Christmas Projects

"Piper" settling in....

Just thought I'd share some picture's of Greg's kitten. He has named her "Piper" and she is becoming quite ROTTEN. But just look at that face... how can you not spoil her?

Early Gift

Changes!

On Wednesday, December 2nd I turned in my 2 weeks notice. No more early mornings on the Interstate and working myself to aches and pains... well at least for someone else. We decided that I need to return home where I can get some work done around the house - yard clean up and painting around the place. We need to get this house ready to sell as it is looking like we will be making a final move for our life time to the Upstate of SC. We will be closer to the mountains and that makes me so happy and we will be moving to a smaller town.

Last night Scott and I went to Home Depot and got some paint for the exterior of the house and outbuildings. We bought 2 gallons of the sage green and one gallon of each of the other 3 colors. The sage will be the main color on the sheds and garage. The terracotta will be on the entry doors to house and garage. We have not decided 100% how the grey and cream will be used but we will share our progress as we go along.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I hope everyone in the USA has a wonderful Thanksgiving on Thursday and survives the craziness of Black Friday! I am hoping this is the last year I will be working on Black Friday! Our New Year is promising to be full of happy changes and part of it  is me returning to the home front to cook, keep house and garden once more. YEAH!

It's been a month of many changes with both my Manager and the Assistant Manager leaving and this week is the start of working for a new Manager. I am so weary of the constant changes... the older I get the harder it is to cope with change. In the last 2 years I have had 4 different bosses. UGH! Just ready for a bit of stability in my day to day life. I know life is constantly changing but to have to learn someone else's pet peeves, pet projects, and personal ethics grows thin after awhile.

It's turned a bit chilly just in time for the Holiday season.  We are going over to Scott's Moms on Thanksgiving and we will take the ham that Scott gets from his job and I am planning to make broccoli casserole and a baked butternut squash. My Mother-in-law is doing a turkey, dressing and some pumpkin pies. It will be a small gathering but thats ok with us. I have to be to work at midnight that night so will need to come home and try and get some sleep right after dinner. I am also working Midnight to 6 AM on Friday to Saturday as well.  I'll be part of the fill team for all the specials. Going to be a hectic couple of nights thats for sure.

Well I need to get ready for work ... working an odd shift today not going in until 7 AM. That is LATE for me. Yesterday was a 3 AM. Take care!

Sunshines Return

Thankfully the sunshine returned today at least for a little while. It was so nice to come out of the store and find the sun had returned to the sky with hints of blue peeking out from the clouds. I so hope that it will last for some time.

Greg has been offered a full time position at the warehouse where he works. He is taking it but is not thrilled. He will settle in and enjoy the increase in pay... I hope. He is worried he won't have any time to "have fun" but he will figure things out.

Changes are ahead at my work as well... the store manager has turned in his 2 weeks notice and there are others talking about leaving. UGH! I am hoping for some changes for us as well but only time will tell.

Family

Family is not blood alone but those that truly love and seek you out to be part of their life. I'm thrilled my siblings have found people that they call family.

I often wondered how families disconnect and stop speaking...it's because they all change and seek others more alike to themselves. It's just life.

I have no real close friends - you know that call me and I call them. I have extreme trust issues and it's hard to let anyone that close. Yes... it gets lonely at times but I can't see anyway to let the wall down. I've been hurt so much by people I thought were my friends that I just don't want to feel that anymore. I will in fact back away from people if I even feel I am letting them in just so they can't hurt me.

I have been so extremely fortunate to find Scott. He is my rock, my best friend and  my partner for life. I love my son with all my heart and want the best for him always. I want him to find someone to share his life with and the joys and sorrows as they come.

I am not looking for sympathy with this post. I don't need to talk about this... I just needed to let it out of me in some way. That is all.

UGH! NEED some SUNSHINE!

It's been overcast and raining on and off for over a week and I am feeling so... BLAH! I need to get some sunshine! When I don't get sunshine depression moves in and I find myself just muddling through days... not even enjoying them... just glad each day is over. That is no way to go through life. A day of sunshine would lift my spirits so much. BRING ON SOME sunshine PLEASE!!!!

Rain

We have been getting some desperately needed rain this week and I am glad it has arrived but I am starting to feel the NEED for some sunshine. All rain and no sun makes for a sad me. I did just take these two photos of some rain drops sitting on some Mimosa leaves outside our porch door as I thought it looked like piles of diamonds. SO GLITTERY!

I have been working on some crafty projects too and have several more planned to make for the upcoming Holidays. Of course Halloween is first! My favorite Holiday... all fun!

A Couple hand painted ATC's for some friends.

Simple Halloween cards to add to swap packages with other Crafters around the World.

And I have done some cooking; with the cooler weather we have enjoyed some soup. Fall is "comfort food season". Don't you think?

Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup

WELCOME September!

HI YA' ALL!!!! I know that I've been VERY bad and not posted in quite awhile! Sorry about that.

Lets see... we finished up at Scott's Uncle's house and it is ready to be put on the market. We are ALL glad to have it to this point and think we did really well. I created a walk through video and I will share it here.


It was a work of love and the 3 of us (Scott, his sister, Adele and I) had so much fun working together and talking about fond memories of Uncle Jesse and Aunt MaryEtta. They were two VERY wonderful people and we miss them so much.

I have also been creating a few things! I'm in an Artist Trading Card (ATC) swap and created 6 ATC's for that with a creepy Halloween theme. Let me introduce you to "Creepy Charlie's Welcome" series.  Isn't he CREEPY? I colored the skull and candle by hand with Prismacolor pencils. The sentiment was found on Pinterest - ah Pinterest the Time Suck of all time!  I just love making ATC's and trading them... they are 100 times more fun to trade than Baseball cards... well in my opinion they are,

I've had some absolutely gorgeous blooms greeting me each morning as I return home from work. My two Rose of Sharon have really put on a show this year; here they are!

I just LOVE them!

I took some time and did a clean up on my Hobby room. It is nearly ready to have me happily crafting away in there. I still have a few things to get back in there that are still on my desk and the dining room table. I feel like a Lion Tamer trying to get myself back in my Crafting Room! 

I hope everyone that takes the time to check in here has a wonderful Holiday Weekend here in the USA! Take care... be safe... love the ones that love you!

Health and Crafts

GOOD MORNING! Here it is Saturday all ready! I am feeling so much better these days and am hoping to continue to better health. Lots more energy that is for sure! When your sugar is way out of line you just feel exhausted all the time... no matter how much sleep you get. So with all that added energy I have been crafting! OF COURSE! Here are some of the projects I completed this week.

This was my "prototype" - I drew this pattern up myself and created this
little bag. I love how it turned out but the flap needed a little fine
tuning.

The bag on the right is my second creation using the pattern I created and I really love
how it turned out. I want to draw up a pattern for a matching wallet so that I can use
the second bag on days when I want to travel extra lightly and be hands free. The straps are long
enough to wear across my body so as not to put stress on my shoulder. I plan to make
more of these bags to use up some fabrics. Perhaps I will finally work up the courage
to sell my items.

Butterflies I created from "ink blots" I created by folding index cards in half with paint on
one side. I added more paint to them and used a white gel pen to add detail and then sealed
them with Aleene's Glitter Decoupage  

This one is my favorite!

And here you see the four I am keeping turned into magnets using ProMAG Magnetic Paper
and Scotch quick dry glue. They are so glittery!!! Fun and Colorful!

I have set up some swaps for the "spare" butterflies for some online crafting friends and only have two left and I think I am going to send them to some little Crafters just starting out - 10 and 12 years old. I want to encourage the younger set!

I have some other crafts to share but can't until next weekend as they are part of something.

I hope all is well with you all.

My Name is Becky... and I AM a Diabetic

Had a pretty good scare on Monday... Blood Pressure and Sugar WAY UP! Went to the Doctor as soon as I got off from work and am now taking Metformin twice a day 1000mg tablets to get my sugar under control. At the Doctors office my blood sugar was 314 and they ran an A1C test that came back at 8.8. SO we are making some changes in our lives to get better.

Scott is at the Dr right now for the same reason. It's serious life changes around here. We are leaning toward going Vegan... any good cookbook or website ideas?...PLEASE share in the comments section. THANKS!

August has ARRIVED!

We are nearing the end of Summer and it won't be long until all the children are back in school. Each year seems to fly by faster the older I get. I can remember my Grandmother saying, "Don't wish your life away" when I would say things like I wish it was Fall during the heat of the Summer... BOY I KNOW WHAT SHE MEANT NOW!

Scott went up to work on his Uncle's house again Friday and stayed over until Saturday. There is still more to get done but he has done so much the past two weekends that next weekend he is taking off from working on it and we may make it to our nephews 7th birthday party next Saturday. It would be nice to see my family for an afternoon celebration.

I went outside Friday night to try to get picture's of the Blue Moon... well a dark cloud had other ideas... It did not stop me from attempting to get some interesting photos.

OOPS! Missed Sunday!

Here it is Monday night! I totally forgot to get on here and write up a post. I worked 6 days last week and then Friday once I got home from work Scott and I went to Greenville to do some work on his Uncle's House. It's really shaping up and it won't be long until it is ready to sell.  YEAH! I know we are all looking forward to that day as we will have all that work behind us.

I did fit in some crafting time last week and made several more ATC's (Artist Trading Cards). I'm making these to swap with other Artist/ Crafters. Here are the ones I completed this past week....

I love making these little 2 1/2x 3 1/2 inch trading cards.

Time for bed now... perhaps I will write more during the week!

HOT!!!!! That IS what it IS! HOT!

Here it is Sunday once more and I am here to check in with you all. I hope everyone that reads this blog is having a wonderful Summer!

This past week has been... LONG!!! I really don't know where to begin so I will load up some photos from this week and go from there.

As part of my Christmas in July crafts I created this ornament/ decoration using a chipboard scrap left over from another project and some siding trim remnants from Scott's shed project as the frame. I hand painted the snowmen  in the Winter scene watching the star shining brightly in the night sky. I had originally thought to leave the frame plain bright red but then decided to bring out the wood grain with some gold. I really love how this turned out and plan to make some more. From trash to decor!

#lovesummerart an online Art Collaboration on You Tube

This weekend on You Tube over 200 Artists, Crafters and Creators have gotten together to have a Collaborated On-line Art Show. All you have to do to enjoy it is go on you tube and type in #lovesummerart and MANY Artsy videos will come up for you to enjoy and to be inspired by. This was my first creation and I am planning to do one more small project tomorrow.

An Exploding Canvas

The theme was "Summer" of course for this month. This will continue next month with a whole new theme and #! I will of course share that news once the new projects start coming out.

I really love how this project turned out and I am going to be selfish and keep it for myself. I am always giving my creations away but this one I have decided is MINE all mine!  

 Friday I went into work and worked 4 to 9 AM and then came home and Scott and I drove to Greeneville, SC to work on his Uncles House. We repainted the downstairs bath a lovely Spring Green. I just had to as it was the paint his Aunt had bought and had shown me years ago and I wanted to make her dream and vision come to life even though she is gone. And boy oh boy were we thrilled with the result. It is so very Spa like in there now. Scott painted the moldings and the vanity a crisp white and replaced the ceiling light fixture near the shower with an inexpensive LED light that puts out the softest light... VERY soothing! I also washed ALL of the paneling and cabinets down stairs with Mr Clean with Febreeze... WOW what a difference that made! So clean and smelled so good!

We worked away at Uncle Jessie's until about 10 PM and then drove the 2 hours home - it was after midnight when we pulled in the driveway. Yesterday (Saturday) was spent trying to catch up on some much needed rest so that I could go into work this morning. And it is looking like I will be working everyday this week... so 6 days straight.

Before we got started at the house we went to THE BIG CLOCK! I got to experience my very first "Volcano Burger" . It is a Burger loaded up with smoked sausage, Provolone cheese, fried onion rings, jalapenos and Buffalo Ranch Dressing. We followed our burgers with a slice of Strawberry cheese cake made with Greek yogurt. YUMMY!

Let me back up to earlier on Friday... MUCH earlier. On my way into work at 3:30 AM (yes - I went in an hour earlier too) a double trailer was in front and to the right of me and it threw up a rock... yes another damaged windshield. I am hoping the chemical repair they are coming to do tomorrow will fix it and the thing doesn't spread and require a complete replacement AGAIN this year. I hate rocks!

Well I guess that wraps up this week.. you all take care.