I HAVE BEEN CHALLENGED!!!

Hi Everyone,

Yup, I have been challenged by my sister, Sandi, to post something on my blog at least once a week!  My feeling is that challenges are a lot like New Year's Resolutions-they usually fizzle out. LOL  I need to take some of Ronda's motavational classes....Okay on to my latest creations.

I had all my cards mailed out by the first week in December and gifts all wrapped the following week and I had to make two dishes to pass at the Christmas Eve dinner and had a simple meal on Christmas Day (taco salad and tacos) so you ask what could possible make me rush around on the day before Christmas?  Well, I knew we were giving money to our children and grandchildren but for some reason I thought the elves would make the money card holders.  So around 2pm on Dec 24th I was sitting at my computer looking at different blogs and one of them had a gift card holder and I went into a tizzy!!!  I forgot to make my money holders...So I started and made two before we went to family gathering and after we came home finished the other three.  Here is what I came up with.  (I cut a piece of cardstock 7"x9" and then scored the long side at 2" and 6 1/2".
The first two are for Jenna and Kirsten (granddaughters).  Click on any photo to see in larger view

This is the back of each of their holders.  It was a lot of fun and very easy to make.  Since you only have 1/2" to lap over the closure on the back, I scored at 2" and 6".  That way I could have a better choice for a closure. 

Next is the ones I made for Michelle (daughter) and Jerry.

and last one was made for my daughter, Kellie.  The only thing I would change on this card would be to place the ribbon differently.

Last is a photo of our SMALL Christmas tree with the money holders on it. If you look rel close you can see the cinnamon ornament that the granddaughters made one day at our house. I will show you better pictures of them at a later date.

Alright, Sandi, does this fulfill my first challenge? LOL  Now I am going to play a very CHALLENGING game on my computer. (Solitaire...)

DINNER IN FRANKENMUTH, MI

Hi Everyone,

What a great day yesterday was.  Why, you say?  Well first of all, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY won against Purdue!!! (now 10-1)  Dick taped the game for us to watch when we got back home.(around 5:00 pm) We went to Frankenmuth to meet some of our camping friends for a birthday celebration.  It was a perfect day for driving and to see all the Christmas decorations up in town.  I wished we could have stayed until dark so I could have seen the town all lit up and also see Bonner's decorations. If you have never been to this area, you need to seriously make plans no matter what season it is.  My favorite time is just before Christmas.  There are so many people that come to this small town year around.  We had reservations for 2:00 at Zehnder's restaurant so after we checked in, we strolled downstairs to check out the gift store and bakery.  Can you believe it, we didn't buy ANY bakery goods.  That has to be a first!!!  I didn't take a picture of the bakery since I didn't want to drool every time I looked at it. LOL  My family doctor will be so proud of us!!

We didn't stay downstairs very long as it was wall to wall people.  Not for me, I went upstairs (everyone else soon followed) and sat in the lounge area by the TV (which had the Uof M game on) and visited with our friends.   The birthday girls (Phyllis-Nov 24th and Mom (Donna)-Nov 17th) are just as young as the last time I saw them. LOL  We had a great time and decided to form a Birthday Club.  Below are some of the photos I took of the event:



Kathy had the cake made and added the camping decorations.
(canoe, tent, & campfire) These are recycled decorations (LOL)



The BIRTHDAY GIRLS - Phyllis and Mary

  

Donna, (Kathy's mother) chatting in the lounge area
and watching all the people waiting to get in.  It is about 1:00 p.m.

 


Phyllis





Bill (Phyllis' Husband)


 

Mike - Bill & Phyllis' grandson.  Such a cutie!




Dick (my HUNK!)



Mom and her daughters, Mary and Kathy

 

Birthday Girl with Mr. Chicken (Phyllis had left the
dining area and didn't get back until after he left.)



As you can see we had a great time and it was good to see some of our camping friends again.  We hadn't seen them since Labor Day.  We are hoping to go to the campgrounds in January (rent a cabin for a week) so we can go to Frankenmuth again for the ice sculptures and another birthday lunch.

Thank you for taking a peek at my day yesterday.  I made a card for Phyllis but, as par for the course, I didn't take a picture of it to share with you.  I am going to try and make some tags today and then get ready for this coming week.  Oh, almost forgot another great thing that happened yesterday, my niece, Tricia got married to Ethan.  So happy for both of them and wish them only the best.  Love to both of you.

Well if I don't get back on here before Thursday, "HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS" See you next time.

For all of you who leave a comment below, "Thank YOU"

Christmas Card Stack for ONE!

Well, here it is November 1st and less than 2 months til Christmas!!!  I haven't been doing much craft stuff for the past 4 months so after attending Ronda Wade's Scrapbooking Retreat a week ago, I got my mojo back.  I love going to these retreats as Ronda & Melissa do such a great job of pampering us ladies (there were 60 in attendance).  This is only my second time at attending one for the whole weekend.  Last March I bunked with my sister, Kathleen and this time I bunked with another sister, Sandi (Dailey). I also signed up for all 5 classes this time.  Wow, was I busy!  We had a costume contest on our first night (friday) and I won 2nd place. WooHoo!! I got a real nice 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 album (new item in this year's catalog or maybe it was in the mini-not sure).  I also won some 12x12 cardstock in one of the raffles.  In the Silent Auction, I won the bid for 20 (12x12) pages that were completed.  The pages are real neat looking and I can still add embellishments if I want to. 

Okay enough about the retreat.  My BFF, Jacqie, wanted to do some Christmas cards like we did last year so she came over tonight.  I decided to do 16 cards (4 each of 4 different designs).  I cased 3 designs from the retreat and the 4th one I cased from LaDonna Johnson. Here are a few pictures I took:

Jacqie working hard. Completed all 16 in 2 hrs.

Jacqie with all her cards completed.

Cards she made. The bottom right one is not one of the cards I did at the retreat.

It was fun being with Jacqie again.  We have known each other about 35 yrs. through our jobs at MSU.  I haven't converted her to SU yet but she sure likes the products.  I told her tonight about My Digital Studio thinking she would like the program.  We didn't have enough time for me to show her the program but we have tentatively made plans to meet again so she can make some gifts.  I did something different this time while setting up the class.  I set my table up as 4 stations and had everything laid out that she would need.  I also cut all the paper ahead of time and stamped some of the ornaments that she had to punch. It worked out so much better than what I did last year.  It took only 2 hrs to complete all the cards and 1/2 hr to clean up after she left.  I didn't get flustered and had more time to work with her one on one.  I liked doing a class like this instead of 3-4 people attending. 

Okay, I will leave you with a picture of me in my winning costume.  Picture was taken by Ronda.

My lollipop was made with SU products (except the stick)

Click on any of the above pictures to enlargen the picture

Well, time to go for tonight.  Have a good day tomorrow and I am going to go raid the freeze!!!  Ice cream here I come. YUM YUM!!!



FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Yes, today was the first day of school for my granddaughters, Kirsten & Jenna.  Mommy took some cute pictures that I will share with you.

Jenna & Kirsten on their way to bus stop.

Jenna getting ready to ride the bus for the first time (well she had a practice ride last spring but that isn't the same)  

Kirsten in her cute outfit (love her headband) getting off bus at school.

  

Gosh, she isn't my little princess anymore.

 

I love this photo.  Jenna all smiles and big sister watching over her.  Kirsten sure has a serious face!

  

Jenna in her Kdg. classroom meeting her first friend. I am so proud of them and wish them both lots of happy and good times this school year.

This past Thursday, the girls spent a few days (and nights) with us and on Saturday they begged me to let them make a craft. So I tried to think of something that would take some time and would require minimum work for me. Jeanna has now graduated to the next level in crafting. She chose her own paper, deorations and bling. Here is her first attempt at making something other that pasting cutouts on papers. I did the lacing of the ribbon and gluing the bottom onto the sides. Didn't she do great?

This is Kirsten's box. She needed no help from me other than to show her how to put the paper on. She chose her embellishments and I was truly impressed with her selections and how it came together. I guess she will want to graduate to a higher level now. (like use my Big Shot!)  Don't you love how she did the flowers?

I had a lot of fun doing the project with them and it used up 5 1/2 hrs. of time. (so they wouldn't get bored or watch TV) I think I will have to find a simple Xmas card for them to make the next time and also make a gift for Mommy.

Well that is all for now. I will leave you with two of my favorite photos of the girls that I took after they completed the crafts.  Jenna reminds me so much of my niece when she was this age. Right, Trish?

 
 

This is the cutest one of Kirsten that I got. She has the most beautiful brown eyes and so into the latest fashions. We took her and Jenna school shopping and it was such an unbelievable experience.

Have a good evening and keep smiling.

MY SEWING CLASS

On August 19th,  my first sewing class for the Scallop Square Rag Purse met at the campground to make their first purse. A few friends (5) wanted to learn how to make this purse so I provided the Big Shot/Big Kick and the square scallop die cut and the instructions along with my assistance. They pre-cut the 5x5 fabric squares and batting before coming to the sewing room.  Each brought their own sewing machine and one of the ladies went back to camper to get iron and ironing board which was a big help.  It was a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed the day.  We may plan something else for next summer.  I also was responsible for two of the ladies going to JoAnn's to buy the Big Kick (which was on sale for only $59.00 that week!). Below are some of the photos I took (and Dick).

Here is Chris showing Alice how to change her design around before she begins to sew the squares together.

(Alice-purple shirt; Linda-orange shirt; Chris-lavendar top; and Jean-print top)

Close-up of Alice's design.

Barb (BFF) and I sewing at our tables.  Barb has this super duper sewing machine that requires only a finger to punch buttons and the machine stitches without her guidance.  LOL (Gottcha BARB!)

Chris & Jean (They have been best friends for as long as I have know them)  Love doing crafty things and then selling them at the camp's craft shows.

I took this from my table as it looked like she had a chin piercing from what I could see at my table. We got a good laugh from it.  She takes her sewing so seriously....LOL

This was the first purse completed. (Jean's)

This beauty was made by Chris.  Don't you love the colors?

This is Barb's creation.  Love the western color scheme.  She was so excited to make this and was responsible for me having this class.  Thanks Barb.

 

Here is my purse...My daughter works for Coca Cola and I found this material in my stash so decided to surprise her with it.  Of course she loved it and couldn't wait to show everyone at the office. I even found a large red button that matched perfectly.

I almost forgot to include this photo.  Here is my wonderful husband, Richard, modeling one of the completed purses.  I believe it is Jean's but not sure (too long ago for me to remember.).  Isn't he adorable?  He and Ernie (Barb's hubby) delivered a veggie tray and some donut holes for us to snack on since none of us stopped to have a lunch.  Thanks, honey, for thinking about us.

Here we all are with our finished purses.  Well I wasn't completely done.  Had to sew in straps and loop.  Everyone had to take purse home to do the snipping.  Thanks everyone for a fabulous experience.

Well that is all for now.  I will try later tonight to put up some photos of the country western music show that Outdoor Adventures put on for the members 2 weekends ago.

GONE BACK TO DAVISON

Hi Everyone,

Didn't get chance to post last night and today we went to Davison and found a site to park the 5th on and are now home to get the golf cart and head back.  I don't have any cards done that I can show you and can't send more photos as I left everything in camper.  So I will try tonight again.  I am soooo happy as I got a small portable (weighs only 3 lbs.!) HP printer so I can take it with me and use with my laptop.  Can you believe it was Dick who pushed it.  That way if he want me to look something up on internet and make a copy I don't have to wait until we get home-good thing as we both usually forget what it was. LOL

Okay will catch you later.

Day 2 - FLOWERS ARE ALL AROUND US

Today was a lot better weather wise in Mid Michigan.  I am going to sleep in the house tonight (instead of 5th wheel which has AC) and I get to dream about the new central air and furnace that we are getting in two weeks. WAHOO!  Don't laugh, I have been trying real hard to get it and it was only because the doctor told me 3 wks ago that I needed to be in air conditioning or I could end up with a heat stroke (having heat exhaustion was enough for me!).  Well enough about that.  Let me show you some things I did so far this summer.

I got this idea from a similar project done by someone else.  I used the Daisies die cut and craft foam. However the foam had an adhesive backing and it was terrible to peel it off after going through the Big Shot.  I glued the 3 daisies together and then put sets back to back with the bamboo stick between each set.  I used a jar I had been saving and decorated it with some designer paper and added some flowers (dyed to match the color choice) and some punched flowers. Added some brads for the flower centers.  Ribbon wrapped around the top and another contrasting narrow ribbon tied in knot for the front.  Inside I filled it with some fiber fill, colored glass rocks, and some poporrui (sp?).  I painted the bamboo sticks with some acrylic paint.  I love how it turned out and it looks so pretty in my craft area. I originally made it for someone but changed my mind as it makes me smile whenever I see it. Now onto my next project that I want to share.

I know, everyone has made one of these by now but I had to show the ones I made for my two daughters.

The picture below shows what I put into each bag. Kellie's favorite color is yellow and Michelle's is blue.  I handmade 2 dish cloths and 2 kitchen hand towels to hang.  Bought some matching pot holders.  We celebrated their birthday's together this year. Took them and granddaughters out to lunch at their favorite chinese buffet in Flint.(Kellie's BD was May 30 and Michelle's was June 4th).  We had a great time and took a few photos for the scrapbook.

Well that is enough for tonight.  I will leave you with a couple of pictues that have special meaning to me.

Jenna after her dance recital in May. She did a super job and wasn't as shy as Kirsten was at her first recital a few years ago.  The girls all put on a great show of tap dancing and ballet.

This is Jenna on Graduation Day. She graduated from preschool to Kindergarten and the teachers had them put on a cute show for the families.  Afterward we went to the school cafeteria for cake and punch.  Doesn't she look so Hollywood???

Okay I have to close for now in order to beat my Midnight deadline.  Catch you tomorrow with more fun things.  Keep smiling.

TIME SURE FLIES!!!

.

It doesn't seem like it has been 3 months since I last posted! Well, I have been procrastinating long enough. I am going to break down and share a few things I have made since last May....

This is the card I made for my sister, Pam.  I combined ideas from other cards seen on the SCS and SU websites.  I loved the idea of pinwheel flowers and used ribbon for the stems and buttons for centers.  Trying to use up some of my supplies.  I wanted to make a card using orange as that is her favorite color but will have to try for that next year. (maybe I will make her card this winter when I have more time)

This card was for my other sister, Sandi.  I copied this from a swap card and knew Sandi would love it. I added the hat to my envelope (which I don't usually take the time to do!) and used the markers to paint the stamp for the stems, buds, and ribbon. I love how it turned out. Sandi loves victorian and flowers so I tried to work it into my design.

Next I have to share with you two pictures of my daughter and our granddaughters. They were at the campground with us for 5 days (we rented a cottage on the lakeside) and on this day we were just hanging out.

Kirsten (8 yrs) and Momma Kellie

We hadn't realized that they both had the same colors on for the day until I previewed the photo. Kirsten is growing so fast.  We took up our hammock cause the kids love to lay in it and swing.  Of course mom liked it also.  Because the cafe was 2 cabins down from ours, we patronized it frequently (you know how us Jones girls love our ICE CREAM!!)

This picture was taken when Jenna got into one of her laughing streaks.  She laughed so hard that she slid right off the lounger.  She turned 5 at the end of June. You can just see Sheena under the other chair. The girls has a great time again this year. I will share more photos on future postings.

Okay, I have now officially started posting so I will try harder to update better than I have in the past.  I not saying everyday but will set that as my goal.  By the way Sandi, I told you I would post something today and since it is only 11:35, I met my promise.  See you all later and am glad you stopped by.