I am a bad bad blogger, please forgive me.

This blogging stuff is a whole lot easier when I can do it on my own computer, which I should have back tomorrow! YEAHHHH!!! (And THANKS SO MUCH JOOP!)

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The cards above are from last year, super simple to make. The leaves are stenciled with a brass stencil and pigment inks that I blended together. Gave them a little sprinkle of clear embossing powder, heat set it, and attached a ribbon. It doesn't get much easier than that. I like to make the same style card, but make it with different colors of card stock to get a different look.

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Trick or Treat is tomorrow. I may go with DH to town and hand candy out of the car while he does his Fire Police duties. We never get any trick or treaters way back here in the sticks.

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Take care!

There's No Place Like HOME!

We went to one of the best weddings I have ever been to this past weekend! I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more, cried some more... Ate wonderful delicious food and cookies, danced until I thought my feet would fall off! I could go on and on about it but I sure I would get carpal tunnel typing alllll that up! I truly had a wonderful time with the family, but it is good to be HOME!

As promised, these are pictures of the guest book that I made for Joshua and Brianna. The book is a 6x6 spiral bound scrapbook made by Canson. I purchased this one at AC Moore and locally that is probably the only place you will find them. (Michaels and Pat Catans no longer sell them, not sure about JoAnn's) I used silk leaves painted with gold glitter fabric paint and ribbon to match the wedding color on the front. The cover is matted with metallic gold, red, and white. I computer printed their names in red ink on vellum on the top layer.
The inside pages are computer printed only on the front with "Our Wedding Guests" on the top, followed by lines to sign on and the bottom of the page says "Joshua & Brianna October 20, 2007." There is a silk fall leaf on the edge of each page as well, they look like they are pressed in the pages all around the edge of the book when it is closed up. The "back" each page has a 5 1/2 in square piece of card stock on it and after they get their pictures back I am going to scrapbook them into the guest book. Since all of the printed pages didn't get used up they can also be covered over with CS as well and scrapbooked.

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More about the wedding when I can post some pictures later this week.

Take care....

Hallelujah!

I got a picture to load! This is the sympathy card that I made more than a few of last week. Nothing much to report. Tonight is Homecoming and I am working the Beverages Only tent once again.

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Tomorrow we are attending my cousin Josh's wedding. I am so excited and happy for him and Brianna. I will do my best to post some pics of their guest book once we get back.

Take care!

Hello Friends!

Sorry for the big gap in blogging. It was a pretty rough week last week. We had many deaths of family and friends and I just wasn't feeling up to blogging. I hope to not have to go to a funeral home again for a very very long time. I have a picture of a sympathy card that I made many of last week, however Blogger is not cooperating with me to get it loaded up this evening. Maybe tomorrow.

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Our computer also had to make a trip to Dr. Joop for some repair work. It was also near death last week and would not boot up past the ScanDisk screen so who knows what it has come down with. Keep your fingers crossed that it can receive a technical healing! I am just hopefull that my word files can be salvaged from it, I began collecting more recipes for my cookbook and I would hate to lose them.

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There is some good news today! The crop registration is going very well and I am so thrilled about that! At last count I had 29 confirmed registrations and a total count of 39 with scrapbookers telling me they are going to come! Registrations are arriving every day! We have hashed out some of the details like the menu and we have actually booked the date for the spring event already.

YEAHHHH!!!! If you need more info about the crop please contact me at HarmonyCropInfo@aol.com and I will get more info to you.

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Take care, hopefully tomorrow I will have some pictures to post!

Just a quick Sunday afternoon note to you all. I have been enjoying this beautiful weather so much!

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I did not make a single card yesterday but I did check out many a blog for inspiration! I have lots of ideas swirling around in my head for cute little Hershey Nugget boxes, tags, gift labels, gift wrap and gift bags.... I love it when I have a bunch of ideas processing in my mind!

Drop me a line and let me know what you are working on!

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My other project in the works is a guest book for my cousin Josh & Brianna's wedding in two weeks. It is getting to be crunch time on that one... I just want it to be perfect and I think that is why I am struggling with it so much! It will be done by the end of this week though, so I can get it to to groom to get it to the bride.

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DH and I had a nice day on Friday. We drove to Altoona for his anniversary gift... a pneumatic brad nailer. Which in turn cleared several things off of his Honey-do List. I got my coffee table repaired and my kitchen shelf installed. I am still holding out though, I am going to get the Bind-it-all! Wooohoooo!

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This evening DH is just worn out. He took a bus rescue class this weekend for his fire department. They had classroom time Saturday and then they cut up a school bus at the junk yard today. Being awake so early doesn't agree with him so right now he is snoring--oops make that snoozing (& snoring) on the couch.

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We will see how I fair this week, I actually have a couple of daylight shifts, so I may need a nap!

Take Care!

Today is.....

World Card Making Day

This here sweet little card is called a reverse pocket card. You can find instructions and explanation for it in the blog Mish Mash over on the sidebar of my page. Check her archive for September 25, 2007. Her card is a lot more fancied up compared to mine. I did decide to add a piece of twine at the top though, after I took the picture of it. The stamped image is an older one, watercolored and matted on some pumpkin pie colored cardstock.
I was thinking today, while we were driving home from Altoona, how beautiful the leaves are getting on the trees. It is sometimes a pain to be a one vehicle family, but I have to admit that I almost feel spoiled when I don't have to drive. I like the luxury of sitting in the passenger seat, helping navigate and enjoying the scenery.

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Celebrate World Card Making Day! Make a card or two or three and drop them in the mail and make someone's day when they open the mailbox to find something other than junk or bills!

Take Care!

More Homemade Harvest Fun!

These are mini composition books purchased at the Dollar Tree. (4 in a package) I simply covered them with cardstock and added a colored stamped image to the front. The closure is a tiny piece of sticky back velcro. I would suggest that if you try this one, use heavy cardstock to do the covers. The comp bookcovers are only the weight of regular paper so you need the heavy cardstock to make it sturdier and more durable. Super cute, super simple and great for in your purse!

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Can I say TGIF! What a week it has been at Wallywork. We had a shouting match nearly turn to a fist fight in front of the books and magazines yesterday. Crazy people and we were sooooo stinkin' busy!

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I picked up a couple of cans of Caramel Apple Pie Filling today. I am going to attempt to recreate a cake that I had over the weekend with caramel frosting, apples and yellow cake. I will have to let you know how it turns out!

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If you are looking for something to do over the weekend it is Hooversville's Town Homecoming. Lots of activities, food and a tour of the Reform Church and on Sunday they are dedicating the new playground at the park. I can personally recommend the breakfast Saturday morning at the Lutheran church. Yummy pancakes, sausage, juice, coffee, & fruit cup for $3, can't beat that! (7 am to 10 am)

Take care and have a great day!

What can you do with a COCOA CAN?

Alter it of course!

This little can was covered with fall theme papers and stamps and ribbons. It is just the right size to fill with some sweet treats or party mix or whatever you like! I am thinking of "altering" those little peanut cans as well to make them match my holiday decor! Check out that handstamped tissue paper for inside too!

This card is my first attempt at a suspension card. The circle in the middle is an embossing punch from Around the Block. It punches and embosses the border around the word. This one says thanks. I used my "whale of a punch" circle punch to make the circle. The hole in the card is cut with a coluzzle circle template. The little circle punchie is suspended with some floss in the center of the hole. This was a pretty tool intensive card but it was fast and easy as well. People are quite impressed with the suspended punchie too! I found that it looks nice to put a contrasting color paper on the inside of the card too, so that the punchie stands out.

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Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary... we are going out to dinner and since I haven't bought DH a gift yet, I am taking him to Harbor Frieght for some more tools... isn't that the traditional 5th anniversary gift, a brad nailer for your air compressor? I always thought the gift was something like Bind-it-all, but DH insists it is tools. LOL!!!

Take care!

BS #1 Rocks!

This is BS #1. Hi Barb!

She rocks cause she showed us how to make these awesome candles at the crop this weekend. It was super easy and I love them! I mostly love that I can make different candles for each season/holiday and I can also use my stamps that I already have for a new project! I also LOVE that this is a really cute gifty idea for the holidays coming up! Can you imagine how cute they would be for a wedding or baby shower centerpieces? Or a tea party? The ideas are just bombarding my little head! This particular candle was made using a vanilla scented pillar candle from the Family Dollar store and stamps from Papertrey Ink and Stamps by Judith.

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Registrations are starting to come in for the crop. From what I can tell right now just from people telling me they are coming, we have exceeded our last attendance already!! I can't tell you how thrilled I am about that!

Thats all for today! I am beat...beginning of the month at Wallywork is rough on me!

Take Care!

Report on the Saint Andrew School Scrap the Day Away

Wow! What a fun couple of cropping days! The crop was a great time. I haven't been to a two day event for over a year, I think. I got soooooo much done and I have soooooo many pictures to share with you this week. It was a nice mix of Thanksgiving/Fall/Christmas projects that I was working on. The gals at my table were the dear gals who worked with me at CPS and friends of theirs. I had a wonderful time visiting and catching up with them. It is like we pick up right where we left off with the inside stories and jokes! Because of my gals at the table I had wonderful leg and foot refreshing spray and fun music!

As for the crop itself, wonderful job ladies! The goodie bags were nice, the make and takes were fun. Tons of doorprizes, even though I wasn't a winner. (Pout) YUMMY food and soooo much of it!
These are a couple of Criss Cross cards that I made while I was there. I find that it is easier to work on cards and little projects while I am away cropping. The pattern/instructions for this card can be found at Splitcoaststampers.com.
Sorry that the stamped image isn't appearing so great in the pictures. It is a very intricate harvest wreath with fruits and vegetables. In all honesty I loved the image but could not imagine taking the time to color it all in and it did not look so good stamped in just one flat color. It does look incredible heat embossed with copper metallic powder.

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Keep checking back... I have LOTS of project pics loaded up to share!

Tomorrow is the first of the month.... UGHHHHHH!!!

Take Care!

Update...

It has been a busy week at work and at home. I just wanted to update you on the family stuff. Gram is in a regular room, no longer in CCU. She is pretty miserable with pain.

Tyler was home the next day, bouncing off the walls. The Dr. thinks it was a febrile seizure although he did test positive for mono. He is pretty much back to his usual self, thankfully.

I have been organizing my projects to take to St. Andrews crop. Can't wait to see you all there! Stop by my table, I always have chocolate!!!!

Hopefully by Saturday evening I will have some new projects/pages to share with you all!

Take care.

Craziness, I tell ya!

How about that old saying, when it rains it pours. Today while my Mom and nephew Tyler were visiting my Gram in the hospital Tyler had a seizure. They ran some tests on him and admitted him, I guess we will know more tomorrow. So while you are saying your prayers say a few for the little guy.

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Not much scrapping going on here. I was a pretty lazy couch tater the past few days. I do have a couple of cocoa mix cans sitting on my desk that I am wanting to alter. Been giving some thought to what I am going to take to the St. Andrews crop. I can't believe I am going to have that much uninterrupted scrapping time! WOOOHHHOOOOO!!!!!!

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Also wanted to say hey a couple more self proclaimed blog-stalkers.... Hey BS #3, Leonore from Hawaii and BS #4 Nicole from right here in PA! Thanks for hanging out and reading my thoughts, confessions and dork moments.

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Speaking of dork moments.... last evening while preparing Shrimp Alfredo for my DH boy did I have a DM. I was pressing some fresh garlic into the pan for my sauce when a particularly juicy clove of garlic squirted out of the back of the garlic press and there I stood with garlic juice and bits all over my hair, face, arms and shirt. In case you weren't wise to the fact, garlic juice BURNS! I washed my face more than once and I was still feeling it. I took a shower and could still smell the garlic on me. Only me, gals, only me!

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One last bit of dorkiness and I will be done for the night. On Friday after the football game I went back to my cousin Amy's house for a little glass of wine....and that was all it took! One little glass and I could not talk straight. So let me just tell Amy and Annette that I made myself some CANPAKES for breakfast today and they were good! LOL!!!

Take Care!

For the Love of Pumpkins

That is the title of this wonderful idea book I picked up in front of the the pumpkin bins at Wallywork--yeah that is what I am going to call it! LOL! The link to the site is in the title, some of it is still under construction. If they put all of the stuff that is in the book on it then it will be a pretty great place to visit. There are sections in the book for Decor, Carving, Halloween, Games, Thanksgiving, Weddings and Events and an Appendix with pictures of different types of pumpkins and what they are used for. Oh yes, and how could I forget, throughout all of the sections there are RECIPES!!!!!

Speaking of pumpkin recipes, I made the Pumpkin Spice Frosted Snack Bars from Kraftfoods.com and they are yummy and super simple! They start with a box of spice cake mix and only have a few ingredients and are topped with cream cheese frosting.
YUM YUM YUM!!!

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Gram is stable and holding her own at the moment. She is not in great shape, but we are just waiting and praying.

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I enjoyed working the drink tent last night at the football game. It was such a beautiful warm evening and we could hear the game well and see it some of the time. The tent was well recieved by the crowd too. So many people commented how they thought it was a great idea to have a place for those who only wanted a drink and not stand in line for hot food. I must also report that although we did not win last night it was one heck of a game, a nail biter right down to the end. Congrats to Rockwood on their first win of the season, maybe my Panther's will get one soon!

Take care! (only six days til St. Andrew's Crop!)

Hip Replacement

Yesterday my Mom's mother had hip replacement surgery. It got complicated... she needed 4 units of blood. She seemed to be doing well post-op though, until her blood pressure went crashing down. They think that she may have had a slight heart attack last evening. She is stable at the moment and alert. Please just keep her and my Mom in your prayers. (Complicated family issues that would take me years of blogging to even begin to explain.)

Take care.

It feels like kindergarten!

I have been coloring my stampies with my watercolor pencils and blending them with an aqua-painter and I am quite pleased with the results! Just trying to get some things started for Autumn/Thanksgiving theme cards.

I am getting lots of response about the crop and that has made me a VERY HAPPY gal! I think we will have a pretty big crowd again this time. I am just thrilled that we are growing each time!

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I am thinking that next year at the Heritage festival I am going to sell handcrafted greeting cards as well as having a make & take table. The money raised at the festival goes to Camp Harmony and the Western PA District Church of the Brethren. The committee has been looking for new fresh ideas for booths and I think that this one may be a winner. That said, I am calling upon you, my crafty creative friends! Next time you are crafting a card consider using your scraps to make an "extra" and send it my way for the sale table.

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Work (my paying job) has been quite the chore lately. I am usually good for a while after having some time off, but not so much this time. My frustration with rude people overwhelms me at times. Is it that much trouble to not answer your phone while I am waiting on you? I don't answer my (business) phone while I am waiting on you. I wait until I have finished and then answer it, and pray the person on the other end is not going to rip my head off because they had to wait because it took me longer to wait on you because my mother taught me to NOT interrupt someone who is speaking. ARRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!

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Friday I am helping with the concession stand at the football game. My Mom is one of the people in charge of it. It is Senior Night and they are expecting a pretty big crowd. I am working the "auxiliary soda and chips only" tent. Kinda like the "express" lane! LOL! My Mama told them what my real job is and they apparently think I am well qualified!

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I am seeking some opinions on the following quote. I really feel strongly about it because of what I see at work (the shoplifting, fraudulent returns, etc.) I think that dishonest people think that because it is such a big company that they are not hurting anyone by their dishonest actions.

"Character is doing the right thing when no body's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught."

~JC Watts

I want Travis to have character. It should be as easy as do as I do, but geez, we live in a pretty corrupt world sometimes. I wonder if that is enough. How do we instill in the next generation character, integrity, honesty... Let me have it, tell me what you think.

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If the tone was at times heavy today, I apologize. Take care, brighter and better days ahead!

What a BUSY day!

The Heritage Festival Make and Take Table was a pretty big success and I am quite happy about that! (Thanks Deanna for sending business my way!) We made lots of cards and scrapbook pages and I gave out a bunch of registration flyers for the crop. I was up REALLY early, like 5 AM early to do some last minute things for the table so when I got home this evening I curled up on the couch with a blanket and took a two hour nap. SOOOO nice!

My paint can and goodies to fill it up from our grab bag exchange.
Our really fun, fast, and easy make and take from the Crafternoon Crew courtesy of Connie and the
Splitcoast Stampers Criss Cross Card Tutorial.

I wish I would have taken pictures of Barb's and Connie's Halloween cards. They were TOO CUTE!

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Take Care!

The Crafternoon Crew!

That is the name of our card club! LOL! Barb (BS1) thought it up and I love it! We had a great afternoon and did a really easy and incredible looking make and take. (Thanks Connie!) I also got a cool paint can to alter and had a yummy fluffy peachy dessert. (Thanks Becky!)

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If you are attending the Brethren Heritage Festival today (9/15) stop by and visit me. I will be in the lobby of Faith Hall doing make and takes and handing out info for my crop.

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I will put up some pictures the next time I post of my goodies and card from today. I have to tell you too, that I totally enjoyed the roast, carrots and potatoes today. The house smelled YUMMY when I got home and it was perfect food for the dreary evening it turned out to be.

Take Care!

TGIF!

Nothing much to report today. Glad that this week of work is done, I have had enough drama!

I am busy getting things together for my make and take table for the Brethren Heritage Festival.

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REALLY looking forward to getting together with my card club gals in the morning.

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Tomorrow I am making a beef roast, carrots and potatoes in the crock pot for dinner. I love good hearty comfort food and the little bit of chill in the air has made me want to cook a bit!

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Here is a recipe from my cousin Amy, the apple pie queen! This is soooo much easier to make than "real" apple dumplings. I sprinkle the sliced apples with a little cinna-sugar and if you like you can also sprinkle on some raisins. SUPER YUMMY!

Apple Dumpling Cake
3 pounds of apples peeled & sliced in a 9X13 pan

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup oil

1 tsp salt

2 tsp. baking powder
Mix all ingredients together & pack mixture on top of apples.

Sprinkle top with cinnamon. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

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Have a GREAT FRIDAY!

Take Care!

Nothing much to report today...

My DH went back to work today, they are on mandatory overtime which means he is working five twelve hour shifts in a row. I keep teasing him that he needs to find out which one of his bosses' places he is going to crash at, cause I'm not putting up with his tired cranky butt! LOL!! Seriously, I don't expect cranky, just really, really tired!

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Someone left a comment about the cookbook that I made for Brianna. I posted pictures of it a few weeks ago, check the August archives the post is called A Wedding Shower. To make the actual cookbook pages I made a template in word. It was a one half page layout (8.5 inches x 5.5 inches) with text boxes for the title, ingredients list, and preparation instructions. Each section had a table of contents. I had beverages, breakfast, breads, main dishes, sides & salads, and desserts. I made a master copy and printed it on my printer. I printed it once and then flipped the pages and printed it again so that I got two copies on one page. It took almost two ink cartridges. There were over 180 recipes in the book. I only printed on he front of the paper, thinking that Brianna can write more recipes on the blank backs of the pages.

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I then took it to my friendly Staples and had one copy made on beautiful bright white paper. They also took care of cutting the pages in half which was a great big help and time saver. I punched the pages with a two hole punch, also from my friendly Staples store. That took a lot less time than I thought it would. The cover was made with chipboard, which I covered with pattern paper, stamped and embellished. It is all put together with binder rings and mounted onto an acrylic picture frame. I punched holes into the frame with my Crop-a-dile.

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The tricky part then, was that the book was a bit top heavy, so I redneck fixed it with an embellished wooden spoon. I hot glued a bunch of BB's (yes, I said BB's, I couldn't find any nice little flat glass marbles or other pretty as well as heavy things! LOL!) to the spoon and covered them over with some cute little buttons tied a ribbon to it and attached the HEAVY spoon to the bottom of the frame. LOL!! I thought I would take that little secret to my grave, but y'all had to ask how it was made... so I had to confess! LOL!

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That should be it for today! Just a little request from me, when you leave a comment sign your name, I don't get your email address to email you privately, so I often don't know who is reading and asking questions, tell me who you are I'd like to get to know who is reading all my thoughts and confessions! LOL! Thanks for reading, commenting and brightening my day!

Take Care!

Without further delay.... I bought the following...

I have always wanted this style of paper cutter! (Crazy wish for a galwith nine fingers! LOL!) We actually found it at Harbor Freight (gasp!) for the bargain price of $12.99. It will be so handy when I am whipping out stacks of blank cards!
This handy dandy Fiskars punch is four sided and it punches fancy corners and dry embosses them at the same time! Gotta LOVE those tools that can multi-task!
These are the Perfect Pearls we used at Art Tech to make the faux hammered metal letters. I have been wanting to make more do-dads with it but needed to find the right set. Yeah! Best of all the directions on how to make them are on the back of the package!

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Thanks for your patience! I have not been getting very much done between getting taken to fire calls, laundry and working this AWFUL 11-8 shift.

Take care and have a good day!