Allison Wonderland

Long Time No Blog

2012-01-22T17:19:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends,
Wow, can't believe it but it has been MONTHS since I have looked at or thought about my blog.
Been side tracked with other more important family and friend things.
My husband had knee replacement surgery and life has been challenging without him working.
He's much better now, back to work and things are looking up.

Spent the weekend cleaning our garage. Found this really cool frame that I got at a yard sale in Nevada when I was visiting my sister. Always planned to make "something" with it. Thanks to Pinterest, I got the idea of putting chicken wire across the back and using it to hang jewelry, notes and/or photos. Found the chicken wire in our garage so finally finished it.

What do you think?

Made 2 trips to Goodwill and donated a bunch of stuff. It's a good feeling to get so much done but it isn't so fun working all weekend when you work all week! Blah!

Hope to be a bit more active on this blog. Certainly better than I have been.

My daughter recently hosted a bachelorette party for one of her best friends. She saw some things on Pinterest and emailed me the link. We made them with my Cricut. A banner with "Love is all you need" and then a string of hearts. It was so easy and came out so cute! I will try to get a picture and post it later.

Happy New Year friends!

Happy Birthday Dad!

2011-11-05T18:50:00.000-07:00

My Dad turned 91 today.
Happy Birthday Dad!
Love you so much!

Happy Birthday Summer

2011-10-21T15:37:00.000-07:00

Happy 29th Birthday to my beautiful daughter.

Love you so much.

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

2011-10-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

When I went to my MAC lesson this morning, I was touched by all the flowers, messages and comments left on and near the windows of the Rancho Apple Store.

Such a loss.

So sad.

Thank you for all your wonderful Apple products.

You have changed the way people live.

Halloween Treat Bags

2011-09-04T16:47:00.000-07:00

Gosh...I really blew it with this video. I had the camera zoomed in too much. Hopefully, you can still get the idea of how these are put together. If not, please leave me a comment.

My Friend Jan

2011-09-04T07:02:00.000-07:00

Look what my friend, Jan made for me. She knows I adore cherry motif things and sent me a surprise.
Thanks so much Jan! Love them!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend as much as I am. It's just nice NOT to have to be anywhere!
It's a bit warm. Might see a movie later. Other than that...no plans. Lovin' it.

Happy Birthday dianne!

2011-08-31T08:07:00.000-07:00

Today is my good friend, dianne's birthday.
She has been struggling with some health issues and I just want to wish her the best.
Thinking of you today, d.

Hugs and good wishes!

Mammo Day

2011-08-16T21:48:00.000-07:00

Today I had my yearly mammogram. Just a reminder for anyone in my age group (over 50). You should have one yearly. My yearly checkup and my mammo were both FREE through Kaiser. I guess they consider it "preventive maintenance". Woo Hoo! Besides, who wants to PAY to go through all that?

If you need info on Mammograms, go here.

Recent Favorite Pics of My Daughter

2011-08-16T21:25:00.000-07:00

Summer & friend

Exhausted after a daily shoot. Putting stuff in storage.

Summer's self portrait

Happy Anniversary

2011-08-07T06:42:00.000-07:00

Today is 40 years for my hubby and I.

Happy Anniversary, Dear!

I love you with all my heart.

Here's to 40 more!

More Pics-Vegas skyline

2011-07-31T17:57:00.000-07:00

I can't take credit for all of these pictures.

Photo credit is also due to my sister, Jan, Bonnie & Barbs.

Taken from Barbs front yard. We saw some beautiful sunsets!

Does anybody else see a horse in the clouds?

Home From Vegas

2011-07-31T09:03:00.000-07:00

Wow! Crazy, fun weekend in Vegas and tons of things waiting for me when I returned to work.
We had a great time. The highlight of my trip was when my sister and I had our picture taken with a Lion cub "Buddy" at the MGM Hotel. We were only allowed to pet his hind quarters even though I begged and begged to pick him up. (They wouldn't let me) He weighed 60 lbs. In between pictures being taken, he is given a bottle of liquid meat. (Gross) but I must say...he LOVED it. Sorry the picture isn't better...

I have a few pictures to share from the trip. If you have NEVER driven the road to Vegas, this is pretty much what it looks like. (A lot of nothing!)

Relaxing....ahhhhh.

Don't be too impressed with my winnings.

This is a game on my laptop that I am obsessed with.

Dophin Dice Slot (from the App Store)

I took this picture with my phone in the Bellagio Gardens

and then applied a filter (Used Magic Hour)

This is my son & daughter-in-law's new

rescue. His name is Guinness.

Sorry...couldn't figure out how to flip this photo.

Got this at Sam's Club. $29

Great for keeping the laptop cool.

Has USB to plug in power to fan.

LOVE IT!

More photos later...the morning is getting away from me.

Vegas Baby

2011-07-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

All packed and ready to go.

Off to Henderson for Scrapfest with the girls.

Can't wait.

Summer Online Card Camp Week 4

2011-07-19T20:45:00.000-07:00

Ok...here is my final card for the Online Card Camp

I really enjoyed all the informative videos and the student gallery. For this card I used Papertrey Ink stamps except for the Love stamp along the bottom that is by Rubber Soul. I used Copics to color in and some chalk on the white card base. I used Distress stickles (Rock Candy) on the clouds that are a Papertrey die. I hand cut the blue trim along the top of the card. The sign says "From My Studio". I was thinking of my sweet friend, dianne, when I made this. She is going through some tough medical times right now. I sure hope they find some relief for her soon.

This upcoming weekend is Scrapfest in Henderson, NV. for our little group. There are 5 of us that meet about 3 times a year and sometimes we add a few other great friends. This time we are going to enjoy the company of Jan who is flying in from the east coast. We don't get much sleep but we sure have a lot of fun. You will be seeing more in the days to come of our ventures.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Summer Online Card Camp Week 3

2011-07-12T21:11:00.000-07:00

I must say that I am not thrilled with this card. I stamped the first flower in the middle and then masked it so I could stamp the others moving the mask as I stamp to the outside of the center. I found that I am more of a bright color person than these warm colors. I sure am enjoying the technique videos and all the cards in the gallery.

Best Oatmeal

2011-07-12T19:41:00.000-07:00

I was blog hopping and found the BEST oatmeal recipe and it is SO EASY! I made it the night I read about it and each morning before work, I scoop some up put it in a ziploc container...add a wee bit of milk and a few blueberries or nuts or any fruit. I just need to heat it up for a few seconds once I am ready to eat it. So yummy. You can find the recipe here.

This 'N That

2011-07-10T11:52:00.000-07:00

Here's my daughter's cat, Smokey, watching me craft and not being too happy that she isn't getting ALL of the attention. She's 12 yrs. old and still looks and acts like a kitten. Her coat is very much like a rabbit. Soft as silk. We got her from our vet. They rescued her from some abusive kids. She was a ferrel kitten when we got her. We confined her to a bedroom until we could be sure she was healthy. She hid in the corner of the room behind a bed only coming out to eat and do her business. It took about 6 months of handling her and giving her special attention. Then we opened the door and let her explore at her own pace. She is proof that you can domesticate a ferrel cat. Her favorite thing in the whole world is to lay on People Magazine. Not sure why she likes that one so much but open it up to read and you can be assured she will be on top of the pages in the blink of an eye. Who says cats don't have personalities?

Was at Goodwill last week and walked in and saw 2 drawer units. They had decals and were pretty scuffed up. $5 ea. Thought they would go nicely in my craft room. Brought them home and cleaned them up. Better quality then my other drawers!

I was in the front yard yesterday and notice how pretty the blooms were on our Rose of Sharon tree. This picture doesn't do it justice.

The blooms are periwinkle and lavender. So pretty!

2011-07-10T08:29:00.000-07:00

Summer Online Card Camp Week 2

2011-07-06T23:00:00.000-07:00

I really liked this weeks color combination.

I tend to like bright colors. I fell in love with a Papertrey Ink die that I recently got and went crazy cutting them with my Big Shot. I found a few paper packs at Michael's that had pastels and polka dots.

I cut several and saw one sitting on my craft table and decided to use it for this weeks card.

I am really enjoying the inspiration of all the other stampers in the Summer Online Card Camp. I try not to look at the gallery until after I have created my card. I will try to get my video on how I made my card posted soon. Thanks for looking.

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-04T12:38:00.000-07:00

It's been pretty darn hot so haven't been doing much. Enjoying the day off! Hope you all are too!

Summer Online Card Camp Week 1

2011-06-30T01:45:00.001-07:00

Summer Card Class Project

2011-06-30T00:46:00.000-07:00

Here's my card for the Summer Class Project. Cupcake stamp, words and #2 die cut are all from Papertrey Ink. Scallop background is from Cricut Cartridge ELEGANT EDGES. The cupcake was colored with Copic markers. Love 'em.

Summer Card Camp

2011-06-27T05:34:00.000-07:00

I decided to challenge myself to make more cards this summer. Through Papertrey Ink I found out about this cool online concept. The challenge begins today. I will post my card as soon as I get it done (probably after work today).

If you are interested in joining. Go here.

It's a Miracle....

2011-06-25T21:35:00.000-07:00

This morning I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and I saw one of my cats seated on the front of the toilet and he was actually peeing in the toilet. I wish I would have had my camera! I praised him profusely but he looked at me like "What's the big deal? You do it" I have come home before and wondered who forgot to flush the toilet. Guess I need to teach him that next. This is the sweet boy who made my day.

Tucker

What a find!

2011-06-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

Stopped by Goodwill after work and found this wonderful treasure. Yes, it needs some TLC but can't wait to get to work on it. I love how the top drawer has the detail along the bottom but my most favorite part is the little cupboard. I think it is so charming. Not sure how old it might be. Don't really care.

It's missing some hardware but shouldn't be much of an issue to replace.

Can you believe it was....$14? Score!

I love it!

Stay tuned for my BEFORE & AFTER photos.

Happy Birthday Mom

2011-06-21T06:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to the most wonderful Mom! Hope you have a fabulous day with your girlfriend's. It was great to celebrate with you this weekend. Loved the sleepover! It will take me all week to catch up on my sleep but it was well worth it. So glad Donna could be here too! We all love you very much and wish you the best on your special day.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to our Dad's

My Father-in-law, Merle & My Dad, Don

We all love you!

Happy Birthday Donna!

2011-06-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

Today is my sister's birthday. I won't say how old she is. Who cares?
I love my sister with all my heart. She is the best sister any one could hope for.

Hope you have a wonderful day Donna.

I love you! Can't wait to see you soon.

Happy Birthday Nancy

2011-06-03T06:27:00.000-07:00

Today is my good friend's birthday. We celebrated last night by seeing Bridesmaid's. Lots of laugh

Hope you have a WONDERFUL day! I look forward to our dinner next Thursday.

Goodbye May

2011-05-31T22:14:00.000-07:00

I actually am somewhat glad to see this month go. My hubby's computer got a terrible virus, you already know that my computer had an accident and TODAY, my daughter's MAC bit the dust. She had to go get another one and bought one like mine. Enough is enough!

I have always believed this. I hope I can someday learn why.

On another note, my HP C8100 All In One Printer quit working. It kept spitting out blank pages each time we tried to print. The ink levels were fine with the exception of the MAGENTA cartridge which was out. It still would not allow me to print in black. (My printer has individual color cartridges) I replaced the magenta and then switched out the black one for another new one. It now works fine again. I sure hope that brand new black one I replaced will work someday. I just broke it out of the package but I think it couldn't "read" it. I wonder if some of the printer updates we run block out certain ink cartridge codes if they are older. I guess that would be a reason to not stock up on them if it's true.

Why is it that printers just don't seem to last long? So thankful to have it working again!

Happy Memorial Day

2011-05-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

Today is the day that I think about all the men and women who serve(d) our country and wonder about the images in their mind they can never erase. I think mostly of my Dad and the effects of war that forever changed him.
Today I honor him.

First One on One Lesson

2011-05-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

Wow! Those One on One's are amazing. You have a totally amazing, knowledgable employee at your beck and call. He stood beside and asked me what I wanted to learn. First on my list was importing my Hotmail contacts to my iMail (Address Book). DONE. Next was syncing my Android phone with my iCalendar. DONE. So cool! I thought I had to have an iPhone for that but NOPE. Wasn't sure how to do Tabs like my PC but he showed me that too. He was really patient and super friendly. I must say it was amazing to be in the Apple Store with very few people. That would NEVER happen during regular business hours. After my hour One on One, I went for a 2 hr. "Projects" session. You are in a group session but still have someone to ask questions and get help from. Lucky for me, there was only one other woman so we had our guy for 2 hrs. Awesome! Can't wait for my next session next week.

Not only do I feel like I was able to get a lot accomplished, but I got home and my sweet hubby bought a 72" TV from an auction for $225! It's HUGE and took us all afternoon moving furniture around to finally find a home for it. I must say, it has an awesome picture. It didn't come with a remote but my talented husband was able to "program" our Direct TV remote so it works with the new monster. (Photos later)

Thought this was a really pretty flower. Found it on pinterest. The colors are so soft and calming.

Going to do more organizing on my laptop later but I am starving and ready for dinner now......

Enjoy your day tomorrow...whatever you do.

Back in Action

2011-05-28T19:15:00.000-07:00

I'm back....YEAH!
Ended up getting a MAC. My DELL died and I cannot and will not go into the HORRIBLE customer service of Dell Computers. For 4 yrs., I have enjoyed my previous Dell but as soon as something went wrong, I discovered they were the WORST company to deal with. Enough said. I am THRILLED with my new MAC and it's Candy Apple Red cover.

It's awesome. I have NEVER been a MAC user and worried that it would be difficult to make the change from PC to MAC. NOT! It was a breeze. I want to thank my SCRAPPER Group for their support and help in getting back in action.

A friend of mine turned me onto www.pinterest.com. Have you checked it out? Great place for inspiration! I love some of the quotes on there too. Like this one.

That is SO ME!

Two of the Goodwill Stores that I frequent are both under going a major remodel. One of them is doubling in space. It will be nice when they are finished. For now....it's messier than normal.

Have you heard of cake pops? I must have been one of the few that knew nothing about them! Our scrapbook weekend was so much fun. We already scheduled our next one! Bonnie showed us how they were made. Here's a picture of what they are...

So fun and very yummy. Super sweet so be prepared. If you are interested in trying some, go to www.bakerella.com or just google "cake pops". There are tons of youtube videos too.

Have my first MAC lesson (One on One) tomorrow morning at 7AM so better get moving and get my act together so I have a plan on what I want help with.

Happy to be back in blogland.

Just A Little Inconvenience

2011-05-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

Well it seems I will be delayed in making a few posts. My laptop took a dive onto a tile floor from the dining room table. I am at the mercy of Dell. I know they are desperately trying to revive my poor computer but no news as of yet. Should have some fun stuff to post once I am up and running again.

Stay tuned.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter.
Today we spent a fun day in the park with my daughter-in-law's family. Over 100 people, playing softball, laughing, eating and snuggling up. It was a very chilly day. I organized an egg decorating contest and here is a picture of the winners. Everyone voted for their favorite. My son and daughter-in-law WON! My son made these and believe it or not, they started out as white Styrofoam eggs. Hope everyone enjoyed their day.

Glorious Day

2011-04-17T08:23:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends...
Visiting my local thrift store I found this flash drive holder. $1.50. To my surprise, there were two 4 GB drives in it. (Both empty) What a steal!

A few Sunday's ago...I was looking at my favorite Target add (a ritual for me) and saw this cute "sampler" for sale. Decided I could easily copy it. Got the frame at Goodwill for $1.50 and had the stickers at home. I like the idea of using RED for the contrast instead of blue, red and yellow like the sample. Easy!

Today my 28 year old daughter is coming home after being gone nearly 3 months in Dallas, TX (for work). I can't wait to see her sweet face. I have missed her so much! Yay!

Here is a picture of my daughter's car. My husband put a new top on it while she was gone. Her back window had gotten cloudy from years of sun. Whenever she travels we keep her car so that we can drive it and keep the battery charged. He did a great job. I know she will be thrilled.

Anybody watching IDOL? Ha! I am sure most people (other than my husband) do! Lauren is my favorite. I think she has such a beautiful voice. I also really like James. I think he has a great chance of winning. I will go out on a limb and predict that it will be Lauren, James and Scotty in the final three.

In about 2 wks. I will be visiting my sister in Vegas with 2 other good friends. We have a "Scrapbooking Weekend" planned but it's so much more than that. We have so much fun! I really look forward to our time together. Vegas area has fabulous thrift stores. A definite must on our list! Goodwill and Savers are two of our favorites.

Makes Me Smile

2011-03-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

I am a bit embarrassed to tell you that I followed (stalked) a woman around the thrift store. She was holding this print in her hand and looking at frames. I thought it was such a cute, colorful, fun watercolor. (I also saw the price on it $1.50.) Sometimes I do keep track of people because they don't always buy what they are carrying in their basket. (Any good thrift shopper knows...pick up what you are interested in and make the decision later) If you hesitate, it's GONE! Sure enough, she had 3 things in her hand and unloaded them in another part of the store (not where they belonged). I snagged this print. Love it.

Another thing I usually check out is the purse and wallets. I found 2 Brighton coin purses for $3 each. The brown one is just like a black one I got about a year ago. They are PERFECT inside. Appear to never have been used. Score!
Sorry the coin purse photos are a bit dark.
Don't forget your green for tomorrow!

A hodge podge of stuff....

2011-03-15T20:55:00.000-07:00

I found this adorable Laura Ashley comforter at the thrift store. I believe it was brand new because when I washed it, all the printing on one of the tags washed off. It's in perfect condition and a great size for snuggling when I watch TV.
A bargain at $3.

Found my lst grade picture while cleaning the garage.
My Mom made my dress and my babooska.
Sure cracked my kids up (and my hubby).

My 1st grade picture

Below is a picture of our new Fiat 500. My husband does Fiat repair and of the first 500 cars, we got car #78. (Picked for the year our son was born.)
Heck, with the price of gas, it's great to get 44 mpg!

My Mom and I went to visit my Dad and admired the beautiful flower garden out front. My Dad has always been into gardening so it made us both smile.

2012 Fiat 500 Prima Edizione #78

Flower Garden at Garden View

March Madness

2011-03-12T20:34:00.000-08:00

Hi friends....

Couldn't pass up this cute mirror. Can you believe it? $2.39.

Going to put it by the back door as I go out to get in my car. I also found the sign below that I put above the back door. LOVE IT. $1.29

Thrift store for both (of course).

I finally finished another video. It's been a long while since I have done one.
The picture below is of the card that I did for my good friend, Cynthia's birthday. Watch the video for this simple card. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CYNTHIA.

Oscar Day

2011-02-27T16:32:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends...Thought I would show you one of my ribbon racks. It's actually a pants hanger. I picked it up at the thrift store. I actually have a few of them. You can get them for around $1.

Another fun thing I found was some cute teddy bear salt and pepper shakers. I thought they would be great for my glitter.

OK...next up is an idea I got from a another blog. www.patchesofpink.com

I used the same punch but not as many punches in a smaller frame.

I was thrilled to be able to make something that didn't cost me anything. The frames are from the thrift store (of course)

My Mom and I went to see THE KING'S SPEECH yesterday and on my way home I picked this basket up from Goodwill. LOVE IT! Better go get ready to settle in for the Oscars. Bye for now.

Lucky Day!

2011-02-23T18:54:00.000-08:00

I walked in the thrift store and found the ink refills for my HP Printer. I have been printing so many pictures lately, I am going through ink like crazy. My printer has individual color cartridges so you don't have to replace it if only one color runs out. They sell at Target for $10.99 each. I got 12 for $2.50 each! Yee Ha.

I also found a better picture of the wall vinyl I put up. A wee bit better to see...

Wall Vinyl

2011-02-20T21:06:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to put up this wall vinyl design that I found weeks ago at the thrift store for $2. I have cut vinyl with my Cricut and put that up but nothing this large. This quote was made by Die Cuts With A View and came in a canister. Unfortunately, I think I know why it was at the thrift store. Although I followed the directions, it took me over an hour to get it "unstuck" from the paper. (Must have been old?) Anyway...I also have very textured walls which only complicates the process. Here's how it turned out....
Not the best photo. It reads, "We do not remember days, we remember moments".

Former Thrift Store Find

2011-02-15T20:17:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends,

Although I found this a while ago, I never posted the picture. Was searching for a new comforter for our bedroom. I was tired of our drab earthy tone one. I struck gold when I was able to find this Laura Ashley comforter, bedskirt and sheets to match (along with pillow shams). Total paid $16. The sheets are the small cabbage rose pattern, the shams and comforter are the larger flower. LOVE IT.

I didn't realize that purchasing this would prompt me to NEED to paint my bedroom. I went with a very pale green to bring out the green in the bedding. All baseboards and trim are white. I actually was able to find another matching bedskirt that I plan to use to make throw pillows. I have always had plain bedspreads so this is a real change for me but is the only pattern in the room. I might use some stripe fabric in similar colors for other pillows.

My sister is the one that got me so hooked on thrift store shopping. As long as I can remember, she has been a thrift shopper. After staying with her and finding such treasures, she had me hooked. I now RARELY frequent any other kind of store. Thanks Sis for showing me the ropes!

Happy 2011

2011-02-13T16:10:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

So much has been going on. I am sure EVERYONE'S life is hectic.

I know it has been FOREVER (actually about 2 months) since I posted. I plan to be more regular now that the only thing I have to do is paint and I DON'T HAVE A DEADLINE! Yay. Little by little I plan to paint the livingroom, dining room, kitchen, family room and entry. I am taking my time. The livingroom has a 16 ft. vaulted ceiling and I am NOT looking forward to climbing the ladder that high up and painting along the edge of the ceiling before I can roll it!

I had promised pictures and I finally got them loaded on my lap top and down sized. I think I will try to change the size of the pictures my camera takes so I don't have to do that every time.

First off. Here are the pictures of our new floor upstairs and the beautiful job my husband did on our stairs! I fought him about doing the bathroom but I am so glad that we did. It looks wonderful!
Top of the stairs.....

Bottom of the stairs

Bathroom

Top of the stairs. My husband also built the built-in bookcase. First attempt at woodworking!

This was the absolute hardest part for him. The winding stairs. He had to weld wood slats together with glue and wood "bisquits" and then cut out the pattern. It was AWFUL! These 4 winders took more time than doing the entire flooring upstairs!

OK....now for a couple of great finds at the thrift store.

This is a nearly new Samsonite carry on. It has those kind of wheels that will roll behind you or roll beside you. It's awesome! $12 LOVE IT! Can't wait to use it when I go visit my Sis.

Next is a plate that I just love. It is meant to hang on the wall. Has a hanger on the back of it but you could also use it as a plate for yummy treats. $2 No chips or cracks either!

I hope whoever reads my blog realizes how important it is to back up the important files on your computer. I recently bought a 1 TB Western Digital external hard drive. I copied to it all my PICTURES, VIDEOS and DOCUMENTS. I would be sick if I ever lost those. Please.....if you haven't done it yet, get it done. It's very easy and you won't be sorry. I have a friend who recently had to replace her computer and if she hadn't backed up her photos she would have lost everything! She was so smart!

Have a list of stuff to get done today and have only scratched 3 things. Updating my blog was 1 of them so I can scratch one more.
Hope you all have a fabulous day tomorrow with your Valentine. Off to make goodies for my buddies at work.

Hugs and thanks for your interest in my blog.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

2010-12-23T17:39:00.000-08:00

Again it has happened....almost 2 months since I last posted. Unfortunately, I have not had any time in my craft room. I made NOTHING for Christmas. Working 5 days a week and then every evening and weekend around the house doing some much needed updates. I can FINALLY say we are finished. My whim of telling my husband that I wanted to take out the carpeting upstairs turned into a 3 month CHORE for both of us. We both ripped out the carpet. A nasty job I must say! Then I prepped the floors. Something I never want to do again. My husband layed all new wood flooring upstairs. All new baseboards. I did all the painting. Complete make over of 1 bedroom (a guest room). When we got to the stairs, I realized that laminate would not work so my husband went to Lumber Liquidators and purchased wood to cover the stairs. The part you step on is called a "tread" and the wood that supports it is a "riser". We chose to paint the riser wood and varnish the treads. The straight stairs were not a problem but we have 4 winder stairs and they were a nightmare. My poor husband! The good news is...he finished and it looks fabulous. We both learned so much. I will post pictures another day.

I mostly wanted to wish everyone a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and hope you are able to spend some fun time with your loved ones. We are hosting our Annual Christmas Eve dinner with a group of about 33. Lots of food, fun and games. Looking forward to seeing everyone.

Until next time....

So Sorry....

2010-10-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

I know...I know....I have been HORRIBLE about updating my blog. We have been so busy "doing stuff around the house". My post a few back of the laminate floor opened up a HUGE amount of work for my husband. Talk about things "snowballing" into other things! We are still working on the laminate floor. The bathroom is all that is left to be done. Then we had the issue of what to do with our stairs. We decided to rip out the carpeting. Down to bare ugly wood with lots of nails and staples. Can't do laminate on the stairs, don't want to do carpet. So...now we are doing REAL WOOD and recreating the stairs with new "treads" and "risers". It's a job and half since our stairs curve and we go from straight stairs to triangular shaped stairs. Quite the learning experience for both of us. Oh...did I mention paint? Now we have to repaint which presents the issue of "where do we stop". The stairway shares a common wall with the entry. What we thought would be a small paint job is now huge. We have 16 ft. ceilings in places that make it difficult to get to with the stairs. Every minute of the evening is spent attempting to put our house back together. Why is it that any job you begin starts out as an ant hill and turns into a mountain? We "hope" to be done by Christmas Eve when we have our large family of 26 over for dinner. I know it will all turn out great in the end but I will admit that it has been a ton of work!

I will post some pictures soon. I must do a before and after of the stairs. That may be awhile since we had to custom order some wood steps.

I love the color of my sisters walls in her house so she shared her paint codes with me and we had the paint "copied" at Lowe's. They are great for that! Put a few rolls of it on our wall and thought it was too light. Lo and behold, once dried it looks much better. I always forget that it gets a lot darker after it dries.

Also emptied out our walk in closet in our guest room that has mostly my daughters stuff she didn't want to move. Need her to go through it so we can throw out, give away what she doesn't want and reorganize. I think we could have come up with several Halloween costumes with what we found in that closet. (My kids have always been into dressing up for Halloween. Even now that they are adults!

OK...promises, promises. I will try to at least post some pics and updates on some of my finds at the thrift store. I was at Goodwill the other day and found a "sold" dresser that was EXACTLY what I have been looking for. It sold for $39. I was so ticked. Guess I missed it by a few hours. Oh well.....

Happy Halloween to everyone.

Best Cat Litter Ever!

2010-09-19T16:09:00.000-07:00

Kind of a crazy topic but I am so excited over this. We recently were given a box of cat litter that someone no longer needed. Not my usual brand but I don't think my cats are picky. It's from Petco and it is called Ever Clean. It comes in a blue box. What is special about it? It is scented with lavender. I LOVE IT! I must say the cats do too. The box I tested it in was the most used. It's kind of expensive $20.99 so I decided to mix it with Tidy Cat. It sure makes smelling lavender more appealing than the alternative. I highly recommend it for anyone who gets to clean cat boxes every day like me.

Yesterday, we ripped carpet out of another bedroom in preparation for doing more wood flooring. Unfortunately, we found an area where the builder put in a smaller board in the sub floor than the rest of the area. My husband patched that with some goop from Lowe's. After it sets, we can get going on the next room.

I have realized that I am trying to cram too many activities and chores into 2 fast days. The weekends just fly by for me. I still need my "me" time.

I can't believe it is only 2 more weeks until I go visit my sister and get some rest and relaxation. Oh...did I say rest? That isn't true! Last visit, I remember we were sitting in her spa at 3am. We averaged about 4 hrs. of sleep per night. Regardless, we have such fun. Can't wait!

OH MY!

2010-09-15T18:22:00.000-07:00

If you haven't ever tried MOCHI, you must. Available at Trader Joe's. Comes in Strawberry, Mango, Green Tea and Chocolate (at my local store). They are 105 calories each. Believe it or not, it is ICE CREAM. I gave one to my husband and he said he thought it was like a marshmallow with ice cream in it. My daughter-in-law, Kristin, turned me on to these. Try them. They are so yummy and you eat it with your fingers!

Thank You!

2010-09-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

I just want to thank a few of you sweet girls for your kind comments. My sweet sister, Donna, my Mom, Lynn, my niece, Holly Lynn, dianne, Melanie, Theresa and Ginny. I really appreciate the encouragement and support.
There's lots more to come....working on a video and more projects. Stay tuned.

Happy Labor Day

2010-09-06T19:19:00.000-07:00

Made a run to the thrift store today for their 50% off sale. Couldn't believe all the people lined up outside! Didn't find anything too thrilling there. Went to Goodwill and found a few goodies. This is an OTT Lite. It actually works and I found it for $4.50. I have one on my craft table and LOVE it.

The other fun thing I found was a Stone & Co. purse. Perfect condition and really soft black leather.

It was $6.50.

The last time my sister was here, we went to the thrift store and I found a couple of shirts for my hubby. They were in perfect condition and were only $3.50 ea. As you can see by the label, they were Tommy Bahama!

I can't believe how fast these past 3 days have flown by! I do feel that I got a lot accomplished!

Back to work tomorrow.

Laying A Laminate Floor (In A Weekend)

2010-09-05T21:01:00.000-07:00

OK....so here is what it looked like under the carpet. Sub-floor was LOADED with nails and staples. We had to pound in the nails that were sticking up and pull out every staple. I swear there were 100's! Next came cleaning the wood so it didn't have any specs of any residue on it. Once we did that, we covered the entire floor with plastic. (Not required but felt a need to do it.)

Surprisingly enough...the prep for the floor was much harder than laying it. Here we are, just started into it. My husband made the cuts with his power saw.

The flooring that we bought had the "pad" attached to the back of it. Therefore, all we needed to do was snap the pieces together. You have to leave approx. 1/4" at the wall edge so it doesn't buckle. Small spacers were placed around the edge of the room. They call this "floating a floor" because it is NOT glued down or attached to the sub-floor in any way.
There were times when I had to run downstairs and watch a YOUTUBE video so we would know what to do next. Figuring out how to measure to cut the end pieces was tricky.

After a good majority of the day spent, laying the floor, measuring and cutting. It's DONE! We only took a break for lunch. Off we went to Lowe's to get new molding since the stuff we took off gets ruined when you remove it. I wanted a little bit larger molding anyway. We bought 4" white vinyl. I prefer the look of white next to the floor instead of trying to match the wood color. I like the white accents in the room.
Thanks to my hubby for all his hard work!

Yeah! One room down, one to go. We also plan to do the hall and bathroom. Kind of ambitious but we aren't in any rush. We will just take our time.
This room is 10 1/2 x 10 1/2. The flooring and supplies cost about $200. 2 Days of labor. This was our first attempt at doing anything like this and I am really happy with the way it came out.
It was a lot of work but well worth the results.
Looking forward to going to get a yogurt at Yogurtland and kicking back.
I am so glad to have tomorrow off so I can do something a bit more fun! Happy Labor Day!

WHAT WAS I THINKING?

2010-09-04T23:06:00.000-07:00

I must be crazy! My husband and I ripped out the carpet, pad, tack strip and baseboards. Does anybody out there know that they staple the pad to the sub-floor? Not only did we have various nails but it seemed like 100's of staples that we had to hand pull (with pliers) out of the sub-floor. We are down to the bare wood. Lots of uneven nail heads to pound in. We are both sweating like crazy. When we purchased the wood flooring at Sam's Club, a young girl came up to me and said, "My Dad wants to know if you need an installer". I thanked her and told her we were doing it ourselves. WHAT WAS I THINKING? I should have taken his number. This is not a simple task so far. I will take a few pics tomorrow of the before. Better get on YouTube and see if I can watch an installation video.

Saturday Deals, Cats & Stuff

2010-09-04T18:07:00.000-07:00

Today I decided I want to tear out our carpet upstairs and lay wood floor. I moved all the furniture out of the first room and ripped out the carpet. I just need to tear out the tack strips and baseboards next. I will show pics later. It's too hot to do anymore so I am taking a break until it cools off.

I went to a couple of thrift stores and got a few good deals I thought I would share. This is a Brighton coin purse in perfect condition for $1. Next is a travel purse that goes across your body. Brand new, warranty still inside. Had checked these out and they were $40 new. Found it for $7.

Here is a cool mirror that I got for $8. The shelf is a bit loose so I will have to use my wood glue on it.

Last week when my husband got to work, he found a perfectly good cat "tree", a new litter box and a brand new box of Ever Fresh Lavender Scent kitty litter. (We found out later that an elderly woman's elderly cat passed away and she didn't want any reminders left around. Very sad.

One of my cats, Roxy, has decided it is HER tree. She has been living on the top shelf.

She also was quite fond of this little foot stool I found. It opens up for storage inside and is in excellent condition.

Had to show you one of our Beastie Boys taking a siesta on the back of the couch. He is such a great cat!

If there ever was a perfect cat, it is him! I trim the cats nails pretty regularly and he is the only one who sits there with his paw out like he is in a manicure chair and allows me to trim them. The others hate it.

Here is my sweet boy.

Bargains Galore

2010-08-28T17:59:00.000-07:00

My sister gave me a long lecture about not keeping up my blog. Having a full time job (outside the house) keeps me so busy that I find it tough to do. Sometimes I feel like nobody would be interested in my activities which is why I don't do Facebook or Twitter. That seems way too time consuming to me. I work Monday through Friday and then Saturday mornings I usually meet my buddies to chat about life and things. Sometimes we are on our computers, sometimes we are crafting and sometimes we just talk about stuff. Afterwards, I make my routine stop at a few thrift stores and then home for housework. (Blah! Boring!)

Last Saturday I found a bench at my local thrift store. After 30% off, it cost me $4. I am sorry that I didn't take a "before" picture. It had blonde wood legs and a grey leather padded top. The leather was dirty and stained. I cleaned it up and then unscrewed the pad from the top. Sprayed the wood black and recovered the pad with the fabric I have used in my craft room. (Mary Engelbreit black background with tiny red cherries). This is the "after":

I am happy with the way it turned out and it is perfect for my extra craft table where I shoot my videos.

Bargain hunting has also been something my husband does. He usually buys from auctions. Last week he told me he was bidding on some stuff just because it seemed like prices were low. Sure enough.....he told me he bought an exercise bike for $6. He went to pick it up today and it is an older model Lifecycle. Perfect condition but old. There were no cords or anything but an electronic control panel. We searched it for where a cord might plug in but it didn't come with one anyway. My husband noticed a small door on the back of the panel and removed it. Inside was a 9 volt battery. We replaced it and we have a fully functional, heavy duty, gym quality, QUIET, exercise bike. Awesome. Just love to get a deal!

I am really starting to LOVE spray paint. It's my new best friend. I have a few more projects to work on (in my spare time). Can't wait. More later on those....

The heat we have had this past week has put the kabosh on any plans I had for crafting. It was such a relief to have such beautiful, gorgeous weather today. LOVE IT! Clear skies and a nice breeze.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend whatever you are doing!

Scotch Pink ATG Gun

2010-07-30T22:21:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted one of these adhesive applicators but refused to pay the price. I think I was also hoping that someone would create one that was smaller. No such luck. I haven't seen these less than $59 and when Michael's and JoAnn's announced they would carry the pink ATG gun, I have been on the search. My friend, Nancy, found it at our local Michael's. They were gone by the time I got there. Went to another area Michael's and asked one of the stocking employees about it. (There was no display). She went to the back and got one for me. She said they received only 2. Oh brother! It is $34.99 and I was able to use a 40% off coupon.

Anyway....I have heard that buying the off-brand refills is NOT worth it. The adhesive is very stringy. Stick with the Scotch Gold refills and just look for good prices on-line or use a Michael's coupon. They sell them for $9.99. (I think there are 2 in the box) Believe it or not, sometimes I have a hard time trying to find something to use a coupon on.

This adhesive is very sticky. Once you stick your paper down, there is NO moving it. It's there to stay.

I am very happy with it and highly recommend it for scrapbooking, card making and crafts.

Scotch Pink ATG Gun

2010-07-30T22:04:00.000-07:00

My Favorite Things Stamps

2010-07-19T19:39:00.000-07:00

I came home today from work to find my very first order from My Favorite Things Rubber Stamps. In case you are interested, their website is http://www.mftstamps.com/

The sets I received are in order from left to right

Better Get Better

Birthday Princess

Are We There Yet

They were $9 each

They also included a free alpha set with my order. I hope to get some samples made up and posted soon.

I really needed some stamps that I could color with my Copics. So many of mine are solid rubber and not the kind to color in.

I know my sis will read this, but the "Are We There Yet" set reminds me of when I travel to see her. I will be staying 8 days with her in October and I cannot wait! Plan to make her a card. We have so much fun together! Her hubby is going to be out of town so it will be just the two of us being crafty, thrift shopping, staying up late, laughing, blogging and just enjoying each others company.

Tonight is "The Batchelorette" and we enjoy a little "Batchfest" afterwards via computer voicing our opinions on what should have or could happen. Lots of fun. Look forward to our session tonight.

I heard from several of my friends who were able to snag some Cuttlebug dies from Big Lots. What a deal. I love to share!

TFL (Thanks for looking!)

Bargain Day

2010-07-18T18:23:00.000-07:00

This morning I decided to get some housework done before it got too hot. While doing laundry, I was washing and folding "rags". Rags for washing cars, rags for dusting, rags for polishing....I decided I had WAY TOO MANY RAGS. I don't know how I collected so many but I filled a 20 gal trash bag with excess rags. That got me started and I went through a bunch of clothes and filled 3 more bags. I donate clothing and other things I no longer need once a month. It's nice to lighten the load.

Today my daughter came for a visit so we decided to go thrift store shopping. She found 2 purses (one of which I had to replace the strap on). They were nice leather purses that just needed a little TLC. I scrubbed them with leather cleaner and then used mink oil on them. I must say, they looked pretty good. Sorry, I didn't take a picture before she left with them.

A week ago, I found a cute summery top at my favorite thrift store for $1.50. Lo and behold, today I found another one in a different color. What a deal. So comfy and cool. A good day! Yesterday, my Mom and I went to a thrift store that was pretty junky. I saw a Sizzix machine (looked brand new) for $4.98. I was glad that I got $25 for mine when I sold it. Found a roll of vinyl for my Cricut for $1 there a few months back.

I don't know why but my car just wants to drive to Target, Michael's and Big Lots EVERY SINGLE Sunday. So off we went. I got a couple of necessities at Target. I also found in the $1 section, a bean bag lap table. (Think is was $2.50) It's been way too hot to have the warmth on me from my lap top. I will say it works perfectly. I keep it stored by my recliner.

Big Lots had sent me an email with a 20% off coupon TODAY ONLY. (Sign up in the store or on line...it's worth your time). We walked in and the manager was just putting out Cuttlebug dies. $1.60 after the 20%. WHAT A DEAL. Several of them were the embossing folder WITH the die for $1.60. Geez! Couldn't pass that up.

For probably the first time ever, I didn't buy anything at Michael's. My daughter bought some beads and things to make a necklace so we each used coupons for what wasn't on sale. Overall, a pretty good day with VERY LITTLE money spent but lots of deals.

I can never figure out why Saturday and Sunday just seem to fly by but the work week drags? Why is that?

Thanks for looking.

Lots Going On.....

2010-07-13T06:45:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends,

How come there aren't more hours in each day? Been so busy. Re-organized my craft room and closet. I have a nice walk-in closet where I had my sewing machine set up. I decided to move it into my guest room and set up my table instead as a place where I can make my videos. It's all finished! Yay!

Got up the energy to paint my $3 yard sale chair to match the rest of my craft room. Here's a pic. In an earlier post you could see that it was brown. I made a black fabric with tiny red cherries (Mary Englebreit fabric) seat cushion. Love it!

I also did another video of a card. Wasn't thrilled with the card so haven't posted it. I added a few black stitch marks and some pink to the cat to make it a bit better. What do you think? Should I post the video? It doesn't require much knowledge other than I did cut it out with my Cricut.

Also finally got my 99 cent shelf painted. Plain ol' white to stand out on sage green walls. Figured since I was painting my chair, it was time to finally get this done.

My niece was just accepted into nursing school and we are all so proud of her. It's going to be a lot of work but she is very motivated to pursue this new career for her. Her parents had a fun family barbeque and I wanted to make her a card. Here is the one I decided on. (Just love the pink crocs!) Of course, I used my Cricut. Just love that machine! The cartridge was Everyday Paper Dolls. Used the nurse and some of the doctor accessories. So fun.

Also this month, my son celebrated his 32nd birthday! I found this picture of him on the beach when he was just a wee one and made his card from it. Scanned the picture and printed it in black and white. Stamped a Papertrey Ink message from Signature Greetings and then covered the photo with clear acrylic.

My sweet sister has been pestering me for months to do more on my blog. I have really good intentions but once I am home from a long day at work, I can't seem to find the energy. I absolutely LOVE making cards and doing crafts but only find time on weekends. I never wanted to be one of those people that doesn't keep up their blog. It drives me nuts not having more to post. So....I am going to make an effort to be more consistent. Hope you are all enjoying your summer. I remember the days when I was home with the kids and we spent most of our time camping and going to the beach. The good ol' days.......

Back to reality.

Thanks for looking!

2010-06-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Mom!

2010-06-21T21:56:00.000-07:00

Today is my mom's birthday. She is in Ohio visiting my brother and his family. Talked to her this evening and she is having a wonderful time. Love you MOM!

Cricut Lite Cherry Limeade Bird Card Video

2010-06-14T19:17:00.001-07:00

2010-06-13T19:52:00.001-07:00

Cricut Lite Cherry Limeade

2010-06-13T18:29:00.000-07:00

Today I decided to do a quick card using one of my new cartridges. Here's a picture of the completed card. Supplies used: Cricut Lite Cherry Limeade cartridge, Papertrey Ink Birthday Basics "happy birthday" stamp, Colorbox fresh green ink, My Minds Eye "Mary Mary" paper, White square card.

New Cricut Lite Cartridges Exclusive to WalMart

2010-06-12T23:03:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends,

As you probably have already heard, Cricut has released 24 new "Lite" cartridges exclusive to WalMart. They are priced at $39. Very similar to a Solutions cartridge but better packaging. No book but a laminated folder showing all layers. Here's the display at my local WalMart. Sorry it isn't a better picture. I took it with my phone. Here are the cartridges I felt I could NOT live without.

To date, there is an update for the Cricut Design Studio for all 24 cartridges but not yet for the Gypsy. Hopefully, that will be coming soon.

These cartridges come with the keyboard overlay, the cartridge and the laminated tri-fold that shows all layers. It is a plastic box similar to one sold for VHS tape storage. You also get a REWARDS certificate for 30 pts. If you register this month, you will receive 50 pts.
I think they are a bit high in price and would like to see a $25 price tag (or lower). Some cartridges have an additional alphabet. For those with high schoolers, the Varsity Letter cartridge is adorable! My girlfriend got Slumber Party and it is a must have for little girls. Both the B for Boy and the Sugar N Spice are great boy/girl cartridges.

This Celebrate With Flourish allows you to cut out the design just like it is shown on the package front. The layers for the different colors are specifically designed for the different color options.

This cartridge has mostly holidays but offers a really cute chocolate covered strawberry that caught my eye since I LOVE to make them (and eat them!)

Provo Craft seems to have an abundance of new products planned for 2010.

Hopefully, I will have some PROJECTS up or a VIDEO or two soon showing some of my creations.

On A Roll...

2010-06-05T13:59:00.000-07:00

Wow! Am I on a roll, or what? Now that I have FINALLY figured out this video to blog thing, I have so many ideas in my head. Many more videos to come. Here is a picture of a gift bag that I made out of an envelope. Go to my VIDEO page and check it out. Here is the end result.

Easy Flower Frame

2010-06-03T18:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Nancy!

I gave my sister this frame for Mother's Day. This is her little dog Izzy. She is a sweetheart. Instructions on how to make this flower are on my video #1 (May 31st). Check it out. Got the frame at the thrift store. My sister and I love to frequent yard sales and thrift stores! The flower can be at the top, bottom or side of the frame. Fun.

Flip Video

2010-06-02T20:02:00.000-07:00

So....thought I would say how I did my video. I have been wanting to do these and couldn't ever figure it out or find a tutorial on how to do this. I have (and use) a Flip Ultra video camera. It's one of the original ones. Nothing fancy. No HD. Simple and easy to use. After you video, you plug the camera into your USB port. It automatically uploads to your FlipShare Video software and saves it to your computer. It makes it an "avi" file. I don't understand all this stuff but YouTube does NOT accept "avi" files. I then have to use Windows Movie Maker and "import" my video from the computer and then "publish" it in WMM to make it a "wmv" file. I wouldn't have known any of this without the help of my hubby. (Thanks Mark!) In Windows Movie Maker, you can edit,add titles, effects and closing credits. You then need to establish a YouTube account. It's easy to sign up. Go to your account and click on "Upload Video". Find it saved on your computer. Mine is under VIDEOS. I locate my "wmv" file and just click. It takes a while to upload to YouTube depending on the length of your video (10 min. maximum per YouTube) and I believe it has something to do with your router. Sorry I am not more educated on this. Just for reference...both my videos took about 19 min. to upload. Afterwards, YouTube has a button below your video that says "Enbed". Copy that code and then go to your blog and click on EDIT HTML. Paste the code and the video is magically up on your blog! Awesome!

2010-06-02T19:58:00.001-07:00

2010-05-31T08:08:00.001-07:00

OK....OK....

2010-05-24T18:33:00.000-07:00

My sister has been bugging me to post some more things on my blog. Where does the time go?

So here we go....First off, I have scored a few great things lately. Coffee table from thrift store. $16. Figured it will work great for Christmas Eve dinner at our house. A few people can eat around it! It's huge....not sure if I will sand and paint it or just sand it. It's very distressed so no worries with little ones on it.

Next is my $3 stool for my craft room. Got that at our City Wide Yard Sale with my friend, Nancy. Had my daughters little convertible that day so Nancy had to hold it in her lap. Good thing it was a nice day and we had the top down!

I think I will paint it white. But for now, I wanted a cushion for it. Bought a pillow at the thrift store for $1 and covered it.
Here's the cushion.

Not sure if you can tell that it is a Mary Engelbreit tiny cherry print. My valance is a Mary E fabric from the thrift store for $1. All the furniture is white and I use black and red accents. I see you can see a tiny bit of a shelf I got for $1.99 that needs to be painted as well. My knobs are all Mary E cherry pattern. Love her art!

The last thing I need is another trimmer/paper cutter but I found this Fiskars one for 99 cents. It is brand new, has the fold out 12x12 arm. It was just missing the blade. I had extra at home so couldn't let it go.

A few more treasures. Got this little red storage cube at Target. Every time I go in my craft room, one of my cats, Smokey, follows me in. I keep the door closed so they can't get into all my stuff. They LOVE to play with my paint brushes! Smokey LOVES to sit in my chair. I bought this soft fuzzy storage cube and she thinks it is for her. Perfect for all my paper scraps.

OK....next item IS NOT MY IDEA! I received this cute gift

from my friend, dianne. It was made using the ELMO'S PARTY Cricket Cartridge (cupcake wrapper). Just roll up a pair of those fuzzy, cozy socks and then place a red pom pom on top. I was able to fit 3 of the wrappers on my 12 x 12 cutting mat.

Thanks for the idea, d.

Oops. One more thing. Made this frame for a friend at work. The flower is paper. Idea from the creative videos of http://www.dawnsstampingthoughts.typepad.com/. So fun to make. Got the frame for 49 cents at the thrift and the black iron stand at JoAnn's. Love it!

Guess that's all for now. Are you happy, Jan? I finally posted again. Wish I had more time to keep this up.

Unfortunately, I lost all my pictures on my computer. Fortunately, I had them backed up and I just spent days putting them back on my computer. There always seems to be something more pressing.

Until next time. Thanks for your interest in my blog!

It's Been A Long Time.....

2010-04-02T23:25:00.000-07:00

Seems like I just keep complaining about how long it's been since I posted. I can't believe an entire month passed but guess I just need to realize how busy I am.

A friend of mine showed me how to make a super easy pillowcase. The instructions were from a blog that is no longer. Not sure who the originator is and I would hate not to give a person credit where it is due. You can google "easy pillowcase" and find a video that shows you how. Here's a picture of mine. For those who have little ones, or make "holiday" pillowcases, this is a super easy one. You only need to know how to sew 3 straight lines.

Supplies needed are: 3/4 yd for the main pillow case, 1/8 yd for contrasting trim and 1/3 yd for the cuff. Super, super easy and fun!

The other thing I am super excited about is my Copic Cubbies.

Bought them online at http://www.studio3solutions.com/.

Copic markers can be stored standing up or laying down. Once capped, they are airtight and how you store them does not matter. These cubbie shelves are a bit slanted so they are not sitting flat. I actually ending up laying my cubbies on their side because it worked out better for my stamp table.

Also...recently returned from a fabulous long weekend in Henderson with my sister, my mom and some friends. We call it Scrapfest but we really just talk, play on our laptops, share ideas, shop, eat, laugh, get very little sleep and have a ton of fun. As a "Thank You" gift for our hostesses, I made these little Nugget Tins.

All supplies are available at http://www.papertreyink.com/

Lately I Am Addicted to the TV....

2010-02-21T15:45:00.000-08:00

For anyone who has been considering buying a Cricut machine, there is a website currently offering the Cricut Create and all current Cricut cartridges for the best deal I have ever seen on line or anywhere. The cartridges are just $29.99. Go to cricutmachine.com and check it out!!!

Also, if you love Copic Sketch Markers like I do....www.carpediem.com has them for $3.95. Compared to most other sites, this is a great deal!

I haven't been able to keep up with anything lately since there is SO MUCH on TV. I am way behind on watching the Olympic coverage. Kinda makes me not so excited when I hear who already has won the medals. Today I am watching the Nascar race from Fontana (drove by it on the freeway today) and I cannot believe it hasn't poured on the race track. The clouds are dark and black right over the mountains north of the racetrack but so far....the track has remained dry. There are only 30 laps to go and I hope they can finish. Nascar will not run in the rain.

Had a great visit with my Dad yesterday. If you don't know me, my Dad is suffering from Altzheimer's disease. A very sad time in our lives. My sister is doing an awesome job journaling about it. Check out her blog at http://www.digifreed.blogspot.com/.

I made a quick trip to JoAnn's today. Everything for papercrafting is 40% off. Everything I purchased was on sale. I now need to get into my craft room and begin my creating! I feel like I have gotten so much done today. Cold and chilly outside so I have tortilla soup cooking in the crockpot. I also updated my Gypsy and updated my Cricut Design Studio software. I am so impressed with Provo Craft for constantly listening to us (the users) and making some awesome improvements to the Gypsy. Simple to update. Just need to log in, hook your Gypsy to your computer and turn your Gypsy on and it updates in minutes.

Also want to say Congratulations to my friend, dianne. She just completed her final of 8 surgeries. She is a breast cancer survivor. So proud of her for enduring it all. Check out her blog at http://www.justmousinaround.blogspot.com/. She makes awesome cards.

Time for me to get busy in my craft room!

CHA Super Show

2010-01-23T17:46:00.000-08:00

Attended the CHA Super Show with my friend, dianne. The most excitement seemed to be coming from the Cricut Cake booth (Provo Craft). They have come out with a new machine that cuts fondant for decorating cakes. The blade cartridge is higher to accommodate thicker material being cut and running through. It's a cute RED machine. I believe all Cricut cartridge work with this machine although it comes with a "special" Cake cartridge.

Slice has a new pink machine and they handed out pink aprons to everyone. Cute.

dianne and I got to meet Robyn (My Pink Stamper). We follow her blog and have purchased her CD. She introduced 2 clear mounted stamp sets which we both bought in support of her for all the ideas she has given us. Robyn encouraged us to enter her drawing and lo and behold...I actually won an Easter cartridge. That's a first!

Our favorite Copic pen store (Carpe Diem) was there and I was able to pick up the new 12 colors. Great price for their Copic's at $3.95!

Found a few good deals on paper packs and clear stamps. Bought a couple of ink pads and a few other goodies.

Ran into Lorene Yost (sales rep) who I haven't seen in years. Great to see her. Also saw so many familiar faces of friends from the past.

Cricut Dan had a booth and good prices on cartridges so I was able to get FOREVER YOUNG. One I have been wanting.

Tomorrow is the CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) show for business owners. I am able to attend thanks to my former employer, Joan Bunte of Stamp Your Heart Out. Anxious to see all the new products and latest techniques. I am going with a group of friends. We usually split up but compare notes at lunch time.

It will be a long day but it usually gives me so much inspiration and energy to be creative! Can't wait.

Welcome 2010

2010-01-22T20:29:00.000-08:00

Oh geez. Can't believe this is my first post of the New Year. Happy 2010 to everyone. I have been busy making cards. Got a cute clear bucket at Michael's and made some cards for a friend's birthday.

I have pictures of the cards that are in the bucket but it seems to be taking forever to upload the pics and I am getting frustrated.Started out using a Papertrey set but decided to use a punch for the leaves. The punch is by EK.

These are all Papertrey stamps and chalk ink.

Happy Holidays

2009-12-28T21:42:00.000-08:00

It's so nice to have the holidays behind me! Thoroughly enjoyed my family and friends here celebrating but glad to have the New Year to look forward to.

Martha Stewart has come out with her new Spring punches and I was able to collect a few thanks to a gift card from my sweet sister! Some of the punches shown here are NOT new but too cute for words.

Sorry that the pictures aren't better.

I got a few others but for some reason.....they are taking FOREVER to load!

Where Does The Time Go?

2009-12-06T07:24:00.000-08:00

Wow! Here it is December 6th already and I find myself with a very long list of things to do. Think the blog thing is going to take back seat to all my other holiday chores. Expecting about 35 people here Christmas Eve and working every day makes it difficult to find much time to get anything done.
The weather forecast is for one straight week of rain. We definitely need it!
At least my shopping and wrapping is done. There wasn't much to do this year.
Will try to post some pictures later. Off I go to be productive today.....

2009-11-15T14:29:00.000-08:00

The thing I dreaded about having a blog is actually a reality. I didn't want a blog that wasn't updated at least once a week. I need to work on being more regular with my posts. I have recently been addicted to the new punches by EK Success and Martha Stewart. Using the wonderful coupons that Michael's offers sure helps being able to get the ones that I wanted. (Thank you d for finding the paper lace punch for me!) So...here are a few of my latest purchases.

Love this one!!!!!!!!! You can find it in the new American Girl section of Michael's.

Thanks d for recommending this one. So cool.

I believe this one originally came out in January of last year. Wanted it and could never find it.

Christmas release.

Go to http://www.justmousinaround.blogspot/ to see how dianne used this on her snowman card.

Thanks to d, I finally got this one. Hard to find....

Village Venture

2009-10-25T17:10:00.000-07:00

I really don't like not being able to keep up with my blog. There just isn't enough time in the day!
Yesterday, I went to our fine cities Village Venture with my Mom and my son's Mother-In-Law. I found this computer bag made of oil cloth that I just couldn't pass up!

Really nice gal, Denise Bos designed it. Her web site is: http://www.oilclothalley.com/. Check it out. She has designed some really cute stuff!
We also made it to the Bungalow booth. Couldn't pass up her $3 wallets.
From the looks of the crowds, I would say it was a big success.
Next year, my sister, is going to come visit and go with me. 4th Saturday of every October. FUN!!!

2009-10-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

All packed up and almost ready to go out for the day. Donna is going to take me to all her favorite stores. Lots to cram into the day and then she will drop me off at the airport. Why is it that when you want the time to fly by, it doesn't and when you want more hours in the day, they fly? Seems like those special times are the fastest hours. Finished up my second art project. Wasn't too into it. The vision was in my head but didn't transfer well to canvas. Oh well....here it is....

2009-10-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today we went to see "Couples Retreat" and "Whip It". Made our stop off at Michael's for a few necessities to finish our art projects and then off to the grocery store for our dinner fixings. Relaxing in front of the TV watching Amazing Race. Love that show! I can't believe that I leave tomorrow. These days have flown by. I sure have enjoyed this special time with my sister and can't wait to do it again.

2009-10-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

Today my sister and I stayed in our jammies all day. We were inspired by Kelly Rae Roberts book "Taking Flight" and we each did an art project. Mine doesn't look anything like what Kelly Rae does but we used her technique. She is amazing. Check out kellyraeroberts.blogspot.com.

Here is my sister's.........

Bellagio Gardens

2009-10-10T11:49:00.000-07:00

Visiting with my sister and spent some time at The Bellagio. We took alot of pictures in the gardens and here are a few of my favorites.
Loved these trees...

And the beautiful orange lilies.

I Finally Did It.....

2009-10-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to start a blog, never knowing if I would have the time to keep it up. I sat up very late one night with my sister, both of us trying to do a blog. She was successful, I was not. It's been 4 months since then and I have decided to give it another try.

The purpose for my blog is to share crafts and creations with my friends and family. I really enjoy making things by hand.