It's a bird; It's a plane, no, wait--it's....

SHARON trying to get ready for Holly Days craft show! Whew! I ran like crazy yesterday and, with the exception of church today, it will be the same today and, I dare say, the rest of the week! I don't feel so bad though--I told myself, "Self, you have 15 minutes (I'm a flybaby, can you tell! Wait-great Halloween costume! Let me get my timer, my feather duster, water bottle...) --I digress (that's why I NEED FLYLADY!)--15 mins. to look at e-mail, blogs and get coffee down...then its back to work...! The housework--doesn't stop just because I've procrastinated all year and let the date sneak up on me yet again. But my fellow bloggers seem to be in the same boat-everyone's been really busy--too busy to post! So I don't feel so bad! Yesterday---I got herbal neckwraps completed (packaged, too!), headache relief eye pillows done (again, packaged as well!) and what catnip toys I didn't trash ready to finish hand-sewing. The mice---for whatever reason-well, I know why-I used soft flannel scraps and the material stretched and twisted and...they are small-really small--and my patience ran out real fast. Spot the Catnip Fish will have to do this year! The mice are my best-sellers but it just ain't happening! Of course I had "HELP" when it came to the CATNIP projects! Lol! Bad Cat just made a lot of noise until he got some catnip and Poppa Cat showed up after I was finished-the container was sitting on the table still---doesn't he look pitiful?! Yes, he did get some! This is the guy who made himself sick on it when the package arrived from my herb guys! He wouldn't even LOOK at catnip for a month!

Today it's repackaging my allergy relief eye pillows and on to some paper projects. And housework. And laundry. And painting two small pieces of desk furniture for my office. Hubby might have to make an appearance for both of us at a church meeting we wanted to attend. He's good that way, though! Took me for ice cream last night even though he didn't want any and only made one comment about how much I ate! Lol. I needed a chocolate (and peanut-butter) fix! Well-I've checked blogs and it's on-to-it. Whatever you do, take time today to count your blessings and, until next time, happy stamping and scrapping. Blessings, Sharon

Mass Production Mode and Thanks, TT!

Ok-so its 8:22 Sat. AM and I am stitting here with my pjs and a pair of my husbands old white socks on, have my second cup of coffee at hand, and my newly-cut naturally curly short red hair going every which way, with my spider Halloween ring on and....drumroll please....my NEW black sparkly with purple jewels and spider TIARA on. Sorry-SO NOT going to post THAT picture-gotta use your imagination! Lol. It's quite a sight-a FRIGHTFUL one for sure! Lol! (I had another tiara on one day as I was cleaning the craft room and actually answered the front door with it on-never discovered it until after the neighbor left--wondered why he was looking at me funny!) THE craft show that Theresa and I have done together for the last 5-6 years (with the exception of last year) is exactly ONE WEEK from today. Yesterday...I convinced her and Theresa (two/daughter) to go with me to Wilmington as I needed flax seed for my herbal neckwraps and headache blend eye pillows, Christmas papers for my wallet gift card/Christmas receipt & list holders...and they did! I talked her out of getting ready for a spur-of -the-moment yard sale to going with me! And she still gave me a GORGEOUS Halloween card AND 4 Resses' Cups! She is a GREAT FRIEND! TT, too! You've got to go check out what THeresa made for her sister---www.artful-whimsies.blogspot.com. Yes-back to TT. She had gotten money from her Nana for Halloween and wanted to go to Claire's. That's a pre-teen/teen jewelry, make-up, hair bow shop in our "local" (translate: 1 hr. away!) mall. Well! Let me tell you! Claire's also has...AN ENTIRE TIARA SECTION!!! OHMYGOD! I was in TIARA HEAVEN let me tell you! (Of course my husband thinks the headband I got with the Devil horns fits better! HUMPH! That mini cooper is going to be so much fun to drive!) There were just wayyyyy too many (tiara's) to choose from! I know that TT and I will be going back there for sure! It was sooo much fun to try them on and well, the OKI StampQueen SHOULD have a selection of tiara wardrobe to choose from--gotta be well-dressed you know-particularly if you are a QUEEN!

Off to get some major crafting done-right after a coffee refill and some WARMER clothes! Will post pics of projects (probably!) as they get finished. Hoping for a hot spell for next Sat. as we are OUTSIDE! I'd rather sweat to death then be shivering! BE SAFE trick-or-treating but have fun, too! Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping! Blessings, Sharon

ps/Hubby said...his workmates hesitated to eat the muffins-they thought they looked too nice and had come from a professional bakery! When he told them they were homemade, the cameras started flashing and they started disappearing! Hmmm...may have started something here! ; )

Critical Condition...

Note: Scroll down to see TWO POSTS from yesterday with "treats"!

No, I am not sick again-nor are any of our family members-at least not that I am aware of. The "critical condition" applies to my heat gun. When I went to use it last night on the napkins (see last evening's post!), I noticed yet again that the on/off switch is sticking terribly. I LOVE embossing-it's one of the very first things I learned how to do. Until I got the aforementioned heat gun, I sat at our kitchen table with my late husband's HOT HOT HOT paint-stripping heat gun embossing just about everything and anything I could get my hands on with him praying I wouldn't set it and the house--and us--on fire! My boss at the time, an attorney I was working for, knew I was just getting started with this new hobby. It had been a rough year to say the least (my then husband had gone through 9 months of chemo and radiation and while the cancer was in remission, we learned after-the-fact he had emphysema, too...). Mike wanted to do something special for me for Christmas and he did! He took the time to visit the small stamp store we had on our island at the time and asked Barb Hobby, the owner and another angel in disguise, what I needed. Barb sold him a very nice set of markers (this was pre-copic mind you...but they were the cat's meow!), a few other things....and the heat gun. She was the one who taught me to emboss---so she KNEW that gift would be a hit! I've used it for years and years...and now, well, I have to seriously think about replacing it (it's even a pretty pink color!) and how I am going to "memorialize" the old one. Unfortunately, I was quite satisfied with its performance and durability--but there is no company name or identifying information on it. So-can anyone out there recommend a heat gun? I do have the little white "heat it" tool (at least I think I do-it may have gone to the yard sale!)---but that only works well for shrink plastic. A pretty colored one would be nice, too! Sigh. Such sad things to think about...but, I must.

For now, it's off to do some much-needed flyladying! Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping! Blessings, Sharon

MORE Treats...and a NEW TRICK!

Ok-so we already established that have no wee ones to do this kind of thing for---so when the striped cupcake cups with "EEK!" on the bottom and the matching picks-as well as the container of colored sugar-green, black and orange-called to me-well, guess what Hubby's workmates have to look forward to tomorrow! I whipped up a batch of my "cinnamon surprise muffins" (they have jelly in the middle!) and topped them by dipping them in melted butter, cinnamon and the colored sugars. These sugars are a bit "bulkier" than granulated--and it was a good bit trickier trying to get them to stick. But aren't they CUTE? I put them on a glass platter--oh-the SPIDERS--the spiders are really RINGS!Plastic rings! So they made cute decorations and a number of them decided to "crawl"
all over my platter--! T0o fun. Some of his coworkers have wee ones and I suspect that the spiders will find their way to new homes tomorrow! A few may even find their way over to Theresa's! Can't wait to hear her squeal!

Now for the NEW TRICK! So I have all the muffins done and am in the final stages of decorating when I realize that I should have gotten HALLOWEEN NAPKINS to send with them. Darn. Our Wal-Mart is across the bridge 20 minutes away--an hour trip easy-20 over, 20 in store, 20 back. Not something I wanted to do. They say that necessity is the mother of invention. I looked at my somewhat plain white napkins (they do have a little embossed design to them-but rather generic overall) and then spied my stamps, ink pad, clear embossing powder and heat gun...Hmmm...can you really emboss-heat emboss--paper napkins?! (I could see just stamping and someone wiping their face with a wet napkin and getting ink everywhere---it may happen with despite the embossing-I didn't check it but thought it would be safer!)---With a water pitcher close by (in case the napkin decided to go up in smoke!)-I gave it a shot! It works! It's super easy and super fast! So here they are...

and here's a pic of the tray and napkins (or "rabbits" as Theresa's family calls them--) and the muffins...makes a rather neat display, if I do say so myself. And, maybe I shouldn't post this---but the CRAFTY CAT just couldn't not be included--they are not allowed on the counters but he does think the chair is his...he was a VERY GOOD CAT --even if his name is BAD CAT...he just wanted to look-and, if you look close, you can see the tiniest tip of pink tongue sticking out...not sure what THAT means--maybe I'm getting a raspberry because he's not getting any "treats"! Until next time-happy stamping and scrapping! Blessings, Sharon

No Tricks Here-Just Treats!

Whew! I did it! 28 treat bags together in one evening! Theresa to the rescue once again! Thanks, T!

We don't have any trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood--we're surrounded by rental properties-so I have to look elsewhere if I want to have any Halloween fun! The preschool is a great place for me to do just that! I decided (yesterday!) on the Goldfish snack bags and the tubes of bubbles. I called Theresa at 5:30 for a quick topper idea. She said just use the Top Note die (Stampin' Up), fold it over, and then stamp something and attach it. So that's what I did. The dp is Close to my Heart and I did cut CTMH purple cardstock-I didn't even glue it down-just cut them out thru the Big Shot, scored them with the ScorePal. I secured the bubbles in a small Ziplock and then stapled the snack bag, bubbles and topper together. I stamped the Happy Halloween in CTMH black and embossed it. Punching was another issue! Every punch I had was either too small for my designs or too big. The scalloped oval-too big. Inspiration came when one was stamped too close to the edge--hey-just trim it down! Kinda looks like a pumpkin to me and frankly, are 2-4 year olds REALLY going to care?! The spider rings...will be used on top of the muffins I am going to make tonight, top with colored sugars and cinnamon, and then put 2-3 spiders on top with cute "EEK!" and spider picks. Pics tomorrow. Hubby doesn't know-yet-these are treats for his office! I so need grandkids to do this kind of thing for!

Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping! Blessings, Sharon

Interesting scrapbook page...

Well, I have a craft show coming up in less than 2 weeks--with nothing new to take--and while I should've been home preparing... I decided to go shopping with my hubby instead. We had a list of our "in-town" stops ("town" is 1 hr. away...other than the local grocery and W-M!). The hardware store, Siagon Market grocery, Michaels, the shooting range, the health food store...Oh-what? Did I confuse you? The SHOOTING RANGE? Yep. We did. Or rather I DID! : ) You see, I've been terrified of guns. I was abused as a child and terrorized with one. Fast forward to adulthood and I chose to confront a possible intruder with a can of hairspray than the gun that was in the dresser! Was no intruder, thankfully. But I've finally gotten my courage up and yesterday was THE DAY. My darling husband was most patient through this entire process--we've been talking about it for years---but for whatever reason yesterday when he asked if I wanted to just handle the gun it was matter-of-fact for me and we sat down and did so. Can't say I was too crazy about our cat who thought he needed to be in the middle of the process but I did it all with no qualms. And stopping at the range was just..well, another stop on the list. It was all good. Noisy--even with ear protection. I had a little gun but it did have some kick to it. Got used to that. The first shot missed the target completely. The first shot that hit the target my husband said I gave the poor guy a vasectomy. Hmm--might as well have been a head shot! Lol! Sorry! Don't mean to offend anyone! And maybe there was some subliminal revenge there, too! Anyway--he handed me a few bullets, and a few more and well--I shot 120 of those little buggers and 80 of them "made the paper"! Can't say I am good--and we'd best not count on ME to bring home the Thanksgiving turkey (will never ever be a hunter--can't do that!) but my main goal was to be able to do it. To actually shoot. I've always feared we would walk in, I would freeze and simply walk out so DH was a bit surprised when I kept asking for more ammo! My step-son, Tommy, says you can NEVER have enough ammo (he's a Marine (inactive-if there is such!)! So--I overcame a HUGE FEAR yesterday! I got tickled when we got home and my DH laid all this out so I could take pictures-he's learning about this scrapbooking thing, too! Until next time, happy shooting-uh, SCRAPPING and STAMPING! ; ) Blessings, Sharon