BusyLiz

Playin' with paper!

2012-01-29T23:44:00.000-08:00

My daughter Stephanie had a Stampin' Up! Big Shot workshop at our house today. I think there were about 18 ladies in our little house!! Oh, and there was ONE adorable baby. :o) Me and my oldest daughter Kelley got to hold little Mason for quite a while his mama was making her projects.

We made this really cute gift bag with the Love letterpress plate (the background on the red paper) and stamped using a stamp set called Sweet Cake. I love the combination of the red paper and the blue paper called Pool Party.

This little Valentine card was made using the same Love letter press and the cutest darned stamp set called Greeting Card Kids.

We made a little candy favor box with the 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, a scallop punch and the die cut called Two Tags. The stamp set is called P.S. I Love you. We tucked a little package of M&M's in there and it would be just the cutest little 'goodie' to give to kids or co-workers.

The last project was using a Mason jar and cutting out a label with a metal die set called Labels Framelets and the Chalkboard vinyl. I had three boxes of red and white butter mints left over from Christmas so we let anyone who wanted them fill their jar if they wanted to. I had purchased some of these big Sweetarts so that's what I filled my jar with.

Stephanie knew she would be busy with cutting out kits for the party and asked me if I could use a new line of paper to make some samples. I used craft cardstock and vanilla for the cards themselves and the new line of paper for Sale-a-bration called Everyday Enchantment. They are such pretty papers, it was easy to make pretty cards, even for me! lol

Hope you had a nice weekend. Gotta get some sewing time in this week so it's a good thing I got my paper fix this weekend.

Meant to Bee...

2012-01-26T00:22:00.000-08:00

My friend Debbie's daughter is getting married in a few months. Her daughter's nickname is "Bee" so that is the theme for her Bridal Shower. It's a cute theme to go with and the color combination of black and yellow is so fun and fresh.

Debbie had a bunch of decorations she's been gathering in mostly the colors of black and yellow so she came over tonight and we cut out some accent pieces with my Cricut and the Walk in My Garden cartridge.

A family friend made some centerpieces so we glued a bee to a kitchen skewer and it seemed like that was all they needed.

This pictures a little blurry but here's a closer shot of the bee in the vase.

I cut out a little wedding saying, Mr. & Mrs. from the Sweetheart cartridge. The words were cut out at 5" and I cut a shadow so it would stand out. The beehive was cut at 7" and also cut a shadow. The little tiny bee is from the "card" option on the cartridge. I think I cut it at 1".

I hope to get back to my sewing project tomorrow night. Juggling crafts is hard to do! lol

A Little Quilting....a Lot of Shopping!

2012-01-22T23:29:00.000-08:00

My sister Isabel and I went to Road to California on Thursday. It's our big quilt show in Ontario where there are many beautiful quilts and lots and lots of vendors. We did our part to boost the economy (lol) and had great sister time! I posted pictures from both me and my sister's cameras. The pictures don't do the quilts justice but hopefully you'll enjoy seeing some pretty quilts. They are loaded on my webshots album here.

Friday night when we got home, Isabel started picking out some 30's fabrics from a charm pack she bought so she could make the little 12 Days of Christmas mini mystery from Temecula Quilt Co. like the one I was working on. While she did that, I finished quilting my mini and I wasn't happy that I didn't add a small white border before adding the bigger border. I said something about adding rickrack and Isabel saw three piles I had in a container on my window ledge. The white looked best so I added it and now I'm very happy with my little quilt.

I just stitched in the ditch around the quilt and then did either an 'X' in the block or stitched around the design. Nothing fancy for this little one.

One of the things I bought at Road was this little Kitty panel from Holly Holderman. Oh my gosh, it's so cute, it makes me smile when I look at it. One of the booths had a quilt hanging in their booth with just 4 kitty blocks but I'm going to make it with 7. I got all my alternating blocks tonight (me and Isabel worked it up in EQ7) and I need to add a little fabric border around the kitties.

I know I shouldn't have started a new project with so many UFO's but I couldn't help myself. The floral prints are as cute as the kitties and they just wouldn't leave me alone. :o)

Are you organizing with the New Year?

2012-01-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

Seems like everyone is motivated to organize at the beginning of every year. January does that to us, right? New beginnings, clean slate, start over, yada, yada. I haven't really gotten to organizing my craft or sewing room even though it needs it REALLY badly but I feel like I just got the Christmas decorations put away and I'm not ready to plunge into that just yet.

I did spend last craft night doing some sorting with my buddy, Neena. Instead of making cards, we sorted through our stash boxes. I have been wanting to send out birthday cards to family and friends every year so this year I decided I better jot down the birthdays and pick out cards for the birthday person so they are ready to get in the mail for their 'special day'. I still have a little time before the first birthday so hopefully, I can get this tast finished on time to get the first one sent out. I do have to make several more cards now though. I'm short masculine and kid cards. Guess I better schedule some more playtime!

And since woman does not live by playing with paper alone, I got in my sewing room today and got to stay in there all day! I was a happy camper! I finished my little wallhanging mystery from Temecula Quilt Co. I wish I would've used a different fabric for the border, something a little darker maybe but I didn't know if I would keep this little quilt so I kept going onto the quilting.

I got it spray basted and under the needle. Got it started by 'stitching in the ditch' but had to quit to get ready for the work-week. :o(

Hello January!!!

2012-01-04T16:03:00.000-08:00

This is the picture I saw when I opened my new calendar at work. In case you don't recognize his work, it's a Norman Rockwell. Pop my face on that chubby little baker's body and this is the story of my life. Reading a diet book while surrounded by delicious temptations. LOL

No resolutions for me for this new year but me and two of my sisters are doing a challenge together. We will try to eat better, get some exercise and lose some of the "Christmas cookie" weight we gained. I know some of you have those "good genes" and don't have to watch what you eat but some of you are like us and it's a challenge to diet. Especially when we love to craft, sew, quilt, stamp, etc., etc......all sitting crafts. If you're on a diet, think of us. Misery loves company!! :o)

One last Christmas share....I think!

2012-01-02T21:50:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share a couple of pretty homemade cards I got for Christmas. I have a wire tree I got at Costco several years ago. It hangs it in the entryway which is kind of nice so you can see them all the time.

This snowman card reminds me of Wilson, the neighbor on the Tim Allen show, Home Improvement. My pal Neena made it. It's so cute and so detailed. She does really nice cards, don't you think? :o) The snow was torn paper and the snowman was made from Stampin' Up! punches. I love the look of white stamped on Kraft cardstock. So cute.

This next card was from my sister, Isabel. She's been to several of our Stampin' Up! parties and you know how misery loves company? We have been a bad influence on her!! :o) She embossed the white background, used the Big Shot for the big scallop and circle that the design in son and the other elements are SU punches.

And I "finally" got into my sewing room last night and made some little blocks. There was a '12 Days of Christmas' mystery on www.temeculaquiltco.com and I thought it would be a nice small project to try with some charms I had in my stash. The one on the site is being done with Civil War prints but I had more 30's charms than CW prints. I have today's block printed but I'm still packing Christmas boxes and have to go back to work tomorrow so I might have to wait til later this week to do the other blocks. The instructions are up on their site if you don't have anything better to do. LOL

I guess those Christmas boxes aren't going to pack themselves....darn it!!

Cricut Vinyl Snowman Jar

2011-12-28T22:32:00.000-08:00

Several weeks ago, when I was playing with vinyl on my Cricut machine, I cut out designs for two jars for Christmas gifts for my crafting buddies, Susan and Neena. One jar said 'ho ho ho' but I forgot to take a picture of it. This is the second one I made but I haven't seen Susan yet so I took it out of the bag and snapped a couple of pictures.

I got the jar and peppermints at Wal-Mart. The "let it snow" sentiment is a one cut word but I can't remember what cartridge it's from. The snowman is from one called Doodlecharmed.

Here's a close up. It's nice when you don't have to cut all the words separate or weld them together. It's doable but much quicker with the one-cut buttons.

The snowman had buttons for the face but the pieces were so small, I figured it was just as easy to use a Sharpie marker in black and orange. It was a fun project and I would like to play with vinyl some more.

It's a Wonderful Life!

2011-12-26T22:09:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's the title of a wonderful classic holiday movie but it's also a description of some of our lives, if we're lucky enough to have our children, friends and family around us this time of year. I had a wonderful Christmas and hope you did too.

Our little living room only allows me a few options for putting up the Christmas tree and a certain amount of space. This picture is pretty much exactly like last years post of our tree but it works and we found a nice full Noble Fir but not too big so it fit in our tight squeeze of a corner. :o)

This was the Christmas card I made this year and barely mailed them out on time (if Saturday, December 24th was on time!!!!). With no postal deliveries today, I'm sure most people won't get them until tomorrow and some later than that. Sigh.......at least they got mailed. It was a close call.

I used Stampin' Up paper that I just love. It's called Holly Berry Bouquet, the pine cone stamp was from a set called Pines and Poinsettias and the greeting was from Christmas Lodge.

I got some clothes for Christmas which I was really in need of. Two of my favorite gifts were nesting dolls from my daughter, Kelley. Adorable and priceless, in my personal opinion (and proud mama)!

This is me....in my favorite color, red and denim britches. :o)

This was my other fav. Oh my gosh, I'm going to have to dust off my knitting skills to make some of these adorable monsters. This book was a gift from my youngest daughter, Ashley. I can only knit and can't even remember how to 'purl' but my sister said she can help me in a few weeks when we get together for Road to California. Woohoo on both parts of that sentence!! lol

I don't think will be my first project since it has color changes but it's so cute!! Someday........

Unfortunately, back to work tomorrow. :o( Oh well, at least it's a short work week.

Peppermint Jar giftie

2011-12-14T14:10:00.000-08:00

I am a little poorer this Christmas with that hoopla wedding last month. :o) I needed a gift for the sweet gal that does my hair. With helping Kelley do those mustache jars, I thought I could do something similar with the vinyl I have on hand. Not knowing if Kristy was into mustaches, I figured I would play it safe by making a candy jar.

I got this jar at Goodwill. I used red, black and white vinyl and the Simply Charmed cartridge. The layering was a bit tricky with the vinyl and I'm sure there's a youtube video out there with hints but I was on a time restraint and didn't want to get lost in the black hole of cyberspace. LOL

Here is a close-up of the little face on the "Peppermint" word. It is a 'one cut' on the Simply Charmed cartridge, although you couldn't see the little face so I touched it a little bit with a fine-tip Sharpie. I have a few bigger jars that I got at Wal-Mart so I may be trying a few more gifts for Christmas. Geez, I have 11 days left!!! Why rush......... lol

Happiest Place On Earth....

2011-12-08T00:42:00.001-08:00

***I started this post last week and never got back to it. Where is the time going??? Argh....***

Just a few photos to catch you up on where I've been. Here's a little hint (in case my Post title wasn't enough of a hint for you). :o)

Sleeping Beauty's castle is a beautiful site any time but especially during the holidays!

My friends (If you can call them that! lol) wanted to ride the Tower of Terror. "Uh, okay. I'll go. How bad can it be?" OH-MY-GOD!!!! We are in the second row on the right. I am the one with my hand over my face, Susan is in aqua and neena is the one with her hands in the air laughing. The ride went to the top and then they opened the doors so you could see all of Anaheim. When I saw how high up we were, I had to cover my eyes and I believe that is when I started screaming at the top of my lungs like i was being chased by a murderer!!!!! Susan was laughing at me so hard that she was crying. Yeah, whatever.....

After that ride, I needed to go to a happy place so Neena and I went to It's a Small World. Ahhhh, that was better. lol It is normally such a cute ride but done up with Christmas decorations, lights and holiday music, it was wonderful!

Here are a few shots of Main Street with poinsettias, lights and the beautiful Christmas tree.

And here are two of my daughters at a craft show they did in November. Yes, I am definitely behind with my blog....just posting about this!! Stephanie (on the left) did hair bows, headbands and flower clips. Kelley (on the right) is the artsy daughter and had some prints for sale, post cards, compact mirrors with cute pin-up girls and a couple of patterns. She also sold soaps for a friend of hers.

My contribution to the sale was minimal. With the wedding, the girls were all struggling to have anything on that table. I did have these little metal chairs I found so I made them into pincushions. I saw them on Lori Holt's blog, Bee in My Bonnet, here. I only made 10 and sold 7 so that works for me. I have two for gifts for Christmas. :o)

Kelley's prints and patterns.

Stephanie had a co-worker stop by with her daughter. She made a great little model for some of her headbands. Look at those adorable rosey cheeks!

Onto some crafty news.......Kelley saw some jars on Pinterest. (Pinterest....that's a whole 'nother blog post!!!!) Some of her co-workers wanted them so she hit up thrift stores and Ikea for jars and I got to cutting on my Cricut. (Yeah, I can hear all of you asking, "I thought Kelley was making them?") LOL I don't mind helping when I get crafting time with my girls! Can you believe how popular mustache stuff is? I've seen it everywhere. How about you?

I got all my Christmas decorating done last week and here are a few of my favorite things. My little kitchen tree and the garland in my dining room doorway. Love, love, love....it all makes me so happy.

And hubby and I got our lights up outside. My big christmas lights make my walkway look like a "runway". lol Maybe next year I'll change it to the side planters.

So, I have a party at my house tomorrow night and the big family gathering on Sunday. A little clean up, a little baking and I'll be ready to go. Sleep? Who needs sleep? :o)

Ashley's Wedding, iphone pics

2011-11-15T14:00:00.001-08:00

Being mother-of-the-bride is tough business any way but man, oh man, having to have my hands free and not have my camera was tough on me. My Nikon is too big to tote around at times like these!!! All I had was my iphone so I'm sharing a couple of the pre-wedding photos with the bridesmaids.

Ashley chose Nick, http://www.nickcharrow.com/ as her photographer. He is young and likes to use brick walls and commercial structures in his shoots. Next door to the Embassy Suites where the girls got ready was the Brea Cultural Center and he thought it was ideal for some pictures. He had us walk there, which caused for quite a bit of honking from street traffic but that made it fun. I only snapped a few and these are the best of them. They're going to have to hold me over until we get the 'real deal' from Nick.

I can't wait to see the pictures if this is what things look like with my older iphone. I love Ashley's dress in this picture. Everyone looks so pretty!

This was a kind of a huddle shot. :o)

And I love this one. It looks nice and even with four girls on each side but David's sister is missing. She was a "Groomsmaid" and took most of her pictures with the guys and their parents. We left soon after this shot to do the gazebo flowers. There were more taken of the "First Look" and the entire bridal party. Don't those orange flowers look amazing against that navy blue? Love it!

Ashley's Wedding, first pics

2011-11-14T18:07:00.001-08:00

I know I've been gone a loooong time but I was a little busy with final wedding plans, blog posts just had to wait. But now, I have pictures from family and friends to share. Yay!

Ashley's wedding was Saturday and we prayed we could have it outside at the beautiful gazebo but there was a storm coming down from Alaska due to hit Saturday early evening. Wedding time, 4:00 p.m. (kind of early evening!!)

The bride and groom to be really wanted to have their ceremony outside since that's why they picked this beautiful venue and all day there had not been a drop of rain so we decided to just go for it. We barely made it! In one of the pictures, you can see the raindrops on the collar of my dress. :o) During the cocktail/social hour, the rain came down pretty good but we were already inside at the reception celebrating.

First, here's a picture of the program that Kelley made. She saw something online and put her creative juices to work. It was adorable and though I'm her "biased" mother, I think it was cuter than the original she saw. She listed the Bridesmaids and then "Sistermaids". Our two girls and Dave has sister. I thought that was cute!

This was the table by the entrance to the wedding area. We had the bubble basket, the yarmulkes (hats for the Jewish ceremony) and the programs.

Instead of having a sign in book, Ashley wanted to do puzzle pieces. She had seen this idea and found small 5x7" puzzles at the teacher supply store. She loves to do puzzles and will glue them on cardboard and bind them in a little book.

This is a picture of the cutest little flower girl, Kylie, with our daughter Kelley (out of the shot) and Richard and Ashley in the background.

Richard and Kelley bumping elbows before the walk down to the garden. Actually, Ashley didn't know she was supposed to grab her daddy's arm. Different generation, you know? I think it's a cute picture. :o)

Some of the bridal party waiting to walk........ There were nine bridesmaids and five groomsmen.

Kelley and Kylie........

Here's a shot of the threatening sky but it did make for gorgeous pictures.

All the bridesmaids in a row with cute little Kylie. Kelley gave her a piece of candy after they walked down the aisle and under her mother's instructions, she was not to eat it until after the ceremony was over. Kylie held onto that piece of candy with a death grip but she did not eat it until they walked back down the aisle. So darned cute! And I was told this is a "technique" that is used by mom quite often. lol

My daughter Stephanie did the centerpieces and bouquets. I'll post more inside pictures tomorrow. I did the floral spray on the gazebo. It was a little stressful as the ceremony was to start at 4:00 and we did photos prior to the ceremony and weren't done until a little after 3:00. We were at another location so hubby and I flew over to the site so I could do the spray. Since it was just wired together and no water source, the grower we bought flowers from suggested I wait until a few hours before the ceremony. I think we cut that one a little close!!! I did that spray in about fifteen minutes. After that, I could finally relax and enjoy the festivities.

This is the dessert table. I got the banner idea from a Stampin' Up! website. A demonstrator had used this term for her daughter's wedding. I cut them out with my Cricut. I borrowed some serving pieces from my boss and from Kelley. I bought a few at Goodwill and the rest were in the cupboards at home.

I bought candy in bulk and baked Texas Sheet Cake, Magic Cookie Bars (Dave's favorites) and white cupcakes with orange frosting (on clearance from Target after Halloween). We bought apple and pumpkin (Ashley's favorite) pies from Costco. My friend and former co-worker, Becca, made the devils food cake pops, which were delicious. She is Becca's Cupboard on facebook.

Kelley printed the names of the baked items and candy names and I cut them out with my Cricut.

Kelley painted the cake toppers (minus the cake lol) as her gift to her sister and new brother-in-law. She even added the hair flower and made orange paper roses for the bouquet. Dave and Ashley fed each other their favorite dessert for that portion of the reception.

These photos are from the flower girls mom and my sister. As I get more pictures of the family, I will share them too.

Halloween, Wedding and Baby Shower crafting...

2011-10-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

Hi there! I've had this draft done for a week or so and forgot to post it. DOH! You can tell I'm a little distracted with life. I have been a busy mom, helping to prepare for this upcoming wedding. I have managed to find some time for crafting too though. Woman does not live by wedding planning alone!! :o)

I found this little note holder at Michael's in the dollar section a while back and I thought it would be a nice little gifty if it was covered in a cute scrapping paper so I picked up two of them.

The first one I did was the plaid one but it was a cardstock from Joann's and it split on the creases. I went ahead and finished it anyway since I had the paper cut but it's not really nice enough to give away as a gifty. I used a thinner paper for the second one and it worked great. I used a stamp set from Stampin' Up! and a couple of punches to make the scallop circles.

I had some down time in wedding preparations so I got my lace bin out and though I would see what it takes to make a garter for the garter toss. I had plenty but my lace collection is old stuff from crafting, some from my grandma and leftover from various projects over the years.

I also have a collection of items I have purchased at estate sales and have "yet" to use. But I found some pretty lace and thought I just needed a ribbon and the right sized elastic so off to Joann's I went.

That's when I found this.......for $2.97 a yard!!!! Already sewn together and for the prices, woohoo, I can add one seam and a bow and be done!

Actually, I added a Detroit lion to it too. Dave, the soon-to-be SIL loves anything Detroit because his dad is from there in his youth. I thought it would be a good way to add "something blue" to Ashley. I had enough to make her a garter to keep for her wedding night too. Woo woo!

Then, I just wanted to share this picture my daughter Kelley made for her friend Brenda who is expecting a little boy in November. We went to her shower a few weeks ago so I grabbed a picture while I could. Kelley used scrapbook paper for the sail and I believe it is done in watercolor. The little "sweet dreams" piece is a scrapbook decorator element. It came out pretty cute and Brenda loved it!

Tonight me and my bride-to-be will be off to get our dresses altered for the wedding. Only a few more weeks and then life will be back to normal.....or at least back to "Liz normal", which is anything but normal. :o)

More wedding preparations

2011-09-25T23:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend we wanted to give it a go on the flowers for the wedding. I had my doubts that we could do this ourselves but my my daughter Stephanie had taken some floral arranging classes in high school and a friend who had no experience did flowers for her daughter's wedding. She said it was a lot of fun and she's glad they did it. Soooo, with that information under our belt, we went over to the wholesale flower market on Saturday and bought gerbera daisies, roses and carnations. Stephanie did the arranging and did a pretty good job. Her second attempt was better than the first and way better than my attempt. She thinks she can handle it so we're going to give it a go. This is just a peek at the small centerpiece she did.

The rest of this weekend was boring old laundry, a little housework (very little lol) and some other tasks for the wedding so I could check them off my list. We are having a dessert table at the wedding and I had seen on someone's blog or maybe it was on a Stampin' Up website, but they did a pennant across the cake table with the words "Love is Sweet". I thought that was perfect for our table so I cut the letters and pennant shape with the Cricut, embossed the background with a floral design and threaded it with silver ribbon. It came out pretty cute. I didn't take a picture of the finished design because no one was here to hold it. Pooey!

And this is what my dining room is still looking like. A few more pieces to be cut out and I think I can finally put things away and get back to 'normal', whatever that is. :o)

Ashley, the bride-to-be, decided on the design for the table numbers. We used the same Night of Navy Stampin' Up! paper as the invitations, added an orange scallop for a pop of color and to incorporate the orange flowers. This paper is SU also and is called Peach Parfait, though it's more pumpkin than peach.

Ashley found a Cuttlebug embossing folder that she liked in my "collection" so she embossed the white circles.

We got a lot done this weekend and can mark a few items off our to-do list. Time sure seems to be flying by! If my calculations are right, we have 48 days left! S C A R Y!!!!!

Rosettes and busywork

2011-09-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

Remember these? It's called a 'pattern'. :o) I haven't done any garment sewing in a very long time. This isn't really a garment though. It's for a costume I worked on for my oldest daughter. She wants to be Lucy as in Lucille Ball for the Halloween shower. I could not find black and white or navy and white polka dot fabric at Joann's (so I could use my coupon) but I did find brown and white. My daughter said the show was filmed in black and white so Lucy might of been wearing a brown polka dot dress and who would know? LOL

I keep forgetting to take a picture of the finished dress. I guess because it is just hanging on the hanger. I don't need a dress form for as few times as I make clothing. Also, it didn't come out as full a skirt as it looked in the pattern. So our "Lucy" will have to add an apron or something to give her a little more gather. (I'm such an amateur!)

My artsy daughter Kelley has been making logos for friends who are crafty. She made her sister Stephanie one and then this one for Becca. Becca is a former co-worker and makes shadow boxes and cake pops. She wanted a little tag to put on her filled orders. She is a tanned girl and Kelley captured that with this drawing. Becca loves ladybugs and wanted a cupboard in the picture. Kelley printed some of the logos on round labels to get Becca started. Pretty cute, huh?

With the Halloween shower lurking, we decided to try our hand at making 'rosettes' or florettes, pinwheels or lollipops. Whatever you want to call these accordion folded circles, we made them. These measure about 12" and will either be hung behind the food table or put on sticks like lollipops. I'll try to write up some directions with a picture or two soon. They're super easy!

We had some small 2" strips left over so I made these small rosettes. They measure 4". Kelley thought we should make one more and put a ribbon behind them and use them as a little corsage-type decoration for the moms and bride-to-be. We replace the spider with a more 'cutsie' decoration. These have been big on greeting cards and all kinds of decorating. I want to make more but that will have to wait.

Last night I worked on a box/holder for wedding cards at the reception. I need to paint it but can't wait to show it to you. I cut out the shapes with my cricut. Soooo cute!

Little Surprises

2011-09-19T15:43:00.000-07:00

Love getting double cherries. It's a little thing but it doesn't happen often so it makes me smile. And it's a "good" surprise.

A not so good surprise is getting shorted fabric! I bought some yardage at Joann's for the bridesmaid bags I worked on earlier. The last piece I bought to finish the bags, got washed, like I do with all my fabric. (Yes, I'm one of THOSE!) lol And this is what I got when I went to cut it. About 3 1/2" off.....on both sides!!!! So about 7" of fabric that I paid for and can't use. I asked the clerk when I went back there for some other supplies what their policy is. She said to bring it in so they can look at it. I don't like this kind of surprise.

I doubt my daughter's friends look at my blog but just to be sure, I won't post the bridesmaid gifts but wanted to say I'm glad that job is over with!!!! But they're awfully cute.

This is the invite to my daughter's shower. They went against my objection to have a Halloween shower, complete with costumes. This mother has no control over her daughters!! At least the decorating has been easy to gather up. Kelley designed the invitation. We tell her she should be a party planner but she said she can't give up her day job! :o)

Hope to keep coming back to the blog but things are starting to get crazy! I even got medication from the doctor to keep me from bride-mom-overload. hehe I am enjoying the ride though, that's for sure.

Weekend of going, going and it was gone!

2011-09-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

You know how it is......blink! Where did my weekend go? But this was fun. Friday we headed to the casino for my hubby's 55th birthday. He kept saying he turned "double nickles" so he had to go to one of the Indian casinos for a little card playing. He convinced me to go and said I could shop at the Crate and Barrel outlet out there. (I can't afford anything in the regular store so my only chance to own anything is to shop the outlet. lol) AND IT WAS GONE!!!!! No more C&B in Cabazon. WHAAAAAA. So I stayed in the stinky casino. Pooey. I did make out on the deal though. Hubby feels sorry for me so he gave me a crisp hundred dollar bill. Of course, I took my sewing with me and didn't play the slots so my $$ came home with me. I went shopping on Saturday and used it to buy him some presents. LOL.....yes, he bought his own presents. It wasn't the first time and I'm sure it won't be the last. :o)

Some of the goodies from our girls. He always gets a stash of peanut butter cups!

Sunday we went to a car show in Belmont Shores/Long Beach. It was such a gorgeous day. They started lining up at o'dark thirty in the morning so hubby went alone and I got a little extra shut-eye.

Richard got an EXCELLENT spot in the shade the whole day and it was right by a sports bar so my future son-in-law Dave could watch football all day long! The lookie-loos were loving Richard's car. Picture after picture. It was cool to see. And the event with this paint job, perfect for each other.
I don't know how I mustered up the energy after we got home and unpacked the cars but I went to Michaels with my daughter. When I got home, she left, Richard passed out and I sealed the wedding invitations. They were mailed today!!!!

I don't know what the post office is crying about going broke! It cost $1.08 to mail each invitation!!!!! It would've almost been cheaper to deliver them in person! lol Off to get some sewing done. Have a great night!

Remembering...

2011-09-11T00:43:00.000-07:00

I never understood the feeling that generations before us experienced when they described their experiences of World War 1 or 2....until 9/11. Waking up to the clock radio saying something about a plane hitting a tower in New York and running to turn on the television. And then driving to work to watch the rest of the story there, glued to my chair. It feels like it was yesterday and yet, we have come a long way. I hope we are all a little wiser today then we were back then. It's a shame so many had to die at the hands of the terrorists. God bless all of those families.

My hubby and I will be at a car show with his `34 with the air brush 9-11 paint job. I think of all the days he will drive his car, today will mean something extra special to him and all that see it. Take care.

Happy Labor Day!

2011-09-05T11:33:00.000-07:00

I'm going to go use my Joann's coupons for some supplies I need and to take advantage of the Labor Day sale. I hope you are getting in some time to do fun stuff, bar-b-que, sew, garden, whatever you love to do!

Someone shared a link for wonderful cakes made for crafters. I LOVED looking at them and thought I would pass on the link to you. Here is a teaser of a beauty!!!
If you'd like to see the entire album, check it out here at Cake Wrecks. Happy Labor Day everyone! Off I go.............

Chugging along

2011-09-01T22:23:00.001-07:00

Slow and steady wins the race, right? :o) I have been playing with my paper crafts and also doing some sewing. I thought I would share a gadget I've been using recently. I got these when I was on vacation in AZ last month. My sis and I found these Wonder Clips by Clover.

I had the chance to use them quite a bit recently on the bags I'm working on for my daughter's wedding. Yes, I'm still working on them!! lol But I'm making progress.
This bag has curved binding on the top edge so I sewed it on one side with the machine and then hand tacked it on the inside. That is where the clips came in handy. I can see using them for quilt binding too. They're sturdy little clips, like a sturdy clothespin, and the bent piece holds onto thick fabric hugging the binding just right. I'd give them two thumbs up! :o)

This is bag #6 that I finished tonight!! I'm not going to show the entire picture in case my daughter's friends read my blog. I doubt they do but better safe than sorry.

That's it for this check-in. I don't have any real plans this long holiday weekend so I'm hoping to finish up the bags and mark them off my list of things to do. I gave myself until the end of August to finish them and I have missed that deadline. Pooh! But I would be okay if I got them done by the end of the weekend. Have a good one and I hope you have some play-time too! :o)

Celebrating!

2011-08-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary to me and Richard! Liz and Richard. Just like the Taylor/Burton Liz and Richard....only a little younger, little less drama and a lot less money. LOL

I have a friend Anna, who recently had an anniversary and every time she would buy 'herself' something, she would clap her hands and sing, "Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary" just like this......
So when I got my box of goodies from Stampin' Up! on Wednesday..........

I was singing too..........."Ohhhhh, Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaappy Anniversary! LOL Catchy little tune, dontcha think?

The planning is underway for the bridal shower and my girls have some good ideas. But that's not until October so I guess I'll keep doing my 'mom-wedding-things' and share as I get them done. Shhh, it'll be our little secret. I think my daughter Kelley is too busy to check my blog. LOL

Shower Invitations, round two

2011-08-17T23:01:00.000-07:00

My girls came over last week and we had an assembly party to put together the invitations for my youngest daughter, Ashley's bridal shower. The two older girls are hostessing the shebang for their little sister. As with the wedding invites (that are being put together as we speak) and save-the-dates, Kelley created the invites. We all took on a task or two and they went together likity-split!

*Update* - There was a picture here but I was put on restriction and told that I can't post pictures until the invitations are received by the people invited. (That was from Kelley. She's such a party-pooper!)

*2nd Update* - We went to dinner for Ashley's birthday on Tuesday. The girls talked. The entire theme of the shower changed!! The date changed. The people remained the same! lol

I guess the only picture I can share with you is Kaya, Dave and Ashley's baby. Dave's mom calls it her grandcat so I guess as the other-mother, it's my grandcat too. Argh........I am NOT an animal person! At least she is a good girl. The picture is a little dark because I didn't know if the flash would freak her out. lol

I hope to share some of this Top Secret information with you soon. Imagine, putting me on no-photo-detail!!!!! Hmpf!

Shock!!!! I sewed something! :o)

2011-08-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

Finally got into my sewing room this past weekend. Shocking, right? Seems like forever since I'd sewn something. My sister is visiting so she hung out with me and helped iron down seams. You know, cheap (free) labor kind of stuff. :o) I'm making bags for all the bridesmaids in my daughter's wedding. And since time is flying by, I know November will be here before I know it so I have to put the pedal to metal......or foot to the pedal or something like that. lol

I couldn't get the lighting down on my camera so this picture will have to do. The pattern is from This and That by Sherri Falls. It is a thick bag with fusible fleece and a layer of batting but it's a nice bag and a good size. The bag on the left is for my oldest daughter and she asked for a thicker band of accent fabric so hers looks just a little different. She picked her own fabric and was over on Saturday when I finished this bag. She tried to take it home but I told her 'no way', that she had to wait for the rehearsal dinner. Yes, she pouted. lol

The pattern is called Swanky Bag and it was only $4.50. Ashley, the bride-to-be picked it out herself. Here is a picture of the bag from the pattern. I will just be using big buttons and not fabric covered ones because I have to make nine bags but I might add the yo-yo flower after I'm done with all of the bags. We'll see. I like the look of the flower but I'm not sure if I'll have that much time. I still have a mom-dress to buy and a list of things to do like Santa's so we'll see.

Other than Kelley's fabric and some black and white polka dot fabric, everything came from my stash. The black and white dots seemed to go with just about all the fabrics I had picked out so I got a few yards of it at Joann's. Boy, using that fabric with quilt shop quality is VERY different. I probably should've just gone to a quilt shop and bought good stuff. I hope it holds up.

Two down, seven to go.......

Last night, I pulled weeds in the backyard and can hardly move today. Argh.... Sewing tonight will be a nice thing to do while my glutes recover. LOL

My hubby's paint job....ooooh!

2011-08-13T23:34:00.000-07:00

My hubby has been having his car painted by a couple of guys he works with. It's a 1934 3-window coupe. He wanted a tattered flag on the front and some type of 9/11 tribute painted on the trunk. The two guys that did the painting of both the car and the airbrushing did a fantastic job. He picked it up today and is already going to a car show tomorrow. :o)

Isn't it amazing? Almost as good as a quilt with a 1,000 pieces! ;o)

Stamping 1, Shopping 1, Sewing 0

2011-08-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

Hey all. Checking in to say I've been busy. lol (understatement) My middle daughter, Stephanie, the Stampin' Up! demonstrator used our house to have a catalog launch, since the new catalog came out on July 1st. She had a few co-workers show up and a few of our crafty buddies came. We did some make-n-takes and played some games. Fun stuff.

She had some samples out and did some drawings for freebies.

Then, we had an entourage that went with my youngest daughter, Ashley and her fiance Dave, to register at Bed, Bath & Beyond for their wedding in the fall. It wasn't as time consuming as I thought and, of course, it was fun. I handed this doggie toy to Ashley and told her to pose for a picture since her maid of honor couldn't make it. Of course, she didn't know I was going to post it for the world to see on my blog but that's okay, I won't tell if you won't. :o)

And this is them getting the lowdown on the registry cards, etc. Dave is just posing in this picture like he's exhausted. "Please, let's go hooooooo-me." I think he was just kidding. lol

Then, last Saturday I had a mother of a stamp party. There were 16 people here at my little itty bitty house. We set three stations up and made two cards and an 'explosion' box. I didn't realize that's what they were called until someone told me. Who knew?

I love this card. We used the Large Lace Ribbon Border punch (what a mouthful!) to create the faux doily in the background. I couldn't get it to fit with just one border so I cut two and love the dainty look. The stamp set is cute too. It's called On The Grow and is in a set with a little scooter. Too cute. We embossed the background and it makes it look so girly.

Here is the 'explosion' box. When the sides are all folded up and the lid is on, it just looks like a little gift box. When you take off the lid, the sides fall and it opens up, thus the name. You can put pictures in the four corners of the birthday person or family or whatever. Such a cute idea.

And my party was a huge success! Thanks to friends and family, it was over $1000 in sales so I earned all kinds of free stuff. I'm supposed to get the order today to pack it up so I dug out my paper scrap box and make some little thank you tags. I just used what was in the scraps, some Stampin' Up!, some other paper. I thought it was the "least" I could do.

Well, that's it for now. My sister Rita, is visiting me for a couple of weeks. She said she would help me with some wedding preparations so I think I better take her up on it. Tick, tick, tick goes the wedding clock!!!

Mr. & Mrs. Peter Blank.....and a cake top!

2011-07-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a little peek into the ceremony that took place yesterday. This is pretty nice for a court wedding, don't you think. Fullerton knows how to git 'er done! :o) This is the condensed version of our afternoon and evening....
Peter and Brenda exchanging their vows.

Having a toast at the restaurant....

Posing with their cake...yum....it was delish even though the car ride there was a little rough so the frosting buckled. Thank goodness this wasn't a job I got paid for!
And the most adorable cake couple ever!!! They would've been sitting straight on the cake if Kelley had put them down but I did it and there was no moving them with the sticky dots underneath. Kelley did an excellent job with them and couple using personalized toppers seems to be the thing nowadays. Aren't they adorable?

I got to help a little bit with the painting but just on the couples mouths. It is a little different doing the wood craft painting compared to watercolor paper and canvas that Kelley is used to. I cut 3 or 4 circles of tulle with my Big Shot circle die, gathered them up with a needle and thread and Kelley stuck them down with a glue dot and added the little flower. We even got it on the right side of Brenda's little wooden head to match her 'real' head. :o) I made a little tie for the groom too but the rest of the adorable came from Kelley. So darn cute! Did I say that already? lol

Butttttttercreeeeeeam. Yum!

2011-07-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got the supplies out for baking Brenda & Peter's wedding cake. I took cake decorating lessons when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter so the classes were some 32+ years ago. Things have changed quite a bit since then but some things have stayed the same too. Like my cake pans. They have held up really well for lots of years of baking cakes (though I don't do them much any more).

I "always" use Betty Crocker SuperMoist cake mix. It has never failed me and the cakes are so moist and delicious. I spray the sides of my pans with Pam Baking Spray and use parchment circles (I cut myself from rectangle pieces) in the bottom. These are 12" pans so I used three cake mixes but I really could've used one more and just made cupcakes with the leftovers. I like to fill the pans a little more and cut off the tops. That's what my family had as their treat for years. I wish I had a picture of my hubby's face yesterday when he came home and there was no "top". It was the saddest face ever. I made up for it tonight by baking another round cake and had lots leftover.

I needed to make another batch of icing for a total of 3 so I did a crumb coat on the cake to keep it from drying out.

Now, when you see these pictures you'll be able to tell I took my classes 30 years ago. I don't know how to do the ever-popular fondant and my style is "old school" but hey, the cake is free and I must say, it's tasty. It's white cake with raspberry filling and buttercream icing. How can you go wrong......old school or not. :o)
I needed something for the top of the cake for the wooden "couple" my daughter Kelley painted the happy couple. That will be their cake topper. I thought I had some wooden hearts but we couldn't find them. Kelley found a pack of sports coasters so I had her glue them together and wrap them in cellophane to keep the grease from the Crisco in the buttercream from soaking through it. And I was going to make roses for the top of the cake but it's warm and the icing was too soft. The roses looked like a blob so I just did a vine and some rosebuds. It was all I could think of to do at the last minute and it was getting late. There are only supposed to be about 20 people at the dinner after the ceremony so I think there will plenty of cake. Since this kind of cake is Peter's favorite, I hope they get some to take home too.

Flowers, bag parts and a card

2011-07-26T23:24:00.000-07:00

I'm still working with my Nikon camera that my girls got me for my birthday. I still get a lot of blurry pictures so I played with the settings and took some pictures in the yard. I love my old Sony. It took such nice pictures and it was a point and shoot camera. This one is bigger but it's mine so I'm trying to work with it. :o)
Pretty zinnias...

My mother-in-law, Betty, passed away several years ago but she always had these little flowers in her garden. I love how they look like tissue paper flowers and that in each plant you can get lots of colors. It's called Portulaca and it's a succulent (I looked on Yahoo! lol) They're doing pretty good in this spot in the yard. Yay! (Don't mind the big weed in the picture. There's always one!! haha)

My roses are 'finally' blooming. I'm not sure if I wasn't watering them enough or what. I only have two in the yard. This one is Angel Face, from my friend when my mom passed away. It is so fragrant. I love it.

Last night and tonight I cut some of the kits I need for the bridesmaid bags for my daughter's wedding. I have several more to cut before I get to the sewing.

And tonight I made a card for the wedding we'll go to on Friday (for Brenda, from the shower last Saturday). I saw a simple card online and liked the simplicity of it so I used the basic premise of the card as a starting point. (I like mine better. lol)

Kelley made Brenda & Peter a wooden doll cake topper. When I talked to Brenda, they weren't having a cake at the wedding. They were doing a small dinner after the ceremony for a few friends and family. Me and my big mouth offered to make a cake since it can be small and there are only about 20 people who will be attending. I'm such a glutton for punishment, aren't I? lol If the cake comes out nice enough, I'll post pictures. It could be a disaster as I haven't made a cake in quite a while and my tendinitis has been acting up with all the rotary cutting and gardening I've been doing. Gee, you think I should back off some of these things? :o)

Brenda's Shower (lots of pictures!)

2011-07-26T11:12:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally had the bridal shower for my daughter Kelley's friend, Brenda. I'm sure if you have kids, you know sometimes there are a few that seem like your own. Brenda is one of those girls. Besides being one of Kelley's best buds, we joke that she is also like my middle daughter's twin sister. They are so much alike. Anyway, here are some pictures of the decorations and guests and of the bride-to-be......
Kelley used quilts, pennants, tea cups and paper lanterns to decorate the backyard.

Her colors for the shower were pink, red and little bit of every other color.

We found a few teapots at yard sales and thrift stores and tea cups from my collection and at a wholesale place. Kelley gathered things from all over the house to decorate with a shabby chic kind of style.

We had pink marshmallows left over from a craft project and they looked perfect in this thrift store container. We put straws in a milk bottle and put flowers from the 99 cent store in some of the teapots since it was in the 80's and too hot for a warm drink! Kelley mixed colored and clear sugar sprinkles for the party favors. You can see a close up picture in my last post.

We had pink lemonade and peach tea (yum!). The peach tea was the Market brand from Target and was so delicious and refreshing....and sugar free! The clear cups were also from the dollar store. I think there were about 10 in a package. They were a cute little shape, perfect for a tea party.

The plants in the yard filled in pretty nice by the time we had the party. I thought the bougainvilleas were goners but they're both coming back nicely. Don't you "love" the orange hand chair? That was trash-picked chair by my middle dd from her high school days and it's still here. lol We're a classy bunch, eh? This picture shows a good shot of Kelley's pennant. She used some cute fabric Stephanie got at a discount fabric store and some eyelet I've had since they were little girls (and needed to be used up a LONG time ago). Kelley cut them out and stitched two pieces together (except for the eyelet ones) and I chain sewed them together using double fold binding.

Here's another shot that shows the set up pretty good.

You can see the sun was bright that day. Kelley made name tags in her artsy-fartsy program. The vintage quilt they are on is one Stephanie bought several years ago at a thrift store in Hollywood when we went to see Wicked. Kelley bought the badge and personalized it for Brenda who's married name sounds like a Marvel comic character, Mrs. Brenda Blank. :o)

We put the food out at the last possible moment. There were cranberry scones, pumpkin scones, chicken Caesar salad, fresh fruit platter and also bowls of cherries and strawberries for use of their wonderful red color.
Brenda greeting some of her guests....

....having deep conversations and showing off her bling. :o)

A little peek at a few of the games.......He Said, She Said and a word scramble.
There was also a "guess who brought this lingerie" game. If she guessed wrong, she had to put it on. What a good sport!
You can't have a shower without a something RED, right? I got her this red pitcher, perfect for her own peach tea!

It was a good time. Good job, Kelley! And thank you mother nature for keeping the heat at an acceptable 82 degrees and a nice breeze blowing all afternoon.

And in case you are wondering where I was during this shower......at the food table, of course! Those dang scones were delicious!!! lol

Wedding Shower card

2011-07-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

We're finally having the bridal shower for my daughter's friend Brenda this Saturday. Brenda had emergency surgery a while back so the 'surprise' shower got postponed and now she knows all about it. Me and Kelley can hardly wait to have this shower. I'm sure now that Brenda knows about it, she's excited too....we hope. LOL
I got into my room to make a card. And of course, you might as well do two cards if you're cutting paper for one, right? I had two different kinds of doilies so tried some layering but it seemed like something was missing. I'll show my kids and they'll say something like, "Oh, you just need one of these" or "you should've...". It's okay though. Hopefully, the bride-to-be will love the card and the present even more. :o)

Kelley made some little party favors with jars from Michael's (50% off...woohoo), colored sugar and a tea bag. The red and white polka dot background is a washtub sort of container that Kelley got me for Mother's Day. We'll use it for a party ice tub and put cute little bottles of drinks in it.

Off to go cut out a few more of those bridesmaid bags. Multi-task, multi-task......times a flyin' by!

Cricut Cartridge Storage

2011-07-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

I signed up for facebook (fb) a while ago but never really cared for the layout. It's taken me some time but I'm coming around. I follow a couple of crafty sites and recently, I saw something that made visiting fb worthwhile.

Below are my Cricut cartridges on a shelf in my 'paper crafting room'. As you can see, I have a few! :o) I recently joined the Cricut Cheat Sheet on fb and a lady, Deanna, shared a great space-saver on a post. She got a storage box and was able to store 22 cartridges and all the 'parts' in one box. So I went online and ordered a box for $6.99 (no shipping or tax) from Gander Mountain. Here is a link to the actual product.

So, I was able to go from this...

To this! 22 cartridges in a nice little space.

I have two leftovers so I just sat them on the shelf by themselves for now. I'm sure I'll acquire one or two more cartridges and have to buy box #2. I just can't help myself.... When I find them during the holidays for $15.00/a piece.....it's just too tempting to add to my collection.

I have been organizing and cleaning in my sewing room too. Things were so messy, I couldn't move around or didn't have a clean place to cut fabric! Got my laundry done yesterday and some cleaning done so I hope to get some sewing done today. Hope you had a great weekend!

Good ol' Customer Service

2011-07-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, there are times when I think customer service is dead in this country. Well, maybe in the whole world. Who knows? In my day job, I am an Administrative Assistant and we focus on providing people with good customer service but when I'm on the other end of the phone, as a customer, it seems obsolete. Until Monday.....

I got a Keurig coffee brewer for Christmas and when we were on vacation, I got a text message from my daughter that it died. Well, we didn't bury it or anything but only about a tablespoon of coffee would come out when she tried to brew a cup. Now, my first thought when I got the text message was, "What the heck am I going to do about it from Arizona?" but she was just asking if the problem happened to me too or was this a new problem? It was a new problem and imagine the dismay of my friend and her mom who were house sitting and were all ready to have a hot cup of coffee at their every whim. Sorry Nora! :o(

So, Monday I called the 800 number in my owner's manual. They took all my basic information and I held for a minute for a service person but unfortunately, there was no one available to walk me through a few 'things' like poking certain parts in my machine with a straightened out paper clip. High-tech, I know. :o) I told them I would call them back the next day because I wasn't sure when I would be home. Tuesday I called and got lots of please, thank yous and ma'ams and after it was decided that my machine was not repairable, the service person said they would be sending me out a new, NEW, not refurbished, brewer by FedEx Ground. After I picked myself up off the floor, I thanked the young man repeatedly and said I knew a lot of people that had gotten Keurig brewers because I always raved about mine. I told him I would be sure to pass on what wonderful service they also offer. So, there you have it. Did you hear it? I just brewed me a nice hot cup o' Joe.....and I lived happily ever after. hehe

And what goes great with coffee? Buttermilk pancakes of course!! When we were on vacation, we went to Blueberry Hill Restaurant in Las Vegas. We had been there in 2009 and the pancakes were so good, it stuck with me for two years. Not literally, but you know what I mean. lol We went there for breakfast and after I got home, I checked to see if there was a recipe for their buttermilk pancakes. I found one and happened to have all the ingredients I needed. That was a shock right there since it requires buttermilk!!!

I slopped me some butter on there and some syrup and yum, YUM! They were delicious! And now they're gone. You country-cousins might think "What's the big deal?" but this city girl has only ever made pancakes with a mix. It is a big deal. :o) Here's the recipe I used:

Buttermilk Pancakes from Food by Yahoo! Shine!

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flower
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or sour milk) **this cook (I use the term 'cook' loosely) didn't look up what that meant!** lol
3 tablespoons cooking oil
Desired fruit options (optional)*
Desired syrup (optional)

In a large bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, use a fork to combine egg, buttermilk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be slightly lumpy). If desired, stir in desired fruit. (I made mine fruitless.)

**I'm going to type the rest of the recipe under protest, to be legit and provide the entire recipe but honestly, even "I" know how to make pancakes!! As I typed most of the info below, I was saying DUH under my breath! lol

For standard-size pancakes, pour about 1/4 cup batter onto a hot, lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet, spreading batter if necessary. For dollar-size pancakes, use about 1 tablespoon batter. (Yeah, right!) cook over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes on each side or until pancakes are golden brown, turning to second sides when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and edges are slightly dry. Serve warm. If desired, top with syrup. Makes 12 standard-size pancakes or 40 dollar-size.

OH....I made two batches. The first one, well, the griddle was too hot and um, yeah, I'm a great cook. I told you that, right? Hey, the smoke alarm didn't go off so I think I did okay. Anyway, the batter was a little thick. On the second batch, I added a little more buttermilk and a little bit of water. I would say you could either increase the buttermilk to 1 3/4 cups or use what the recipe calls for and add a little water to the consistency you like. I think it was so thick, that's why the first batch burned. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Happy 4th of July!!!

2011-07-04T16:20:00.001-07:00

Here's a little Americana and a Happy 4th of July wish to you. I am on vacation with my hubby, my sister and her husband. We are in Flagstaff, AZ. We went to see the majestic Grand Canyon yesterday and then went to Williams, AZ. We ate at a quaint little place called the Pine Country Restaurant. And just around the corner was a quilt shop!! (We're clever to find a restaurant so close huh?) This picture is from the post outside the restaurant.

And here's a little view of the Grand Canyon....
Tomorrow we're off for Sedona. The guys will play golf and we girls will go shopping. Again......

20 days without a check-in???

2011-06-27T09:10:00.000-07:00

Sheesh......my oh my, how time flies! It's not like I've been sitting around twiddling my thumbs. I've been a very BusyLiz!!! My daughter Kelley was planning on throwing a surprise bridal shower (tea party theme) for her friend Brenda. We had been busting our chops fixing up our little backyard for the event. We never really had much happening in our backyard because we had two dogs and travelled so much with our girls for softball. Well, those softball days are long gone and we had to put down one of the dogs a while back but we never really did anything with the yard until this bridal shower was planned. I guess it was just what we needed to get some things done around here. Our humble abode is just that, humble but I'll share pictures anyway. Oh, and the shower was postponed because the bride-to-be decided she had to have her gallbladder out!!!! Okay, the doctors decided but still, the shower will be at a later date. You know, when it's 100 degrees outside. Ain't that the way it goes!! LOL

We had blocks stacked in the backyard but not in use so we had the gardener stack them up against the back wall to create a planter. (I'm getting too old for that kind of stuff!!). We didn't have a way to cut the blocks so they aren't staggered like they should be but that's okay. I got some flowering plants that will stay green all year (if my brown thumbs stay away) but are all in bloom now. We also planted some annuals for added color. I can't wait for everything to fill in. The tree on the left is an apricot and the one on the right is a peach. Yum! Probably only have to wait two years to get some fruit! :o(

Mostly, we planted agapanthis in lavender and white, a stephanotis on the trellis and a couple of hedge roses (pink). We put lights up for fun and got a new canopy on the patio. We've had some warm weather and I'm thinking we need to see where the drip system is because it seems to be missing a few of the plants. We've had a few casualties.....

And some over-achievers......

Besides all of the work in the garden, I made new cushions for the patio set. I was trying to figure out a way to make them without attaching them to the wooden base my husband cut out for me two years ago but stapling the fabric down was easiest. I guess I'll just make new cushions every couple of years or until I figure out a way to do it without attaching them to the plywood. I got the fabric at Joann's with a coupon and reused the foam. So for about $15.00, I got pretty new cushions.

We touched up the chair frames with a little Rustoleum and ta-da, pretty seating! This set was a cast off from my BIL's dad when he passed away. I grabbed it up and have enjoyed it ever since. They just don't make stuff as sturdy as they used to.

AND.....I made two graduation cards yesterday. I know most people are past graduation but I had a few cards come in over the last few days so I'll tuck a little som'thin inside and get them in the mail.

I used my Big Shot to cut out the shaped pieces, called Top Note. The printed papers I used are from Joann's and the solids are Stampin' Up! I used my SU! tag punch to cut out the "You did it!" sentiment and had been saving these itty bitty paper clips for something. They were perfect for this card.

Now that all the yard stuff is done, I need to pull the fabric out for those bridesmaid bags I need to make. I put them up when I was doing all this other stuff but I guess it worked out okay. The wedding isn't until November and now when it's 100 degrees and too hot to be outside, I can sit in my air conditioned house and sew away the hours. :o)

Cleaning and sorting

2011-06-07T15:26:00.000-07:00

Argh, I hate doing it but sometimes I just "have" to clean up! I'd much rather be playing, let me tell you! Just like a little kid! :o)

So, we're cleaning up the storage shed in the backyard and having some sprinklers and plants put in. Nothing fancy like Home & Garden but it's an improvement so no complaints from me! It is loooong overdue. I'd share some pictures with you but it's scary and I don't know if people who read this blog have a good heart. You might not be able to handle it!!

The shed has held bins of 'stuff' from our girls while they were little up to when they were off to college or when we had one of the great floods (from the washer hose or toilet) in our house, I would pack up stuff from file cabinets or wherever with the thought that I would go through it "one day". If that wasn't enough, two of our three daughters had accidents during their college years and they were pretty serious (but thankfully they are all okay now) and they came back home to live for a little while. When that happened I packed up my sewing room and like a kid at Christmas, I just found some of those goodies in the sorting. Sniff, sniff.....brings a tear to my eye. hehe

This printer drawer has been hanging up in my sewing room for a few years now. I found it at an estate sale. I put some thimbles and collectibles in it but I was missing thimbles people had brought me. It was one of the things I packed up when I swapped sewing rooms a few years ago. Now that I unpacked the ziplock of thimbles that are so precious, my little drawer looks nice and full.

I love these little scissors and the sewing machine is from when my girls played Barbies. You wind it up and the needle really goes up and down. So darn cute!

I need to dust and clean off my shelf so I can put my little Singer sewing machines up. I missed them too.

I have already put some things aside that I need to either sell or gift to friends and family. They are cute but not enough room is this itty bitty sewing room. I've already "oozed" things in the entry way, dining room, etc. I'm thinking my hubby might notice. LOL

I used to collect Lucy & Me bears. I have them wrapped up and buried somewhere around here. I should probably decide what to do with them too but that can wait. I will keep these two and try to find a good spot for them.

Well, I better get busy. Just wanted to let you know I'm alive and being a "Busy Liz"!!! :o)

Happy Memorial Day!

2011-05-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Memorial Day everyone! Thank you to all our men and women in the armed forces who have allowed us to experience freedom every day.

And if you want to have a feel good moment, check out this little Yahoo video of a little boy and a sea otter at the zoo. It was on Yahoo today and it'll make your day!

Got the straps on!

2011-05-23T23:52:00.000-07:00

Got the straps done on my daughter's bag. Woohoo!
I'm not sure if I got the straps done right. I suppose it will hold up but I've not made that many bags and have never done straps like this before. I have a question to the designer to see if I did it right or not. You know, sometimes my brain checks out when I'm reading patterns. :o)

In case you like this bag, which is a really nice size, it's called Swanky Bag. The pattern says Little Scraps from This & That original quilt patterns by Sherri K. Falls. I sound like an infomercial. hehe

Shoppin' and sewin'...

2011-05-22T23:02:00.000-07:00

I got up this morning and went to Joann's to buy some fusible fleece for some bags I'm going to be making for the bridesmaids for my daughter's wedding. While there, I saw a couple things that caught my eye. I don't know if these bags are new or not but I love them. And the handles made to look like measuring tape is too cute! I didn't buy one because I saw them after I had checked out and went back to check a price on something. (Darn it!!)

And I thought this wall vinyl design was adorable but my poor sewing room hasn't got an inch of space available so I left it at the store. If you have room in your sewing room, they are $14.99 but with a coupon........ :o)

After leaving those goodies at the store and only leaving with what I went for (pat on the back and only a little white lie LOL), I got in my sewing room and started on the bag for my soon-bride-to-be daughter, Ashley. She picked out the pattern when we stopped at a quilt shop on a trip home from looking at bridesmaid dresses. I got the upper focus fabric from her friend Mailie. She's the girl who got married in January and I made make-up bags for her bridesmaids described here. She gave me two pieces of fabric. I used the black and white quilted fabric which was the color of her wedding and this was left over. I used it for Ashley's bag thinking if the bag was a flop, at least I was only out the free fabric but it's a cute bag. I just couldn't finish the straps because I didn't buy any cotton strapping, which I need to cover for the straps.

The bag measures about 14 x 20" so it's a nice size travel bag. This one will come in handy for appointments or honeymoon travels. :o)

One bag down, 9 more to go!

Wash-a, wash-a, wash-aaaa

2011-05-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

To wash or not to wash, that is the question......

I started quilting in 2000. I had made a few patchwork baby quilts and a tree skirt here and there but 2000 was my first class and the use of a rotary cutter. At the time, I was told to 'wash your fabric' so everything that has come into my house and into the sewing room, went into the washer first. Yes, it's a pain in the butt to iron fabric before getting started but I have never had any surprises with my finished quilts, totes or craft project.

This big pile is from many shop hops and quilt shop visits and even some gifts from Christmas and my birthday. I honestly don't have any room in my bins so I think that's why I hadn't done anything with it yet. I dread the washing but in opening up each of these pieces of fabric, I can't believe the difference in the quality of quilt-shop-quality fabric! You probably all know how silky Moda fabric feels, right? (I'm making the assumption that a quilter or two reads this.) :o) Well, the difference between the feel of the fabric and the openness of the weave really surprised me. And since i don't want to mix washed with unwashed fabrics in my stash, I'll keep washa, washa, washaaaaa-ing. :o)

That pile is the closest thing to sewing that I've done. It seems like by the time I'm finally done with everything else I've got going, it's 9:30 p.m. already. It felt good to touch fabric! :o) After making my 'pile', I took these blocks off the design wall, just as I said I (probably) would. I can't start them right now. Too many other irons in the fire. And I still have these waiting on me. And some bags for the bridal party and meet with photographers and..... :o)

When you can't make `em.....

2011-05-13T16:03:00.000-07:00

....buy `em!! Honestly, I practically "own" a fabric store in my sewing room but the "little" wedding details for my daughter's wedding are taking a lot of my spare time so....when I went to get lunch today, I saw an 'Estate Sale' sign. Errrrrrrt! Put the brakes on and off I went. There were lots of old toys (collector type) and antiques but this was an Estate Sale company so things were priced a little high. At least, higher than a yard sale so I passed on most of it. I hope I didn't get taken on this quilt....

It was marked $100 and marked down to $75. I offered $45 for it and the worker-bee said they would take $50. I himmmed and hawed and bought it. I can't tell if the fabrics are 40's, 50's or 80's. LOL The binding and backing are very white compared to the quilt top so I'm thinking it was a top that got newly finished.
I loved the quilting and I'm thinking it doesn't look store-bought or like some it was made in China.

The back is plain white but it really shows the quilting.

I will NEVER hand quilt anything I make so this is the only way I'll have something hand quilted. :o)

The front has several stains, almost like smokers stains but it doesn't stink, so it is soaking right now in the washer. We'll see how it comes out after a bath! hehe

Finally, some sewing!

2011-05-03T23:39:00.000-07:00

Things have been hectic since before Easter so I feel like I am still catching up. There are still wedding plans being made for my daughter so that takes time away from the hobbies that I love but I "suppose" a wedding IS more important. LOL

Last night I swapped out some blocks that I had received from a swap on Backporch Friends. This is a great scrappy block. I mentioned it some time ago and you can read about it here or an older post here. The block directions are from a McCall's flyer that I get for their quilt magazine. It's called Scrappity Do Dah. These are some of my blocks on my design wall just put up next to each other. I don't know if I'll get these sewed together in the near future. More than likely, they'll go back in a baggie. I have some bridesmaid bags to make so I think they might need to go "in the bin" with so many other swapped blocks. :o(

This is the second time we did this swap so we could get enough blocks for a bigger quilt. The picture above is some of the first and second swap. I only sewed about 84 blocks this time around. Last time, I did 120. I should get a nice size quilt from them all.

Off to get a few more things done before bedtime. Where does the time go???

Happy Easter....almost

2011-04-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

I've been busy helping with things for my youngest daughter's wedding like picking bridesmaid dresses so I'm a little absent lately from Blogland. Sometimes stuff happens in life that takes away from posting. But I'm putting on my brakes to make some treats for Easter. We are having a family picnic on Saturday, weather permitting. It was supposed to be a lovely 72 degrees and the last news report was drizzles and 62. We'll see who wins, us or Mother Nature.

I love looking at blogs and love when people share their creativity....free of charge, of course! :o) Blogs are great for finding little goodies you can make and share with your family. I found two such sites with cute little freebies I'll pass on to you in case you would like to print and share too!

First, some cute little Peep packs that I thought were perfect for a little family treat. :o) Personally, I don't like Peeps but there are plenty out there that do and heck, even if you don't, these are too cute to pass up. If you can't see the saying from my picture, the website link below has great pictures.
You can find the download on this website. I bought my Peeps at Target but didn't find any Bunny Peeps. I did find lots of colors though so that brightened up my little wire basket.
I also found these cute little toppers. I filled snack size baggies with m&m's, Starburst jelly beans and pastel Hershey Kisses. I just printed them on regular 67 pound cardstock from Office Depot and got the download on this website. And nothing fancy for assembly either. I just stapled them at the bottom.

If you use any of the downloads, I'm sure if you posted a little 'thank you' comment, the creators would appreciate it. Off to chop veggies for potato salad. Happy Easter and I hope you all are able to spend the day with friends and family......in the sunshine. :o)

Back in the sewing room!

2011-04-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

Wow, that was a long break of no sewing but I'm back in the saddle again. :o) I've got some swap blocks due in a couple of weeks and I've got to put the sewing machine pedal to the metal!! If you get the McCall's Quilting advertisement, you might have received the free printout for a Scrappity Do Dah quilt. That's what I cut this fabric for. You can read about the swap I did on Yahoo Group, Backporch Friends, here from last September.

So, I went through my stash and picked out some fabrics that have contrast.

I got about 7 sets cut out but I have to mix them up a little more. We don't want to have any duplicates so I might keep some of my extras for a charity quilt. I've got a few more to cut out and then off to get some sewing done.

That's what I've been doing. I hope you've been doing some fun stuff too!

My cards

2011-04-06T20:04:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my cards that I made at my sister's. My daughter Stephanie found this concept for a Stampin' Up! party where you make ten cards for $10 but to make it worth her wile (is that how that is spelled???) at parties, she had to use minimal amounts of embellishments. Isabel and I did pretty good just using contrasting paper and a minimal amount of ribbon, brads, etc. We laughed that we made so many cards and barely made a dent in our paper stash.

And while Isabel was making some of those 40 cards she made, I played with the Cricut. Since the Cricut has to be plugged in and set up, you have to have room to keep it set up. In my craft room, it isn't. Needless to say, I don't use it quite as much as I would like to. And with quilting, it gets pushed back even farther down the crafty ladder. :o) So I used a few different cartridges to make a birthday card for my boss's daughter; Accent Essentials for the background shape (in light blue and black), Nifty Fifty for the little dress and dress form and Alphalicious for the words.
The Easter cards my sister made and the card below were done with stamps from the Easter Blossoms set in the Occasions catalog. If you'd like to see the catalog, you can visit the link above for Stephanie's site. :o)

Off to go unpack all of my stuff from my trip............. No fun.

Easter card marathon

2011-04-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

My sister was off work this week for spring break so she asked me to take a few vacation days and go to her house and play with our paper stuff and make some cards. I packed up paper, supplies, and basically the kitchen sink and drove there on Saturday. I had to stop once to get air in my tires because all the supplies causing my tires to go flat. hehe....just kidding. but it sure seemed like it!

So my sis got a record 40 cards done in the three days!! Since I had made my Easter cards before I left, I played with the Cricut while she made hers. Here is a picture of her Easter cards in front of her adorable quilt and Easter decorations.

Isabel made this card using a Tulip embossing folder for the outer edge and Easter eggs from a stamp set called Easter Blossoms.My sis is so clever. We went to Michael's and she was looking for a balloon punch so she could cut out all the little eggs. She found the perfect size in the Martha Stewart section. She stamped the egg in various colors and cut it out with the punch and only had to trim off the little balloon tail. Plus, she bought it with a 40% off coupon. Woohoo!
Here are her other two cards. Both using Stampin' Up! decorator papers and that Easter stamp set.

I'll post some more pictures of more cards in the next few days. Whew, I've got some unpacking to do and get ready for work tomorrow. :o(

Stampin' Workshop

2011-03-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my daughter Stephanie used my house to have a Stampin' Up! workshop. We made 10 cards for $10.00. Cute stuff....and fun. There were ten of us who stamped, gabbed and ate on yummy Chicken Enchilada Casserole, tortilla chips and salsa, veggies and dip, and strawberry shortcakes for dessert. Yummmmie!

From January through March, Stampin' Up has what they call Sale-a-bration where you earn free stamp sets for certain sales. Needless to say my family are some of Stephanie's best customers!! lol Some of the 3 sets of cards we made were using some of the free sets. This card was made using a stamp set called Bliss (that I got for free) and Pear Pizazz paper.

And 3 of these using a Hydrangea hostess set and the pear pizazz paper.

And 4 of these little 3x3" cards using free designer paper called Ice Cream Parlor and a stamp set called A Good Egg. It's cute and comes with the sayings "Happy Easter" and "You crack me up". :o)

Needless to say, I didn't sew any this weekend but that's what weeknights are for, right?

Hey, lookie!

2011-03-21T11:03:00.000-07:00

Looking around Blogger (after having my heart attack and where did my blog go?), I found this neat new feature. (At least I think it's new. Well, it's new to me!) lol You can get an email when I add a new post. You know how I have a dry spell every now and then.....and then I might do two or three posts in a day? Well, now you don't have to keep checking in. You can get an email update. I added a link over there......

I did this for my sister actually but hey, if it makes you happy too, it's a win-win. :o)

Boy, did I get a scare!!!

2011-03-20T23:25:00.000-07:00

When I did my post yesterday posting pictures of my cards and talking about National Quilting Day, I tried to make some edits but Blogger wouldn't let me. It also gave me trouble when trying to save my current comments. I finally decided to just leave it and posted it as is. Then tonight my sister called me and asked what happened to my blog? "What? Nothing, it's still there." "Oh no it isn't" she says. ACK!!! That was kind of scary. I know I'm not selling anything and there are only a few people who actually read this thing but still. I never really thought of it but I kind of had this feeling like this stuff would at least be here until I didn't want it here anymore. I guess
Blogger showed me!!! But I'm back for now, so "WHEW!".

Yesterday and today I worked on making five more Jared Takes a Wife blocks. Then I laid the blocks on my bed to see if I had enough. I think I do. I'll need about a 12" border all the way around so once I get the sashing on, I'll have to see if I have to go fabric shopping. Until now, all of the blocks were from stash except for the sashing. But I'm not sure what will look good until the top is done.

My sister Isabel sent me a link to Holly Holderman's site so I thought I would share it too. If you go to her site, she has a Tip page and right here, and she gives a great tip on sashing. Now, I am not a perfectionist sewer so my blocks are not always the perfect size so I don't do as she says for cutting the fabric on grain. I need the stretch so I can ease in my blocks (sometimes). Other than that, I liked the idea. For my blocks, I put thin strips of painters tape on my ruler so I could mark the sashing strips with an erasable marker.
There were four places I wanted to make my marks so this is the view of the whole section.

And though it took me a while to do it, and caused some pinning on each block, the finished result is worth it. As Isabel told me, with my star points being red, it would probably show quite a bit if the blocks weren't evenly stitched across from each other. I'll have to do the same thing with the the sashing when attaching the rows. :o(

Off to get some sleep so I can pretend to be awake at work tomorrow. It's been raining pretty hard here all day and the wind has been blowing. Maybe a tree will fall in my driveway like I saw on the news and I can stay home tomorrow. LOL Okay, probably not......

Happy National Quilting Day!

2011-03-18T23:21:00.000-07:00

It's the 3rd Saturday in March. You can read more about it by doing a search online. One group started it with a few members and BAM!!! You know how quilters are. :o)

You won't see any quilts here just yet though. I'm off to my sewing room this morning to sew but wanted to post some pictures of cards we made on Thursday night. This is my Easter cards I made using my Big Shot for the background embossing, and the tag that the little egg is glued to. The little tag is left over from all those wedding favors (in black and yellow) we did a few months ago.

My daughter Stephanie, who just started out as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator found the design on a blog called Crafty Creations by Beth and wanted to make the little favor boxes. I wanted to make cards to mail so I changed up the design for mailing.

My buddy Neena worked on some thank you cards for people that sent gifts and flowers for her dad's funeral service. She was going to add a button but isn't this beautiful? She stamped the big design in clear and embossed it. She then used a sponge with chocolate chip ink to rub around the design and this is what she got. Mmmmm, so pretty.

Okay, off to go change my crafty hat and be a quilter today!! Have a great day, whatever craft form you choose!

Spring forward, Spring cleaning!

2011-03-13T16:15:00.000-07:00

This post (from the pack rat) is being made while I take a break from cleaning, sorting and trying to organize. My paper crafting space is/was out of control. I don't have a very big surface for making cards and when the little table is covered with junk, papers, print outs, etc., it's even harder.

Yesterday and today were sort of stay home days. No plans really so I dug in. My sister works at a school and they had a yard sale. She grabbed me some white shelves that were new in the package for $2.00 each. Yeehaw! I moved my metal racks, which left me holes to patch but I'm sure that won't get done. I asked hubby where the paint is from this room and I got "the look" like you're kidding me right? :o) So, the holes will stay but it's okay. I've got enough going on to not even see little holes in the wall. Lots of cleaning and I found a table for making cards. Yay!!!!

I kind of messed up though because my wire baskets used to hang from the racks. When I moved them, I forgot about leaving space for the baskets to hang so now they are using my shelf I wanted for table-top stuff. Argh....I guess I should've hired an engineer for this project. LOL
I also hung up another magnet strip that I got from the Crate & Barrel outlet a few months ago. I had some miscellaneous tins that I needed another strip for so that's up too. Check!

And while I was at it, I cleaned up my ribbon basket and my paper. Gotta get back to work. For this side of the spare bedroom to look this good, I had to move a lot of junk. And guess where it is? On the other side of the room. LOL Breaks over!

My first quilt finish for 2011!

2011-03-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Took me long enough but I finally got a quilt finished. This is the one I worked on up in Big Bear with my girlfriends last month. So yay for me!!
The blocks are from a swap we did several years ago on Backporch Friends, a Yahoo quilt group. I was going to keep this one but my friend Nora saw it and practically drooled on it so I'm going to give it to her for her birthday in June. Now if I can just keep from misplacing it between now and then!!!

This is the label I made and stitched on last night. I love how easy it is to make quilt labels with
Printed Treasure sheets.

One down..........so many to go!!!

Save the Date....done!

2011-02-26T21:01:00.000-08:00

We had a house full this afternoon for our assembly line to put together my daughter Ashley's Save the Date cards. Ashley's fiance', her future in-laws and our other two daughters were here and we got the cards done in a little over two hours.....done and in the envelopes! I think they came out cute!

The paper is Stampin' Up! Night of Navy. The envelope was cut from the Cricut using the Wild Card cartridge and the Save the Date was from the Sweetheart cartridge.
Kelley, our oldest daughter drew the couple, designed the background and the cards.
If you pull on the ribbon, you get this...

Ashley has to check her list for addresses and will make labels. Tomorrow is a Bridal Show at the facility where she is getting married so the whole group is going. There will be about 30 vendors there, hor d'voures, champagne and hopefully some yummy wedding cake to sample. YUM!

Save the Date....Part(s) 1

2011-02-24T13:24:00.000-08:00

I didn't realize until recently that paper crafts are very much like quilting. Lots of parts and lots of steps, and it isn't until you have all the pieces prepared, that you get a finished product.

**Acronym alert!** :o)

My youngest daughter Ashley is the B2B (Bride to Be) and when it came to a Save the Date card, she wanted something handmade. She is our former college softball player and not a crafty gal but she "steps up to the plate" (pun intended LOL) when she has to. She searched the Internet and found a Save the Date card she liked. We are making several changes so I guess you could say it was our "inspiration". She found it here if you'd like to see more of the sample.

I used my Cricut to cut the Save the Date words out from the Sweetheart cartridge. The words are all one cut so that made it easy. We cut a Shadow in silver card stock from Stamin' Up! to go behind the words. Ashley ran them through the Xyron machine after they were cut out to put permanent adhesive on the back, then she and Adina, her MOH (maid of honor) glued them down to the silver background. All 90 of them!

Kelley, my artsy daughter, created the cards we will use for the background page and the inserts. Since Ashley and Dave are getting married on 11/12/11, the numbers were too thin to do it like the inspiration card.

I used my middle daughter's Cricut machine to cut out the envelopes. She's got the bigger machine and it was nice to have two going at once.....although a little tiring. :o) Between my Cricut cutting the words and background shapes and Stephanie's Cricut cutting 90 envelopes....the dining room table was hummin'!!

We are waiting on the background sheets with the swirls and the names on them, and a drawing. Once we get those and get them cut, we can start the assembly line. We're shooting for Saturday because Dave's mama, Missy, aka/MOG (Mother of the Groom) will be in town and she can be a part of the action! Stay tuned for Part(s) 2. :o)

BusyLiz, aka/MOB.....Mother of the Bride Okay, I think I got that out of my system. hehe

Whoa!

2011-02-21T14:07:00.000-08:00

After unpacking all of my stuff from the cabin trip, I thought I would play with my machine a little bit and try some quilting. I've had the machine a year and have yet to get the single needle plate to work. It keeps getting caught on the bobbin somehow. I guess I'll have to take it back to the shop and sit down with somebody and see if it's the machine or Operator Error. :o) While switching out the needle plates, I decided to clean the machine. I don't use good thread. I buy the Coats & Clark at Joann's or at the local shops when they're on sale. I've cleaned this machine before but didn't realize the bobbin holder pops out. And look at what I got when it fell out when I pulled out the bobbin! Dang, if I was fishing, I would call this one the "Whopper"!! If I was a cat, that would be considered one heck of a fur ball!! lol

In case you need to do this to your machine, my sister gave me a hint a long time ago. Spray a little WD40 on your q-tips and all of this junk and fuzz, threads, etc. will stick to the q-tip for easy removal. If it's been a little while since you cleaned out your machine, maybe now would be a good time......go ahead, I'll wait. :o)

I pulled some more greens and creams from my stash so I could get a few more blocks made for my Jared quilt. I think when I get these done, I might have enough for the top.

Well, I better go get busy cuz I don't think they're going to sew themselves together!! Happy Monday!

Cabin Retreat

2011-02-15T09:56:00.000-08:00

Me and two friends, Susan and Neena, went to Big Bear for a little quilting retreat. We were there Thursday to Sunday. It was COLD but we turned up the heater and had some roaring fires going and got nice and toasty warm. We rented this little cabin from one of Susan's friends. Isn't it cute?
I got lots of sewing done. I took my Juki machine and quilted this UFO. I sandwiched it at home so I only had to quilt it. I stitched in the ditch around the borders and around all the pinwheels. I forgot the binding so I still have to stitch that on before I can call this one finished but I'm almost there.
Here is a close up of the quilting I did on the borders. I didn't mark it. I just did it freehand and it shows! My loops and little curves aren't perfect but this quilt will be for my friend and she will love it anyway! :o)

Here I am sitting in front of the blazing fire, staying warm. A little too warm at some points of the weekend! I had the fireplace on one side of me and the wall heater on the other side. There were some points where that purple top came off and I was sewing in a tank top! lol The only other project I took to work on was my Jared Takes a Wife blocks from my class at Road to CA with Bonnie Hunter. This was a perfect project to take to the cabin. I chipped away at it for two days.

And this is the reward!! I finished 20 blocks. I would like to make a queen sized quilt so I am about half way done. I think I will need about 15 more blocks. We'll see.

Now that I'm home and unpacked, we will probably start making Save the Date cards for my daughter's wedding so I might only be sewing here and there. Hopefully, I'll have this quilt done before summer!

Whatta workshop!!!

2011-02-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

All of these projects are from a Stampin' Up! workshop I went to on Superbowl Sunday with my daughter Stephanie. She signed up to be a Demonstrator a while back and wanted to do this workshop to learn how to make some projects for future classes. They allowed non-demonstrators to attend so I got to go. Woohooo, we had a blast. And look at all my treasures! :o)

Spinner box photo card....

Pictures are placed on all the empty squares. This would be cute filled with pictures of my grandkids, wouldn't it. LOL

Monogrammed candle box. I made this one for my sister. There were too many projects to make them all for me. :o)

These little candles were so easy to make and so fun. We stamped on tissue paper, colored, punched and then used a heat gun to melt the tissue on the candle. Soooo easy!

The Chocolate Box. I'm trying to diet for the wedding so no chocolate!!!! You can fill this with kisses, or any of your favorite treats. This box is super easy to do. It's the #2 box for the Big Shot from Stampin' Up! We cut two out, cut off two little tabs and glued the two boxes together. We used the oval punch to create a "handle" and tied the ribbon on. There was the stamping too but that part was easy and quick.

View of the two boxes glued together.

This is the photo album. I love this one. I made it for my friend who has lots of grandkids and loves Roses.

For the photo holders, we used card sleeves or clear envelopes from Stampin' Up!

That's enough for today. I've got sewin' to do and my machine is callllling meeeeee. :o)

Answer Forum

2011-02-06T20:26:00.000-08:00

I was going to answer your questions in email but thought maybe others would want to know to. So here's for your inquiring minds. :o)

*Impera Magna - How long does it take to make one favor?
I used a die cutter called a Petal Cone. So you have to cut paper the right size and then roll them through The Big Shot machine. Because this favor needs to hold candy, you need to use "sticky" tape or red tape. That's probably what takes the longest. It would be much faster if we could use a tape runner. Once we decide what favor we'll make, we'll have an assembly party and it shouldn't be too many hours.

*Conni - How big is it?
It measures about 2 3/4" x 4 3/4". That might be why we either modify this favor or use a different one. It's a little big, especially if we're filling it up with chocolate. We saw a way to trim the bottom off and it looks a little like a small Chinese take out container. We'll keep playing until we get it right. Oh darn. :o)

*Isabel - How did you add the edging?
If you look at the link above for the Petal Cone, you can see the die shape and there is also a half scallop and a banner. You have to cut the cone twice so you have both sides (for a 4 sided cone) and if you put an accent color on the half scallop, you get the accent color piece. It sounds like more work than it is.

I went to a workshop with my daughter Stephanie today. We made 8 projects and they were cute! I'm going to go sit behind the sewing machine for a little while and then take pictures of the goodies we made. I hope to post them tomorrow.

A gift for me, a prototype for the wedding

2011-02-04T11:08:00.000-08:00

My crafting buddy (and all around best buddy) Neena brought me a birthday present last night. It's a trivet, wall decor, cute as can be red tea pot. She said when she saw it, it said "Liz". :o) Don't you love friends who know you so well? Thank you Neena. I LOVE it!

And after much catching up and gabbing last night, we played with our Big Shots and our Cone Shaped Die and worked up some favor samples for Dave and Ashley's wedding. This is just one. There are so many cute things you can do with that die shape, it's amazing. Maybe Neena will post some on her blog. (She's due for an update.) :o)

The other thing I worked on last night was finger folding my four patch/nine patch units for my Jared Takes a Wife quilt. I didn't want to haul out my machine and all the paraphernalia that goes with it since I knew we would be having a gab-fest last night. It had been a while since we had gotten together. I was right. It's a miracle we can still talk after all that yakkin'! TGIF!!!!!

We interupt this craft blog.....

2011-02-03T10:13:00.000-08:00

......for a photo shoot. Although I guess photography is a craft, just not "my" photography. My photography lacks a little to be desired and cannot really be considered a 'craft'. :o)

My girls, their significant others and my significant other (aka, hubby) got me a Nikon Coolpix camera for my birthday. I took some pictures with it when I first got it but wanted to look over the manual to make sure I was getting all the settings right. The book is over a hundred pages so it might take me a while to get through it. If I was to sit and read all of it, I think I would fall asleep, it's that exciting! LOL

Anyway, here are some pictures I took to try out the different settings. A nickel on my couch using the macro setting.....

Pretty good considering I don't have very steady hands. Speaking of hands, let's try a close up of my hand. Look at those wrinkly old things. LOL

*****Dang, I clicked on the picture to see how it looked. Ewww, my fingers are hairy. LOLOL Isn't that a nice thing about growing older. Your eyes go bad so you can't really see the little things, like hair or wrinkles!!!!!

And since I will mostly be using my camera for quilting and family shots, I tried one of a quilt that is hanging in the dark entry way. Hmmm, I don't know about this. It might be the blog post so I'll have to publish this post and then click on the photo to make it larger and see how the detail is. Let's see how it works with a group shot.....

Well, that's one kind of group. HA!

Here's a better bunch. Shhhh, don't tell but these are the baby makers. lol

Okay, I better read that book some more. In between the other nine million things I am juggling right now. :o)

To all my buddies in the cold, cold Midwest and east coast, I hope your heaters are working, that you got a snow day (or three) and that your pantry is fully stocked!

We're booked and official!!!

2011-02-01T13:59:00.000-08:00

After calling, emailing and driving all over Southern California, we found the location for Dave and Ashley's wedding!!! There is pretty golf course/club in La Habra called Westridge and they were right in the range of everyone else. When I laid down on the ground and cried to PLEASE be cheaper than everyone so we can stop looking, the man took pity on us and gave us a discount. LOL Here is Ashley on Sunday afternoon, after that big rainstorm we had. The wind was blowing and it was cold......but she's happy! :o) This is the garden/gazebo area where the ceremony will take place.

It's even pretty on a cold and wet day! There was a wedding on Saturday so there are still pink rose petals on the ground and the chairs were still up.

This is the hall where the reception will be. It's very pretty and those lovely golf carts will be routed another direction so we won't be dealing with that the day of the wedding. lol

This is the view from the parking lot, looking out across the street. It's so pretty up here.

Now we're getting excited. (Like we weren't already!! LOL)

Jared Takes a Wife

2011-01-23T16:31:00.000-08:00

My sister Isabel and I went to Road to CA on Thursday. We took a Bonnie Hunter class (from quiltville.com). The class was called Jared Takes a Wife. Here is Bonnie's sample quilt hanging in the classroom. It's was so pretty.

She shared with us with us a GORGEOUS quilt she is making. You can read more about it here. It was so vintage! The piece she is holding up was one of the borders. So pretty!

These are my quilt block "parts". We did pretty good by getting to this point by lunch break.

The afternoon, we did more sewing and I got three blocks finished before we packed up our stuff at 4:00. Bonnie was fun and it was a great class. I highly recommend any of her classes to anyone. Here are me, Bonnie and Isabel. We're happy cuz we were sewing all day and the next day, we shopped and looked at quilts. Who wouldn't be happy about that!?? :o)

These are my blocks I finished at the class. I auditioned them in the hotel room that evening. I needed to find another fabric for my sashing. This one was a bit too 'peachy'. I found a great subtle floral fabric and am just loving this quilt so far.

Gotta go get busy making more blocks!

If you'd like to see more blocks or class photos, you can see them here.

And here are pictures of the quilts at the quilt show....here.

Shouting from the rooftops!

2011-01-15T21:38:00.000-08:00

My youngest daughter Ashley is engaged! Thanks to email, facebook and blogs, I think the world officially knows now. LOL

The groom-to-be, Dave is a sweetheart. We couldn't be happier. He proposed at a restaurant at the beach while the sun was setting. It was a gorgeous California day so I imagine it was perfect. Ashley is so excited and her ring is beautiful. It was Dave's grandmothers and dainty and vintage looking. Dave's grandmother passed away two years ago so I'm sure it's very special to get her ring.

It's a good thing I helped with all of these weddings over the years so I can get my craft-mojo to help with this one!

Sew and Gather

2011-01-12T09:45:00.000-08:00

I have been sewing the last few nights after work but I haven't been making pretty quilt blocks or finishing one of my many ufo's. The sewing I've been doing is the kind I don't like to do.....mending and 'need to' sewing. My youngest bought a couple of tops that were too long but they were 'such a good deal', she bought them and asked me to hem them up. That was two months ago! Hey, we had holiday happenings!! She should've known better. lol

The sewing I did last night was for the office I work at. There are small windows above the doors in the building and at around 3:30-4:00, the sun shines right through the window, into a mirror and in my boss's eyes. Now, we could've just moved the mirror but it gives the boss a straight shot to the door coming into the office and if I'm not here, she can at least see if the boogy man is coming in to get her. hehe So, I went to Bed, Bath & Beyond for some other office things and could not find anything for the size window we have, 16" x 35". I thought maybe I could buy a valance to stick up there but they had few to choose from. They did have a clearance rack though and I found a tab-top panel, about 54" x 81". I bought two tension rods and the panel for $4.99 and made a little curtain. Not much in the "looks" department but it does the trick. The boss is happy and now everybody is happy. (I'm the only other one that works here so that didn't take much!) LOL

And with all the snow storms I've seen on the news the last few nights, I thought I would share this picture too. Looking out the office door. I don't usually have the door open because it's very noisy. We have a bus depot right outside the door and a little farther is the Amtrak train station. Between buses and trains, it's not exactly 'phone friendly'. And if you look really hard, you can see Newport Beach! LOL.....okay, that's a lie but it is that direction and if you drove about 45 minutes, then you'd see it. Such a comedian today. hehehehe

My sister Isabel and I are take a class at Road to California next week. It's a Bonnie Hunter class of Quiltville.com called Jared Takes a Wife. Isabel and I have both been quilting for a while and we both "collect" fabric. She is using some Robyn Pandolph from her stash that she was going to use on another project. I am going to use this Moda fabric called Cinnamon Stars. It was out, gee I don't know, maybe 4 or 5 years ago. I was going to make a quilt from Jodi Barrows but couldn't get that ol' square in a square technique so I'm a Jodi Barrows drop out. So the fabric went in a bag for 'another day' and well, 'another day' is next week and I'm going to use it for this class.

I'll use the reds for the bigger star points and maybe these golds and yellows for the smaller star points of the block. I'm still playing with the design in EQ7.

It looks pretty good together. I also found some fq's from Fig Tree that I've had sitting for-ever!!

I just have to figure out if I want to pull in the green or maybe use a chocolate brown. I've got to decide soon because I have to pre-cut my fabrics for the class. Good thing my 'mending' is done!! :o)

Love Bot

2011-01-10T09:39:00.000-08:00

Me and my daughter Stephanie went to my buddy Neena's house yesterday for a yummy dinner and a project. Neena wanted to do this during Christmas but things just got too hectic so she revamped the project for Valentine's Day and got the party started!

We made this adorable Valentine robot filled with yummy treats. It was easy to make but a bit of a challenge to keep the parts attached, even with the super sticky tape.

He's got corduroy brad ears and heart brad elbow joints. The gears are a Stampin' Up! punch. Adorable.

And look at this cute face. Everything on his little face is punched. Made it super easy but also super-cute!

Thank you Neena for a delish dinner and super fun project!

Bring on the dollar dance!

2011-01-06T09:53:00.000-08:00

I had my eye appointment last night but didn't have to get them dilated after all so woohoo, sewing time!!! I got the bride's little purse made, though I was up til the wee hours of the morning doing it. lol The bride, Mailei picked the fabric which is a cotton blend from Joann's. I laughed when I got this finished as I think they bought two yards and I think I might've used a quarter of a yard, maybe!

I am pleased with the finished product since I have such a hard time making things without a pattern. You know how you picture something in your head but getting out of that cranium is challenging! :o) I don't have enough experience making bags to 'whip one up' so it was tough to figure out how things go together........(see of you can stay with me here) like how to sew the lining to the outside fabric so the seam would be hidden once I folded the right side of the fabric down a bit for the ruffle. You know? I put the pieces the way they "should" be and then reached inside the bag and pinned it so I would know how to sew it together. It was pretty funny actually. A little tweak of my head and I got it. lol

And since I didn't really know what I was going to make, I had to use things from my stash. I didn't have any pretty satin cording for a purse and fabric handles would've been too thick so I decided to use ribbon. I had a pretty satin one but it was too wide and the purse wouldn't pull closed, you had to force it with your hands. Not good for a bride on the dance floor. The grosgrain was kind of hum drum so I went through my craft stuff and found these little silver charms and some leftover beads from a Christmas snowflake craft. They've been in my craft room forever and recently I thought about throwing them in the donation pile. Glad I didn't do that!! They were just enough 'bling' on the ribbon to dress this up a tiny bit. (I sewed them on with quilting thread.)

That dressed it up just enough. When searching the internet for ideas, all I could find were pretty dainty satin bags. This needed a little something else and those little dangles did the job. When I talked to the bride on the phone the other night she said, "Anything will do Liz. I would just like something to tuck a lip gloss in and maybe to hold for the dollar dance." I think she'll like it.

On to my UFO's, blocks, quilts, charms..........

A New Year

2011-01-04T23:45:00.001-08:00

Happy 2011! Hubby and I went downtown with some friends. It's a family-friendly environment with some bands, a kiddie train and lots and lots of people. We get treated to fireworks at midnight so it's a fun way to bring in the new year. I hope you had fun bringing in the new year in your neck of the woods!

My youngest daughter's friend Mailei is getting married Saturday and asked if I would make make-up bags for the bridesmaids. She mailed me this fabric so I used it without adding any lining since it's pre-quilted. Of course the holidays are too busy to do any 'extra' crafting so these had to wait until this week. Argh, it's a close call for a wedding this Saturday but these are done so woohoo!

The wedding colors are black and yellow and even though the wedding yellow isn't this bright, the bride gave me the okay to use what I had, this bright yellow ribbon. I stitched on a little lace or rick-rack and added a button and all done. All eight of them!

(Second wedding with this color combo. Must be popular!)

I still need to make the bride a little bag for the dollar dance so I'm cutting it close and I need to have my eyes dilated tomorrow after work. I don't know if I'll be able to see well enough to sew tomorrow or not. Hmmm, I wonder how many favors my husband owes me? LOL

I was trying to get this done by Thursday night so my daughter could take these items with her to the rehearsal dinner. At least I got the bags done so she can fill them "in her leisure". :o) That brides purse might have to be special delivery the day of the wedding.

Christmas Cookies

2010-12-27T14:23:00.000-08:00

Did you bake cookies this Christmas? We did. See the little bears in the lower left of the photo? Those were my favorites. I used to read a book to my girls when they were little called, "The Gingerbear's First Christmas". I think I bought the book from the Current catalog. It was a cute little story about a family who had many things on their list and they were so tired from all the extra activities that had to be done for the holidays. The mom fell asleep in a chair. The little bears did all her baking, did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. You can tell the book was fiction as no one except moms do the dishes and clean the kitchen!!! lol Well, I made my gingerbread cookies to look like the Gingerbears with little cinnamon red hot hearts.

Mrs. Claus (my sister) invited me to her house to bake lots of cookies.

I took two days of vacation before Christmas, loaded my cookie cutters, cookie sheets, parchment paper rolls, recipes, rolling pins, etc., etc. and headed out at 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning.....in the pouring California rain! I think you might've heard a little something about our crazy weather. I'm not used to getting up that early but my hubby thought even though it was raining, I wouldn't hit as much traffic as if I left later. It was a good idea but I had to have a little cat nap when I got to my sister's house while my sis got her shower and got ready. Once I rested, we baked all day. We started with all the batches of dough that had to be refrigerated. By early afternoon we had some cookies rolled out and ready to frost. I stayed the night and headed out the next day with cookie tins in tow. It was a much nicer drive home.

I came home to some pretty homemade Christmas cards from my stampin' buddies. I'll share those in my next post. And this adorable potholder from my buddy Carolyn. It's so cute, I think I'll give up cooking so I don't risk ever getting it dirty. LOL

Do you take your Christmas decorations down right after Christmas? I don't. I love, Love, LOVE Christmas and even though I'm ready for my house to be back to normal, I'll wait until New Years weekend to take down all of the decorations.

Merry Christmas to you!

2010-12-24T12:52:00.000-08:00

To all my bloggy friends and family, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas. I am off to get some veggies ready and put some munchies together for my kids and my SIL/BIL tonight. Enjoy your holiday and I hope Santa brings you something crafty this Christmas. May God bless us all at this wonderful time of year.

Disneyland at Christmas

2010-12-17T11:56:00.000-08:00

My friend Susan invited me to Disneyland with a free pass. It was beeeeeautiful! Here are just a few pictures to let you know I'm alive. I'm at my sister's house baking Christmas cookies so I'll be back soon, hopefully before Christmas to say hello again!

The tree on Main Street (looking up from the base).
It's a Small World all done up in sparkly lights. So pretty.

Merry Christmas!!!

Tis the Season.....

2010-12-14T09:58:00.000-08:00

....for giving and love and twinkling lights. And a little exhaustion. :o) I finished my decorating the weekend after Thanksgiving and got my cards done at my card party but I was four short. I cut four more out last night and finished addressing all the store-bought cards. Got the postage and labels on and mailed them off today.
With all of the activities going on, and trying to squeeze in some shopping here and there, it is also my turn to hostess Bunco. Needless to say, there is no sewing going on at my house. :o( So I've got Bunco tomorrow night and our family Christmas party on Sunday. I thought I better post something so you knew I was alive. hehe
I bought this wire basket last year at an antique mall. I got two packages of ornaments from the after-Christmas sale at Target and this year, I have a pretty centerpiece. The tablecloth was an after-Christmas item too, from Gooseberry Patch when they still sold giftables and not just cookbooks. (The day I got that email that they were no longer selling gift and kitchen items.....I was SO SAD!!)

Here is my Christmas tree....... Using "The Clapper". "Flash on"...

"Flash off!" I can never quite capture a perfect picture of my tree with my little Sony camera. My husband says I don't need a new one because this one works just fine. Somehow, I don't think my reasoning of it taking bad pictures for my blog a good enough reason to get a new one. LOL

This is the first ornament I painted back in the old "tole painting days". I made it in 1987. I got a scroll saw for Christmas the year before so I could cut out my own stuff. That saw is collecting rust now but I sure got my use out of that puppy!

This was another painted ornament. A little heart upside down to look like a cute chubby Santa.

A few years ago, I 'paid' someone to cut these out for me and I painted them up for an ornament exchange at a retreat with quilty friends. I didn't realize it was blurry until I posted it. Darn it.

I'll be missing again for a few days but will try to check in soon. Until then, I hope you are able to check things off your list and get all of your "to-do's" done. Try to grab a cup of warm tea or cocoa and sit by the fire and take in the wonder of the season. Even as crazy busy as I have been, I am trying to take little breaks in my house with the lights turned down low while I catch a classic Christmas movie!

Christmas cards....check!

2010-12-06T22:18:00.000-08:00

I had some of my girlfriends over on Saturday for a Card-making get-together. There were six of us sharing my little house. We did it potluck style so that I could play and make cards too. I made turkey pot pie and pumpkin dump cake. Michelle, from one of my Yahoo group sites and her two little girls brought Chinese chicken salad with the most delicious dressing. Yum!! Two of my daughters came over. Kelley made meatballs in spaghetti sauce. They were delish!! Stephanie came from work so she brought sodas. My buddies Susan and Neena came too. Susan brought a 7 layer dip and chips and Neena spent an hour looking for a grocery store in my neighborhood. (They're hiding!) She finally gave up and came and joined us and gobbled down the more-than-enough food that was already there.

Michelle, Stephanie, Susan, Kelley

Most of us made Christmas cards but Michelle worked on projects for her daughters school like little decorative match boxes for classroom gifts and packaging items that would be sold at the school Christmas boutique.

This is the card I made with last years Stampin' Up! Christmas paper. Gotta use it up so I can use this years paper next year! LOL I copied this card from one I had seen online but theirs had a bow on it. I decided not to add a bow and just use the flat ribbon because of the cost of postage already. I didn't want to make add another 17 cents a card for a little bow. Whatta cheapskate, eh? ;o)

This adorable card is one of Neena's. It is even more adorable in person and can't believe Neena cut out all of those gingerbread people!!! She made six of this card. That's 24 gingerbread people! (She's a show-0ff!) lol

This is Kelley's prototype for her cards. (She already changed the drawing.) She has drawn her and her boyfriend Jason for the last few years so she thought she would keep up the tradition again this year. She used bakers twine and some little brads she found at the dollar spot at Target. Cute, yes? (I know, I'm biased!)

This is Stephanie's card. She only got one done because she was putting all of her new stamp sets together. I love the colors. I think the stamp and cardstock was SU sky blue. You might have to click it to see the details.

So now, I need to make some labels and get mine addressed and in the mail. So, it's not quite a "check" off the list but it's getting closer.

Woohoo!

2010-12-01T20:52:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's been over a week since I last wrote a post. Time has a way of flying by this time of year. I suppose I don't have to tell any of you that though, right?
Let me think....what have I been doing? I went to Joann's on Black Friday but I wasn't crazy enough to go at 6:00 a.m. It was more like 6:00 p.m.! :o) I got a few notions and gifts. Saturday my hubby and I got the bins of Christmas decorations down and I decorated the house all weekend. Ahhhhh, I love those twinkling lights!
Last night I finally made it into my sewing room after many, many days of not playing in there at all. I finished my Christmas stocking that I cut out a few weeks ago.

I bought enough of this focus fabric to make me and my girls a stocking and the guys stockings out of a Christmas stripe. My girls put the brakes on my idea saying their stockings that they've had since pre-school are just fine and leave them alone. (You can see a little of Kelley's stocking to the right of mine in the picture.) I had to laugh. I bought them at a craft bazaar the school was putting on as a fund-raiser and they are made from store bought pre-quilted fabric. I put their names on them with slick paints. Remember those?? The paint yellowed and cracked over the years so I peeled it off and rewrote their names. I guess I should be happy they cherish their hokey little stockings. When I showed my hubby my stocking, he said I could make him one out of hot rod fabric. Gee, I guess I should find a project for all that striped fabric I bought. LOL
Do you have any turkey leftover? My buddy Carolyn shared her Chicken Pot Pie recipe with me a year or two ago. It's the easiest recipe and so easy.

It was delicious! I used leftover turkey and didn't have cream of potato soup so used cream of chicken. Still delicious! And I had the rolled pie crust instead of the deep dish frozen ones. Instead of cutting off the extra, I just rolled it up and crimped it. Not pretty but guess what? Still delicious. LOL Have a great rest of the week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T18:23:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! I am thankful for so many things, it's nice to reflect on that today. I hope you are all surrounded by people you love and that there are no mishaps during your meal preparations......like turkeys jumping off the table onto the floor or putting salt in your pumpkin pie instead of sugar, etc., etc. ;o)

Things I have seen and haven't seen...

2010-11-23T13:06:00.000-08:00

Over the last few days, I have seen a lot of this...

but not much of this... :o(

Holidays are wonderful but they do require some work and for me, that usually means some tidying up. So I've been busy, cleaning and shopping for our Thanksgiving meal. Tonight I have my pumpkin pies in the oven but I have a pumpkin-pie-eating monster so I'll be surprised if I have one left on Thursday. Good thing my niece is bringing one and my daughter is baking another dessert.

Before I am gone off the blog for a few days, I thought I would share a few crafty pics. Last week on craft night, I made this big mess making some of the little acorn favor boxes for Thanksgiving shown here from my daughter's Stampin' Up! party. I guess that fix will have to hold me over for a little while since I'll be in the kitchen for the next few days.

My sister asked me to post a picture of a card I helped my friend Nora make on craft night. The card was very simple, using white cardstock in a 'gatefold' style and embossed with dots by running it through the Bit Shot machine. We added a band of decorative cardstock around the card and then a stamped image. Very quick card, especially using just two colors. Here is a great tutorial on gatefold cards if you'd like to try one. I have a paper cutter with scorelines marked for the gatefold which makes it easy to do without the measuring.

And now back to reality and cleaning. I bought groceries yesterday and had to move the old cans forward, fresh stuff in the back. I ended up cleaning the entire pantry. My youngest daughter says I do that every year but she must be wrong because I threw away four trash bags full of expired food, some as old as 2008!! Grrrr, that made me mad until I looked inside the clean pantry. (I use the term "pantry" loosely as this is tiny in comparison to some but at least I have one.) :o)

Someday I'll change that old fruity shelf liner...... Off to go clean up the kitchen from making my pumpkin pies. I hope I have some playtime tomorrow after I get my veggies cut up fo rmy stuffing and another dessert made. I miss my sewing room and Christmas is just around the corner. Ack!!

Snowmen and a merry "Mary" quilt

2010-11-14T23:20:00.000-08:00

My little sister, Virginia, and her friend Rachel came over on Saturday from San Diego. My friend Nora came over too so we had a fun crafting time and sleepover. That was fun stuff but boy, did it wear me out.
You might remember these little Hershey covered snowmen from last year. Here is a link to the blog post with a link for the download. My sister works at a credit union and wanted to make these for her Christmas party.

I got the fleece at Joann's while she was driving over. And man was I jealous when I found this one because it's waaaay cuter than the fleece I bought last year for my snowmen. Go figure!

Virgie also brought over these little 'men' for a little color. She wants to use them for pinning up her Christmas cards but they were just plain wood with little faces. My oldest daughter Kelley grabbed a couple of Stampin' Up! markers instead of paint and did one up. Virgie loved it but Kelley left for the night so Nora ended up coloring them for Virgie. I guess she didn't get the coloring gene. :o)

I need to stop over at Michael's to see if they have any more of these. Too dang cute.

Then..........as if all of that crafting wasn't enough, my sister and her friend left and my middle daughter came over to work on a signature quilt she is making (I use that term loosely!!!) for a manager who is leaving the hospital where she works. She "borrowed" some Mary Englebriet fabric from my stash and figured out the layout. Then, "Because you sew so much faster mom", I sewed the rows together and borders on while she pressed and pinned.

It came out pretty cute and they still have several people to sign it. We started it on Sunday at around four o'clock and were dead tired at 7:30 but we had a finished top.

At first, all you saw was the red and white top but we kept playing with the border fabric and finally got this one. It's amazing how now, you don't even notice there isn't any yellow in the blocks.

I did a tiny folded solid red border and it really made a difference.

One of the siggy blocks.

I barely made it to work today. On top of all that fun crafting, I laid down in bed and it started.... This hormonal can't go to sleep thing. I'm gonna have to resort to some type of drug, I think because being sleep deprived isn't working for me. Yawwwwwn..........

Saturday card workshop

2010-11-06T21:36:00.000-07:00

My daughter Kelley borrowed my house on Saturday for a Stampin' Up! card workshop. You know, we love to play with our stamps and make fun goodies. Neena, our friend and demonstrator, did not disappoint us again with the projects she set us up with! The first was a Fall favor box with the cutest little acorn made from the ornament punch. We used the Big Shot machine to cut out the box, an oval punch to make the little beret and smile and some other stamps, brads and punches to complete the cutie pie. Very creative. Neena got the ideas from blogland. We love blogs for all of the links and ideas!

The second project was this adorable little gift card holder. We colored on watercolor paper and used glitter to add some sparkle. I love this stamp set!!

Here's the card opened with a gift card in it.

Still haven't stitched a thing since that retreat. Gotta get on it though. I have UFO's, Christmas stockings to make, etc., etc.............

Beach house retreat

2010-10-31T20:55:00.000-07:00

I went to a retreat with my sister, some of her friends from Quilt Ventura, her local quilt shop and some other ladies who wanted to sew the days away. It was tough to do when this was the view outside the window!

We had a little friend stop and visit the beach in front of the house so I went down to take a picture of him. He was basking in the sunlight until I got down there and then it seemed as though he posed for me. How accommodating, huh? :o)

These quilts were just a few from show-n-tell. Melanie's scrappy pineapple...

My sister Isabel's block of the month quilt she uses on her bed. We slept under it and it was so warm and cozy.

This is what I worked on while there. The nine patches were from a swap and are done in 30's fabrics. This quilt will be put away for s-o-m-e-d-a-y when I have a grandbaby!! I hope the fabric doesn't disintegrate by then. LOL It still needs borders.

And as the sunset, it was time to go. (We actually had to check out by 1:00 p.m. but this was much more dramatic. lol)

Off to go unpack my bags.....

Living up to my name....Busy Liz

2010-10-26T22:38:00.000-07:00

Monday night I was going through some UFO's and bags of blocks, looking for a project or two to take to my retreat this coming weekend. One thing lead to another and I had this charm pack in my hands and then up on the design wall and then under the needle of my machine. :o) How does that happen? I pulled some cream on cream fabric from my stash (it was perfect) for the setting triangles and a small border. Then I went to a drawer I don't visit often, full of old Robyn Pandolph fabrics from about five years ago and I might be able to use a couple of them for borders or backing. The big rose border seems a little off so I might not use it. It'll just be a little throw for the couch for the holidays. The charm packs were small so I had bought two of them but could've used a few more fabrics to make this a bit bigger. The line is called Fancy Hill Farm by Robyn Pandolph. We'll do some shopping at the shop that is hosting the retreat so maybe I'll find something there for the outer border. I'm loving this "use it up" from the stash!

But I can't jump to Christmas just yet. I saw these adorable little mummy Halloween cookies on this website. I HAD to make some so off to Calico Cake Shop I went after work. I got all the supplies I needed. I might've been able to get some supplies from Michael's but I knew they wouldn't have the "eyes" and the cake shop has DELICIOUS white chocolate!! :o)

While I waited for my daughter Kelley to come over after work, I used my double boiler and melted the chocolate.

Got the sucker sticks ready...

And got my cookies ready. I bought both regular and vanilla Oreo cookies. You heard me, vanilla Oreos!!!! Who knew? I could take or leave regular Oreos but these were really good, kind of like Vienna Fingers but crispier. Yum! Anyway, according to the directions, you're supposed to open the cookie, dip the stick in the white chocolate, put it between the cookie layers and let it set. Well, my chocolate Oreos kept breaking. Every single one. And there were a lot of them broken in the package. So frustrating when you're trying to do a project. Oh well, what are you going to do? While watching the little video on the website, I heard the girl say to use 'double stuff' Oreos. Roh-Rroh-Relroy!! For some reason the vanilla cookies were a little sturdier so I made more of those than the chocolate ones.

Once they were set, they got dipped in the white chocolate and got their eyes on. hehe

The cake store only had two packages of big eyes so I bought some small ones too. Kelley and I liked the smaller ones after the cookies were done. She put her eyes farther apart than I did mine and I liked the look better. Her little guys really looked like crazy little monsters. :o) We wrapped the cookies in cello bags for giving away. I'm taking mine to the retreat as a little 'favor'. Kelley used some tags I had punched out and tied them on her suckers. She's going to give one to her little sis (they work together) and will give some to co-workers. I saved a few for my middle daughter too. We did Nutter Butter cookies too. They looked like little ghosties. We didn't cut them off like they had them on the website.

The little box in the photo (above) is a free download from the HowDoesShe website so sign up. They've got some cute free printables.

They were fun and even though the ones on the website were cuter, they were fun to make and had I gotten those double stuff Oreos, it probably would've been fine so it's all good. I think I've gotten my fix for this Halloween. (If I stay off the internet!!!) lol

Finished Berry Picking top!

2010-10-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

I finally got the borders on my Berry BOM project. I thought and thought while it was on the design wall.....whether or not to add a pieced border to it to make it big enough to fit a bed but I finally decided to just finish it as is. Actually, I did add a little green border before the pink outer one. That was an idea from my sister, Isabel. She said the pink was nice but separating it with a small border might look better. She liked the blue in the baskets but I didn't have enough of anything blue but did have enough of the green.
Here's a close-up of the borders.

Now to check the collection of backings I have and see if I've got anything I can use. If not, I'm off for a retreat this weekend and might find something when we go to the quilt shop. :o)

Pumpkin cake and adorable Frankies!!

2010-10-23T11:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday night was TNT (Thursday Night Therapy) and it was just going to be me and Neena crafting. I whipped up a Pumpkin Bundt Cake. You can get the recipe here. Let me tell you, it was yummy with those streusel layers!!! slurp :o)

And this is what we made. Aren't they the cutest little favor boxes ever?!!! You can find the directions to make your own here. They are super easy. The 6" box takes a 12" piece of scrapbook cardstock, some wiggly eyes, glittery felt (which I had never seen before) and a couple of punches. They are so much cuter in person. I hope you can make some for your favorite little ghoul or goblin. My ghouls are grown women but they loved them just as much as a little one. :o)

I used retired Kiwi cardstock from Stampin' Up! For the eyelids, I used a 1 3/4" circle punch and cut it in half. I used my bone folder to 'curl' the eyelids. Neena said our little Frankies needed a scar so we put a few stitches on him.

After making the three big boxes for my girls, I made 4 little ones for friends. For the smaller ones, I cut my paper 9 x 9" and scored them at 3" and 6". I think these were almost cuter because I used the same wiggly eyes and they were sort of big on the little faces.

And now that I did all that playing, today I have to clean the house. :o( I should get time off for making such cuteness but the cobwebs have a different idea.

A finish, a beginning and some cards

2010-10-18T13:23:00.000-07:00

I finished the binding on the other two table runner/wall hangings for my girls. I'm going to put a simple little label on the back just to note the date and that this gift is "from Mom". :o) That was all the sewing I got done this weekend. I was busy, busy.....

Hubby and I went to Jessica & Kevin's wedding. There was a little bit of drama because the "preacher man" was running way behind but it just so happens a member of the groom's family church used to do wedding services and stepped in. I think the wedding started about 45 minutes late but it could've been so much worse had they waited for the bishop to show up. It was a sweet ceremony (nice and short) and the bride just gleamed, she was so happy.

This was the wedding that me and my friend Neena helped make the favors for so I didn't buy a big gift. I made this card using polka dot paper from a Joann's stack, ribbon from Michael's, cardstock and stamp set from Stampin' Up! I just added a little yellow to the "brides" dress (ribbon) with a watercolor brush and the stamp pad.

And I made this recipe book for part of my gift. My sister and I have already found two recipes that have "parts" missing like no bananas listed in the ingredients for banana bread or no chicken listed in the ingredients for my mom's Chicken en Mole recipe. LOL Gotta blame the typist!!! (That would be me!) Guess I'll be sending out a 'revision' email!! My daughter Stephanie made some of these cookbooks before for a swap a while back so I was able to use the same recipes and only had to cut out new dividers and make the front and back covers. I used the Cricut cartridge "From My Kitchen" for the word "Recipe" and then cut an oval shadow shape behind it from the same cartridge. I used Stepanie's bind it machine and added a sticker and matching ribbon.

I used a post card template in Word for the recipes and made a light gray outline around the card so I would have a cut mark so all the cards were the same size. The tabs were made with a Stampin' Up! punch.

Then yesterday.....I made a card for my boss for Boss's Day which fell on Saturday but we celebrated today. For the "woman who has everything", I gave her the card and treated her to lunch at P.F. Changs. Yum! I guess that's sort of cheating to take her to lunch cuz I benefit from that yummy food also. :o)

The card I 'cased' this design from had a big hydrangea stamp on it but I've never used this stamp set yet and wanted to try it out. The flower seemed to go with the decorative paper so I think it worked. The boss like it so I guess that's all that matters, right? :o)

Yaaaarrrrrd Sale!!!!

2010-10-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week my daughter sent me an email link from Craig's List that there was a yard sale happening on Friday (yesterday). They advertised a Cricut machine, scrapbooking stuff and craft items so we had to check it out....even though we have no business buying anything. :o) I asked my boss if I could go in an hour (or so) late. Thankfully she said YES because man, oh, man......what a sale!!

Do you see the Cricut machine? No? It's there. It's just buried under the motherload of stuff we got! I looked at some of the used cutting mats and they have images of the words 'school' and ABC's cut out. I think someone said the woman was a retired teacher. She was in her 80's and her kids were running the sale but they kept having to ask "Mom" for prices. I just wanted supplies but she wouldn't sell anything separate. She was asking $200 for the entire lot. I got there before my daughter, told her what the woman said and she hit the ATM before she met me there. I hadn't gotten paid yet and had $60 my hubby gave me to go. The price included the Cricut personal cutting machine, which neither me or my daughter need. She has the bigger Expression and I have a personal Cricut cutter. We'll go through everything on Sunday and figure out what we will part with and sell, probably to my sister. (We're dragging her down with us. LOL)

So here's what we got...

These are some of the cartridges. I have three of these already so the duplicates will go. :o) Stephanie said she lives close enough to share them so we don't need duplicates.

And there were these mini cartridges. There were two Home Accent cartridges, one to keep, one for sale. That one has some cool accents for vinyl wall art. Yeah!!

There was a tool kit, a brand new Alphalicious cartridge, three packages of replacement blades.....

Four new packages of replacement mats (2 in each), 5 slightly used mats, Cricut Design Studio software, a roll of vinyl covering, a paper cutter and a bag full of 12 x 12 decorative paper.

Before my daughter got to the sale, I bought this box of scrapping stuff which included two circle cutters, four paper stacks, jumbo circle punch, etc., etc. She wanted $10 for it.

I can hardly wait for Sunday to play with our new toys!!

I have no comment....

2010-10-15T20:14:00.000-07:00

LOL.....stopped to get a hot dog for dinner tonight because my hubby was doing stuff. This was on my Wienerschnitzel bag. :o)

Had to share it. It made me laugh..... :o)

Chugging along....

2010-10-14T08:57:00.000-07:00

Got all of the table runners and wall hangings quilted. They aren't fancy but they'll be cute enough to decorate the table or wall. Woohoo!

Wednesday night I got all the bindings on. This stripe binding fabric reminds me of the suckers they sell at See's Candies. I had to piece the last of the scraps to get enough for all four of the little quilts.

I got mine tacked down and on the table and Kelley, my oldest dd stitched hers. I'll probably have to do the other two so it's a good thing one daughter can stitch.

Okay, off to stitch some binding.....

The Million Dollar Question!

2010-10-12T10:58:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many other quilter/paper crafters out there have been doing some thinking about the AccuQuilt Go cutter...........

and Sizzix Big Shot machine.
They are both die cutters and I have the Sizzix Big Shot for card making. Would I need an AccuQuilt Go too? Would I use it? Space is limited in my sewing room. So much so, that last year I moved my paper crafts to the spare bedroom so I'm thinkin' this is a toy I could live without but I might like having a die or two.

Blogs are buzzin' about the AccuQuilt Go and now the Go Baby. There have been giveaways left and right. Others must have pondered this very same thing because I found some info on it when I did a Yahoo search. Maybe everyone already knows this and I'm the pokey puppy just finding out.

Sizzix is no dummy (maybe their even the same company!!) and they have jumped on the fabric cutting bandwagon. Here's what they have come up with so far for the Big Shot. And if I got some dies from them, I wouldn't have to lop off 1/4" from the side like you do if you buy AccuQuilt dies (see below).

AccuQuilt Go dies are a little too wide to fit through the Sizzix machine (kind of sneaky if you ask me, trying to make them too big to use with the Big Shot. Sounds sort of like Apple and IBM, hum?) If you want to buy the AccuQuilt dies for your Big Shot, you'll have to hacksaw 1/4" off the side of the template so it fits, otherwise it won't go through the machine. Here's a little video I found on a Yahoo search at My Cricut Scrapbooking. The video is a little bit slow but she breaks down the "sandwich" you will need to use the dies with the Big Shot.

And that site references this site, Lori at A Bee in my Bonnet. She gives a lot of information on the subject and shows the trimmed die template, a step you wouldn't have to do if you bought the Sizzix dies.

I will be watching to see if there is a good sale on die templates and will have to ponder if I really need one or two or three. :o) I think with the kind of quilt projects I do, maybe just the strip cutter or a charm square would come in handy. I dunno..... I am glad to know that I won't have to spend a $399.00 on another toy when I have something that will work. YAY for multi-purpose machines!!

A swap, a little shoppin' and mark one off the list!

2010-10-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

Tuesday I swapped out a hole lotta quilt blocks. These are called Scrappity Do Dah and I mentioned on my blog before that this is from a McCall's Quilting Magazine free pattern insert from a mailing I got. The blocks are 5" and I think the example quilt in the flyer was made with about 400 blocks!! I'll be doing this swap again early next year so we can all make some more blocks for a bigger quilt.

And yesterday my daughter sent me an email from an ad she saw on Craig's List. It was for two oversized clothes pins from Pottery Barn. The lady was about 25 minutes from me and she only wanted $20 for them. They sold for $80 in the catalog and I saw a set on ebay for $293.00!!!! I don't think I have to tell you they haven't sold on ebay yet!! But I got a steal of a deal! Don't you love when people help you spend your money? lol And my laundry room is dusty and undecorated so now this is probably going to lead to a re-do. Oh oh! I think my twenty dollar deal just got a lot more expensive. Ha!

And last night was craft night and Neena came over and we finished the rest of the wedding favors we needed for the 10/16 wedding. Now I just have to find a box to put them in to keep them safe until the wedding. Checking things off my list. Woohoo!

Stampin' for the holidays

2010-10-07T11:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the projects we made at my sister's Stampin' Up! party last Saturday. This little Halloween card was super easy using a strip of decorative paper (a scrap would be perfect for this), a circle punch and a bat punch. We used pop dots for the bat bodies and then used a bone folder to curl the wings a bit to add dimension. I put it in a little candy dish I got at Michael's at the dollar spot. The card would be sitting in a bunch of candy but I ate it. LOL

This little treat box was made for Thanksgiving favor using the candy die. So cute! I put the Hershey's nugget next to it so you could see the size. I guess you could compare it to a tiny popper or a giant tootsie roll. :o)

Our last item as this wonderful Christmas card. Neena finds such cute stuff for us to make at our workshops!! We used Jolly Holiday designer paper. It's so yummy with cherry cobbler and old olive. What a great combination! We had bunches of fun making these projects and it really got us thinking about the holidays. Boy, they will be here before we know it!!