The Copics got me...

I am going to try and catch up on what I have been up to since the last time I posted...which was 3 months ago, but I have been a busy bee crafting! LOL!!!

I found out that Michaels started carrying Copic Markers.  And when I did, I had 50% Coupons!  WOO-HOO!  So I even had hubby go in each day and purchase some for me to build up my collection, but instead, he asked the one day he went if he could use a bunch of coupons and they let him...he just had to do each one a separate transaction.  What a man I have!!!  Anyway, I think I have about 30 now...and that's good enough for me because about a year ago I stumbled across a clearance sale at Office Depot of Prismacolor Markers...48-set for $10.00...I knew I couldn't pass that up.

So now of course, I got on to a coloring phase and colored, colored, colored.   I have a lot more practicing to do, but I love it!  Here are some samples of stuff I had been coloring.

The images are from The Greeting Farm!  AWESOME images...gotta get some more!

Yep...lots more practicing...but loving it so far.  I also saw on Youtube how to use your prismacolor pencils with these images...gotta try that as well soon.

Ok...that is my Copic Phase...on to the next!!!

Crafting Away...

Hello again...yes, I am posting again, look at that! LOL!!!

Anyway, I wanted to post some pics of the creations I have been making.  Hope you don't mind me sharing.

These are called 'Captured Fairy'.  I found the idea on YouTube by fellow crafters.  It's a Starbucks Frappucino Bottle that I transformed into a Captured Fairy.  It was a lot of fun to do and I had everything that I decorated it with already on hand.  So that is a total score.  Usually no matter what project I start to make, there is something that I am missing and have to run to the store.  It is much easier now that there is a Michael's and Joann's within 15-30 minutes away, but still.  I know I have a lot of stuff, so there has to be something I can make without having to make a supply run...and this was it! LOL!!!

This is a card that I made for my hubby's birthday that is coming up next week.  He doesn't see my blog, so it will still be a surprise for him! LOL!!!  It's a dart board, as if you didn't know, but he loves his darts and pool...which brings me to the other item I made for him.

Isn't it adorable?  I got the pattern and glued all those pieces together.  I think it came out cute.  I hope my hubby likes it.

Last but not least...I am not done with it yet, but here it is about 75% done...

This is the Travel Suitcase...I followed Kathy Orta's wonderful creation.  You can find it at Paper Phenomenon.  She is phenomenal.

Here it is open.  There is a mini album inside.  I happened to find travel paper that had the countries I want to visit one day...England and Italy.

So there will be more to come on this as I am done, but had to share it so far.

I have also done a couple of other items that I am almost done with, but I cannot share them since they are Christmas gifts for friends and family that I hope do check out my blog! LOL!!!

Yes, I have already started to do some Christmas gifts.  I figured instead of cramming at the holidays, this year I would try and get some things done before the rush!

I have had so much fun creating lately and love when I am on a roll.  When creative blocks appears it can be unbearable so I am hoping to be able to stay on course for a bit!!!

Well, thank you so much for visiting and sharing along with me.  Take care and hope to blog again soon!

Being sick sucks...

Sorry that it's been so long, again, that I haven't written.  I even tried to make a New Year's Resolution of blogging more, but as I've said before, the beginning of this year...SUCKED! To say it bluntly.  LOL!!!
Well, the last time I wrote, I let you know of how sick I had been and thought it was gastritis.  But it wasn't.
I started to get sick more and more, getting worse and worse.  I actually went to the Emergency Room!  I NEVER go to the hospital, except for others.  I am actually never sick...barring colds, so this was way too much for me...and my hubby.  He was totally getting worried and out of control.  My bestie took me to the Emergency room and they gave me an IV because I was so dehydrated from throwing up so much, and nausea medicine.  I rested for a bit, and they said it was a belly bug.  Unfortunately, I seriously did not think it was the belly bug...but I was not in the right state of mind and I totally felt bad for Dawn staying the whole morning with me.  So we went back home.
I was better for a couple of days...but then...it started again.  I got totally sick at work, drove home...and had to stop multiple times on the way to get sick...finally made it home and stayed in bed til hubby got home.  He knew there was something really wrong...he said I looked like a zombie...no color in my face at all.  The throwing up was unbearable...and there was nothing in my system to come up.  But I would sleep for about an hour, then wake up and throw up...then back to sleep.  He called his doctor and inquired about it.  his doctor said to being me to a different hospital and he totally thought it was my gallblatter.  So, the next morning, bright and early...during a mad storm, hubby brought me to another hospital and told them all about it.  They took me right in because my heart rate was so high.  After the doctor looking me over, taking an x-ray, taking a sonogram and finally a cat scan...they determined it was my gallbladder and it was so bad I needed surgery right away.  My white blood cells were wacky and they did not like what they saw.  So that night I had surgery...my first surgery ever...and had my gallbladder taken out.
I later found out that my gallbladder was calcified, which means that it was starting to wear on my other organs and cancer could have been the next step if it was not taken care of when it was.  Thank God we went when we did because none of my other organs were harmed and all is good now.  The good thing that came out of this all is that I now have to watch the fat intake.  So a month and a half later I am now almost 25 pounds lighter.  Which I don't mind, cause I can certainly lose more!!! LOL!!!
So now that I bored you with that story, I figure I will leave this blog at that and will fill you in on more later on.  I do promise to get on here more now that things have calmed down in my being sick.  But the puppy is another story...she is certainly a handful and is growing more each day!!!  Updates on that soon.  Take care everyone...and the moral to this story...always go for a second, third, or even fourth opinion...and as soon as you can.  You can never mess around with your health.  If you don't have that, what do you have?

It's been a long, sad time for me...

I have not posted in a while, I know.  It's been a bit bad around here lately and I hope the worst is  behind us.  My bestest, fur baby friend is now up in heaven watching over me.  She was sick since before the holidays and she tried to stay, but the pain was too much to bear watching her go through.  So on March 7, 2011, we let her go to sleep and hopefully she will wait for us to come and visit her.

Although she is no longer with us, she did make it to meet and hang out with our newest addition to the family...Angel.  Appropriate name for the little one, since Sweet Pea's passing, she has not let me get too down or depressed...she is definitely a handful.

We just got her on February 17th...and she is absolutely adorable.  She came to us at only 7 pounds...but now, a couple weeks later she has gained 4 pounds.  She went to the vet the other day for some of her puppy shots and checkup and all is good.  Hubby said she was a complete 'angel' at the vet too.  She already knows to let us know when she needs to go out, but of course has some accidents.  Which is okay because we have dog-proofed our house many years ago when we got Amber and Sweet Pea.  She also is getting the command of sit and come.  She is a smart cookie! LOL!!!

When I can bring myself to talk more of Sweet Pea...I will fill you in, but for now I just need to let it go and think good thoughts.

This is the last picture we took together...this was right before she went in to be put to sleep...so you can see by my face I am not a happy camper, but I am glad that we got to hang out by the lake with her before her passing.

I have been trying to get back into crafting to get my mind off of things, but it has been slow.  

My gastritis has been a real pain to deal with.  One day/night I am fine, the next I am up at 4 a.m. sick as a dog.  And taking time off of work is killing me.  I hate that and the mess I come back to when I am out.  I plan to go back to the doctor and see if there is more that I can do to control it, but I do know that stress is a huge factor and we've had more stress this year so far than I think I have had in years.

That and I have the Angel handful to take care of...LOL!!!

But here are a few things I have been able to make...these were Birthday cards I made for some friends.

Then I made a charm bracelet for a friends birthday as well.

And last but not least...my Pop-Up Valentines card.

I got the idea from Dawn...she is an awesome artist.

Visit her site when you have a chance - Dawn's Stamping Thoughts

Here it is lying flat so you can mail it.

And last but not least, I joined in a swap at Paper Phenomenon

The swap was to purchase a $1 box that you can get at Michaels and dress it up as well as making a one-page mini album and charm for it.

Here's what I did.

Here's the album

And here's the album in the box...

Oh...I do have some good news to share...

I sold my Cricut Create that I only got a few months ago, for the bigger model.

I really did not think I would even use the Cricut that much, let alone want the bigger one that's why I purchased the Create first.

But I LOVE this machine and hubby bought me the Expression for my Birthday/Valentine's day.

It's the Aqua one...isn't it beautiful?  LOL!!!

Ok, well...I think I need to try and craft a bit before this whole weekend is gone.

Take care everyone...big hugz to you all.

A New Year...and not loving January so far...

Hello and Happy New Year to Everyone!

I hope your year is going better than mine is so far.

Let's see, where do I start?  I guess the beginning and the beginning of January started with the drains in our house being clogged.  So clogged that hubby and I rented an electric snake from Home Depot and had to snake each pipe in the house.  But our teamwork...along with some wonderful friends battled and conquered that catastrophe!

Next up...my tummy has been acting up on me for the past six months, but it has been here and there.  Well it decided to make me incapacitated five times within a week.  I decided it was time to see a specialist.  Now I get to go for an Endoscopy next week!  ACK!  I am seriously nervous about this.  I have not had any medical procedures in my life.  Never had kids, never had to go to the emergency room...nothing.  (Well, except for stitches way back when...but other than that...nothing!)  So I am really dreading this.  But I have to do what I have to do.

Then...my hubby goes back to work after a long Christmas vacation and the School system decides to put new cameras in the school buses.  (which my hubby drives).  Hubby is over six foot tall and did not see that they also put a new camera in the middle of the bus on the roof.  Well, as he was bent over going down the aisle to check for any kids that may have fallen asleep, he slammed his head into the camera.  He doesn't go to the doctor til the next day and come to find out has a concussion!  Oh my poor baby!  He had to go to a neurologist and has to stay home until the end of this week and go back for a check up.  He's feeling much better, but the ringing in his ears is still there somewhat.

In between all of this...my sweet little English Pointer (my soul mate) Sweet Pea had a cough before Christmas and we got her on antibiotics and she got better.  For about a month...Then the cough started all over, but this time it was a bit worse.  So back to the vet and this time...X-rays.  They find that there is something wrong with her lungs, her left one to be exact.  They are sending them out for analysis, but it does seem that she does not have full capacity of the left lung.  After all the trauma of the doctors visits and test, hubby and I have decided that we are going to love her, take care of her and keep her happy.  No more tests, biopsies or anything.  She can't go through that and I won't make her.  She is in great spirits and the coughing has stopped.  We have her on meds and will take it one day at a time.  As I write this, she is right next to me sleeping...as always!

No wait...there's more!!!

With the colder weather here, Amber, our Chow/Shepard mix poochie, has been getting arthritis in her back legs and they have been giving out on her.  She's approximately 95 pounds and we are giving her low dose Bayer that is making her better.

Ok...last but definitely not least.  My boss that I have worked for for the past five years, since I have this new job...is retiring at the end of this month.  I am truly going to miss her. She was tough, but with reason and would back you up when you needed it in our corporation, which happens a lot, especially in corporations.  And our corporate offices have decided that they need to be more 'hands on' which usually means 'downsizing'.  So for the next couple of months we will all be on edge in our office wondering what's next.

So..................after/during all that I have decided that February needs to be way better!  Whether it wants to or not!  LMAO!!!

I have been crafting away, trying to keep my stress level down through all of this.  Here are some of the things I have created.

A Calendar Box.  All made with cardboard and paper.  I have this on my desk at work.  I figured I needed to start bringing some crafts to work with me to make the days better.

Since Sweet Pea has to get her meds early in the morning, and I wake up early anyway...this morning I was up at 7 a.m., so crafting away I went!!!

This weekend I have started on a couple of Valentines cards.

I altered a box that holds some of my crafting supplies...here it is before:

And here it is after:

I also made a prototype of a waterfall card...will be doing this one again, but glad I now know how to do it.

This is when it is lying flat...

This is when you pull the tab down...this was fun!

Well...I also did some other things, but can't post them because they are birthday items for someone that checks out my blog.  So I don't want her to see them before her big day!!!

Thanks for listening to me whine for a bit and I truly hope that everyone that reads my blog knows that all that matters in life is having you and your loved ones healthy and keep yourself stress-free.  Or at least try!

Take care and know that I wish you health and happiness in the New Year!