More Christmas Projects Completed

Yesterday I completed two Christmas projects and my husband's birthday card.  I haven't done this much in quite a while.  It feels good to be productive once again.  I have therapy M-W-F this week and the next two weeks Tu-W-Th. Then I go back to M-W-F until Jan. 16th.  I am making progress but also getting tired of going.  I do about 50 solid minutes of exercies including riding stationary bike.  Dick will be going on the 21st for eye surgery so got a lot to do before then as he will be restricted from doing anything like bending or picking!

Enough of that, lets talk crafts...

I love using the Big Shot die cuts.  Here I used the small bear and used watercolor crayons. I used the stamp found in the section of stamps $10 and under; green corduary brads, green striped wide ribbon and the scallop punch that looks lacy. The base of the card is Very Vanilla.  This one is original for a change!

Now my wall hangings:

I didn't have any place to put this last night so I put it on the tree that Dick had just brought up from the basement.  This morning I finally decided to hang it on the wall in the dining room next to closet.  It is very tall as you can see. (our tree in 6.5 ft).  The one thing I don't like about this chipboard is that the glitter gets all over.  I tried to spray some stuff on it...I wonder if I should use hair spray?  Not sure if  I have any.

Here it is hanging on wall:

Here are pictures of two letters up close.  I used felt snowflakes and clear gems, burgandy ribbon and silver grommets.

I also put a bow at the bottom of last letter.

Now the next project-----

I cased part of this (scalloped squares with glittered letters) but I added the double bow at the top and the silver decorative brads.  This was a lot of fun to make and I will make more with other letters.  Below is a close up of the bow.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my newest creations. 

Today was a lot warmer than yesterday and Friday so looking forward to tomorrow to see what is in store for me.  The laundry is done including the folding and the floors are swept. I think I will wrap our granddaughters gifts so that will not be looming over my head.  I will also attempt to decorate the tree and put up other decorations around the house.  This Christmas we will have all the kids and grandkids so it will be nice.  I am not going to spend a lot of time cooking so I can spend more time with them.  Right now I am planning on ham for dinner with the trimmings.  Well, have a good evening and keep smiling. Tomorrow will bring us lots of good things and maybe even some surprises.  Catch you later.

COOKIE MAKING AT GRANDMA'S HOUSE

Hi everybody,

Well, here it is almost midnight and I should be in bed but I just had to share with you what I did today!

I had to babysit my 4 yr. old granddaughter, Jenna, today while Grandpa and her Mom went Xmas shopping. Of course that means I missed out on shopping this year BooHoo!  So now I can say that I am all ready for the holidays.  Got shopping done, cards made and ready to take to mailbox tomorrow, and today Jenna & I made cookies.  Now you have to understand that in my family everyone loves COOKIES especially homemade decorated ones.  We made 2 dozens but that won't last until this weekend so I will be doing a lot more.  I also wanted to make some holiday bread and freeze it for when I need something to serve at the last moment.  Dick and I still have one big project left and I hope to have that  done by the weekend and that is wrapping the gifts.

Okay that is enough chitter chatter, now for my photos.

I forgot to take pictures while she was all covered with flour, frosting, and sprinkles.  Jenna helped me roll out the dough, pushed down on the cookie cutters, frosted about 10 cookies,(I did the rest) and put the decorations on all of them except for the 4 you see in the picture that have cinnamon dots on them.  Now you know why it took 3 hours!!!

here is a close up of about half of them

isn't she a cutie?  When we got everything cleaned up we pulled out her homework project-(making a wreath) for show & tell and also to be hung in the hallway at school.  We didn't have enough time to finish it and I forgot to take picture of what we had done.  She had a styrofoam plate with the middle cut out from her teacher with instructions to do whatever she wanted.  So we dug into my supplies and came up with some real wide lace with ruffles and I stapled that around the outside edge (before that I ran some narrow green ribbon and rose ribbon through the eyelets) and then tied a big bow for the bottom.  We punched out some paper ornaments with my punch and put hole in top of ornament. Then I cut some elastic ribbon so mommy could help her put them on the ornaments and hang onto the lace wreath. Darn, I wish we would have had more time to finish so I could have gotten a picture.  I will have to ask her mom to do it and send it to me.

I think I have taken enough of your time so will call it a day and see you soon.  Thanks for looking.

WELL, IT IS FINALLY WINTER!

Sorry, I have been missing for awile...  I have been working on some special Xmas cards (which I won't be able to share with you until after the 25th) and a few other things that I will share with you today.

This is the Thanksgiving card I made for Dick.  I cased it from someone while I was visiting their blog and forgot to write down the name.  If I come across it I will give her credit.

These two pictures give a side/back view and the other side/front view.  It is a mini file folder that can be used for 3x3 cards or in my case, used for a memo pad holder next to my computer.  These are a lot of fun to make and I will make more with card/envelope to sell next summer at the campground.  There is a craft show once a month with usually 20-30 tables set up.

Isn't this cute?  I found the video on UTUBE (I think!) to make just the plain basket.  Then I made my own embellishment on side and used ribbon with DP for the handle. The pillow box die is used to make the sides of basket (3) and then added strips to bottom.  Then you add 2 circles (Using the glass cutter); one on bottom and one on the inside.  You can make this for any season/holiday.  There is a lot of room inside to put some goodies.

Well, I guess that is all for now.  I will be putting addresses on envelopes tomorrow so I can mail my Christmas cards on Monday or Tuesday.

Dick will find out on Wednesday when his eye surgery will be.  His right eye has cateract and some membrane on the back of eye and he will have in implant done.  I tell you it seems like we can't have one year go by without something happening.  I am scheduled for more physical therapy (this is for my back) so it looks like I will be doing it until Jan 16th.  That will be a total of 24 visits just for my back. My goal is to be able to take long walks like I used to.  I can see a difference with 3 wks of therapy but still have a long ways to go.

I am glad my sister is home now (she was in hospital for over a week) and look forward to seeing her accomplishments on her blog.  My other sister also has a blog and needless to say her work is also one of a kind.  I am so lucky to have two sisters so talented with paper crafts and the youngest sister is known for her cooking and quilting/sewing.

Hope you have a great day.  Here in Michigan we are enjoying our first dusting of snow.  I think my one sister had a lot of snow these past few days.  I will have to call her and find out.  I hope everyone survived Black Friday and Cyber Monday!   Catch you later....

MORE CHRISTMAS CARDS

Hi Everyone,

Well, here it is-the start of another week!  38 days till Christmas!  Thanksgiving is next week....WOW were did the year go?

Our granddaughters came over on Sat. and spent the night and then went home Sunday around 3:00 pm. We had a lot of fun doing some craft stuff and the youngest (4 yrs.) is now using some of the big tools.  She was concentrating so hard while punching out some circles and squares.  So I let her use my big jug of small non-SU punches.  She was in heaven.  I can see now I will have to start coming up with some projects for both of them now instead of just Kirsten. LOL 

Friday night and Sat morning I made the following cards.  I used Christmas Jingle and Christmas Cocoa Designer Paper, Top Note Die Cut, Dasher and Wandering Words stamp sets.

I just love the Dasher stamp.  I used two-way glue and dazzling diamonds to give them some bling. On one I used a ribbon on the neck, another a clear rhinestone brad and the last one a real red brad for the nose. It was a lot of fun. I basically made the same card and just changed something on each one. The first card with Santa and the reindeer, I used the dazzling diamonds again on the larger stars.  I think tomorrow after I get out of therapy I will work on making an album using the "I Wish" scrappin kit.  I purchased the directions from Andrea Wolford.  She is currently doing the 12 weeks of Christmas, which is real neat.  Check her blog for exciting things to make or purchase to use for your workshops/classes.

Thanks for stopping in and keep smiling.  See you soon.

SUPER SATURDAY FUN

This past weekend (Fri-Sun) our Stampin Up Leader, Ronda Wade and Melissa Roberts co-hosted a retreat for the Rubber Queens.  It was held in East Lansing, MI at the Quality Inn University. I signed up for Saturday only (plus lunch & dinner) and got there around 9 a.m. with my daughter, Michelle.  The hotel in located right off the main highway going into East Lansing so it was very easy to get there.

My day consisted of the following:
 1. Make & Take table to complete an ornament and Xmas card

2. Designer Paper Class- Made 2 items (Magnetic Board and 4 Gift Bags)....I didn't make the gift bags but below you will see the Magnetic Board.

3. Next we did the Big Shot Class making 3 items. (Journal, 4x4 scalloped album-above-and snowball ornament-below)

3. Michelle & I made some cards that we cased.  First we cut out 3 Top Note die cuts and took one and cut in half to make a pocket for the inside. (can be used for gift card) and the second card  (with sympathy) we both fell in love with. (see below)

pocket for gift certificate on inside and below is card closed.

4. Last Make & Take table-I didn't get chance to make one of the cards and the other I just got the materials and took it home to finish. (below). I made it a little differently than the copy but that what happens when you have senior moments!! LOL

 

I left around 8:30 p.m. while the Decor Elements Class was going on.  There was also a Silent Auction in which I won the bid on one of the two I bid on.  I got a Hostess level 3 stamp set (two of these) and a level two stamp set from this year's catalog.  There were door prizes and raffle ticket winners all day long (also Friday night). The food was delicious (lunch from Quinos's & dinner from Max & Irma's) plus snacks all day.  So if you're reading this and would like to join in the fun come next March, go to Ronda's Blog here  for more information.I called today to put in my deposit.  Below is a few more pictures my daughter took.

 Beverage table (coffee, tea, pop) and other table has stamp sets, punches, etc. that we had access to.

My sister, Sandi and her daughter, Tricia.

Our Leader, Ronda Wade.

IT FEELS SO GOOD...

It feels good to be back working on my crafts.  My worktable is so clean I hated to mess it up...First I made some ornaments to be used on cards or scrappin pages and then I went to the big one.  It took me only a few minutes to get back into the swing of it but now that I have started I want to keep going.  Michelle and I will be going to a Rubber Queens weekend retreat that our leader, Ronda Wade is doing for all of us in her group.  I haven't been to any of the past ones so I am really excited about going.  I am only going on Saturday but the retreat starts Friday afternoon and closes Sunday at noon.  Lots of surprises and goodies. My sister and niece are going so it will be fun to know someone who will be there. 

Okay, here are the ornaments I played around with this afternoon.  I used real red, night of navy, bordering blue, & old Olive paper and Merry & Bright rub-ons.

Now for the card...Base card is Confetti Cream; trim from Christmas Jingle Scrappin Kit; red ribbon is miscellaneous scrap, Stamp Set: Teeny Tiny Wishes & Delightful Decorations; ornament punch; dazzling diamonds, two way glue; silver embossing powder; elastic cord; sm. hole punch; liquid applicator, & white gel pen. PHEW that is a lot and I probably forgot to list something! LOL

Well, that is about it for now.  I am getting anxious to get back to crafting and have a few ideas I want to pursue yet tonight.  Thanks for stopping by and keep smiling (Spring is only 6 months away!) LOL

FALL IS ALMOST OVER

I wanted to share with you all the wonderful news.  Dick & I broke a record last night.  You say "what record is that?"  Hang on to your seats....We DID NOT have one trick or treater visit our house last night. I wonder if maybe I had the date wrong!  I talked with a few neighbors and they were also surprised. Last year we finally reached 10 little munchkins.  Oh well, I will have to figure out what I am going to do with all those little bags of goodies. I could freeze them and eat one a day. LOL

I will now have to get back to my project which is to clean up my working area and do some rearranging.  I am runing out of space once again.  I wonder how Dick feels about switching bedrooms... Okay I guess that wasn't very nice of me. He told me I have to quit being a packrat.  If only he knew!  I did manage to throw out some old manuels for stuff we no longer have.

I hope to start on some stamping later today and all this next week.  Will keep you posted.  Thanks for stopping by.

TRICK OR TREAT

Hi Everyone,

Just got through fixing my trick or treat bags and thought I would share with you.  I made the tops using my Cuddlebug and a Halloween die cut from Sizzix.  I made the die cuts about 2 years ago and finally got to use them for something.  I think they turned out cute and I used scraps and the Happy Halloween stamp was from JoAnn's.  The two below are the ones I made separately (more candy) for Kirsten and Jenna.

The next one is the ones I will be handing out tonight, that is if we get any trick or treaters!

The next one is a close up so you can see the diecuts better.

I wonder when we will ever get rid of the rain.  Dick & I are both down with an awful cough.  We went to Urgent Care this past week (Thursday & Friday) and got some good cough syrup-codine! and each of us have a different antibodic.  Well I better get this done and start my supper.  Hot dogs!!! Have a good day and thanks for stopping by.

FIRST BATCH OF CHRISTMAS CARDS

Okay, I am starting my Christmas cards and this is what I have so far.  For some reason my lighting was not the best so my reds turned out purple (Lavender Lace!). I used materials purchased when I first started scrapbooking (Pre-Stampin Up days). Some were from kits and other were individual items I picked up at Wally World, Meijers, etc. It is hard to make cards while we are camping as I can't bring everything.  I did these cards last week and today is the first chance I have been able to use the computer.  I have been going to therapy for the past month (left shoulder, upper arm, and neck) and yesterday after my session my neck started burning and sharp pains.  Tomorrow was suppose to have been my last day but now with this setback I will be going for another 3-4 wks.  I am so tired of the pain and pain pills.  I am always sleeping (I can't feel the pain when I am sleeping).  Dick was going to go with a few of the guys here at camp on Sunday to a place up north to see stuff for hunting and antique guns/shotguns.  But now he is going to stay here with me in case I have to go back to emergency again.  We only have one more week here but I may ask him if we can go home earlier.  It has been so cold here that we can't go outside very long.  We go back home 3 times a week for my sessions and all I do is sleep in the car. Well enough of that. Now back to my cards.

These two are my favorites of the group.  Left: Bordering Blue & White cardstock, rub-ons, ornament punch, and gold elastic. Right: stickers and gold elastic and 1/16 hole punch.

Both of these cards also have stickers and I popped up the Santa on both.

The cardstock on this card is Real Red and the D.P. is Red/White. The greeting and Santa w/presents are stickers and I used demenionals(sp) under the greeting.

I played around with my blog design tonight but I still have a lot to learn. Thanks for stopping by and hope tomorrow will bring lots of sunshine into your life.

IT'S FINALLY DONE!

I purchased this kit back in August from Andrea Walford (Canada) as I fell in love with the project as soon as I seen a photo of it. It's so beautiful in person but I didn't realize this until the other night when I finally put it together. Everything is provided for in the kit except scissors and adhivesives. NOTE:  This is a copyrighted design and cannot be CASEd/copied.     

So what do you think?

YOU ASKED FOR IT SO HERE IT IS!!!!!!

My sisters have been asking me when I am going to share some of my SU projects with everyone...Well, I finally have a card to share. I cased this from Andrea Walford, she is an outstanding demo from Canada. I love her blog and her projects. Check her site and see for yourself. This is the card that will go with the baby quilt I just finished. There is no stamping involved for this card. I used Whisper White (basic card) and certainly celery (textured) paper. Bashful blue and apricot appeal CRAFT ink (on letters & stars), On Board Loads of Letters & Stars; Iridescent Ice embossing powder. Silver elastic cord, bashful blue double stitch and striped grossgrain ribbon. Also used small silver brads, dimensionals and adhessive.





Tomorrow I am going to work on a Christmas album and then make some Halloween 3-D packages for a few special kids. Then I have to get started on some birthday cards and Xmas cards. I am running out of BD cards!





Today was a very pretty day here in Davison. Sun out, blue skies and a few white (not gray) clouds. Also no high winds! Dick & I took Michelle out to lunch and then took out the Spartan Mobile for a nice ride around the park. Our close friends, Bill & Phyllis, checked in to their rented cabin yesterday for a week. Game day we will have Bev, Jan, Joyce and a friend of Jan's over to watch the game and eat dinner. We are going to have something that we haven't had for a long time. Hamburg, potatoes, carrots, & onions wrapped in tin foil and cooked over hot coals (I call it poor man's dinner).

Thanks for stopping by and keep smiling.

FINALLY DONE!

Hi everyone,

In case you have been wondering why I haven't been posting in a while, I finally finished an ongoing project. I started this baby blanket over 10 years ago (doing the embroidery work on the individual squares) and then about 3 yrs. ago I put the front together and laid it aside.

Then I found out Dick's best friend, Ron, was going to be a grandpa (his only daugther and her first..and last) so I pulled this out and finished it. Now mind you I had 7 months notice but I have never been know for doing anything ahead of time. LOL Well Linda 's baby decided to come early (due middle of Oct.) and I still had the quilting to do and connect the front to the back. At 10:30 p.m. last night I finished it. whopee! Now I have to soak in cold vinegar water and hope nothing runs onto the blanket. I really hate giving this away but just like stamping, you can't hoard it forever.

Dick & I will be leaving for Davison tomorrow for out last 3 wks of camping for the year. Now whether we stay the full time is another story. We will have to see how the weather is going to be. When we get back I have to start doing my Xmas cards and finishing some scrapbooking I started earlier this summer. Have a good day and thanks for stopping by.

GO SPARTANS

I almost forgot something else we got. A MSU Spartan canopy. Earlier this summer at a craft show one of the ladies I know made a green & white beaded hanging twirly thing which you can just about see in the photo. It is in the back right corner of the canopy. Next year I may work on some good MSU chairs to sit around the fire while we watch the games. GO SPARTANS!!!

GO GREEN GO WHITE

As most of you know, we got a golf cart last year (red electric one). However we decided we wanted a gas one so went to local dealer and order a custom one (LOL). I got to choose the color of this one so I said "MSU green & white". No problem said the dealer and two weeks later we had it. This past month we made some more inprovements on it. Like new green & white seats made by one of the campers who makes them right here at the resort. I just love it. Next I needed to get me some vinyl decals which took a few weeks to find the right ones and then Dick surprised me with a MSU flag which is not showing on this photo. Now all I need is a copy of the fight song and then try to bribe Jan into playing it on Saturdays when we drive around the park. (she got a radio/CD player for her blue golf cart-U of M). Don't fret as I am sure between Bev & me we can trick her into playing it. Well, it is almost midnight and I have to get up early for Dr. app't tomorrow. Catch you all later. Have a great fall.

MY FAVORITE TIME OF THE YEAR

The leaves are getting ready to change and all the critters are scurring to gather their food for the winter and THE CHILDREN ARE BACK IN SCHOOL! LOL Boy can you tell the difference in the campground now. Friday late afternoon until the middle of Sunday it gets quite noisy here with the kids but during the week it is sooooo quiet you can actually talk to your neighbor in normal voice. The campgound staff is putting out the Halloween decorations now as we celebrate Halloween on Oct. 10th. There is stuff hanging from trees, on fences, in and on all buildings and even the crafts that are being made are used to decorate the campground. It is a lot of fun for both adults and children. There is usually over 1,000 kids (with parents) that are let into the park that day for 2 hrs. (you don't have to be a member). There is a costume parade thru the park, hayrides, big bonfire, and a lot of activities for all age groups for the 3 day celebration. If I get a chance I will take some pictures to share of some of the site decorations and the children in costumes.

Back At Davison-Campground

We came back this past Sunday and was suppose to have left today but yesterday the corporate office called and said there was a cancellation so we could stay for 14 more days. WHOOPIE! Our name will still be on the cancellation list so mayber we can get 3 more days for a total of 3 wks. We drove back to Haslett this morning and did laundry, picked up mail, mowed lawn, and Dick loaded up some wood and my bike (we have sold it to someone here). I went scrapbooking last Monday at the Clubhouse here for 2 1/2 hrs. (it was open for all crafters from 5-10 p.m.) I finished 4 12x12 pages. I am going again this coming Monday and this time I will work on some cards using my Big Shot and maybe a couple of scrapbook pages. I will take some pictures when I get done and post them on here. It sure has been hot and humid for the past few days but at least it isn't raining anymore. We are on the lakeside again and Dick put up our 10x10 canopy which he purchased to use at the cabin last month. We now have a good breeze and can sit outside without the sun beating down on us.

Have a super day and keep cool.

Found this in backyard this morning...

I am so excited that I had to share this with you. Dick woke me up around 7:15 and said we had some visitors in back yard. I knew what he meant as we saw mama and one fawn yesterday but I couldn't get to camera before our dog, Sheena, saw them and chased them. However, this morning Sheena was still sleeping in bed so I grabbed my camera and very quietly opened patio door and screen and got about 7 pictures! My sister has been telling everyone on her blog about the deer in her back yard (which by the way is in the country) and here I have them in my back yard and I live in town. How cool is that? Thanks for stopping by and I will be back later with more pictures from Davison. Have a great day and keep smiling.

TRASH CAN TURKEY

this is what the turkey looks like after cooking for 90 minutes.

Slowly lift the trash can after removing all those hot coals.

This is what is looks like when you add the hot coals.

After you put your rub on (previously we did a turkey with nothing added to it and it was very yummy and golden brown with a little crispness on the skin.) place it over the rod and make sure the legs are in the tin foil pans that are filled with beer.

This is how it looked when Dick prepared the cooking area.

I haven't figured out how to download photos correctly yet so bear with me. I will now do my introduction....

Dick read about making a turkey in a trash can several years ago from a newspaper article. He cut it out and his sister got him a brand new trash can so he could make one. Well a few years went by and last summer he finally did it. Even though it rained most of the time it was cooking, he didn't give up. So this year he was more prepared and once again made a delious turkey.

You start with a 12-13 lb turkey, use 12 lbs of charcoal, 2 tin foil bread pans, 2 cans of beer, and lots of tinfoil. He used the cover of the trash can for starting the coals and used a camping shovel to transfer coals onto the top and around the edge at bottom of the can. It takes 90 minutes and NO PEEKING. We had 8 adults and one child over to share the meal. I will share with you more pictures tomorrow. Thanks for coming and see you later.