Happy Thanksgiving 2010

Can't hardly grasp that it's already time for turkey and fixin's!  A beautiful fall arrangement just arrived at my desk - and what a nice surprise!  Yellow rose buds nested in fall colors with tiny mums and others complementing the buds!  The crock / mug vase is something I haven't seen before and I just love the whole thing!  Reminds me of romps in the back lot through sticks (yes, even branches are in this), pine cones, and tons of leaves .. where oh where are the squirrels and acorns though?  Oh yeah, still in Essex .. wonder what these fall lily looking flowers are .. will a sneaky raccoon pop out .. hmmmm ...

So, it's true .. Thanksgiving is right around the corner .. so many to be thankful for - so many changes again this year .. losses and blessings .. Thank You Chuck for the flowers and all you have done and continue to do for us.   

Happy Thanksgiving to all - and very special thank you's to my boys for being who they are and all they have done throughout the years .. Chris and Doug .. my inspirations for all that I need and hope to accomplish. 

Argh, ok, enough .. I'll get started and not be able to stop ..

Spiders, Pendants, Christmas Story, and FUN!

What a fun day I had yesterday!  Early voting (whew, glad that's done) made me get out and about early .. and off to a fairly good sized craft show - ideas galore and yeah, cookies too!  Then off to do errands .. but .. umm . . one more side trip to The Bead Place in Swansea IL .. for an adventure in spider making! 

Late as usual, I got lucky finding out it was 2 hours of drop in lessons .. FREE mind you ... and it was all I could do to sit still waiting for a chair ;o)  What to choose?  Should I do a sparkly spider ornament ... or should I make earrings ... or should I go for a pendant? 

Sparkle .. yep, that's what I'll do first .. and yippee .. a chair!!  Help me find the right supplies .. ack .. so many and I have to pick colors too?  Yipes!!  Ok, got it .. off to the sparkly spider creation .. and oh what fun it was .. you've GOT to be kidding me .. this floppy tangle is going to turn into a purty spider?  LOL!  YES!!  It did .. and in the process, I learned of a legend (Thanks Abbi) ~ The Christmas Spider ~ and if you don't know the story look it up ~ it's awesome!!

So, I've named my spider .. IMP .. for a few reasons .. full of pep, won't stay still, cute of course .. and lots of fun!  Here he is ..

I even learned some new tricks!  Debatable if I'll ever remember them but .. ummmm .. that's why shout outs were created, right?

Well, I couldn't just stop here .. so off to the other table .. and I decided to make a pendant spider web .. mainly because I have never tried a pendant before .. and it looked so awesome on a beaded chain .. ready?  Here we go!     First question .. how is your wrist today?  Uh Oh .. my wrist?     How come?

The wire!  Never used this kind of wire before and it was great to play with!  The web is done!  Learning more new tricks!!  Make a spider now?  Are you kidding me?  How many legs do spiders have anyway?  Oh yeah .. I know that already .. just learned it .. they have 8 .. 4 on each side .. yep, that's my story!

I want a blue spider .. no particular reason .. I'm sure there is such a thing somewhere .. cool beans!  Slight problem though .. the head won't fit the body .. oops .. ok, black head with blue body .. ;o)  Had to break and see the other ladies earrings .. totally incredible .. and I hope they post them too!  Ready .. set .. go .. trim the spider legs .. sure .. lol .. like I know how long a spider's legs are?  Snip, snip, snip .. and voila!!

Hopefully more days like this will happen throughout the year!  Now I think I'm off to make another spider .. for Christmas ~ ;o)






     

Challenge - Earrings - 7 Deadly Sins - Colors - HELP!

HELP!  Participate!  This is fun and mind boggling!!  I plan to complete this challenge (on time?) but what'll it turn out to be?  LOL ~ I got one pair done .. thanks to April at  Three Sisters Crafts   This is a fun place to pop in to and always a project being created - from clay to jewelry, ideas to supplies, scrapbooking to Girl Scout adventures!  I have to get there quick .. another clearance sale and a new blog too .. ;o)

Ok, so here's the scoop ~ Melissa at Beading Buddies has issued a challenge - and it's a doozie! 

First Challenge


Okay ladies~

Your first challenge is to make three pairs of earrings, that symbolize three of the 7 deadly sins.


-Wrath

-Greed

-Sloth

-Pride

-Lust

-Gluttony

-Envy

You can choose any of the three from the list. Today is Monday August 9th, 2010. The deadline for the three earrings is Saturday August 14th, 2010. You must provide a picture of each pair and a short explanation of why you chose that sin and how your earring represents that sin.

Happy Beading :)


Sooooooooooooooo .. will anybody else join in?  Any medium goes .. paper to gems .. and I bet there are loads of ideas ........

Melissa is the taskmaster - let's knock her socks off!!  (rockstarmlove@aim.com) .. love the motivation .. but boy oh boy .. will I be able to do it?

Earrings $5 .. Addicted to Fun .. Sigh ;o)

This project is never ending and fun, fun, fun! I think the baseballs are the most popular, specially around this area! I can't wait for Halloween charms/ideas to arrive - wonder if I can find any little pilgrims .. hmmmm .. and Christmas!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Now, who do I know that might be able to scroll saw me a 'tree' to display these .. ho hum .. yoooooooooooohoooooooooooo .. are you out there?

Earrings - All Laurie's Fault!!

What am I thinkin'? This is all Laurie's fault for tempting me with new 'stuff' to try! I definitely don't have the hang of it .. but these might work for a time or two! Something fun to do while waiting for brakes to be worked on ..

Knotting and Boondoogle-ing ~ Bracelets!

Boondoggle? What is it? LOL - my grandson said I had to learn how to do this project and he was right! Imagine when he showed me what it was all about and I realized it was a new name for an age old camp project I had learned back in the days of Camp Claire! What fun re-learning with my munchkin!

So, if we can do 'boondoggles' .. can we actually try to knot a bracelet .. or anklet? Hmmmmm ... we gave it our best shot .. this is Hunter's:





He worked very diligently on this and really only took him about an hour and a half once he got started knotting! He wanted something pretty to take home for his Mom -

Well, not to be outdone .. of course I had to make one too - and the fun thing about this string is the colors never come out the same way so each one is unique .. and slightly addictive! Here's my attempt:

We ran out of time to try adding charms, bling, or even trying a necklace length .. but I'm sure we'll get lots of ideas as we continue to practice. ;o)))))

Make the Cut (MTC), Cricut, Hunter, and an Owl

What a lucky duck I am! My grandson Hunter, 8, is visiting for two weeks and he's got a better grasp of the Cricut than I do! LOL - I love it! We've had rain for what seems like days on end .. dreary, drizzly, gray, poopy-droopy .. but when Hunter is here it's nonstop activity! One morning he'd never heard of a Cricut - let him play on the computer .. why not .. and had Make the Cut (MTC) open .. and by suppertime we had an owl all put together .. !

He found the file on the MTC Gallery posted by User 143 - I don't know how to thank this person but my little man had a ball creating this! Next I think his forest requires a branch for the owl .. and something about a monkey! Time goes so quickly .. especially with emergency problems like .. umm .. miniature golf, softball games, sno-cones, playing with the dogs, making boondoggle thingies, string art .. using coupons to shop at Michael's & Joann's .. video games .. playing with new little cousin .. it's rough! ;o)

My Pink Stamper - Cricut Expression Giveaway!

Wow! I'm way behind on blogging .. and projects too .. but this is something too awesome to let pass by!

My Pink Stamper http://www.mypinkstamper.com/ is giving away a Cricut Expression! The generosity of both Pink Stamper and Custom Crops http://www.customcrops.com/ is just amazing! ~ Both of these sites have lots and lots of information and ideas, challenges, and even followers ~ it's fun to just visit and absorb!

Follow the link:


and see for yourself! Aren't they awesome?