:00

As I posted previously I am lucky enough to be going through one of my grandmother's albums. The collection isn't chronologically organized but then again some of the pages have come off the binding and it could be ordered differently than she intended it to.
I came across a small envelope that was titled "Treasures of Priscilla R. Trimmer" (see picture). I pulled out two small newspaper clippings. I found her birth announcement and another curious article. It turns out that at age two Priscilla swallowed a straight pin. So there I am holding the pin in one hand and the newspaper article in another and realized a little too late that I am holding THE pin that she swallowed!!! Ewwwwwe!!! Then rational thought took hold and I realized that probably any germs would not survive that long (and if they do please don't tell me about it)! Funny how swallowing a straight pin made the news. Funnier still is that she or someone decided to put this all in a little envelop and label it as a treasure!!
It also didn't escape me that 2 year olds no matter when they are born seem to do similar things. Seriously what must have been going through her mind to pick that straight pin up and swallow it! Hope this gives you a chuckle or at least makes you hide all your straight pins if a 2 year old happens to be in your home! I hope to post more discoveries this week!

Free Download Friday plus bonus give away!

2010-07-09T18:34:00.000-07:00

Free Download Friday!!!!

And the winner is Brenda!

The question was is there a Hebrews 14? The answer is no, but my very first Bible study was a Beth Moore study. She talked about Hebrews being centered on people living a faith centered life and asked the question what will your Hebrews 14 look like? I loved that thought and wanted to make a t-shirt that reads Hebrews 14. You would either get people asking you what is in Hebrews 14 or others saying your t-shirt is wrong . .there is no Hebrews 14! Either way it would be a great ice breaker and allow you to share your faith story.

On another note I realized if I am going to be doing a free gift I need to make it a little more exciting so next Friday I hope to use the random generator to make the give away a little more exciting! Thanks for reading!

I am hoping my creative juices keep up with this endeavor!! I am hoping to post a free item to download and use every Friday. The good part is I think I have a pretty good stash of items to pull from in case of emergencies! For my first freebie please click here to download a pdf document that has some great tags on it!!! Use them for whatever your creative brains can think up!! (Oh and I would love to post pictures of how you used the tags just email me)!! Also if anyone has a better way to post downloads please let me know. It took the better part of an hour and many screams at my two kids for them to stop asking me questions until I figured it out. I wanted to post a sheet of the tags as a PDF and not individual images to make it easier on you. Does anyone out there in "blogosphere" know how to post PDF files easily to a blog?

I absolutely love giving and would LOVE to give away the hand made tags pictured below. The are each unique and are blank on the back for your special message. The come packaged in a bag.

The first person that posts the correct answer to the below question will be the recipient of the tags above.

In the Bible is there a Hebrews chapter 14?

I will post the winner on Saturday July 10th and tell you why I ask this question! Hope everyone is staying cool!!

Grandma's album

2010-07-05T17:05:00.000-07:00

After purchasing some antique postcards at a wonderful shop here in Richmond VA my Mom told me she thought she had her Mom's old album. Lo and behold she brought a rich treasure over to my home a few days later! What a treasure trove of wonderful vintage valentines, old poems she wrote, photos and miscellaneous other mementos that obviously meant a great deal to her. My Grandmother's name was Priscilla Hommon (maiden name Trimmer). Above is a picture of her father, George Charles Trimmer. I will have to say this is one of my favorite photos now! I would have LOVED to have had the chance to know him, so if someone has invented that time machine sign me up on a waiting list! :-) My Mom said he was known for his humorous side and it shows completely through this photo.

Below are two more treasures I have come across and this doesn't even reach half way down page #1!! So I will share over the next few days/weeks, my finds.

I am also going to try to offer a free download of my own creation every Friday. I am hoping to have time to create this weekly but am now asking for some grace to be forwarded to me if I don't! :-)

To all of you who are now following me as a result of Karen from Sew Many Ways, I feel very blessed and uplifting. It is very inspiring and motivating when you know there is a good chance your posts will be read! Thank you and I hope to encourage some smiles along the way as you have made me smile!

Thankfulness

2010-06-28T12:44:00.001-07:00

It is pictures of the above that makes me realize how thankful and blessed I am. I mean how can you not smile or even giggle at these faces! An attitude of gratefulness is one I strive for but seldom achieve. Knowing that I have been blessed to know and love these two kids is beyond my understanding. I look at these kids and then my husband laughing with them and know that God loves me, all of me! He has far more love and confidence in me than I do to have entrusted me with all that I have.

These pictures were taken at Myrtle Beach a couple of weeks ago. I can't even tell you what we asked both kids to get this same quirky quizzical look but am so grateful the camera captured it.

It also compels me to offer up my thanks to all the other creative bloggers out there. Up till recently I thought I was some creative freak of nature. I daily have to create and if I don't am a big "B" word. Knowing that there are others that feel as I do about creating and crafting is comforting and makes me feel loved by Him yet again. So as I write this I only have two followers one being my Mom and the other is Karen from http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com/ . Hopefully this post will be viewed in the future by my other followers. If I am able to inspire / share my talent with you then I am very grateful to have passed on the favor. So here forever more is my letter of Thanks to you out there in the "blogoshpere", thank you for sharing the talents that God has given you!

Creative Memories Storybook Software

2010-06-06T18:08:00.000-07:00

I have an absolute and total love of the Creative Memories Storybook software. No I am not a consultant nor am I getting benefits for sharing this love! I have created so many cards, scrapbooks, gifts, art . . .I could go on with this software. It is easy to learn if you want to spend just a little time investment. So I wanted to share this great invitation that I made for my sweet friend's 40th birthday using the software. We decided on a lemon/lime theme since the party will be in the middle of July. I created the lemon/lime using water colors on watercolor paper (I admit this step might not be easy if you aren't an artist). Using my scanner, I scanned the image into the Creative Memories Memory Manager software (which I also love). Created my storybook using a custom size 5X7" page.

Using three colors, backgrounds from the Cottage Garden paper kit and the pink mat from the Delight Shopper Diva collection and my own art, I was able to create a unique and fun invitation!

The final product looks a little different than above. Once printed and put together I will post more. Just wanted to share this information!!! If you have any questions about how I did this please feel free to email me. This is such great software and easy to use!

Now after talking about all those lemon and limes I need a Corona!!! :-) Cheers!

Teacher Gift Contiued

2010-06-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

So once all my cards we created I wanted to find a creative way to package the cards. I saw a smaller version of this in my stash of ideas from Better Homes and Gardens magazine years back (I will post about my idea stash later). For Thanksgiving I made 15 Apple cobblers using the Sam's club package of sliced apples. Never one to throw anything even remotely useful away, I saved the huge tin cans that were leftover. I mean come on how many times am I going to make 15 apple cobblers (I am hoping not more than once a year)! So I purchased un-sharpened #2 pencils and using my glue gun, covered the exterior of the can with pencils. I also created some decorations using my cricut machine and Creative Memories Scrapbook software.

Here is the step by step:

You need a tin can, un-sharpened pencils and a glue gun. If you want to you can use fabric to line the interior and create a bag like I did.

The first step is to line your tin can, using your choice of fabric make a tube and run a gathering edge along one side of the tube. Depending on your can will depend on the fabric you choose. Gather the end of the fabric to make a circle then using your glue gun glue this down. Don't worry about the hole, we will cover this in the next step.

Using a 3" whole punch (or any other circular cutting tool), cut a circle out of heavy card stock. Glue this down using your glue gun onto the open hole. Next start gluing your pencils to your can. A couple of pointers; use the bottom "lip" of the can to ensure the bottom edge is straight. Also stop frequently to check to ensure your pencils are going straight.

After you are finished you can glue a ribbon around the container and you have a unique Teacher container. You can fill it will just about anything! I saw this used originally to hold a bouquet of flowers.

Teacher Gift

2010-05-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

I love to create cards both digatlly and handmade. I was trying to figure out what to get my children's teachers for thank you gifts this year. One is getting married and the other is a preschool teacher and a crafter herself. So I decided to create them each a set of handmade cards they can use as thank you cards if they so wish or use for whatever occasion they decide on. Though this was a bit time consuming, I know it would probably not be duplicated! :-)

Here are the cards I created. They both got a set of 20 cards. I will have to admit I benefited as well as I created 4 of each and kept 1 for myself!

Some of these are from Stampin Up (actually all but one). I used the Fox and Friends set and the Matryoskha Set (which I absolutely love).

I have come up with a really creative way to package them and will post more later, along with how to photos!

Curtains for my Master Bedroom

2010-05-25T18:49:00.000-07:00

Slowly I am pulling together our Master Bedroom. I painted the room a couple summers ago, we added the crown molding over a year ago. For Mother's day I got my bed (which hasn't been delivered yet). Funny how we are the last in the house to get an actual headboard and foot board. I have been putting off doing the curtains/drapes in our room. I have no idea why, well I have an idea. The wonderful bay window which has given me trouble with how to put curtains on. So I had an idea on how to hang the curtains, then it was executing the plan. Then explaining to the guy at Home Depot what I wanted. So finally they are on their way to be done. I love the versatility of them. The brown embroidered topper which I love can be easily removed and I can change it out seasonally. I don't know if I ever will but the thought is there! I will post more picture once the remaining curtains are done and hopefully the bed is delivered!

Look who I spotted outside my bedroom window!

2010-05-22T19:22:00.000-07:00

I am sometimes woken up by the clear and close sound of a bird chirping. Some mornings I am pleased with this, most mornings I will have to admit that I am not. Well when I opened my shades this morning I found out why the lovely chirping was so clear and why she was so happy to sing! Nothing like a Robin's nest to welcome spring! Even though we have had near summer like weather lately.

VW Bug Art

2010-04-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

Just funny how things turn out. My 7 year old daughter has always loved the VW bugs. Herbie cars as she calls them. I have done a t-shirt for her and am constantly drawing this iconic car for her. When she requested a painting of her own after seeing Emmett's truck I new exactly what her painting was going to be. I created her VW Bug diptych and like this much better than the red truck. Hate to admit when I am wrong but my hubby was totally right. The truck would look better as a dyptych and not a triptych. Of course now I want to go back and do the truck over a little better. Enjoy and hope this brings you smiles! (Working on the other seasons and will post these soon.)

Art inspired by the Red Truck

2010-04-26T17:32:00.000-07:00

My Mother & I were browsing through a Pottery Barn Kids catalog some months ago and found a Diptych of a Fire Engine. For those of you that don't know what a Diptych is: "A work made of of two matching parts" (now you have your word of the day). So my Mother turns to me and says you could do that! Oh what confidence she has! Then genius struck she added; Oh and you could change out the trunk of the truck to reflect the seasons and change it out. Oh what a genius idea!!!!!
So here we are months later and I finally got around to creating it. My husband is grumbling because he thinks the dimensions are wrong. I keep telling him it is my artistic interpretation (oh and my first attempt). I think I might change it to reflect a true diptych of just two parts, thus pleasing my husband for the dimensions will probably be a little truer.
I plan on hanging this in my son's room. Of course my 7 year old daughter is now asking where hers is and of course she doesn't want a red pickup truck. So will have to work on that next. Funny how creativity can flow and be guided by kids! I am working on opening an Etsy store sometime soon. Want to get more than one item created to sell before I open a store. Feedback is welcome so post your comments and share with your friends.

Architectural find for vintage hankies!

2010-04-18T19:06:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest find at a consignment store here in the Richmond, VA area. It used to be the side of an old play pen. I have immersed myself in vintage this year (well since Christmas). I have amassed a great collection of vintage hankies and they were in a box in my craft closet. This seemed the perfect way for me to display my collection, and getting instant inspiration from them. I loved it so much I went back and purchased the other side! I also have such a pet peeve when I see stuff like this on other's blogs, like that is great but hmmm actually how can I use this idea. Well the next time you pass over that baby crib, ladder, side of an old fence, iron fence . .you get the idea, think of this. I purchased the other one to hang some of my magazines on another wall. (Will post once that is installed)! You could hang blankets, fabric, paper, scarves . .oh so many options!!! :-)