Sunday, January 25, 2015

Shake it like a polaroid picture

Hello again!
This posting on my blog may become a habit!  LOL!!!

This week was a little exciting.
At work I decided that I want to join a group that investigates various problems.
I put in for it about a month ago and totally thought they forgot about me,
but I did have the interview and all went well.
The guy that gave me the interview was actually from NY as well,
so me being nervous about my accent was squashed right away! LOL!!!
I should be finding out this week what the result is.
I'm o.k. with either way since it's not for a new job, just more work!

Also this week, I had a dream...I had a dream about
Estherina Maria Francesca Sandina Evangela Argondizza
That was my grandmother's name.
I thought about her a lot this week after having the dream.
A little something about me...
I don't dream a lot, or at least I don't remember them if I do have them.
It was weird one too, but it ended up with my Nanny (as I used to call her),
giving me the biggest hugs, that I didn't want to wake up.
I miss her like crazy all the time.
She was more like a mom to me more in my life than my mom was.
When I was really little, we lived with my grandmother and grandfather.
They watched over me while my mom worked and went out with her friends.
At that time, my grandmother worked as well...
she was a meat-wrapper at A & P.
I remember going with her to her job to get her check when it was her day off.
She would take me everywhere.  I also remember going to Macy's and Woolworth's was across the street and we would go there to eat lunch together.
She also used to take me to A & S and I remember at Christmas time the chandeliers that were by the elevators would be all lit up and decorated.
Funny the little things you remember.
Thinking of her this week made me smile a lot.
I hope when she was with me, I made her smile a lot.

This past week I was challenged to use an old stamp...before 2014.
Since I only buy new stamps occasionally,
I have a lot of older stamps that I have in my collection.

The first stamp that I decided to use,
was this Stampendous Precious Moments stamp from 1996.
Told you I have been crafting for quite some time.  LOL!!!


I am very happy with the way it came out since I feel that I am a bit better working with my colored pencils...just a bit.

I felt I was on a roll, so I decided to do another card with another older stamp.

In this one I used a Stampin' Up 2002 Hearts/Swirls Stamp
and a PSX 1997 Stamp 'Rosa
I also used an old ink pad -
Ranger SeaShell Shell Pink
that I hadn't used in forever on the swirl background.


I colored this one in with copic markers instead of pencils.
And I totally forgot where/what stamp the saying is from.

I totally enjoyed this challenge.
It gives new life to stamps that I haven't used in a while.
May have to keep this up,
but don't tell hubby...still want to get new stamps! LOL!!!


Another project I did was several rolled into one.
It's a shaped card, it's a shaker card and it's a Valentine's Card!

I started off with folded cardstock and then cut the top to look like a camera.




I then cut two circles for the lens.


I then glued a piece of acetate on the inside of the open circle.


I then placed foam glue squares around the whole open circle.


I decided that I wanted to make the shaker part higher,
so I added another layer of foam squares.
I took all the paper off the squares and added confetti inside.
Then I topped it off with the other circle.


Next, I added a doily onto the front of the card stock.


Then added a banner of polka dot paper over the doily.


Now add the shaker circle.
One hint that I did not figure, but will the next time.
Add baby powder to the inside of the foam squares 
to stop the sticky on the inside.  
You can do this with a q-tip and wipe excess with a swiffer duster sheet.
(Received this hint from Prairie Ink and Paper )


I stamped You are Wonderful to a piece of card stock 
and cut one edge like a banner.


Now add the stamped saying to the lens.
I added a square piece of silver card stock as the view finder to the front.


I then added an acrylic butterfly and some jute twine from my Target haul.
I also added some pearls to the butterfly.


I then stamped inside the card with two $1 stamps I purchased from Michaels a while back.  I knew they would come in handy!


I hope you enjoyed my Valentine's Camera Shaker Card.
Now you can shake it like a Polaroid Picture!!!  LOL!!!

Take care!

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Craft Haul, Nail Haul


That's right, another blog post!!!
Now that I have figured out how to schedule them the right way...
this might get me to do this more!
Ok, I might be the only one excited...but as I have said...
this is MY Blog...so I am allowed to be excited!

So...I saw this horoscope that was going around on Facebook, 
and I am laughing at the items that are so not me, 
but there are items that fit me to a 'T'!

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) Sensual / Unpredictable
The revolutionary and the chameleon of the zodiac. Charming. Attractive. Popular. You gather a diverse (and zany!) group of friends from all walks of life. Though you’re highly social, you absolutely hate fighting. This is often at odds with you quest for justice in all aspects of your life. You believe in fairness and equality. Generally speaking, you love pets more than people.


Sensual would not describe me as well as Unpredictable.
I am very predictable, you can set your clock to me!
Revolutionary, Chameleon...HA!
Charming...ok, I'll take that one!
Attractive...on some days.
Popular...oh my!  I was never and will never be popular!
Diverse/Zany group of friends and Highly Social...
this horoscope could not be farther from the truth!
My best and only friend is my husband.
Unfortunately, all of my close friends left me in the dust...
but I am actually fine with that, not worth it.

Now the next lines are actually true for me...
I do absolutely HATE fighting!
You know how they say get things out and you will feel better?
I always feel worse.
I don't like having bad feelings at all!
I do believe in fairness and equality...to a fault.
And the best part of this horoscope...I love pets more than people.

Speaking of pets...here's my little Bella.
This picture was taken while I was watching football and went to the garage
for a second.  I come back to my spot in the bed...and there she was!
While I was taking the picture, she just looked away from me.
GUILTY!  But Adorable!  LOL!!!


Last week I kept seeing how everyone was going to Target to their $1 - $3 Bins
and finding some great buys...so I had to stop by on the way home from work and see what I could find.


I did find some goodies.  Note cards with envelopes, Jute Twine, Confetti, Push Pins and Paper Clips that I really wanted for the 'test tube' packaging, and a Chalkboard Easel which I did not see previous to going to the store...that was a nice surprise.  I also picked up the AC  St. Valentine 6 x 6 paper pad that was not in the bins, but I had to pick up since it is adorable.


I also picked up three of the plastic organizers and one of the glass jars.


I have already started to fill one of the organizers with sequins.
Will love this when I start playing with shaker cards again.


The hubster and I went to the Webster Flea Market a couple of weeks back and he, yes HE picked out this nail polish for me.


Thought it was a great mani for the Valentine's Season.
It was great going on, but when I went to get my nails filled...
it was not so great coming off my nails.  
The poor girl had the hardest time getting it off, but all is ok now! LOL!!

 I also went by my local K-mart on the way home since I heard so many are closing.  I thought there may be some deals.
Although they are not closing that I can see, 
they did have a lot of polish on clearance which was sweet!

Here's what I picked up.


 Seemed to pick up a bunch of pinks...guess I was thinking Valentine's Day!


Can't wait to use these.
I also purchased some new Zoya polish while their sale was going.
So excited to get those babies in the mail!

Thanks so much for stopping by and take care.

Sunday, January 4, 2015

New Year...Long Post

Happy New Year!

As many of you, I have been thinking about how to react to the New Year, 
New Resolutions, New Goals...etc, etc...
 I have always hated making any resolutions, because like many of you, 
I screw up so soon after making them and feel like a failure.
Instead, I always like knowing that each day is New so if you mess up,
the next day is a new day to start over.
I believe that every human being is just that, human.
We mess up, we are always learning, growing and experiencing.
Every day is a new day to make some sort of change if you want to.

So my change for the New Year that I have decided to do...
Make my blog...my blog...my words...my journal...my journey.
I feel that since my blog is all mine to do with it what I want,
I want to not only put the things that I love the most like crafting and nail art,
but to also add some other items.
Like telling the story of me.
I mean, why not use this venue as a place where I can share my feelings,
my thoughts, my prayers, my adventures.
It's not like I have a BILLION subscribers and I do this for a living...
this is usually only shared with my family and close friends...
so why not share more of me?
I am sorry if this is not where you want me to move this blog to,
but as stated...it is MINE and it has always felt like it was missing ME.

Ok, enough with the soapbox...now on to the good stuff...

One of my goals this holiday season, was to clean out most of the items that we have been hoarding for so long and for no reason.
We have a guest room that caught all of the items and when we have company come over, it's scramble time to move everything to the garage.
Well, I was fortunate enough to have four-day weekends throughout December from vacation that I was able to save up...
and cleaned not only the guest room, 
but also the garage, revamped the spice cabinet, 
and re-arranged my studio a little.

I even took some pictures of my re-arranged room to share.


 I still have to label the drawers to my organizers,
but I will...eventually!

Love the marker/pencil organizer I made...
everything right at my fingertips.

Now my computer is right next to me.
Love it so much better.

Display of some of my artwork.

Love having my stamps now in one spot.
Way easier.

Told you I obsessed over making ornaments last year.

Even though this is all contained,
I think I may have to tackle this some time this year.

Love my clock and canvas...

The rest of the room is hubby's office, so that is off limits for me to clean or fix.
I love having him in here with me...
gives me someone to talk to, 
besides the puppies that usually stay in here with me.

If there is anything that you would like to know more about or how it is organized, just let me know and I will fill you in.

I was very lucky to have had time to clean and re-arrange last month.
Now it's back to work and no vacation for a while.
But in my world, each weekend is a vacation.

So as December came to a close with fixing up the inside of the house...
January started off with a bang on the outside of the house.

I woke up on Saturday morning with the premise of crafting since everything else I wanted to do was done, and one of my sweet little fur-babies, Bella wanted to play frisbee.  She loves playing frisbee.


Anyway, I went outside, and she came in to the porch with her foot up like she hurt it.  As I bent down to see what was wrong, the smell of poop wafted up to my nose and I saw that she stepped in a pile of it.  ACK!!!  LOVELY!!!
Hubby ran out to clean up everything as I picked her up and brought her to the shower to clean her up...which she just loved.  (sarcastic)
I went back to the studio, after changing clothes from her getting me soaked,
 to get back into crafting and within about an hour or so, 
Bella wanted to play again...so I got up to play with her again.
Guess who stepped in 'something' this time?  ME!!!
Hubby thought he got it all, but I guess not!
UGH!!!
Well, one of my friends told me that stepping in poop is good luck.
WHAT???  Ok...we'll see.

So later on that night, hubby bought me a scratch-off.
I never do them, but this one was new...
it was a crossword one so it caught my eye and I decided to scratch it off.  
I won $10.00!!!
So freaking excited!
Hubby and I brought it in to the store to then roll it over to another ticket.
Ah, what the heck...I thought.
I get home and start to scratch it off and won $10.00 on the first scratch!
Hubby didn't believe me and had to see.  Yep...I won $10.00!
But I still had more to scratch off...second box...another $10.00!!
You have got to be kidding me!
On and on it went...I totally kept saying to hubby that he gave me  a trick one.
He completely denied it over and over as I kept winning each box.
After I finished scratching the whole ticket...
$100.00! SA-WEET!
I am so stoked about this because I decided to TRY this year to use what I have in my studio...barring adhesive and other staples.
So now since this is free money...it's craft money! LOL!!!

See...told you this was going to be a long post.
I am not promising that this will be an every time occurrence or
that I will be posting every week...but I will give you this promise...
I WILL TRY!

So this post is for the first couple of days of 2015,
and I hope you will stay with me all year.

Take care.