Sentiments on Saturday...

Let's see if Blogger will let me post today

without deleting everything I spend

an hour + typing!

Yesterday

Theresa and I were going shopping.

As I was getting ready

I realized my "bangs" were down in my eyes.

No time to stop at the hairdressers

and I didn't want that straight-across just cut bangs look

I usually end up with---

but rather that "feathery/fringy look" David my hairdresser does.

What to do!

<LIGHTBULB MOMENT>!

enter the DECKLE EDGE SCISSORS!

I nipped and snipped carefully

they didn't cut the greatest---but they did cut

and I still got a little bit of that feathery look

I won't fire David just yet tho!

(and I did flylady those water spots right off that mirror!

UGH!

They are from the cat who likes to drink from the faucet

and then shake...! The one aptly named BAD CAT!)

Today I ran out to restock my reading material

and when I came home I looked at one of the

pansy pots along our walkway.

In one there were full size pansies

and then these itty bitty guys-

in the same pot!

Not sure how they came about

but to me they almost look like a miniature orchid.

Hubby said we had baby wrens

 inthe blue bird house that were just about ready to fly.

I said I'd look after we ate breakfast...

in between time...

they flew.

But this handsome fellow (? I'm guessing fellow)

is a Purple Martin on our  Martin house out front...

Gotta love my zoom on my Canon Elph Powershot 310.

My Nikon would never get it this good!

Can you see the bits of twigs sticking out of the holes?!

I had another nice surprise yesterday---

when I was blog hopping

I found that my

Fab Fun Fascinator

was featured

by Carolyn of Carolyn's Homework Blogspot!

Thanks, Carolyn!

Hang in there friends-

I haven't given up crafting

and I hope to post some more along those lines

in the next few days.

On-going health issues

(with no surgery date yet in sight...)

is wearing me down

along with some other bumps

along my path right now.

A prayer or two would be

appreciated if you feel so led!

It's a BEAUTIFUL day out today-

if nothing else

I hope to take my Copics out on the deck

and do a little coloring...hopefully...

Until next time-

happy stamping and scrapping!
Blessings,

 

Run for the Roses...

Yesterday I attended a

Kentucky Derby party

that a friend of mine

hosts annually.

Last year Theresa and Bob went

and said they had such a good time

this year I decided to go, too

(learning to do things on my own...again...)

Anyway...

there was a hat contest for the ladies.

Now---

I don't do hats-I look horrible in hats

one of our local gift shops---

had a pink cowgirl hat---with a rhinestone crown on it--

but it was wayyyy more than I wanted to pay--

and, as I said-I don't do hats-

I do tiaras

(OKIStampQueen-of course I do tiaras! lol!)

and since this was all last-minute for me---

 I Googled how to make a fascinator!

(Similar to a tiara....! Think Kate Middleton!)

TONS of ideas out there...

Here's what I came up with...

I used a wide spring green headband, a small plastic horse

and some tulle

(all from the  dollar store...)

feathers I had on hand...

SU green striped ribbon for leaves...

red cardstock and my Close to My Heart

Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge.

I took a strip of tulle, gathered it with a running stitch

and looped and hot glued it to a small clear plastic circle

(I cut up the lid to a container...)

then I made my flowers...

The ones on my fascinator

were cut at 5 1/2"

The one's below are merely 2 1/2"

This is what it looks like cut out...

 (my paper was a bit damp-window open-high humidity)

You start with that small end and start curling

someone recommended a quilling tool-I don't have one of those

I did have a chopstick tho...

 and you keep rolling until you get to that flat round spot

in the middle...

 then you put some hot glue in the center

(couldn't find my glue dots---

and there's loose feathers everywhere from

making my fascinator!

LOVE to play-HATE to clean up!)

And you smoosh the rolled part into the

hot glue to hold it.

EASY PEASY!!!

You can keep them rolled tight like a bud---

or just let it unroll to a more open "bloom".

On the larger roses

you can take the petals and curl them back a little

to make them even more lifelike and open...

To curl my feathers...

I cut most of the feather off on either side

and then run it over my scissors--

much the way you curl ribbon-

THIS IS MESSY---but pretty (I think!)

The Queen needed some bling

so I added CTMH Bitty gems to the roses and the tulle

Tucked in small pieces of ribbon

gathered (just hot glue again) to look like leaves...!

I was one of two women who wore a fascinator!

Others had simple to quite elaborate hats

as you can well imagine!

My pic of Theresa and I didn't come out-

(I had my eyes closed)

or I'd model it for you!

I have short short hair-

but this is an easy and cute way

to add something pretty--

I think I will be making some

 more of these (a little less elaborate!)

In my rush to leave...

I got 3/4 of the way down our block-

and got my nice coconut oil I use for perfume

on my white pants.

Mad dash home to change

(Thank you Flylady-

Mt. Washmore was cleaned up

and I had a spare pair!)

and dashed back out.

Evidently

I also left a container of cat food on the desk

by the front door

when I fed the outside cat

as this is what I came home to...

and here's the culprits returning to the scene of the crime...

That's Poppa Cat on the left-and BAD CAT on the right-

although I dare say---

they were BOTH BAD CATS!

That's it for today.

I slept a little later-

but made it to church on time

and helped serve communion.

The pianist played a song

that started my faith journey for me

just as we began serving. 

Really touching...

those small confirmations that come our way

when we least expect it...

Since I took a play day yesterday--

I am going to do a little flylady time today--

not much

but I have found

I feel sooooo much better

when things are put in order--

the chaos around me....calms

just by doing small routines daily

and doing the "do it now" approach...

so---off to do some---now!

Until next time,

Happy stamping and scrapping!
Blessings,

TWO THANK YOU'S on Tuesday...

Ok---

so I've been feeling a wee bit lot sorry for myself...

more doctor issues...

more waiting...

more worry...

it seems I am being slammed on all sides

in all ways, shapes and forms...

and then

to top it all off

Theresa (aka the girlfriend who saves my sanity...)

 went out of town

(so's my hubby but that's another story!)

for a week!

But today...

today not only did she e-mail and say

she was home----

the UPS man just showed up at my house--

6+ PM...

I heard the truck.

I went downstairs and sure 'nough...

there's this box with my name on it...

(the cat got in after I opened it!)

I was expecting a small padded envelope-

not this huge box---

Ya see,

I had another craft tool mishap...

the little cutter thingy

on this one...

keeps falling out when I lift the "arm"...

so I e-mailed the company

and asked what to do...

(I have both styles of their cutters

and LOVE them!)

And a very nice man named STEVE

e-mailed me and said...

he thought he had extra of the part I needed

and what was my shipping address...

I sent it...

and fast forward to today...

and---drum roll please....

I GOT THIS...

an entirely NEW CUTTER!
I am SOOO IMPRESSED!

What AWESOME customer service & satisfaction.

Take note, Mr. Holtz (insert boo and hiss here!)

So if you are shopping for paper cutters---

just start here!

And, along the same lines...

I am remiss in sending THANK YOUS

to Lucy

and to

Sandy at Crafty Secrets

Lucy hosted blog candy for

a $ 60 shopping spree

with Crafty Secrets

and I WON!!!

Better yet--it was for products of

my own personal choosing!

And, again, on a day when I really needed

a pick-me-up...

the blog candy arrived--thanks to Sandy...

a lot of these are DOUBLE SIDED!!!

SO MUCH STUFF!

 all kinds of vintage goodies---including stamps!!!

I cannot wait to have time to sit down and create with them!

Check out their products and their design team blogs---

LOTS of awesome stuff!

So--

I feel a little bit better about things.

Saying Thank You---and having things to say

thank you for---

means a lot.

Like my inside kitties

who know Momma's been out of sorts

and have been sticking close-

particularly through some rough nights...

they know....

Tomorrow is going to be wide-open crazy for me

so don't look for too much craftiness

in the next few days...

but don't give up on me!

I'll be back!

Until then,

happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,

Once Upon a Time...

Well, Dawn's done it again---

I needed a card again this week

and she posted

this video

to help me out!

One of my office volunteers

told me she and her husband are celebrating

their 37th wedding anniversary

next week.

So---

using Dawn's video

a cute couple stamp*

paper from my stash*...

a saying I came up with

and printed on
the computer...

here's the finished product...

CTMH Sweet Leaf & Crystal Blue ink colors  matched the paper colors

(even tho it's not CTMH paper!)

so I used the Red, Green, Blue codes,

bumped them up by 20 and it's a darn close match!

I made my card just a tad bigger---

of course that needs the next size up enve

but that's ok!

As usual, I pop dotted those sentiments

as well as the couple.

I just can't decide if I should sign it on the inside---

or jot it on the back?!

Hope you/they like it!

It's a dark and stormy day here

in more ways than one...

I think I will go do some organizing...

maybe take a nap later on...

fibro raging and tummy not too happy, either.

Until next time,

happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,

*stamp-American Art Stamps

*Paper-My Minds Eye

*Framelets-Stampin Up

My Copic Storage System....

Oh geesh---

I just logged into Blogger

and it's all DIFFERENT

God save us!

Someone got bored

and had to make changes...

sigh.

Ok.

Let's have a sip of coffee

and give it a shot.

I don't have that many Copic markers

but I needed a better system

to keep like colors together and save myself time

when I do get time to sit down and play...

I posted a link awhile back

that had an idea using the Close To My Heart

My Acrylix Storage Box(es)

that house our stamps...

and  plastic mesh

but I wasn't real crazy about it...

(the plastic mesh idea, that is--the box works perfectly!)

it  The mesh just didn't cut it for me...literally.

So

I came up with this instead...

When I got a marker recently

an empty box was used to help with packing...

 and it got my thinking...

why not make my own...?

So here's what I did...

cut cardstock at 5"x5 1/2"

score along the 5 1/2" side at 1/2", 2 1/2", 3" and 5"

then flip it and score at the 4 1/2" mark

then cut along those vertical  score lines at the bottom

just up to the horizontal score line...

this folds in to make the bottom of the box...

It should look something like this--a little less blurry, tho!

 Fold it up, tape it together

and this is the finished box...

  The container, with the 3 plastic dividers,

will hold 3 boxes across, and 4 deep per division-

that's a total of what---36 boxes

and each box holds 3 markers---

so that's--wait-calculator coming out...

108 MARKERS!

WOWZIE!

I can only dream of having that many!

As you can see-I've stored my sharpies in there

along with a few other odd markers I tend to use a lot

AND left one section open to store the Copic refills

(I do have a box a I will dedicate to those (Copic refills) specifically

should my collection grow!

(I shop Oozak for my Copics...

their customer service and shipping is top notch plus!

Their website pages are very slow loading-

but their shipping and delivery make up for it by far!

Best prices I've found, too...check them out!

And they have gift certificates---hint hint)

I also *think* the Memento stamp pad would fit there as well...

will have to check on that!

It's not a "perfect" system---as my grandmother would say...

trying tried to make a silk purseout of a sow's ear...

but it works for me for now.

The groups of three

holds the shades of the color families I go to most...

right there together...

and then I just store the box

in a basket with the color swatch booklet

that helps me keep track of which colors I have.

Handy dandy.

 Here's something that's made me smile as well...

This amaryllis was broken from the weight of the four blossoms

and one bud...

so we cut it and brought it inside...

and the bud opened as well!

That's FIVE BLOOMS on that stalk!

It's lasted since Sunday...

so, so pretty...

and

here's a pic from our front deck this week...

 Gotta love the zoom on my Canon Elph Powershot 310!

That seagull shows up--as does the sailboat!

Had I gone up on our widow's walk I could have eliminated

the neighbor's house...but I didn't.

I still think it's a pretty picture!

I am off to make an anniversary card

for a friend of mine...

they will be celebrating their 37th wedding anniversary

next week...

guess for some

"once upon a time"

really does turn into

"happily ever after..."!

Until next time,

happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,

Takin' time on Tuesday...

I had so much fun

doing my dimensional Easter card...

I thought I would play around

with a few little beach stamps I had

and a new technique I discovered

that I will share more on later...

for now...

here's what I came up with...

my lighting isn't the greatest---

but maybe your smile when you look real close at it

will make up for it!

It ALWAYS gets a chuckle once people

(ladies in particular!)

"get it"!

The sun image

is a favorite of mine--I use it a lot...

but when I got ready to do this

and was looking through my "beachy beach" stamps

I saw another sun and thought "hmmm...

maybe I will switch it out for this one...

I thought it would be cute...

but, thankfully,

I had had just enough coffee to realize that,

with the smile on the sun's face...

and her being, er, topless...

it might not be a good mix---

more like the sun leering at her!

Lol!

THAT made me laugh---

and thankful I caught that faux paux

before it happened!

Those images are all layered in that neat little shadow box

and some parts are, of course, pop dotted to give it

even more dimension!

Time to go read & relax myself!

Until next time,

happy stamping and scrapping.

Blessings,