Get caught up in it

Whatever you do this year-don't waste a day, an hour, a minute fretting and stressing. Life is too beautiful, too crazy, too unpredictable-just lose yourself in the awe of it all, and get caught up in it!

God loves each one of us and looks at us the way I look at this lovely face, with hope, joy, and most of all Love! If only we could walk around each day aware to that fact we would be much happier.

My New Years Resolutions?

1. Laugh more. You who know me wonder if that is possible-it is! Laughter is the best medicine-it says so in a Proverb. (17?) So get ready for more of my wacky humor. It is impossible to be a mother of four and to make it through a day without laughing. Case in point: (My then-5 yr. old) "That made me laugh so hard, my kidneys hurt!" "You don't even know where your kidneys are!" I responded, giggling. "You're right," he says seriously, "it must have been my spleen." I nearly wet my pants from laughter.
2. Blog more. This is fun, and sometimes I have a lot to say. That, and the people I talk to all day say "But why, mommy?" and "Can mine be PINK!?" ....all day long.
3. Publish something. My knitting patterns in a great book. THAT will be fun.
4. Get caught up in it." And don't stop to ask yourself why!" Life is too wonderful to miss by doing all of the time instead of just being.
5. Oh yeah, KISS more! There is never enough kissing!

Happy New Year to all of you whom I love, and all of those who are reading this. I truly pray God's blessed Hope comes to each of you , and to the world who needs His Love and presence and JOY!!

Let me count the ways....

Why do I love him? Because he is in there right now with my little tornado-two-year old, listening to all of her drama, probably rocking her-to sleep. Because even though my potato soup was HORRID ( I used a can/mix)-he ate the whole bowl with just a little eyebrow look. He learned a while back not to comment, unless comment very HAPPY! He puts up with the craziness. He's busy too, too busy; but I don't love him less. I don't know how. Sometimes I want to sneak away with him, like a rebellious teenager sneaking off to do some forbidden thing. Then I remember the children.

My mind drifts off-motherly thoughts. Did big T do his homework? Was little T scared tonight when Daddy put him to bed? I forgot to chase off the shadows and pray over him. Is tiny T still breathing all tucked in my big comfy bed? And the Princess, I didn't kiss her goodnight. This was a strange night, I just got so stressed. And there Matt was to take over-even though Tennis is on, and he worked all day. ( and night). Yeah, I guess I'm pretty much gonna love him forever.

I have to move the tiny teddy, the salt which was fairy dust, the stick 'lightsabers' , and whatever-that-is and stamp a card now. It's the hour before midnight-and the only time when I get any stamping done. This makes me a terrible blogger. But, for now, my life is all about family. I had enough time focusing on my self, didn't I? This is my dream come true....although, a little stamping reminds me of myself again-and how I wished for this day. "Some day I will have a perfectly clean and organized house-and no one here to 'discover' what I keep in my cabinets." It takes a 2 year old to get you thinking about life innocently again. I try to say less 'put that back in mommy's purse', and 'that was my best lipstick' and a little more 'You funny girl, look how pretty you are!'. I love my kids. I love my hubby. I love my life. I can only thank God for all that I have, because I'm pretty sure I don't deserve it. Thanks God. I hope I do something good with all of it.

Baby Shower Invites

This is the idea I had when my sister said she wanted to stamp some Baby Shower invitations for my party. I love how when you read them in the envelope they say Baby Shower, but when you pull out the tag they read Baby Boy. I used Whisper White and Vanilla and Kraft card stock for the tags and envies. Chocolate chip, Soft Sky, Sahara Sand SU! inks, and also Papertrey Summer Sunrise (orange). I just needed a lighter orange than Pumpkin Pie, and didn't have the Almost Apricot which would have worked as well. These are the colors I chose for the baby also. Stamp Sets were-criss cross background from the retired Looks Like Spring(one of my very favorites), Rough Edges Alphabet, greeting from the retired Hugs &Wishes set , and stars from Wanted set and Wild West Alphabet. On tag I also used the wish list stamp from the Taking Care of Business set. I used some decorative scissors (Provo Craft) and the indispensible Crop-a-Dile to punch through all the layers and set the eyelets. A little twine, ribbon, and a colored staple (?) finish off the accessories used. No tape or glue was necessary for this project. All I have to do now is have this baby. It could be any day!!!! Thanks for checking out my blog, and for those who have been waiting. I just didn't expect this baby to be trying to come so soon. Have a great weekend!

Started making journal sets for my Etsy shop. This one was with Amy Butler design paper. It is a mini Composition notebook, embellished inside and out, complete with tabs for marking the different sections. I made the paper clip page saver and notebook, and then covered a mini gel pen in the same paper and adhered micro beads to it for a finished professional look. It turned out cuter than I expected, so I will definitely be making more. This one was actually my first sale! Now I've made some more journals, stickers, and tags-and if this baby doesn't show too soon I'll be doing even more to post soon. Would love to make one for you-just check out my shop and hit conversations or contact. I put them all together in clear plastic boxes with stamped inserts, etc. so they are great for gift giving. Thanks for looking! Happy Memorial Day weekend!

It's fun to make stuff.

Jardin Rustique. More of the French Dictionary. A little more stamping. A lot more Mod Podge. I decided to give you all a 2 for 1 today since it has been so long since I posted. That, and my entire family is asleep and they think I'm doing laundry. Suckers!! Ha, ha, ha. (evil mom laugh) Moving forward. I bought this wood frame-it's almost 2" deep, bare and plain from Michael's. For those of you who don't have a Michael's-it is a craft store with lots of "craft"(editing similar ugly word that ends in p) stuffed in from floor to ceiling. You can just walk in there and know that you're going to buy something simply because you've never seen it before and wonder what you could make with it, and it's only a dollar or two. Thus the wood thing. I painted it, I cut out velvet and paper squares to glue to it, I took apart some silk flowers (also from Michael's) and the 1$ hot glue gun (Michael's) and started stuffing them in the recesses of the "frame". Stamped some French words, Mod podged, used craft tape runner and attached some weird ribbon I thought I'd use someday, and VOILA! (French dictionary)-instant bathroom decor. It totally matches my bathroom and looks cool. I love it. There used to be a metal frame around the bottom text, but, because this sits above the toilet-and men stand there facing that direction (so sorry for the crudeness) I am assuming my husband or other guy visiting to play video games some night wondered "how is that stuck on there?" and ripped it off. This happened repeatedly, until I just didn't let them have it back. "Hey, at least you have flowers to look at, so don't complain. I can't go hanging pretty pictures at toilet height on the adjoining wall for the rest of humanity. We women have to stare at the towel bar and the mysterious mini hand prints 2 feet from the floor. Be happy I let you look at my flowers, and put the lid down when you're done!" Sorry mom-sometimes honesty is best. Hope you enjoyed the flowers anyway. I make every attempt to be a lady like you, but sometimes I just get tired of pretending I don't notice they go in there and mess with my stuff. I just had to get it off my chest. Next subject. More wall hangings. The mirror was Mod Podged with a piece of scrapbook paper, surrounded by stickers "cutie, funny, etc.) and then stamped. I used VersaMark to stamp the words 'my baby' and then chalked over them to create a wet, pale color. Sanded the edges for that worn look, and was done. The other hanging is of more stuff from Michael's-wood letters-covered with more scrapbook paper, Mod Podged on, sanded edges, etc. Ribbon was stapled to back, and then I realized hanging each letter looked weird. More Michael's wood stuff, a banner this time, covered in paper, stamped with VersaMark and chalked. You get the idea. Matching room decor. I love it. Try it. Just keep it out of reach, and maybe put something you put less effort into above the toilet.(Le toilet-if you want to sound French and less trashy).

Savon de Paris!

Admittedly, I have an English to French Dictionary which I use to suit my own desire to show my comprehension of the French language. I probably saw this phrase, savon de whatever, on the back of a bar of soap. When I made this Dish soap bottle, it was not about the accuracy of the language that made me label it this way. It was the love of all things French, and of these stamps which I had newly acquired. This was before I discovered how wonderful Stampin' Up!'s stamps were, but that is another blog. Check out The Daily Ink
if you would like to see more on that subject. Anyway, being the Martha afficionado that I am, I had already been using beautiful old bottles with pour spouts to bring joy to the laborious task of daily dish washing. The smell of wet peanut butter is a scent which one never forgets, especially while pregnant. So, I stamped this label, which I cut to size in StazOn black ink for permanence, added some clear VersaMark which I chalked over for the pale watermark background (which would not show up because of the flash), and ModPodged it to the bottle. This made it both water proof, and permanent. I love this bottle. As you can see, it is currently empty. That is because when I ran out of the clear dishwashing all natural soap I love to use, I could not tarnish it's purity with some inferior flourescent green garbage. So it waits. It gets it's picture taken, finally, for the blog. My sister-in-law has long awaited my promise to post it. So here it is. Go dump out that half-drunk bottle of soda, cut some card stock to size (even as a wrap-around if you like) and get stamping. Try the matte mod podge for a less shiny image. Then get in there and do some dishes. See if you don't smile a little bit at that spoon of wet slimy peanut butter. You like doing dishes now, because you look good doing them. Enjoy!

Easter

These baskets were actually filled with candy at one point. My camera didn't move fast enough. I hand stamped the tags, and we hid the baskets. This was a perfect Easter-we put flowers on the cross at church to remember Christ's gift of love, and it was so covered I had a hard time walking away. My husband took a picture of my son just staring up at it. Perfect.