It's Sunday...but Saturday is coming...

faster than a speeding bullet!

Six days and counting...

Holly Days will be here...

I am almost ready...

I keep telling myself that, anyway!

This week

was spent on

Catnip product production...

Catnip fish, catnip fishing poles,

and packages of catnip...

I had some (more) help with this project...

Thank God...

the sewing machine hung in there for those-

they are the best sellers!
Unfortunately,

my lavender neckwrap project

did not go so well

lots of  dirty words    wordy-durds, a major headache

and a call to a church member whose also a seamstress

they may get done...

tension.

me-lots; sewing machine-not so much.

Prue frustration.

This project however...

was super super easy-and quite relaxing.

Oh my gosh-I could weave these for days on end!

They are little woven ribbon wreath pins

for the holidays.

Won't they look cute on a sweater, tote bag

or even a coat?

And the non-traditional colors are

so trendy (at least from what I've seen in the ornament aisles!)

I got crystals to add to them-but they just didn't add anything-

so this was a keep it simple, stupid project!

They will also make cute bookmarks

simply be leaving the ends loose.

Hmmm...someone say stocking stuffers?

Girlfriend gifts?

My husband harvested the last of the sweet 100 tomatoes and peppers today

and Inky had to check out the harvest...

he's too funny!

Here he's on top of my kitchen cupboards

and to the far right there is a small speck on the wall

actually it's a nail that something hung on sometime ago

that I've never taken down.

The other day it caught his attention

and he was determined to check it out...

I think he thought it was a bug...!

Well, it's time to stop for the night.

I am tired.

Tomorrow's another day, Scarlett!

Whatever you do, until next time,

happy stamping and scrapping.

Blessings,

And the award goes to....

Moi?!

Imagine my surprise last night when I found the following e-mail

in my mailbox:

Sharon,
I have awarded you a blog award. Visit my blog here for more on this:

http://twylasheart.blogspot.com/2011/10/blog-award.html

Just letting you know I think your blog is great. Thanks for sharing!

And so I high-stepped it right over there (wouldn't want the tiara to slip dontchaknow!)-

and this is what I saw:

Blog Award

Last week, I was awarded a blog award by a great friend (whom I have never met!). It is the Liebster Blog Award and the word Liebster means beloved or favorite. Thank you so much, Carolyn. You should go and check out her yummy craftiness here.

Here are the rules to accept this award:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.

2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog. These picks must have fewer than 200 followers on their blog.

3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.

4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.

5. And most of all - have fun!

Without further ado, here are just a few of the fabulous blogs that I follow.

Heather at Creative Cocount

Nikka at Create Your Vision

Sharon at Oak Island Stamp Queen

Emily at Faith, Hope and Art

Tonya at In All Sassiness

Take a minute to check out these ladies blogs. They are amazingly talented. You won’t be disappointed.

_____________________________________

 

Well!  I am stunned-just stunned!

I accept this award

on behalf of myself

and my coworkers

(namely BC, PC, Inky and Dolly)

and my hubby who cooks while I stamp and scrap

and my groupies

(Theresa, Sharon, Buzz, Mary Cobb and Maren)

and of course the original StampQueen herself, Carolyn.

I wouldn't be what I am today

without each of you!

Now-let's see...

Even the Queen must follow the rules...

so here goes...

1-Thank the giver and link back

Twyla, I have no clue how you found me--

but you made my day! THANK YOU!

Check out Twyla's beautiful blog here...

2-Reveal your 5 picks---I will wait and do that last...

gotta have a little suspense now and then...!

3-Copy and paste the award on your blog--

now we're getting technical folks, may have to tackle that this afternoon...

but I will, OH YES I WILL!!!
4 & 5 - Have faith that your followers will spread the word

& have fun.

Yep. I believe these gals will-yep.

So---

without further ado--

here's who I picked...

drumroll, please, Greg---

wait-he's still asleep? Not here?

Note to self: ask Greg to do drumroll for blog sound effect-

then tell me how to put said sound effect on blog-lol!

Ok-so use your imagination, people...

drumroll...

The first pick is...

Theresa of Artful Whimsies

that was easy-that was a given!

This girlfriend deserves all the awards I can possibly give her!

She hangs in with all my issues and frustrations

and helps keep me somewhat sane...!

The second pick...
Jill at Blessed Scrapper

She has adorable things-

and I like her title-Blessed Scrapper...

Third up...

Susan at Homeroad

just neat decorating ideas and so much more--

Fourth...

Lisa of Shabby Mommy

pretty cards-cute layouts

and she's sick right now-so she could use some extra love...

And in Fifth...

Dawn of Crafting4love

She posted on the Close to My Heart bulletin board

that she's had one follower---her hubby

us gals have taken a peek, love her blog--and want to help her out!

Now-please don't feel bad if you weren't mentioned-

I had trouble finding #'s of followers on some-

or you had a lot of followers...

or I only had 5 I could pick!

I promise a linky post sometime soon-

well, after Holly Days

of my fav blogs-some had thousands of followers

(imagine! I was excited when I went over 60!)

Off to let these ladies know they've won!

And then it's off to work.

Until next time,

THANKS, TWYLA---

and happy stamping & Scrapping!

Blessings,

What I did at work yesterday...

 before I show you Monday...let me show you SUNDAY!

This was part of my afternoon craft room creations on Sunday...

I made about 45 of these little "pumpkins"

for the preschool kids and their teachers

and the church staff.

I think they are adorable!

They hold one Hershey kiss inside!

Thanks to the Close to My Heart

Art Philosophy cartridge

(contact me to order yours!)

these were easy-peasy!

It just cut that little box shape like a

hot knife through butter!

Moving on to Monday, Monday...

Ms. Marilyn, the preschool director

came to me yesterday morning and said

"You know the "Got Pumpkins?" poster you made

for our pumpkin & bake sale fundraiser?"
I said "yes...."

"Can you please make one that says

'Got Cookies'

for our cookie dough fundraiser?"

Yes...

And here's what I came up with for that...

I was calling Theresa to see where to find

the template for the glass

(splitcoast stampers of course!)

A little transparency sheet, a little white paper,

a little double stick tape

and you have a (popped up!)  glass full of milk

to go with those cookies!

A cut out cookie from the flyer

sits on a little piece of napkin

on the front of the glass---oh, my mouth is watering!

Times 7 (one is in her office on her desk!

Yep, that's what I got to do at

WORK

yesterday!

I love my job!

They pay me to do this---

well, a few other things, too that aren't quite as fun

but still...

I have lots of room to use my creativity

and I am thankful for that!

Then I spent the afternoon

on catnip fish production

(stuffing them, to be exact!)

and then last evening I sat down

to sew them closed and bag them.

I had help...

That's Poppa Cat keeping an eye on the box!

Yes, he conned me out of a new fish earlier

Momma's a softie!

Well, I had better go get ready for "work"!

Until next time,

happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,

Food for Thought...

I have two little devotional books

I tap into from time to time.

They are well-worn and offer some solid, sage advice.

Today,
I felt I needed that extra little boost and, as usual, their messages

were right on target for me.

So--I thought I would share...

from Affirmations for the Inner Child by Rokelle Lerner...

My intuition is grounded in reality.

I trust my intuition and honor its place in my decision making.

I do not have to understand all that my intuition picks up with its finely tuned antenna.  My intuition may direct my senses to observe minute details.  Someone may sound good and say the right things but my intuition collects other data.  Body language and tone of voice may elicit painful memories and my intuition is the first to respond with alarm.

I did not trust my intuition growing up in a dysfunctional family.  Reality was denied in countless ways and I received no validation for my inner voice that spoke the truth.

Today I will accept that my intuition is grounded in reality.  I will consult that valuable part of myself and listen to its sage advice as I make decisions.

 

And from Ann Wilson Scaef's Meditations for Women Who Do Too Much

Acceptance/Living in the Now

The opportunity of life is very precious and it moves very quickly.  -- Ilyani Ywahoo

This is it!  The life that is ours is the one we are living today.  There is no other.  The more we try hold onto our illusions of what we think it is or what we think it should be, the less time and energy we have to live it.

How many times have we heard about people who worked hard and longed for the day when retirement would come, only to drop dead just before or just after they retired?  How fast it all went!

Our lives are so precious.  Each moment has the possibility of a new discovery.  Yet when it passes, that moment never returns.

Only as I am aware of the present will I have the opportunity to be fully alive.

______________________________________

 

Now, I have to add...I do believe in God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ

and the existence  (and power!) of the Holy Spirit.

We do have---eternal life

if we confess our sins and believe.

But

we only have one life here.

One life to do--well, so much.

We have but a moment, a day...

what will we do with it?

Time is precious....

make the most of it

whatever that means for you...for today....

and for your tomorrows.

For now, I need to go get ready for church!

Until next time,

happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,

Feeling WICKED....

particularly after this innocent looking guy

kept me awake

all. night.long.

He likes to sleep next to me

and be touching me

claws & paws do not mix

with Momma who is trying to sleep!

I finally gave up and got up.

I finished my book. I blog hopped.

I even cooked breakfast.

I am tired. I am grumpy. I am not in a good mood

(hence the post title---feeling WICKED!)

So I took Becky's advice from yesterday

and went and stamped something.

Note: Miss Maren (aka my goddaughter)...

 if you are reading my blog--stop right now.

DO NOT read this post. I mean it.

ok. Now that that's out of the way...

here's what I toiled and troubled over and brewed up...

It's a 3-fer test tube treat holder!

The treat? What? You can't figure it out?!

Well, it's Cajun Spice Seasoning from Bittersweet Herb Farm

to be mixed with sour cream and mayonnaise

to dip OKRA CHIPS in!

Yep-you heard me...Okra chips.

Dried, fried whole pieces of okra

that taste like...chips.

The kid (aka my goddaughter) loves them!

Her first words when she comes through the door of our house is

"Gotanyokra?" (bright, hopeful eyes)

So for Easter--she got Okra chips.

Halloween...she's getting more Okra chips! lol.

Makes my life easy!

Back to my project...

I had a template for a single test tube holder

so I had to do some recalculating and configuring

to get a "3-tuber" figured out but I did it!

I even saved my directions!

She LOVED the Close to My Heart Wicked set

so I knew I wanted to use that...

and I have plenty of the beautiful velvet embossed

spider web fabric, MS's drippy goo punch

with a layer of spider webs (afterthought-see note below)

over that

(of course I got the whole project done and thought

they looked too plain-pulled off the ribbon-carefully-

stuck the border down carefully (tape was still on the back!)

stamped the webs and they just popped!

I worked the bows back on (go me!)

and they were done!

I didn't have a spot for the sentiment tho...what to do, what to do?

Well, how about a pull-up tag?!

I made a pocket on the back of the holder,

cut a tag to fit it, trimmed the area around the moon,

layered on the orange,

stamped the sentiment and--well, it too, looked plain.

Enter the Martha Stewart glow in the dark glitter, glue

and the itty bitty bat punch (no clue who made that!)

and I have a magical, mystical moon!

(which is becoming more and more opaque as it dries

and the bats have finally stopped flying off

(did you notice? One was missing in the top photo? Beware!) 

I added some raffia to make the broom--it's askew as well...

hmmm...some ghostly mischief going on with my photo shoot....?!

I love the black cat peeking around the test tubes...

sneaky and lurking....VERY cat-like!

I had a real black cat trying to help me with the final touch-

the bows and the spider...

he LOVES to bat at the ribbon-

thankfully there were no casualties-namely claws in Momma's hand!

I can't wait to see that moon glow tonight!

For now,

I'd better go clean up the mess I made and get back on track

for Holly Days (Christmas craft show)...it's only 13 days away!!!

YIKES!

Hmmm...a nap does sound good tho...!

Until next time,

happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,

Craft Room First Aid...

So even though I haven't felt so hot today

I did go into the craft room

and finish the "Girlfriend Gifts" as I've decided to call these...

and then I started on a card order I have...

somehow

I ended up with a splinter in my finger...

don't ask me how...

I have no clue-only me...

anyway...

as I was running around thinking it hurt and I had to get it out

(while doing 10 other things at once...)

I had a lightbulb moment...

when I finally got to the bathroom to find my

SPLINTER PICKER tweezers

(yep, that's what they are called!)

I realized that they were exactly what I needed

to add this bling to my project...

These little buggers are ITTY BITTY

(guess that's how they got their name!)

and like to drive me batty trying to pick them up

and put them on!

I *love* them tho and they stick really well

AND they are only $ 2.95 for 100 of them!

Those pointy little tweezer  tips that pick out the splinters

pick these babies up and plop them down in record time!

So next time I hit our pharmacy

a pair of these are coming home

and going in my craft bag!

First the flat iron (works on wrinkled embroidery floss-

someone also said ribbon-haven't tried it-yet...)

now the tweezers...

maybe I just need to combine the craft room with the bathroom?

lol!

Until next time,

happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,

It's the GREAT PUMPKIN, Charlie Brown!

Just not quite up to par these last few days...

overtired-probably

trying to fight off a bug (cold)-most likely

fibromyalgia acting up-oh yeah

feeling a little down-uh-huh (need some girl time, probably!)

The weather

has taken a turn and it is COLD!

So am I!

Don't think hubby has done what he needs to do

so we can turn the heat on

but I have the space heater next to me

and it's humming!

Poppa Cat is afraid of it-

just cannot grasp the concept of the fan coming on and off!

He was funny to watch last night!

Speaking of animals...
I follow

Becky of Inking Idaho's blog

and she had this photo posted on her blog today

of her poor dog, Sarah...

Lol!

My cats have had glitter, glue dots, bits of ribbon stuck to them..

but never the lint lifter itself!

But GO SARAH...she sits, she sheds, she cleans up after herself!
Hmmm....Where's PC...? Ink? BC?  C'mon boys...
Momma wants to teach you a new trick...

Speaking of tricks-er TREATS

I have been wracking my brain

on what to do for the 30 preschool children at church.

While I am not directly involved with them

(I am the church "office administrator")

they ALWAYS come and see me

like yesterday when the 2 year old class

came to share their Scarecrow faces

and last week the 3 year old class

came listening for noises

(I cooperated with a demonstration of the paper shredder

and made the phone ring!).

I am in a time crunch

with Holly Days coming up and a couple of other orders to do

and have nixed a few ideas along the way...

 I have to confess- I "cased" this idea from one of the

Close to My Heart bulletin board ladies

and please don't be too harsh-

this was a quick mock up/test run yesterday...

lots and lots of Halloween stamps

and not the first single small smiling pumpkin face to be found!

Enter Avery address labels and an EK Success 1" circle punch!

The little holder is cut with the Close to My Heart Art Philosophy Cartridge

(set on 4" in case anybody wonders!) and then a small hole punched

with the Crop-a-dile to slip the ribbon through

(it does actually cut a slit to put the ribbon through-I don't have that much patience right now

and the hole was sooo much easier!

As you can see, a Hershey Kiss fits perfectly!

Can't go wrong with chocolate!

Well, I think I am going to take it easy today-

and take care of me.

Tomorrow's another day, Scarlett!

Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,

My Take on Typeset...

When the new Close to My Heart catalog came out

I fell in love with the

Typeset papers, embellishments & stamps

so

that's what I chose to work with

for our groupie meeting last night.

Here's my take on Typeset

(which was partially cased from the layout in the catalog on p. 18)

School days

the border on the left was cut with the CTMH

Art Philosphy Cricut cartridge

as was the circles and the banner pieces....

That square in the top right-hand corner is an accordion album-

room for 7 photos (I think that's right!)

or hidden journaling

or maybe copies of a report card...?!

I absolutely adore the embellishments that are CANVAS!

What a nice texture and feel they have!

I wanted to add a small (golf) pencil

but hubby said they would be a real pain

to cut in half length-wise and I really didn't want the added bulk

of a whole one so I nixed erased that idea...

If I ever find either set of photos I want to use on these pages

I will add them to all those little white spaces.

For now, I just had the ladies use the waxed paper trick

(tuck a piece of waxed paper behind the sticky part of an embellishment

that you don't want to stick until you add your photo).

Too bad I didn't use my "don't wash your stamps in the sink

unless the drain is plugged trick" last night as well...

I accidentally washed the "s" right down the drain.

Seriously.

Not. Happy.

Sigh.

(that's the postable version of what I am feeling!)

We had a new group member last night

HI JILL!

and although she had no scrapping and stamping experience

she kept right up and did an awesome job!

She wasn't too overwhelmed I don't think-

said she wanted to come back next month

so I took that as a good thing!

Someone posted a comment that they like my cat at the top of my blog-

except for the white, it looks like my INKY.

The other sleepless night I got up to read

and a cicada bug had gotten into the house.

Inky was down on the floor

behind our love seat

and Poppa Cat was on the back of the love seat.

Inky would swat at the bug-

it would fly up-

and PC would swat it back down!

They played cicada bug badminton for I don't know how long!

Inky finally got it and laid it down in front of him.

Enter the (old) Bad Cat

who sat down in front of them both

and looked back and forth

as if to ask Inky if he was going to "finish off" the bug.

Curiosity finally kicked in and the Bad Cat couldn't stand it any longer-

he grabbed the bug and made a run for it!

Awhile later

Inky came back with the bug!

Geesh.

Talk about late-night entertainment...!

I need a nap.

Need to do some bookkeeping.

Some cleaning.

Some more Holly Days preparations.

But first...a nap.

I feel like a cranky 2-year old today

(sore, tired, rainy weather, sore, headachy..)

Until next time,

happy stamping and scrapzzzzzzzzzing

Blessings,

 

Tired on Tuesday

Whew!

Yesterday was a wild day at work

and a full afternoon of running errands

and working on these in the evening...

I have really, really enjoyed making these--

they went super smoothly

and I think they look sweet packaged up

with a pretty bow!

Ribbon and crystal glitzy embellishments-

what girl wouldn't want some?!

It's a win-win situation-

if they don't sell at Holly Days and the church craft show

then I am just that far ahead of schedule

for the little gifts I need

for people on my Christmas list!

Here's my so-called helpers...

Men!

They weren't too interested in all the girly things-

Bad Cat (right)

informed me I should be working on

catnip fish instead.

Yeah, I know-it's on the to-do list, too!

What I didn't get a picture of

is Ms. Dolly who really did help me!

(well, kept me company at least!)

She has her own room in our house

and she's been acting lonesome

but still won't get brave enough

to come out with the boys.

(She hasn't figured out she's in charge

just by being a GIRL

or that she has CLAWS!)

Anyway-

yet another screen door was salvaged

and placed on my craft room.

Last night for the first time

I took her in there with me.

After a little stress

(cats don't take well to new things-

at least not quickly...)

she jumped up onto the chair

I rolled next to me

and sat quietly

content to sniff the ribbon

but not bat at it

and to be petted from time to time!

She was the perfect little lady

and I am sure we'll be spending more time together in there in the future!

She was soooo skittish and angry

when we first got her

I worried if  I'd ever be able to touch her.

Fast forward at least a year

almost two--

and she's turned intoa real sweetheart-

loves, absolutely loves to be cuddled and brushed!

That's my girl!

She overcame the obstacles

learned to trust

and is living (I hope!)

happily ever after.

Ok.

So it's off to my day job!

Tonight's Groupie night-

tomorrow's I'll post the pages.

Until then,

happy stamping and scrapping!
Blessings,

 

Monday Mail...

Ok-It's Monday

and I was psyched to have so much

wonderful fan mail

in my mailbox

and was writing a real nice post about it

when Blogger lost it all!

So not happy now!

Breathing...and back to it...

As I was saying before Blogger rudely interrupted me...

THANK YOU

to all those who have taken time to pass along

kudos and compliments!

It really makes my day smile!

The baby book and card were my own creations!

(here's a peek at the card-see the post for the pics of the book)

I won't confess as to how much paper

headache and heartache

(I think the post title-LABOR of love--

summed it up pretty well!)

went into it...but it was worth it!

She really liked it.

To the follower who wanted the dimensions on my

Coffee Cup Card

I totally cased this cup card from

Lori's blog

I did tweak a few things

(as I often do)

so read through both posts

and figure out what works for you!

Please take a minute and peek at yesterday's post & project--

ROCKIN' with Roxie

another original creation

(well, McD's probably has the patent on the

french fry box! lol!)

for the Holly Days Craft Show

coming all to soon

(Theresa and I say this every year this time of year--

and it comes every year this time of year--

just like Christmas...

I'm not a Flylady graduate---yet...

anyway-back to my project...

whatchathink?

I did a few "softer"/feminine (pink) papers as well--

would you buy these little goodies for a girlfriend?

Nail file and holder that will survive the depths of the deepest purse

(no mo' hair, gum & gunk clinging for dear life

to the file--the sleeve keeps them clean!),

breath mints and lip balm...

I will wrap them in clear cello bag

with a gift tag and bow...

and sell them for a song sensible price

In this economy...I know I will be shopping

for bargains!

This week is looking as wild as the Roxie paper--

tomorrow night is Groupie night

so stay tuned for a look at the layouts we do.

I cannot find ANY of the photos I wanted to add to them

but it is what it is--

I still need to do catnip fish

the Look Here gift card holders

and, if memory serves

(and I am praying I am wrong...)

I need to replenish my stock

of headache pillows

(I could use one right about now thinking about this list-

T 18 days and counting...geesh...

did I mention I need to go to my "real job", too?

Better get these buns moving!

Until next time,

THANK YOU AGAIN

and happy stamping and scrapping!