Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

That Beauty Judy's Birthday Gift

This is how it began...



Well, it was an idea actually, not a canvas...

about Judy, and the wonderful woman she is and all the people that love an appreciate her.

I asked a group of her friends and family to think of three words that come to mind when you think of Judith.

This are the words people think of when they think of her:



So the words were collaged, the canvas distressed, and painted a little too.






This is what the collage looked like...

Thank you Teresa, Linda, Karen, Pat, Benta, Debbie, Rob, Anthony and Kathy.
You obviously know a great person, someone I am proud to know and love.
Happy 60th birthday Judy.
We love you!!!



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Sunday, February 13, 2011

Love is on the Block(s)

Reagan and I made L-O-V-E blocks to decorate for Valentines Day.

Here are mine:



Here is hers:



So cute! And so much fun time spent together!




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Saturday, December 11, 2010

Ornaments

We made these ornaments for our friends and family for Christmas this year. They went with the hot chocolate we made. Or as Payton calls it, snowman soup, and Reagan adds 'with snowman poop' (the marshmallows.) Unbielably, I didn't take 1 photo of the ornaments.

But here is the recipe so we can make them again.

Homeade ornaments

Preheat oven to 300 degrees


Mix together 2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water


Knead together.
Roll out and cut with cookie cutters.
Brush with beaten egg. (use food coloring & paint brushes to make special)
Use a toothpick to make a hole at the top of each ornament before baking.

Friday, April 4, 2008

I'm Back, again

UGH! Can I say that the flu could quite possibly be the definition of insanity! It is suck the life and suck the energy and suck the creativity out of you sickness. I think the effects of it double for every person that has the flu in your immediate family too. So pick your poison, lack of feeling well leads to a very irritable mommy, on top of having to work though it all, two jobs, mind you, mommy job and office job that pays the mortgage, messy house, sick hubby, no motivation to be creative, no motivation for cleaning or laundry or cooking, no energy to work out... NOTHING! You can't even take pleasure of laying around because it feels like someone is peeling your skin away from your body and blowing cold air on you.
I guess that clears up the reason I had lead legs on Sat.'s run. By Sunday I was down. Fast and hard! Fine one moment, tingling and chilled and burning up the next. If it were just me I could almost take it in stride and make friends with the couch and the bottle of NyQuil, but not when the kids are suffering. To see their limp little bodies pathetically sprawled all over the furniture and the exhausted and weary look in their eyes every time they had to move was enough to make me want to have the flu 10 more times than to see them suffer through the pain. They didn't want to eat or drink for almost 2 days. They have all started to come around, but this was a week from the dark side. .Disinfectant wipes have been a life saver.
I was so craft deprived this week, I brought home my notebook from work and glued a blue ribbon around the top to brighten my spirits. I'm such a nerd, but it's amazing how a little swatch of fabric or paper can brighten the mood.
Tomorrow is the marathon 101 clinic down at Moody. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I have been praying about this decision for some time now and tomorrow I am really hoping a lot of my questions are going to be answered and that God really speaks to me with the decision he wants me to make. Tomorrow will be a busy day and I already know I have to thank Grandma. Both boys have baseball practice, Rea has dance and I will be gone all morning. Whew! By the time we get to the Legacy dinner at night, it's going to be one L-O-N-G day.
Colorado, Take me away!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Run Forrest Run

The past few days have been the longest days yet are a blur as I look back. I miss my kiddies terribly. They were spending the night at their cousins house on Thursday and I was supposed to pick them up on Friday so we could color eggs. Well, from a beautiful day on Thursday (55 degrees) when we walked to the store to buy Easter candy, to the next day when "nature" decided to drop the temp to 30 -ish and dump (literally) 8-9 inches of snow on us, it sort of changed the plans. As I was driving though the blizzard on Good Friday (go figure, it's Chicago) I realized there was no way I would be able to get up to Kenosha and back in a resonable amount of time. The traffic reports were all predicting the travel times to be 2 to 3 hours to get to the border, not fun when your inching along the highway in white out conditions. So Cindy, who didn't seem to mind one bit, thought it was best if she kept the kids another night. So here it is Sat. afternoon and I am recounting the blur of the past few days. Without the kids around, although very peaceful and quiet, it was weird that the time seemed to move so slow. I kept checking my phone to see if they called (I was a little worried about Payton) but they didn't even want to bother with dear old mommy once.
Thursday after we did the kid switch, I drove over to the Deerfield club and ran about 3.5 m on the treadmill. Then I lifted a few weights using the technogym selectorized for legs only and sat in the steam room until I felt like I was going to pass out. I fueled up at Jewel with a banana, snow peas, string sheese, trail mix and carrot juice and felt like I rocked the world. Then Friday I started off on my way through errand-land. It was easy enough to have the freedom to get in and out of the car by myself and not be slowed down by the kiddies, but I'm not sure it really gave me an advantage over the time I perused or spent in a store. ( It did mean I was able to stay out of the public bathrooms though, that was really nice). So I eventually ended up at the club and I went about 3 miles on the elliptical taking it slow on purpose in order to read my magazine. Then I lifted for my arms and then jumped in the pool. I swam about 10 laps and then soaked my tired muscles in the whirlpool. I sat in the sauna for a time too, and for just a second, thought, "Wow, this is something like a vacation."
I ate Chipotle for dinner last night and prepared the Easter boxes (more on that later) for the kids. Then I decoupaged an egg carton with some pretty purple paper for the Spiritual Egg Story. I say all this in a running post since it ties into why I didn't run today.
I was up late and when I woke up this morning, it was already 10am! I can't remember the last time I slept that long! (Oh wait, it was yesterday, when the kids weren't here) And the sinking feeling I had when I fully opened my eyes, was that pushing it for those two days left me with nothing, I mean nothing, left to give for the run this morning. I thought about it, I really did, but with the way my muscles ached, I could barley make it to the basement to put my clothes into the dryer let alone lace up the shoes.
I will run, soon, but right now, for today, I need a break.
Now I am off to church to set-up for the breakfast tomorrow and pick up the kids! Who Hoo!

Friday, March 7, 2008

Photo Cut Up


I found this great craft on the creative home arts website. I plan to try it this weekend with some of the kids photos. It might look cool in the dog book I am making about Ashlands life. If I like the look, I might incorporate it into Jimmy's book. (now that I am starting the almost 10 year old's book) If I have it completed by his 10th birthday party, it will be a great accomplishment.
Photo Cut UpGive your photos even more flair with this simple but dramatic technique.by Julie Stephani
Online Rating: (7/10)
You will need• Photo• 2 coordinating printed papers• Cardstock: black, white• Silver metal "message" charm• 4 silver brads• Deckle-edge decorative scissors• 1/8" circle paper punch• Dimensional dots• Paper adhesive, ruler, paper trimmer or scissors
STEP 1: Cut & mat photo. Slice photo vertically into four or five slanted-edge pieces. Note: Position main subject in center of one slice. Glue photo pieces on white cardstock, leaving a 1/8" space between inner edges and with outside edges even. Trim cardstock around photo with deckle-edge scissors, leaving a 1/8" border. Glue matted photo to black cardstock. Trim cardstock around photo with paper trimmer, leaving a 1/8" border. Punch a hole in each corner of photo through all thicknesses. Insert a silver brad in each hole.
STEP 2: Add background. Glue matted photo to printed paper, leaving a 1/2" border on three sides and a 2" border on the right side. Glue printed paper to black cardstock. Trim cardstock around photo with trimmer, leaving a 1/8" border.
STEP 3: Attach charm. Glue metal charm on second printed paper. Trim paper around photo with trimmer, leaving a 1/4" border. Glue matted charm to black cardstock. Trim cardstock around photo with trimmer, leaving a 1/8" border. Apply dimensional dots to back of matted charm. Press in place on bottom right of photo as shown.