Happy New Year!

Wow we are just a little under a hour to a new year hard to believe. Just wanted to take a min to say HAPPY NEW YEAR and hope you have a safe new year. I wish you a year of happiness, health and to be surrounded by all those you hold dear. We get to start a new and try to even have a better year than before. We make so many new year resolutions that we plan to keep. Lose that extra weight we gained during the holidays. Eat healthy or work out more. Get organized for once, maybe for some get out of debt. I have done the new years resolutions before and they did not get keep no matter how hard I tried. And mine has always been to get organized....lol Which I have got a little better about it just not where I would like to be. But this year the resolutions I am making is something I have put last.
1. Get our home finished.
 Start to finally get all these projects we need to do around our house done. We still need to install a new closet system we bought right after we bought our house. And on Jan 8th we have owned our house two years. I have put our home last and its time our home gets finished. I want to have a home I am proud of not one that is full of oh yeah that is another unfinished project. The entry has no paint only texture from where we had it redone, the guest bathroom has the awful wall paper border that I loath....lol I want to get it down and paint. Most of the framed art is not hanging on our walls there just sitting around waiting to be hung. We have boxes still packed and yes I am ashamed to admit that but I will. lol Its sad. So our home this year is going on the top of the todo list.
2. Take time for myself
Seem like I am always busy either with house work and bills or helping someone find something(hubby). Dont get me wrong I love to help and do for others. But its not fun when you cant even find 30 mins to go for a bike ride or time to craft. I love to ride my bike its so relaxing and I want to be able to get that bike ride on a day when its so pretty outside. Or just make time to get to craft more.
3.Call my mom more often
I will admit I am the worst at calling my mom. She is in a nursing home and she has a hard time hearing me. But even if she cant understand me I plan to call her more cause I realize I wont get to have her in my life as long as I would love to have her. Lest I can hear her voice. She has gotten worse lately to the point where we had to go see her this year for Christmas and that has never happened. It stinks when you live so far from where a parent is.
4. And of corse my normal GET ORGANIZED...lol
Yeah right it wont happen I know it wont but my goal is to lest get a tad bit more organized than I am. I keep getting little by little done each year so by the year 2030 maybe I will be...lol One thing I would like to make sure I get organized is the garage wow its a mess...lol
Well that is my 2012 goals its not a list but small enough that its do-able. Hope you find your goals meet and remember not to take on to much and don't beat yourself up cause you did not meet one. Life is a work in progress.

Favorites for 2011

Cant believe its almost 2012! Is it me or did this year seem to scream by? I wish I could say I got alot done in 2011 but many things like projects on our house did not get completed. But I can say I spent more time crafting than ever :) LOL I did get my craft room reorganized so guess I did get some thing done. I need to post the craft room one day, I will make that one of my goals for the first of the year. Anyway thought I would do a fast recap of the favorite cards or projects I have worked on this 20011. Some I was very shocked that they were so liked. I guess we are our own worst judges sometimes...lol

1.Its Owl good

This card I made for My Pink Stamper Design Team entry spot. I did not make the design team but I thought it turned out cute. Its one of my favorite cards.

2. Father's day card

I got the camping critters cart and this was the first card I made with it. I made this card it for my dad. I thought it was okay but I did not love it I felt rushed making it. But this card ended up being a popular card. I posted it on Criut message board and it got picked for the Cricut Chrip. I could not believe it...lol Then it later got featured on Patches of Pink.

3. Birthday card

This card I made two of I made one for a friend and then my MIL while here made a comment she loved it well I had enough papers to make it once more for her. Learned that blogging and putting sizes online to share comes in handy...lol 



4. Birthday card

I fell in love with chip board this year.

5. Graduation card

This was the first attempt at making a pop up card. I used the cricut for most of the items on and in the card The graduation gown and cap and letter was Jolee's stickers.

6.Happy Birthday Stinker

Found a new use for my old 1988 label maker LOL



7. Not a craft

Yes not a craft but I finally got my craft space, this was an old desk the neighbor was getting rid of. I thought this will work prefect for now I keep this in my office so when we have guest in the guest /craft room I can still craft. By the way yes the office is hunter green he wont let me paint them he loves it...lol

8. Operation write home cards

This year I enjoyed making cards for OWH these were for fathers day.

9. Digital scrap booking

Found digital scrap booking to be pretty fun. This was some old family photos that I just love.

10. Ornaments

This was recent I made two of these for my nephews for Christmas. I thought they kinda turned out cute used the cricut for the stencil for it. And a holy leaf stamp.

Well that is my top favorite cards and projects I have done this year. Thank you to all those who have chose to follow and leave sweet comments. know I have not been very active lately but with the busy season over I can get back to enjoying blogging with you all. :)

As promised the ornaments I made.

Hey hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, ours was pretty good.We were out of town from Saturday till Monday. Today I took the day to relax, matter fact did not get out of pj's till about 4 pm...lol It was a much needed break, it had been a very busy Dec. Next year I am going to start early with what I can, lesson learned. So much I planed did not get done, had to pick and chose what was the most important on the list. So anyway that leads me to what I am going to post on here. Every year I make my nephews a ornament. Its become a tradition now...lol So this year I did not want to do the clear glass ornaments like I have always done I wanted something different.
One day this month I was watching the Nate Berkus show, and someone cut a birch log in slices and drilled a hole and added them on the tree as decoration. And right then and there I thought of that would be cool if you could stencil something on those. We live in Texas so the only way I am getting birch wood is to order it and I did not have time to get it in and make them so I used normal wood logs. Here was the final result.


Front



back added year using versa mark and stamps

 Here is how I did it
Took a small thin log and cut slices so I ended up with small round about half inch thick slices. Try to keep the cuts clean as you can.
Then I sanded it by hand I would say if you could use a sander on it that would be better but I could not find our sander. And know we have one...lol
I cleaned the wood off really good and made sure vinyl would stick to it.
Cut with the cricut a stencil I used the deer off Camp Out cut at 1 1/4
I applied the vinyl to the log slice. I tool some extra and covered area that the stencil did not cover. Make sure its all covered.
Then I took a versa mark stamp pad and dabbed the inside of the stencil giving it a very good coat of versa mark.
while the vinyl still is on the piece of log I took Prefect Pearls I used copper and them brushed it on and worked it on well.
Once I had a good coat of the prefect pearls I peeled the stencil off to reveal the sharp clean image on the log.
I took a small leaf holly stamp I had on hand and used versa mark to stamp on the back and some on the front.
Then used the prefect pearls once again carefully only getting it on the stamped areas.
I used red stencil on part of the holly stamp image.
Once I had it all done I coated it with polyurethane in a spray can. And don't make my mistake...lol Make sure its not to close and make sure to do light coats and let it dry and then do another coat and so on till you feel you have sealed it well. All that will do is lock the prefect pearls in and make it where it wont come off.
To finish mine off I added a eyelet at the top and added a decorative ornament hook as well as alphabet metal letter for the person it was going to. But you could just drill a hole in the sliced wood and then tie ribbon or twine.
So that is how I made it, was pretty easy hardest part is cutting the slices. Well thanks for looking and that was my finale Christmas project I made. Before we know it we be packing up all the Christmas stuff. Take hours or days to get everything decorated like you want and a day to get it all down and packed up.

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! I am writing the post early cause we are out of town right now as you read this. I am sorry I did not get a chance to post the other Christmas stuff and I wanted to post the ornament a made as well but I was super busy Friday we had diner guest other matter fact I only sat down 10 mins the whole day until the guest arrived. So I will post them Monday prob. Monday I plan to have lots of relaxing time so I am sure I will get some post done...lol Well hope you are will or have had a wonderful Christmas.

Christmas Arrangements

So thought I would post a few X-Mas arrangements I put together. Wanted touches of Christmas around the rooms. This first project was done with almost everything I had on hand. I had the vase on hand and the poinsettia's as well.

I added some tree trimmings got for free at home depot and picks I had on hand. I used some scrap gift wrap and ribbon to the base of the vase.

All I bought for the coffee table center piece was the cinnamon scented pine cones. I love the smell of them so I added those in a glass bowl I never use and added some ornaments and poinsettia and picks I had on hand. As well as used some of the free tree trim.

I made this for the kitchen with the free tree trimmings and so storofoam I had on hand. Wanted to have something Nice to look at in the kithcne since its not joined with the living area.

This is our kitchen and nook



Well that is a few things I did to get a few more touches of Christmas, we have been on a tight budget so I have had to do things that cost zero or very little.

I will post the outside entry next I did it this last Sunday but did not get a chance to take pictures Sunday and then Monday it stormed and rained so I will post them tomorrow. Cant believe Christmas is almost here! Its been a super fast and busy Dec. Well thanks for looking :)

Fire place mantel

Well as promised wanted to post the fire place mantel. I changed it up a little this year. I added some filler to the garland I use. I have had my garland for many many lol years. Its your standard cheap garland that I paid very little for. I used some fake ivy vine I had and added that as well as went to Home Depot and ask if I could take some tree trimmings off there hands. Best thing ever for garlands that need extra volume to it and its FREE! I also used this in many other places I will post as well this weekend about that.
Anyway I also ran across a wonderful deal I could not believe it, they were going like crazy while I was at Lowe's. They had poinsettias for 2.00 for really big ones in decorative pots that had glitter on them and 1.00 for those in simple foiled pot and .50 for small ones. I got three large ones and one small one for the kitchen.

The two in the silver pots went on the fire place.

To make the center piece to the fire place I used a vine sleigh I got at target for 2.00 in the the 1.00 area. Target 1.00 area has become my favorite place for finding deals on cute stuff. I knew when I seen it what I had planed with it. I used the sleigh and a set of led craft lights and some snow blanket I had a new package as well for the base. I buy the stuff like this at the end of the years so I get it for a few cents and I have it for the next year.

And the finale result was....

The deer are stocking holders but used them as if they were pulling a sleigh. Cover base with snow blanket.

So there we go there is my super cheap mantel on a budget. I think all total I spent 7.00 Well thanks for looking and will post more soon. Have some other things I did with the tree trimmings I will post soon.

Christmas Tree

I meant to post this sooner but I have been super busy with getting house decorated and to getting ready for company to come into town. And we have been going out of town some so hubby can deer hunt. So its been a busy month here. Anyway thought I would start posting some of the decorations I have done, I will start off with the tree. We had to get a smaller one this year cause I moved the living room around and we plan to have people over. But that is okay less to decorate...lol Last years tree took me forever to get done cause we got a really big tree. Anyway I will have post on the fire place mantel and other decorations tomorrow.Thanks for looking :)







First angel I have ever bought

BUSTED! Cat having fun trying to climb the tree...lol



Crafty Christmas Ornaments

Three years ago I started a tradition of giving a hand made ornament to my nephews each year. I will be honest I thought they wont like them, there boys...lol But much to my surprise they loved them. First year I gave them there ornaments they ran around the room showing them off. And had to know how I made them...lol So the tradition was born. This Sunday when I was by my brothers home they had there tree up and there on the tree were all the ornaments hanging. I had to smile cause they really keep them...lol So when I seen them this past Sunday it reminded me I wanted to share it with you cause last year I did not get a chance to post it. So if your thinking of wanting a personal gift or maybe you just need to get more for your budget making a hand made ornament is a nice way to give a small little gift that does not go out of style or get old cause newer and better come out.

Ones I made last year

I used plain clear glass ornaments. I used things I had on hand to fill the insides. This one was made with fake snow and I cut out a deer with the crciut on vynil. I also used stickles on the outside dotted around the outside. I also added prima poinsettia flower.

I will say one thing Make sure to wash the glass ornaments with some viniger and water mix. Yes smelly but wash it and let them dry out before using. After they dry they dont smell. This year I dont plan on doing a glass ornament I am gonna try something new this year. Last year cause we have a bigger tree I needed some more ornaments so I made some using boxes I had around the house here they are and if you would like to know how to make them check my post out. BOX ORNAMENT

 Well thanks for looking hope this gives you an ideas. :)

Get well card for a guy (Missed Post)

I thought this had posted Saturday I had it set, but realized tonight it did not. So thought I would retype it and share anyway. To make it current I will not ask how your weekend is going? LOL Hope you had a great weekend and a good week so far. Its been super busy week!

Saturday it rained all day and was woke up to hubby saying hey my parents are coming from GA. Your kidding! just as I had got all the Christmas decoration from the attic the night before. Plus had to get craft room ready for over night guest.

Sunday still rained all day but I cleaned house some getting ready for his mom and dad. Went to store. Cleaned my craft room up. And re chalked the bathroom tub all by myself I am getting good at handy stuff...lol But my arm hurt the next day.

Monday worked all day on doing stuff around house like hanging stuff I had not done since we moved. And worked on the Mantel decorating it. We got a tree that night, was picked over but I had to get it was my only chance before we had company coming and they will be with us for lest a week. They still had not left yet.

Tuesday Moped and tidy up stuff in kitchen, Cooked diner and decorated the tree which took a couple hours. And then cleaned the mess up I made...lol

Wednesday will be a day of working on tidying up getting all the decoration boxes put back in the attic. And tidy up the outside entry. Which I dread cause it super cold here. Tonight its getting down to 25 will be 40 for the high.

So that has been my week so far. And the sad part this story is his parents still have not left but they did say they are leaving today so they should be here today or tomorrow. I need a vacation! LOL Christmas is always a busy month and you add unexpected house guest on top of it and wow it got super busy. Anyway hope everyone is having a great week so far. Products used for the card listed below thanks for stopping by and looking.

Supplies used

K and company card

Cuttle bug folder (

Papers

Tree stamp- Hero arts (Month of November)

White embossing powder

Get well stamp-

Versa mark ink

White gel pen

Been prepping for christmas

Hey everyone sorry been mia this week. I have been busy prepping house for getting a Christmas tree. I had to move our living room around, that is always a chore. And to while I was at it I cleaned parts of our knotty pine walls. Yes you seen right..lol our living room has knotty pine walls. Everyone that come to our home loves them but if they only knew how hard they are to clean. We hired a texture guy to take pop corn ceiling down and re texture it to a normal smooth look. He did good on the texture just he did not know how to cover the walls good I guess...lol And highest point is 15 ft. I am still cleaning texture off the walls and this was a year and a half ago. So I just do it little by little as I see I missed spots. So that is what I have been up to this week.

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving weekend. Ours was more like a Christmas Vacation movie that stars chevy chase. I could tell it but it would be long and some parts little to much TMI. I was glad to see the day end I know. We stayed with family from Thurs to sat night. We got home late sat and spent Sunday relaxing getting a few things done before work week started. So that is what has been going on last few days. As soon as I get done with the decorations I will post them also to I have many birthdays coming up I have to make cards for as well as Christmas cards. So Dec is always a super busy month for me. Bare with me for this week on post but after that there will be lots of post this month.

Happy Thanksgiving

Just wanted to say happy Thanksgiving. Hope you have a safe and wonderful day with family and loved ones. And for those who are going out after diner to brave the black Friday sales, good luck and be careful. We will be out of town ourselves in the country it a 40 min trip just to walmart. So doubt we will see any stores....lol

Banana Nut Bread Recipe

Well today I am in full on baking mode. But since I prepared ahead a few days ago its going to be so much less time consuming. I got all my stuff together and out a few days ago and some items already measured and ready to add. When I am making many batches of banana bread it comes in super handy. I will take containers and go ahead and measure all the flours out for each batch as well as sugar and nuts. It saves on time big time. Anyway so today I am baking and then will be packing as well since we will be going out of town for a few days. But thought I would share the recipe page I made was tried of looking at a plain recipe so thought I would jazz it up. I will type the recipe at the bottom. Its so yummy and easy to make its the best banana bread I have ever ate.

Banana Nut bread

1 cup of canola oil

1 cup of granulated sugar

2 large eggs

3 large ripe bananas- mashed

2 cups all purpose flour

1tsp of baking soda

1/2 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp of salt

3 tbl of milk

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

3/4 cup of chopped wal nuts

Pre heat oven to 350

Grease loaf pans

Beat oil and sugar in bowl then add in the eggs and bananas.

Then sift all dry ingredients together and add to wet and mix.

Add the milk and the vanilla mix together well.

Bake at 350 for 50 to 60 mins

Thanks for looking!

Lazy Sundays

Wow its been a fast weekend, but its been a awesome weekend weather wise. So pretty out I have the doors open and fresh air been a laid back Sunday for us. This weekend I am trying to get a jump start so I am not in in a time crunch come Thanksgiving. So getting thing like cleaning and such done. Looking forward to decorating for Christmas my favorite time of year. Already getting the decorations out and we might go ahead and get the lights up today since its so pretty. Better than doing it when its cold...lol Anyway so hope all is enjoy there Sunday, thought I share some more cards I made with the scrap papers I had left over from the thanksgiving cards.

The things people will do for Black friday! LOL

Past Friday started with me trying to get bills paid and my computer monitor decided it was going to finally die on me. I tried for two hours to get it to work doing all the tricks I had used before. But nothing it was finally gone no saving it. So when DH got home we went to best buy to buy a new one. There was a couple there camped out in a tent and had been there 3 days already! All for a 42 inch tv for 200.00 normal 800.00 I am thinking don't seem like good enough deal to camp...lol Here is the news report they did on them.

View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com/?__source=embedCode.

LOL INSANE! I thought Id share it cause I  think its just so crazy that someone would camp that long for black Friday. Anyway I will post some more cards I made tomorrow. I am working around the house getting some stuff done.

Thanksgiving card

Well Thanksgiving is just about here, this month has been really clipping along. We will be going to family's so I wont have to cook much. I will how ever have to bring my normal German Choc cake. They would send me back home if I did not bring it...lol This time of year I also love to make home made banana bread. I will have to make a post with the recipe. It is the best banana bread I have ever ate and not because I made it...lol Anyway today I worked on some Thanksgiving cards for a few family and friends. So thought I would share, its a super easy card. I needed simple being I need 5 of them. Next will be working on getting ready for Christmas cards now those I will have to make alot of...lol 

Thanks for looking!

Supplies used

Cricut wild card- Leaf cut at 3 inch

DCWV card paper stack

Kraft paper

Pattern papers recollections (bird watching) pattern -Acorns

Recollections (bird watching) pattern-Bird Seed I cut the tiny off to put up top on box

Tim Holtz distress ink spiced marmalade used on leaf

Time holtz distress ink Tea dye used on journal box

Glimmer mist

Brown ribbon

Hero arts stamps (Month of November)

Cricut cake 49.00!

Wow what a amazing deal cricut.com has the cricut cake for 49.00! And its the big cricut cake not the mini if you are in the market for a cricut cake I would say now is the time to get one. They also have all the cricut cake carts for 29.99 so make sure to check it out before its gone.

Black friday sales and Cricut imagine!

Okay time to save and get ready cause the Black Friday sale ads are up! I will warn you this post will be a tiny bit long. When I post the crafty items on sale for black Friday I try to get as much details as I can for you. But its worth the look I promise there are some AWESOME! deals this year on the new cricuts. And of course I save the best for last....lol So here we go.

Michaels

They open at 4pm Thursday on Thanksgiving so get the dinner done early...lol
Cricut carts 24.99 also they have a deal where if you buy 2 carts you get jubilee cart for free 1 per costumer and only while supplies last.

Cricut expression 2 limited edition 199.99! It come Michelas exclusive comes with 4 per loaded carts

ATG gun 19.99 I love my ATG gun its a must for crafters! And if you buy it Thursday with the extra 30 % off you will only pay 13.99 I did the math for you...lol

FRIDAY ONLY DEALS
Cricut V.1 69.99
Iris 12x12 storage 2.99
If you would like to see the full ad click here.

Joannes

ALL DAY DEALS
Cricut Expression 159.99
Cricut cake mini 89.99

Cricut carts 26.99

Also they have the new art bin storage for the cricut carts for 12.99 And they have a deal going on as posted on this image.

SATURDAY ONLY!

Cricut Expression 2 for 229.99
Cricut projects and events carts 18.99

If you would like to see the full ad click here.

NOW DRUM ROLL...lol THE BIG DEAL OF THE DAY!

WALMART

Cricut Imagine for

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?  I see the going super FAST!
If you would like to see the full ad click here.

Well that is all the super good deals I see for us crafters. I Love doing this every year, sharing all the great deals so you can get to get some great craft goods and great gifts. Thanks for looking hope you have a great weekend.

Happy Veteran's Day

Just wanted to say Happy Veteran's day to those who served and are serving our country now. And thinking of those who lost loved ones who gave there life for there country. In our family we have a few Veteran's, my dad who served in Vietnam and my brother was in the Gulf War.

This is my brother Richard I dont have any of my dad photos. He does not like to look at them.

Also Gene's grand father was in the air force WWII he passed a few years ago.

But not only do I wish those who serve a happy veterans day but the family's as well. The wives or husbands who run there houses and family's while the other is away, hats off to you I dont know how you do it. Know I would not be able to. It was hard enough not having my brother around and worrying about him all the time. He called me a few time while he served and you would hear the sound of a missile. I would ask whats that he say oh that is just a scud missile coming across like its nothing...lol Of course I am freaking out. I loved getting to hear his voice but that did not happen to much we wrote alot of letters to each other. Even though he was so far away we still keep in touch I still have all the card notes he wrote home. Why I love doing cards for OWH I understand what its like to get letters from loved ones who are away. Its so so important.
The day my brother come home from the Gulf I will never forget someone gave a note to the teacher and she handed to me. It read

Yes I still have it...lol

This little post it note meant my brother was home cause I only have have two brothers. It took me I think about 8 seconds to get all my stuff together and leave. lol When I got outside I could not get a big bear hug fast enough. Was a great day cause my brother was safe and was home lest for a little bit. Now he is out if the army and living here is Texas again. Well hope you all are having a great Veteran's day.