January 31, 2008 - 2

My Mom came over to see Bailey and while she was here I finished this bracelet that I had started a couple of nights ago. The pattern is in the February/March 2008 issue of Beadworks Magazine. I love the way it turned out and will probably make more of these. It was fairly easy and fun to make.

Happy Half Birthday Bailey!

Bailey is six months old today. Every month we take these pictures I can't believe she is a month older. Time just keeps going faster and faster. She looked so sweet in her pink dress. We put her red patent shoes on after the pictures but she still is adorable.

January 31, 2008

Ok, I am on a roll now. This picture is of the ring I made for the ring swap on Bead Fanatics group on MSN. I think it turned out pretty good. Some of the ring patterns were glittery with big crystals and I just did not like them. I do like the look of this one and I love bugle beads. I made the same ring for my two swap partners. I hope they like them! I got the pattern from the February/March 2008 issue of Beadworks. They are called Flirty Flower Rings. The pattern called for much larger crystals that what I used but I didn't have the size the pattern called for so I improvised. This is a better picture of the swap items I received from Jayne. You can see the pretty pink color in this picture.

This week is dragging by. Yesterday I woke up and thought it was Saturday. I leave early Monday morning and am so excited I could bust! My clothes are packed just have to pack my carry on. Will have to wait till the last minute for that as I hope I will be taking pictures right up until the time I leave.

January 30, 2008

Ok, I have four pictures today. Makes up for some of the days I was feeling punky. The first picture is the swap I received. It does not show up nearly as pretty as in person. It is light pink and way cool. Thanks Jayne!

On Tuesday I stopped by my Mom's and helped her take pictures of her baby blankets. She has ten done and I took two pictures of each one. They are all works of art. She is going to try and sell them on eBay. I love this one with all the different colors.
This is my small gift that I made for Valentine's Day. It is a tin with chocolate nuggets wrapped with paper, a paper tote and a card. I ran out of white grograin ribbon so that meant a trip to A.C. Moore (darn!) I made 7 sets of these and a couple of extra cards. It's the first time I have stamped in ages. It felt good. Now, when I get back from Tucson I will get my craft area cleaned up and stamp and scrapbook on a regular basis. I got the rest of my organizers from Oriental Traders and ordered some magazine holders in the same type material so I have no excuses for not getting it done!
And I saved the best for last. Miss Bailey in lime green and hot pink. Could she be any cuter? Her mama painted her fingernails black and her toenails pink. She has way too much time on her hands!

January 27, 2008

I was doing really well on my picture and post a day but fell behind. I told Dave I was going to run away to a deserted island with no phone, no kids or baby, no road construction (which starts outside my livingroom at 7 a.m. Monday thru Saturday) and no dogs. Although I love my kids, my grandbaby and my dogs, they all take up an enormous amount of my time. I am feeling like it would be easier to go to work all day than deal with the day to day things I am dealing with. It seemed a lot easier when I was younger. I am hoping my week in Tucson with none of this stress to deal with will give me a better mind set.

The one good thing I did finish this week is my swap for a friend. She and I met on one of the beading groups and decided to do our own thing as far as a swap. We are doing a Valentine's themed swap and this is what I came up with. I hope she likes it:

The pattern for the bracelet came out of Issue #15 and is called Garnet Heart Bracelet by Sandra D Halpenny. I then took an individual heart motif and created my necklace and earrings. It is going in the mail tomorrow so she should receive it in plenty of time for Valentine's Day.

I am also working on some stamped cards and gifts for Valentine's Day. I will take a picture and post them tomorrow. I need to get one set finished to take with me to Tucson. I have to make a trip to A.C. Moore tomorrow for some more ribbon. Why is it you can have hundreds of yards of ribbon but not enough of the one you want?

Something to do...

I found this on Jennifer's blog and it looked like fun.


1. What is your occupation? Right now I am unemployed. I was in accounting but I think if I go back to work I will try retail again. I would love to get a job at A.C. Moore.
2. What color are your socks right now? boring beige
3. What are you listening to right now? kids playing outside, Bailey "talking" upstairs
4. What was the last thing that you ate? We had a late breakfast at Cracker Barrel - I had a Sunrise Sampler - two eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, hash brown casserole, and grits. YUM!
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yup.
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? My favorite color is blue, so probably a bright blue color
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Dave, he is bringing home steak for dinner.
8. How old are you today? 45
9. Favorite drink? diet root beer or iced tea
10. What is your favorite sport to watch? I don't have a favorite to watch, I will watch football, hockey or baseball
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes, just bought some dye at Wal Mart today.
12. Favorite Pets? Cats
13. Favorite food? Lots of favorites, a good steak, Mexican
14. What was the last movie you watched? Alvin and the Chipmunks. Cute!
15. Favorite holiday of the year? Christmas
16. What do you do to vent anger? Work on a craft project, take a bath, talk to my mom or Dave.
17. Favorite childhood toy? Barbies. I played with them until I was 12 and discovered boys!
18. What is your favorite, fall or spring? I love both! Spring smells so good and Fall is so great after our hot summers!
19. Hugs or kisses? both from Dave, hugs from everyone else
20. Cherries or Blueberries? Neither!
21. Who is most likely to respond via blog? Who knows?
22. Living arrangements? Townhouse with Dave, three growing kids, a grandbaby, two dogs and two cats. Too many people and pets in one 3 bedroom place!
23. When was the last time you cried? I don't remember the last time I cried but the way the week has gone it might be today.
24. What is on the floor of your closet? All sorts of stuff, shoes, clothes that don't fit, suitcases.
25. Favorite smells? Laundry that has been hung out to dry, jasmine, gardenia, Dave when he gets out of the shower, Bailey
26. What did you do last night? Ran some errands, took the boys to see Alvin and the Chipmunks, had dinner at Chik-fil-a.
27. What inspires you? Music, other people's blogs
28. What are you afraid of? heights, deep water
29. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? cheese burgers
30. Favorite dog breed? Since I have two dogs I have to have two favorite breeds - Teacup Yorkie and Shitzu.
31. How many years at your current job? I have worked in accounting for over 10 years
32. Favorite place you've ever been? Aiken, SC
33. How many states have you lived in? Two, Pennsylvania and Florida
34. Favorite day of the week? Sunday - it's the only day I know I will get to spend time with Dave.
35. Ever driven motorcycle or heavy machinery? Never driven but have been on a motorcycle and a four wheeler.
36. Who's your favorite NFL team? Washington Redskins
37. Do you have a house phone that is not cordless? Yes, an M & M one. Works well when there is a hurricane and no power!

Now that you've read this, consider yourself Tagged and put it on your blog!

Friday's Feast 1/25/08

Feast One Hundred & Seventy Seven

Appetizer How many times per day do you usually laugh?

At least 2-3, at Bailey, at Brent, at Dave, at my life.

Soup What do your sunglasses look like?

I have a couple pair but my fav are a big chunky pair with burgundy frames. Since I like them so much they will turn up missing - possibly in my daughter's car??

Salad You win a free trip to anywhere on your continent, but you have to travel by train. Where do you go? Right now if I won a free trip I would go anywhere!

Main Course Name one thing you consider a great quality about living in your town/city. The weather - it is going to be 73 today!

Dessert If the sky could be another color, what color do you think would look best? Can't mess with God's plan. Blue is perfect and my favorite color too!

January 22, 2008

Some days it is easier to take a picture than others. Today was an easy day. We celebrated Brent's birthday. He turned 12 on January 12th but since he was with his dad until yesterday we celebrated late. He wanted to go to a restaurant called Boston Beer Garden. It was a noisy sports bar and the food was ok. We stopped at Sweetbay and got a Carvel ice cream cake and met my mom at home and had cake and presents. Other than Brent copping an attitude about not being able to play with his new stuff we had a nice evening.

Today I have a long list of things to do. I received my package with my connectors for my wire cubes yesterday so I will put them together and put stuff on them. I ordered more storage containers from Oriental Traders but it won't ship till 1/31/08 so probably won't get anything more done with them until I get back. I also need to start packing. I am working on laundry so as soon as it is done I can get my packing started. I am so excited about my trip!!!!!

January 21, 2008 - 2

You never know what your teenage son will think to do! Brandon got home from school and decided to stuff all four animals into Buddy's cage. No one was happy!

January 21, 2008

It is two weeks and counting until I go to Tucson to visit my best bud Wendy and go to the bead show. I am so excited! But on the other hand I am stressing about all the things I need to get finished before I leave or shortly after I get home. My list includes: (in no particular order)

1.) Beaded ring swap (2 partners)
2.) Beaded purple swap (3 items)
3.) Beaded necklace, bracelet and earring swap
4.) Celebrate Brent's birthday (happening this week)
5.) Finish my organization of the office area (this turned into a much bigger project that I anticipated!)
6.) Get my eBay stuff put in the right size boxes to fit on the shelves in the garage.
7.) Presents made for the kids, family and friends for Valentine's Day
8.) **Surprise** present made for Dave for Valentine's Day
9.) Packing for a week away

And the list does not include my normal cooking, cleaning, watching Bailey and spending time with Brandon and Brent when they get back this afternoon! And poor Dave, I need to spend some quality time with him too! Oh, and taking Nicole back and forth to work until her car is out of the shop! YIKES! I am starting to stress out. I need to make a timeline list so I get the things done in some order. I am sure I can take either some of the swaps or my **surprise** gift for Dave with me to AZ.

January 20, 2008

Ok, a pretty lame picture I know but I love Valentine's Day! I don't do a lot of decorating but placemats for the kitchen table are cool! I love V Day because I have such a great guy to spend it with. We don't go all out, we usually try to go to dinner and he always gets me flowers and candy. What more could you want? This year I am making him a surprise and I will post it once I get it done.

January 19, 2008

Is there anything cuter than baby fingers and baby toes?

January 18, 2008

I honestly didn't think I would take a picture today. This picture was taken at about 11 p.m. I had laid these boxes side by side and put labels on them to do some organizing of my office area in the morning. I have all my crafts and office stuff mixed up together so I decided I would take a hint from the organizing shows on HGTV and label some boxes and sort. Well, I guess I should have made two more labels, one for Oreo and one for Radio since they both decided to take a nap in side by side boxes. I thought this was so cute.

January 17, 2008

My quest for being organized will probably never be completed but the only way to get there is to keep on keeping on. So, today I sorted out the tub of Valentine decorations. I have a huge tub full of mostly junk. Took a rusted popcorn tin and a ton of old cards to the garbage, put the tablecloth and a few decoration around the dining and living rooms and took pictures of the rest to put on eBay. One man's junk is another man's treasures!

Friday's Feast 1/17/08

Feast One Hundred & Seventy Six

Appetizer What is your favorite beverage? Diet root beer, iced tea

Soup Name 3 things that are on your computer desk at home or work. Family photos, my coffee cup, half finished scrapbook pages

Salad On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how honest do you think you are? 9 1/2

Main Course If you could change the name of one city in the world, what would you rename it and why? I don't know. My best friend lives in Tucson, AZ. Could we change the spelling to match the pronunciation? Leave out the "c".

Dessert What stresses you out? My 19 year old daughters attitude, finances, ex's What calms you down? Spending time with Dave, beading, scrapbooking, music

January 16, 2008

Here is my cube organizer filled with scrapbook supplies. Doesn't it look purty?

January 15, 2008

In my never ending quest for organization I have rebuilt my wire racks. I had them set up for my Close to My Heart cardstock but took them apart to make cubes. I have the cool frosted paper organizers from Oriental Traders that I am going to put on my cubes. I have a whole bag of the black connectors but can't find them right now. I am eventually going to make three of these racks. I moved it into the office space and have it about 3/4 of the way full. Now to find the other connectors.

January 14, 2008

My Mom is down finishing up her packing. My Dad took the trailer full of stuff back to Haines City. So, my Mom is without a car this week. I took her to A.C. Moore (our new favorite craft store) and Publix. Then we stopped and picked up Mickey D's for dinner and came back to my house to eat. That meant Granny got to see Miss Bailey. They matched and Nicole and I took pictures. How cute!

January 13, 2008

I finished these jewelry pieces some time ago but I never glued the loose threads or put the clasps on. These are both from Sandra Halpenny's Drop Lace Necklace Collection. I designed the bracelet and earrings to match the second necklace.

January 12, 2008

Bailey is such a good baby. Nicole brought her downstairs this morning and she was bouncing in her bouncy seat and bounced herself to sleep. No fussing or crying just *boom* asleep.

Today is Brent's 12th birthday. It is hard to believe my baby is 12. He is with his dad this weekend. They were going to go to Disney for the weekend. I am sure he is having a lot of fun. We will celebrate one night this week. He knows I have presents for him so I am sure he is excited about seeing what he got.

January 11, 2008

This is almost as bad as the blue screen on a computer. No Internet light on your modem! I had been down almost 36 hours. I was having Internet DT's. Dave was going to bring home his Sprint modem so I could at least check my email when the light magically came back on. Thank you Embarq!

Friday's Feast 1/11/08

Feast One Hundred & Seventy Five

Appetizer What is your middle name? Would you change any of your names if you could? If so, what would you like to be called? I don't have a middle name. When my parents named me they used my middle name "Christine" as my first name. I guess it was a family tradition. When I got divorced the first time I legally changed my name and dropped my first name and now have no middle name.

Soup If you were a fashion designer, which fabrics, colors, and styles would you probably use the most? For home decor, I love suede and the colors blue and yellow. For clothes, cotton, stretch fabrics in neutrals.

Salad What is your least favorite chore, and why? Cleaning the bathroom, ugh! With a honey and two sons, nasty!

Main Course What is something that really frightens you, and can you trace it back to an event in your life? Thinking about it, I am afraid of a lot of things - swimming in the ocean or gulf (what is in that water?), rides at an amusement park, heights and flying. I guess I was raised to be an non adventurist.

Dessert Where are you sitting right now? Name 3 things you can see at this moment. I am sitting at my computer desk in my office looking at my messy desk, my new Polaroid photo frame (with no pictures in it) and my new 2008 Bead-a-Day Calendar.

January 10, 2008

Ok, this picture may seem a bit weird. It is a dog toy that Baby (our teacup Yorkie) has made bald. She has had this toy for about a year and has bitten off all the fur on the back of the head. She takes this "baby" up and down the stairs and sleeps with it. It is almost as big as she is. Now, the reason for the picture is what I found under the dining room table...
the stuffing to "baby". Seems our Baby has killed her "baby" and it looks like it has snowed under our dining room table. Now, to clean up her mess. At least with a small dog it is usually a small mess!
Now on the top of the dining room table. I think many scrapbookers would sympathize with me regarding a good way to be organized. I am so tired of trying ideas and them not working. For my embellishments I am working on this new idea - frosted photo boxes from Oriental Traders. I finally finished rolling four photo boxes full of ribbon and have put my buttons, eyelets, brads, and other small embellishments in these boxes. I also have a box for adhesive and have a number of other categories that I intent to create.
The other big problem is paper storage. Right now I have my Close to My Heart paper and cardstock on a metal storage rack that is taking up entirely too much room. I also have paper and stickers in 13x13" frosted boxes but the horizontal thing is not working. It is too hard to get to the paper and the stickers are mixed up in a box. I am a messy scrapper and after a few days of scrapbooking my area is full of boxes. So I am going to try the same general idea vertically. I got some more of these frosted paper holders from Oriental Traders and first, I am going to to sort my cardstock. After that task is done I will work on my patterned paper. Then I am going to take down my paper rack and reformat it to make squares that I can put all my frosted organizers on! I am also planning to get rid of my big table in my craft area and replace it with a desk my Mom is giving me. Nobody sits at the table except me and I can put my square metal shelving and the new desk in the same amount of space the table takes up. Dave will be so happy to hear I am reorganizing once again! NOT!

January 9, 2008

Date Night with Brent - Brent and I were able to have an impromptu date night since Brandon was working and Dave wasn't going to be home for dinner. We had a gourmet meal at McDonald's. Dave told Brent he was jealous that he got to have date night with me. We had Bailey with us and had a nice meal and nice conversation and Brent got to have an Oreo McFlurry for dessert!

January 8, 2008

My Grandmother gave me money for Christmas. She wanted me to buy a bracelet but since I am not working I am not wearing as much jewelry, so, I decided to buy this Photo Studio. It came with the two lights and a camera tripod. Hopefully my pictures for eBay and Etsy will look better.

I wanted to get these desktop calendars done closer to the new year but like so many projects I start I couldn't find everything I needed in my supplies. I will be happy when I get the garage done and am a bit more organized. These calendars are made with coasters. They are a quick and easy gift idea. The top on is for my Mom and the blue and yellow one is for...guess who? ME!

January 7, 2008

The kids are back to school and life is returning to something close to normal. Brent got an early birthday present from his Dad - a laptop! He is writing a book!

Along with all the mundane Monday chores - laundry, cleaning, listing on eBay - I did some scrapbooking. A couple of the pages I just had finishing touches to complete but now they are complete. I have a couple of desktop calendars I want to work on today as well as a chipboard frame. I am waiting on a shipment for my Valentine gifts as well. Off to craft!

January 6, 2008

Dave had a long list of honey do projects for this weekend. The one I was most excited about was part of my Christmas gift from my Mom and Dad. When I was visiting my Grandmother in Pennsylvania over Thanksgiving I was intrigued by her bird feeder. She had a 4" x 4" post with a bird feeder on each side of the post. I mentioned that to my Mom and she and my Dad picked out four of the coolest bird feeders ever. One is for hummingbirds and the rest are regular feeders. I can't wait for the birds to find the feeders.

January 5, 2008

Mmm! White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies and a glass of milk. There is no better snack!
It's fun to watch Bailey interact with the animals. She is starting to touch the dogs and be aware that they are sharing her space. I think the dogs are in for a rude awakening when she get mobile.

January 4, 2008

I had the television on on Christmas Eve day and saw an infomercial on the Cricut. Try it for only $49.99. As I watched more of the infomercial I got more interested in having a Cricut so went on line to check it out. What they neglected to tell you is you try it for $49.99 but if you keep it - you will have four more payments of $49.99. Yikes! So I went to eBay and found an open box model for $100.00 less than new. This machine is awesome! Now to find some other cartridges that don't cost an arm and a leg.

January 3, 2008

Baby, it's cold outside! Ok, for a lot of people 29 degrees at 4 a.m. is not all that cold but for us Southwest Floridians, we are freezing! Time for a cuppa tea - English style with milk and sugar. I drank about four giant cups!
I love the color blue. A good portion of my house is decorated in blue. Blue makes me happy. One of the many great gifts I got for Christmas this year were these blue and white ceramic orbs that my Mom got me. I purchased the great blue bowl at Goodwill and these orbs look fantastic in it. I found the two cobalt blue cracked glass orbs on eBay and I think they add just the right touch. Love, love, love my new dining room table display!

My horoscope told me that I would have unexpected visitors today. Well, they weren't unexected but I did have visitors. Or maybe they were visiting Bailey and I reaped the benefits. My sister, my mom and my niece came to visit. Bailey was a doll (as she usually is) and we had a great time catching up. Bailey couldn't understand how the voice was the same but the face different. My sister and I sound very much alike but look very different. She kept looking at me when I talked and then looking at Diane when she talked. It was funny to watch! I hope they don't wait as long to visit the next time!

Friday's Feast 1/4/08

Feast One Hundred & Seventy Four

Appetizer
When was the last time you received a surprise in the mail, and what was it?

A Christmas card from an old friend.

Soup
If you could have a summer and/or winter home, where would you want it to be?

I live in the perfect winter home place Naples, FL. I would love a summer home in Aiken, SC or near Nashville, TN.

Salad
Pick one: pineapple, orange, banana, apple, cherry.

Banana!

Main Course
Describe the nicest piece of clothing that you own.

I have a great pair of black pants that fit well and look good. I can wear any number of blouses with them and have a put together look.

Dessert
If you could forget one whole day from your life, which day would you choose to wipe from your memory?

Probably the day I moved out of my marital home. But, like most bad days, the end result was good.

January 2, 2008

Have I told you lately...that I LOVE my new camera (Nikon D40X)? This camera is great - I can't wait to take the classes and learn more. You can see in my picture what I spent last night doing, well wrapping ribbon and watching HGTV. I don't have the room to hang my ribbon rolls on the wall so I saw where someone had taken cardboard and wrapped their ribbon around it and put it in a basket. I have these cool frosted photo boxes from Oriental Traders that have the dividers for photos. I don't use them for photos (go figure) but to store scrapbook stuff. So, I cut off the label part of the dividers and wrapped my ribbon around them. Of course, this project will take me weeks to finish as I have two boxes (so far) of ribbon to wrap.

January 1, 2008

I was working on the computer this morning and enjoying the sound of the rain when I decided to take my cool new camera outside and take a few pictures of the the rain. Dave asked me how do you take pictures of rain? Well, I think my pictures show the rain pretty well. What an awesome way to start the new year, with rain. Makes everything green and fresh and we know a cool front is on the way. I love the warm temperatures but a little cool air is refreshing!

One of my new year's goals (not resolutions) is to do more scrapbooking. Since the birth of Bailey I have taken SO many pictures and I have boxes full of photos to scrapbook. My goal is a page a day so decided I better get busy. I went through a small box of photos and found these from 2001. Wendy had come to visit and we were having our coffee while watching The Today Show and dubbed the morning "Coffee with Matt". What a fun layout to do and while I was working on it Wendy called me! Too fun! I am going to visit her (and go to the Tucson bead show) in early February and I can't wait. I also started another group of pictures and finished two layouts but haven't journaled on them so I can't count them as complete. I have many, many layouts in my albums with no journaling on them so am not going to make that mistake again!

Dave, Brandon and I went to PJ Chang's for dinner last night. Dave was having a craving for Kung Po Scallops. I forgot to call for reservations so we waited almost an hour but it was SO good! Brandon had Divan Chicken (HOT!) and I had Mongolian Beef (yummy!) and we all had dessert. What a great evening!

Bailey is Five Months Old!

Miss Bailey Boo is five months old! She was very serious when I took this picture but was dressed so cute in her little overalls with teddy bears and yellow shirt. Isn't she a cutie?