Saturday, June 25, 2011

Time flies!!!

How can it have only been a few weeks since I last posted? So much has happened! If you saw the previous post, I entered my canvas bag in a contest with Prima. Well, right before we left for our beach vacation I found out - I WON! I had a nice prize pack with lots of Prima flowers, a 6x6 paper pad and bling waiting for me when we got back.

06 14 11_0880Our yearly beach trip was mostly great. The weather was wonderful. Sunny just about everyday with a few storms at night. We saw Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides as a family. Jeff and I went shopping one day, just about all day long – that NEVER  happens! The boys had a great time playing on the beach and in the water. We watched movies just about every night. Played mini golf. And made our usual 2 trips to Krispy Kreme – yumm!!

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The only part that wasn’t great was when my poor Dad had kidney stones. He has them often so he already had pain meds with him and didn’t need to go to the hospital but he didn’t feel well for several days. He and Mom even went home a day early.

06 11 11_0939The strange part was the new bridge access to Sunset Beach. The old swing bridge is gone and replaced by a really tall bridge. I understand the need for it, but the old bridge had such great character and was fun to watch. It will now be moved to a donated lot and turned into a museum .

Monday, June 6, 2011

Prima Tote bag

Hello crafty friends! This is the Prima tote bag I received at Inspired! 2011 just a few weeks ago. I couldn’t wait to decorate it! Well, it’s finally finished and just in time, too! Prima is having a contest using this very bag. So here goes!
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I wish I had taken a picture of the before, but if you are interested it’s the Donna Downey Canvas Tote #921538. I used a white rose trim at the top. I misted it with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Tutti Fruitti. I then added some of my favorite lace trims. (I have a major lace trim addiction!) Then I used some of my favorite fabrics. I machine stitched the edges so they look finished. Then I cheated with the pleats! I don’t know how to sew very well and I have a very simple machine so I simply glued the material in place and pleated it as I went. You know, “glue, pleat, glue, pleat, glue, pleat”. You get the idea.
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Here is a close of up the flowers I used. I think they are from the Botanical Love Note collection. I stitched them on with some vintage buttons. (I’m addicted to those as well! – Shhhhh!!)
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Here is a close up so you can get a better look at the lace trims.
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Here is a close up of the fabric. I got it while in Fancy Gap, VA. I love the colors and the stripes. Everything is glued on except for the flowers/buttons. I really love how it turned out. These totes would make wonderful gifts.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Bless this child

Yesterday was truly a special day for us as a family and specifically in the life of my 05 15 11_0686oldest, Drew. He received the Sacrament of Holy Baptism and Confirmation at church. Four other children were also confirmed but Drew was the only one baptized.  I grew up Baptist but we have been members of the Methodist church for about 8 years now, so it was a little different for me. Drew wasn’t baptized as a baby. I wanted to wait and let him learn about Christ and accept the Lord as his savior on his own, which he did over Spring Break. God’s timing really is perfect.

So after attending Confirmation Classes for about 6 weeks, Drew was ready. I thought I was, too. I didn’t realize just how emotional it would be. But I held it together and didn’t embarrass him.

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Drew is truly growing up to be such a wonderful, respectful, smart young man. I am so proud of him.

And now back to our regularly scheduled goof-ball!

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Monday, May 9, 2011

Happy Mother’s Day!

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Okay, so I’m a day late but I still hope every mother everywhere had a wonderful Mother’s Day. My day started with breakfast in bed and handmade cards from two of the sweetest boys ever to be born. Then we were off to church.

 

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After church I sat on the sofa stitching and watching a movie on the “big screen” while Jeff took the boys to Wal-mart for new water guns. Then they played in the back yard for a while with the water guns and hose. Finally, Jeff pulled the sprinkler out! There’s no video game invented that can compete with a sprinkler in the yard on a beautiful, warm day.

 

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For dinner, Jeff prepared a wonderful meal of Fettuccini Alfredo. Yum! It was very tasty!

Now am I looking forward to a week of scrapbooking fun! Donna Downey’s Inspired! starts on Wednesday. Today, (Monday) was spent at her store helping to get kits ready. Tuesday I am taking a class from Margie Romney-Aslett and then helping to get ready at the hotel where the event will take place. Wednesday I am taking a few mini classes and helping at the vendor fair. I am hoping to get to help as a teacher’s assistant at one of the major classes beginning Thursday morning. I’ll be sure to take a few pictures for a future post.

Hope you get to be crafty this week!

Friday, May 6, 2011

His first middle school dance!

Tonight was the first school dance Drew has attended. He hasn’t really been interested in the other dances but now there is a girl who likes him. So he was much more interested!

Because it was the last dance of the year it was “semi-formal” so he wanted to wear a button-down shirt and tie. Of course he waited until last night to tell me this! So off to Wal-Mart I went today. The shirt was just a tad big but it was the last white, long-sleeved shirt they had and he insisted it had to be white and long-sleeves. 

The flowers were cut from my Gerbera Daisies. I wrapped them in a wet paper towel, tucked inside a baggie and tied neatly with matching ribbon. He said he received a lot of grief for the flowers. But then I asked if “she” like them and he said “She loved them.” I don’t think he minded the ribbing too much after that.

He was very nervous when I dropped him off but I don’t think that lasted too long. He said the tie only stayed on for about 30 minutes. Then it stayed in his back pocket. He took my camera and took several pictures of “her”, including one of the two of them in a photo spot made to look like a castle entrance.

When I picked him up he said he had a great time. I asked if he had offered to get “her” a snack or drink and he said he did. Then I asked if she looked nice. She did. Then I asked if he told her she looked nice. He just grinned at me. Ooops. I suggested that he tell her how nice she looked at the dance the next time he speaks to her. He’ll learn, I suppose.

Here is a picture I took of Drew before taking him to the school. I’m not going to include a picture of “her” since I haven’t met her parents yet and don’t know if they would mind.

 

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I’m very proud of how he’s is growing up to be a nice, polite, handsome young man!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Now, for the big reveal!

If you recall, I gave you a sneek peek at something I was working on just a few weeks ago. I finally got to finish it! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. And as always, creating it just fed me more ideas so now I'm off to play with more canvas!!

Let me know what you think!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Spring in the South

I just love spring in the South! I was born and raised here so I really can't speak to any other part of the country. But here it's just beautiful. The azaleas, the tulips, the pink and white dogwoods - just love it!


However, the older I get the worse my allergies get! That's the only problem with springtime.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Just a peek…

at what I’m playing with this weekend.

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Are you being crafty this weekend?

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

I {heart} this face - Class!

Hello fellow bloggers and crafters! I hope you can join me for my next class at Donna Downey Studios.

Show your love for the beautiful smiling faces in your life! Join me in class as we make a 12x12 two- page layout. You can fit up to 7 pictures (a mix of 4x6 and smaller) showcasing the faces you love! You may even learn a fun new technique for using stamps on your scrapbook layouts.
Class price is $20.
Click the link above to call and sign up!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Quick post!

Just had to share this beautiful card I just saw on Facebook. It's from Joanne Allison posted on Splitcoast Stampers for a challenge. Please go to her blog and show her some love!


http://angelnorth.blogspot.com/


Sunday, March 20, 2011

Canvas!

Hello fellow crafters! Just a quick peek at what I’ve been working on – canvas! This has been such a fun album to create! I hope you can join me at Donna Downey Studios for the class. I’ll post more when we have a date scheduled.

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Go create something today!

Monday, March 7, 2011

Lots to do!

Hello fellow crafter! Just a quick note to say “Thanks!” to everyone who stopped by on Saturday for the OWH Spring Blog Hop! So glad you enjoyed the video tutorial. I’ll do more of those. Feel free to leave me a comment with an idea or two of what you would like to see a tutorial of. I love suggestions.

Also, I’m so excited because I’m teaching THIS CLASS tomorrow night and it’s full! Yippee! Guess I better go finish putting kits together, huh?

And THIS CLASS is going to happen after all! Yay! The paper I used in the layout isn’t available so I just picked out some other yummy-paper-goodness and will redesign it and turn it into a class. So excited about that!

Last, I’m feeling a bit under the weather today but I can’t let it get me down. I have too much to do this week between teaching, church activities, homework with kids, and a lunch date with one of my favorite people (can’t wait, Bonnie!). Think I’ll go chug some vitamin C!

Go do something crafty today!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Welcome to the blog hop!!

Hello fellow crafters, bloggers and OWHers!!


Welcome to the OWH Spring Bloghop and to my blog! This is my first time participating
in a bloghop. So first we will get a little bloghop biz out of the way, then on to the crafty part!

If you just dropped in, be sure to start at the beginning of the hop - HERE!

The deadline to have your Easter cards to the shippers is March 18th.

The deadline to have your Mother's Day cards to the shippers is March 31st.

If you like video tutorials, you should check out the new OWHtv on UStream!!


Speaking of video tutorials, I was going to just post a card but thought you might enjoy a video with one of my favorite techniques. Hope you enjoy it! Please leave me a comment. I enjoy teaching new techniques and my lss where I used to teach has closed so I am thinking of posting technique videos on my blog. Let me know what you think! 


Now, your next stop on the bloghop is Pauline's blog!!!

Go do something crafty today!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Us

Hello crafters! Here is my latest layout titled “US”. It’s a picture from a few years back taken at Sunset Beach.  I followed a sketch from Prima’s blog. I used a zipper purchased at Hancock Fabrics for the heart. I sewed it on with my sewing machine. I used a Prima package to mat the picture, and paintable canvas words from Donna Downey for the title.

Hope you enjoy!

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Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you are having a wonderful Valentine's Day. Even if you can't spend it with the one you love, be kind to yourself. Treat yourself to something special.

Here is blog I just love. She always has such great crafts and inspirational words. Go visit her and enjoy!

Stephanie Ackerman's Blog

Thursday, February 10, 2011

steampunk tags

My first class has been posted on Donna Downey Studio's website. Please check it out and sign up! You can sign up for the class by calling 704-948-4627. The class is already half full so call soon!


If you have never heard the term "steampunk", here is what dictionary.com says about it: a genre of science fiction set in Victorian times when steam was the main source of machine power. That's a pretty innocent description of it. There is a whole way of dressing, artwork and books considered "steampunk". Picture delicate Victorian meets mechanical (yet steam-powered) workings. Graphic 45 has collected beautiful images in their "Steampunk Debutante" line of paper and embellishments. That's what we will use in this tag class, along with some Tim Holtz metal embellishments and beautiful Prima flowers and bling.

I hope you will join me! This should be a fun class!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

I {heart} this face!

I really do! This is a layout featuring my youngest when he was 3. He would make the funniest faces and keep us laughing all the time!

I had hoped this would be a class but this paper is no longer available to order. I had a lot of fun doing this layout. The swirl borders on the right side were cut out of one of the sheets of Mamarazzi paper. The rosette flower was also made from Mamarazzi paper. The heart is canvas sprayed with Denim Glimmer Mist.

Here are a few close-up shots.




Hope you do something crafty today!

Friday, February 4, 2011

I can't wait!

Tonight I get to go to Open Studio Night at Donna Downey Studios in Huntersville, NC with some friends. I haven't been to a crop in a while because my lss closed so I'm really looking forward to this. But first I must run errands, pick up children and pack up some supplies!

Friday, January 28, 2011

It's that time again!!!

It only happens twice a year and it's happening now!!! It's the Craft & Hobby Assoc (CHA) show in Cali, happening this weekend!! I have never been to the show as it's only for store owners and buyers to attend. They get to see all the latest and greatest products that will be coming out soon.  But I love to follow along online with some websites for sneek peeks and giveaways! 

If you are interested, I recommend Two Peas in a Bucket. They will have online events all weekend long from the showroom floor! Also, if you like podcasts, Scraptime does a pretty good job of video blogging from the show.

Some of the talented designers who have their own blogs also post info and pics so be sure to check those out as well. You can find some of my favorites to the right on my blog.

Enjoy! And do something crafty this weekend!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Ink, paper, lace...

This is what my desk looks like right now:

Kinda crazy, I know but I'm so excited because I'm going to be teaching again! I have been asked to teach some scrapbooking classes at Donna Downey Studios in Huntersville, NC. I'm starting with a tag class. If you will remember, I created some tags a while back and just fell in love making the little mini works of art. So now you can learn some fun new techniques and make some tags with me! They work great on cards or layouts or even home decor items. They even make great gift tags for a special gift!

Still working out the dates and times but I hope to see you there.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The Snow Storm of 2011!

Monday, January 10th we woke up to about 4 inches of snow! Really?!?!?!
Yep! Really!

Needless to say, the boys didn't have school that day. In fact, they didn't have school for A WHOLE WEEK! That never happens around here! It snowed most of the day Monday, then turned to ice. That was what really caused all the schools to stay closed for so long. The temps stayed low and the ice didn't go away. So now they will be making up days on Saturdays. Hopefully, we are done with the crazy winter weather for awhile. Here are a few pics of our Snow Storm of 2011!




This last picture was taken a few days later. The boys enjoyed playing in the snow on Monday but it was the light, powdery stuff that isn't very good for making forts. Once the ice had formed, they enjoyed breaking it up.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Field Trip!!

On Thursday, two cars full of crazy scrapbookers made a trek to Archiver's! They are located about 2.5 hours away but it was so worth it. We had so much fun and bought lots a great stuff!!! And the staff was so nice. They even took our picture before we left.

"Let's do it again in 6 months, ladies!!!"

Monday, January 17, 2011

Lots of "Hoopla!"

Drew is playing basketball this year, instead of soccer. He hasn't had much experience except in the driveway with Dad but he's very excited about it. We signed him up with Upward at a local church. It's a Christian based league and has been very positive with prayer before each game. They also promote good sportsmanship. So far Drew's team has played 2 games and won both! He's had several shots and assists and really seems to be enjoying it.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

The tale of a Tin Can Robot

Jeff's sister and brother-in-law always give the boys very unique gifts for Christmas. This year was no exception. They gave Gabe a Tin Can Robot Kit. So about a week after Christmas, Jeff happened to have a can of Coke - so here was Gabe's chance to build his very first robot! (With the ever-present, very holey "blankie" around his neck!)

It only took Gabe and Dad about 2 hours to build and Dad commented several times about how well Gabe did using the tools and working with all the pieces. It turned out so cute! And it walks!

Let me introduce to you, Tin Can Robot!






Thursday, January 6, 2011

Chicken Spaghetti!

Okay, I'm not a cook. Don't like to do it, don't like to clean up after it, don't like having to plan it. I do as little as I have to most of the time and nobody goes hungry.  But I saw this recipe on a blog and had to try it.



As soon as I looked at it, it just screamed "comfort food!" to me and I thought I would give it a try. I originally saw it on a different blog and they talked about they changed it up to make it easier so that helped me decide. I used a Rotisserie Chicken and chicken broth. Also, I didn't add the pepper or onion or pimentos.

Now, since I don't do a lot of cooking I was nervous. If I must cook with a recipe I follow to the letter. I'm not good with "a pinch of this and a dash of that". My sister is the queen of that! And totally changing it up as she sees fit. Not me! But since I don't care for the onion or pepper and I had read about how the other blogger had changed theirs, I tried it. Stress!!!

Isn't my word for this year "de-stress"? Not working too well for me so far!

But, I must say it turned out really well! I managed to talk one of my picky eater kids into trying it and he didn't like it but my hubby liked it and there's lots left over. I'm thinking it will reheat pretty well, too.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

What a difference...

30 minutes can make! Today Jeff and I cleaned off/out the playroom shelves.
They went from this:

to this:

And so far, the boys haven't even noticed!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!

At least I hope yours is starting out happy. Mine, not so much. I'm home with a big 'ole head cold while my family is at the New River with Aunt Wendy. I slept through the ball dropping in NYC for the first time since I can remember. Really missed getting to ring in the New Year with my big boy, Drew. But my sissy filled in for me and I'm sure they had fun.

I can't wait to see what 2011 has to offer. The biggest difference right from the start is that my lss is closed. No more Friday night crops. We are going to try to get a group together maybe once a month to crop at the local AC Moore. Hope that works out.

I'm toying with the idea of Ali Edwards One Little Word for 2011. If you haven't heard of this, check it out.

I think my one little word would have to be:

de-stress
— vb
to become or cause to become less stressed or anxious

I want to stress less over my crafting, what others think, whether I'm doing the right thing or not. I will practice praying more and worrying less. Give God more control and listen more for what He wants from me and for me.