Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in blog land who are celebrating today! I am so thankful for so many things ...
my Lord, Jesus Christ, who lives in my heart and guides my path
my loving husband, Greg, of 25+ years
my 3 kids who are growing up so quickly I can't stand it
my parents who are so supportive and loving
my in-laws who have always treated me as blood, not just married in - I am so lucky to have such a lovely second family
my brothers and sisters ... my brother Steve is home from Alaska for the winter months
my nephew John has come home safe and sound from Afghanistan
my new job - I am soo excited to be starting my new job on Monday
and that we are all mostly healthy and happy

We are going to my in-laws today for dinner, having spent last Sunday with my family. For the first time in years, I have Thanksgiving off so I can actually go early and help my mother-in-law with dinner preparations rather than just show up at the last minute with the pies! I am so thankful for that fact. We are going up early so we can spend more time. I did not really plan on doing a post today saying what I am thankful for... it just kind of spilled out and there is so much more I should say. But I would rather go actually spend time with all of the above mentioned :)

Have a blessed day!
Becky

Oh my poor neglected blog... I had not realized it had been so long.  I don't have anything crafty to show you today but thought I would just write a post to "catch up". I have been crafting here and there, and of course I have a bunch of pictures sitting on my digital camera or my phone that have not been downloaded, and sometimes I forget to take pictures :(  So maybe I should just try to start fresh.

So, I will be starting a new job on Monday at ARUP Laboratories! This is my dream job - working for a company that has been awarded one of the top companies to work for in the US. It is only 5 minutes from my house, great benefits, great pay, friendly people. I am soooo excited!  I have been working at home for over 18 years and though I have loved being here for the kids, not having to get dressed up and drive to work, and all those other "perks" of being a work-at-home mom, I have really missed being out in the world. I am beginning to realize that I have been depressed from just being in my basement 40+ hours a week and not really getting out much. Our youngest is now in high school and the older 2 are graduated so I have decided it is time. Whenever I have been involved in something like the musicals or something like that, I feel rejuvenated and I think it will be so good for me to be out with people again. I feel like I have been hiding under a rock :)  And the company is very family oriented and so if the kids seriously  need something, I am close enough to zip home and take care of things.

The job starts out part time and will eventually become full time. I love this idea too because my poor house is pretty much falling apart around me.  I have so many things I have let go like laundry....  I am really looking forward to having some time off each week to get things done around here. And my craft room is still in such a mess. I started to clean it a few months ago (you might remember) and it too got pushed aside.  I have set up a card table in my living room where I have done some crafting when necessary and my craft stuff is all over the living room now and it is just cluttered and a mess, so that is probably going to be my first priority since I want to be able to get the tree up this weekend.  The living room must be cleaned out :) But also, I have Christmas crafting and cards to make so I can't just throw everything into the craft room so that too will have to be figured out.

Speaking of the musicals (up there somewhere in this saga, I know I mentioned them), we just just finished casting for the upcoming musical "Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat". We won't start actually rehearsing until January, but the cast list will go up tomorrow. I had never even seen this play before though I had heard of it, and it is going to be a ton of fun.  I think there are about 10 spoken lines in the whole production and the rest is singing.  Lots of "eye candy" and fun scenery and costumes!  I will not be able to devote as much time as I have in the past as rehearsals are usually 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Monday thru Thursday  after school and 1:30 to 5:30 on Friday. My new schedule to start with will be Tuesdays, Thursdays and every other Friday from 9:00 to 5:00 (I think) so will only be able to help with rehearsals on my days off. I am not sure when the job will be going to full time as the person I am "job-sharing" with is working on her masters and will be finished in the spring, but currently looking for another job.  I am hoping it will stay part time until after the musical performances in March :) Either way, I will be able to be stage manager for all of the performances in the evening as they don't start until 7:00 p.m.

Ok, I think I have blabbed on long enough. One thing I want to mention is that I recently won The Bread Basket Bundle from Our Daily Bread Designs for their November release and these stamps are so gorgeous! I can't believe I won the whole set :)  I will be using these for my Christmas cards so keep an eye out for some pics of those once I actually get them made. I also have a niece expecting her first boy in March so that will also be an upcoming project. Hoping to get into some challenges and other crafting adventures too while I have a little more time. I believe this change is going to help me be much more excited about crafting too! And just more excited about things in general.  I am already making plans for Christmas gifts for the office!!!

Take care all my blogland friends and have a blessed Thanksgiving!

God Bless,
Becky

Hi friends! No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth! I am still here. I have just not been in the groove. I can't even really tell you why, but I have not been in the mood to blog or felt like I had time to hop around and visit either. We had some friends living with us for a while and I think that might be part of it... just the extra chaos of having extra people in the house. They have moved into their own home now, which we are all grateful for :) Since they moved out last month, I have been trying to get my house back in order. I have also been picking fruit and making jam. A friend brought me peaches and plums so we now have a nice store of peach, plum and blackberry jam.

I have been toying with the idea of looking for a new job and have now started earnestly looking. I am still working at my present job as a medical transcriptionist, but with the medical field moving to voice recognition, I find myself bored and I need a new challenge.

I have crafted a bit here and there and have tried to take pictures, but have not really felt like downloading and sharing. I did not even finish the Summer of Color tags and I was so excited to participate in that fun event again this year. I guess I am in a bit of a slump. I have been working on my craft room a little, it needs to be worked on desperately. I have so many things to play with and I have not made time to play with them. I really need to get things organized. I will be going to the Scrapbook USA expo in a couple of weeks and I know that will kick start my creative juices - at least I hope so :)

I did go to Helper last month for the Arts Festival. I try to go every year and paint, but this year I went and did not paint. I just totally relaxed for 4-1/2 days, visiting with my artist friends and doing absolutely nothing I did not want to do. It was very rejuvenating, but I already need another vacation like that!

Thanks to those of you who have been checking in on me. I appreciate it. I hope to get back to visiting you all soon. I have just been so preoccupied lately that I don't feel that my heart is in blogging right now. I have not joined any challenges or hopped on a blog hop for what seems like forever. There are so many techniques I want to try and I can't seem to find time to do anything. I wish I could just not work. I just want to have time to clean my house (yes I said that dreaded word clean) and then organize my stuff so I could just play when I want. It seems I can never get on top of the housework and lately it is bothering me. When I first started blogging and paper crafting about a year or so ago, I just let everything else go besides work and that wasn't good either. Now I seem to be obsessing about having my house clean and so I don't feel like I should be crafting. Not good since crafting is my sanity :)

Okay, well, I better get going. Don't give up on me. I hope to be coming around more in the future.

God Bless!

Summer of Color week 3

Here is my tag for SOC week 3 - Baseball Nut which is vanilla ice cream swirled with black raspberry - yummy!  Gotta make this quick as I am supposed to be at work.  Going out of town tonight and have not packed, done laundry, or anything else to get ready and I have 8 hours of work ahead of me :(  Wanted to mention this beautiful quote - won this stamp from Quietfire Design!  Isn't it gorgeous?  The paper is called Sakura and is from Creative Imaginations.  I finally bought some flower punches :)  Okay, gotta run!  I will be back next week to share the baby album I have been working on all week (which is why I am not prepared to go tonight).  Hugs!

God Bless!

Becky

Summer of Color Week 2

Hey friends!  Did you miss me?  I know it has been a minute, but this will be my final post today (I think).

The second week for Summer of Color 2012, we were to use for inspiration the ice cream flavor of Mint Chocolate Chip - one of my favorites!  So here is my tag for week 2:

That photo does not show the colors very well, but I promise it is mint and brown.  And as I was thumbing through my Paper Crafts magazines for some ideas, I ran across this quote and thought it was perfect!  The little tag with the quote does come out of the pocket  I made the flower on my Cricut with my Flower Shoppe cart, which I got about a month or so ago but had not used yet  That middle part is my favorite but I can see I shall have to practice that one!!

So Monday is the day I am supposed to post my creation for week 3 so you I am going to work on it now.  Will post it on Monday.  The prompt for next week is Baseball Nut - a flavor I had not heard of.  If you don't know what it is, you will have to go check it out on Kristin's Blog!  There, you will also be able to click on the links of other participants and see what sweet things they have created - and such a variety - you will be amazed!  We also have a Facebook page - is it legal for me to put the link here?  https://www.facebook.com/groups/116928415059733/  Hope so :)

I am also working on a baby alb um for my cousin.  More about that with pics coming up soon!  

Take care my bloggy friends!  Hugs!

God Bless,

Becky

Summer of Color

The Summer of Color 2012 is in full swing over on Kristin's blog,  As I mentioned below, each week we are creating with an ice cream palette.  I actually got behind as I had no time to craft the first week, but I am caught up now so I am going to post both the first and second week.  First I will post the first week then come back with a second post for the second week as I think we are supposed to link only this weeks creation to each week's link.

So the first week's ice cream flavor was Rainbow Sherbet.  Now I had lots of ideas about what I wanted to do.  I really wanted to paint for each week this year, but right now my paints are buried in my craft room which I still have not finished organizing and I did not want to get too far behind so decided on a paper craft instead.  Then, I thought maybe I would do a mini album, but in the end I decided on tags.  I have been wanting to try some different techniques on tags and try to learn to create some extravagant tags - not like Tim's because I don't own most of those tools he has although some day I would love to try his techniques - but more shabby vintage.  I am planning to buy one of the 7 Gypsies trays with the 4 x 6 sections - 6 sections - one for each of the weeks in the SOC.  My tags are 3-1/2 by 5 inches so they will fit perfectly.  I am also planning to put a favorite quote on each tag.  Some quotes I already know I want to use and some have come to me while I created.

Blah, blah, blah.  Sorry, I said I didn't feel like blogging and now I can't shut up.  So, here is the tag for week 1 of Summer of Color 2012

 So, what do you think?  Did I get all the colors of rainbow sherbet?  This is the first time I have "dressed"a dress form and I will definitely be doing it more!  It was so much fun :)  Lately, I have been a bit stressed.  So I thought this "quote" was perfect for me.  And I did breathe a lot while I was making this and really relaxed and enjoyed myself :)  Be back in a minute with week 2 of SOC!

Hugs,
Becky

Recent paper creations

Hi Blogger Friends,
Sorry I have been so quiet.  I have had lots going on but I also have not felt much like blogging lately.  Not really sure what that is about...  But I have been doing a few things here and there so thought I would give you a peek.

First up are the Mother's Day cards I made this year for my mom, MIL and hubby's grandmother:

Next up is birthday card for the same grandmother. I also made one for my sister and MIL, but apparently the photos are on my phone, so will have to figure out how to download those - May was a very busy month for us :)

And then comes graduation cards - My oldest daughter and my niece both graduated this year and I made cards for my sister to give as well.

So, now you know I have not completely disappeared and I am crafting a bit :)  Hope you like them!  I personally love them all - I have been trying some new things.  Will be back for another post for The Summer of Color in a few minutes.

Hugs,

Becky

I know it has been forever since I posted and I apologize.  It has been crazy around my house.  I will have a few things to share with you soon.  Our oldest daughter is graduating high school on Thursday and our youngest is graduating from 8th grade on Wednesday, and on Saturday we are having an open house for my oldest daughter and her cousin for their graduation.  So I am still crazy busy, but promise to share some things as soon as I get a minute.

Today, though I wanted to share with you The Summer of Color 2012 and invite you to join in!  I participated in this fun 6-week project last year and I loved every minute!

I promise to check in soon and give you an update on what has been going on in my life.  Big hugs to all my blogger friends.

God Bless,

Becky

Some organizational thoughts

Hey bloggie friends!  Hey are you all tonight?  I have been puttering around working on my craft room here and there, but not making a lot of progress.  Working on cleaning out the closet so I can put my boxes of fabric in there to make more room out in the main part of my room.  I have decided that I will put my embellishments in my 7-drawer rolling cart.  Hoping they will all fit in there so I can keep them together.  I have made a list of everything I can think of and put them in groups such as:  Paper, Embellishments, Tools,, etc.  I had stickers in my embellishment list but I am afraid those are going to have to be their own category - I have a ton of those.  Don't use them a lot on my cards, but I do on my scrapbooks which I need to get back to so not going to get rid of them :)


I do have something to share tonight though on the lines of organization.  This will probably only be a good tip for my followers in the states, but there might be something similar in other countries.  There is a website you can check out www.publicsurplus.com - this is government surplus and includes things from schools, hospitals, and other government buildings that they auction off.  Some of you may know about this already, but just in case you don't, this is an amazing option for picking up things fairly cheaply and usually in pretty good shape or easily fixable.  Once you go to the site, you can then pick your state and browse everything. I have bought everything from my piano (which was an old elementary school piano and I love it) for $75 to Stampin' Up Ink spots for $2.00 for a set of 12, to Art easels at $2 (these are nice art easels that are adjustable for paintings up to 3 feet in diameter!  


Some pictures of things available in my state at this moment:

This is a map cart, the drawers slide out so it would be great for all kinds of things.  The bid for this is currently at $32.00 and it is close to my house so this is really tempting though I would really rather have one of the ones below :)

This is a blueprint cabinet and the current high bid is $40.  I have been wanting one of these forever and even though I would have to drive an hour each direction to get it, it is so worth it.  I have been wanting one to put my wet paintings in, but this would also be great for holding paper, ink pads, embellishments, and the list goes on.  

Same thing as above, but the bid for this one is currently at $52.00

This little cubbie is currently at $5.50.  It is again in Logan about an hour or so away from me, but isn't this a great little organizer?  The measurements say 

41 3/4" X 18 1/4" X 32" deep, but I am not sure that is correct - those might be mixed up a bit.  But I am thinking Copics (although I don't own any), colored pencils, paint brushes, longer strips of scrap paper/borders, maybe even ink pads.  

Another idea that I have seen on this site several times but have never bought is silverware holders - the kind they have at schools or restaurants. I have been looking at these for a while thinking they would be good to hold my paint brushes, but today it occurred to me that they would be great for holding all kinds of things!  There are not any on my site at this moment, some sold earlier today which is what made me think about them.  

So, back to sorting for me.  I hope you found this post helpful and that you will check it out!  Hugs!

God Bless,

Becky

Some organization ideas

So last night, when I was browsing around trying to get some inspiration for my craft room cleanse, I ran across some fun blogs.  The first one I want to tell you about is Sew Many Ways. Karen is from the US like I am and she has a blog all about sewing, which I admit I only dream about sewing, but she has a lot of great tips.  At the top of her blog, she has links to all kinds of fun stuff.  I think I spent at least an hour just on her blog last night!  Some pics of some of her organizing ideas that I thought would be very handy for my craft room:  

These suspension rods, I actually have some of these somewhere in my house - they are fairly inexpensive and I bought a bunch for my basement windows one year as I was going to make quickie curtains for all of the windows in the basement - never did it so these rods are here somewhere.  I love this idea.  I have to confess that I tried putting my ribbon reels on a rod once before, but did not think to secure the ends in some way (I know, that is dumb) so I got them all on there and lifted the rod and sudden 30 reels of ribbon start unrolling - duh!  Karen puts little straight pins in the ends of her rolls to keep them wound - love that idea.  Definitely will be using this idea!  

I love this idea too!  She used little take-out containers like the kind you get your fry sauce in - she bought a huge amount from a party supply store; I am thinking Costco might have them.  Anyway, I will let you read how she did this - just check out the organization link.

Another interesting idea for ribbons -  These are large metal spikes from Home Depot.  Karen says they are not sharp, but I am sure I could figure out some way to injure myself.  I really loved this idea until I saw the suspension rods - that is the way I will probably go, but I still think this is ingenious!.  

And before we leave Karen's blog, lets' take a look at her lovely sewing/craft room.  I do not actually see the items above so this is another part of her room.  I would love to just spend all day in a room like this.

Check this room out below with its peg board and I love the jars in the cubby holes!  I love vintage mason jars anyway and these are so sweet. This pic comes from Nest of Posies.

  These 2 fabulous rooms come from HGTV.  I quickly left this site as I could get stuck there all day...  maybe all month, I would get nothing done!  I would so love to have a craft room like either of these - I would never leave.  I wouldn't even have to craft in there, it would just be a pleasure to spend time there :)

Okay, so I am going to go think about going to bed.  I had to work today, first day of my regular work week and I am wiped out.  And the weather played a mean April Fool's prank on me today...  Yesterday was definitely spring - about 70 degrees, working in my yard, had my windows open - it was beautiful.  Today... snow!!!  I have been cold all day.  Blah!

Night all.  God Bless!
Becky

Craft room lists

So next in my craft room cleanse is to make some lists, look at what I have and what I need, not to mention what I want :)

My craft room assets:
1.  I have an actual room!  I need to measure it.
2.  I already have cupboards built in - metal so I have built in magnetic boards :)
3.  I have lightweight tables that can be set up or stored.
4.  I have 3 closets in my room, including a full length "clothes" closet, a cubby closet that is probably meant for brooms/ironing board - it is deep and narrow, and an under-the-stairs closet which is of course packed with stuff that I need to go through (story of my life).
5.  I have 2 large cabinets from Costco - they are metal with shelves inside - lots of space for crafting goodies, but they are not currently in my craft room.  They are, however, mostly empty.  I had my craft supplies in there in my laundry room, then started moving stuff to my new craft room which quickly got unorganized and messy - how did that happen?  They were in my craft room at one time so I know they will fit.
6.  I have a 7-drawer rolling thingy - also from Costco, currently filled with stickers and alphas and scrap paper.
7.  I have several baskets and boxes for organizing already so really I don't need to buy anything except maybe something for my ribbons.  That does not mean I don't WANT to buy anything!  However, since my budget right now is totally shot, I will be working with what I have.


What do I want in/from my craft room?
1. Organization and space - uh huh, that is why I am doing this lol
2. Separate craft spaces - I do a lot of paper crafting, cards and albums, etc., but I also oil paint - mostly Plein Air (outside) landscapes but I would really like to do some "studio painting", some still life and some landscapes.  Right now, I have no place to set up an easel in my craft room.  So I need a space that is specifically for painting.
3. I would love some "natural light" sources besides my one small window - not in the budget at the moment, but will have to work on that.
4. For my paper crafting, I want to be able to see everything at a glance.  I don't mind if my stuff is in my cabinets with the doors closed, but when I open the doors, I want to be able to see everything.    My paper especially - I have lots and I want to store it so I can see it all.  I have thought of stacking it flat in one of my cabinets by color or on my shelves of my cupboards if they are deep enough.  I would really like those wire stacking things or the wooden ones they have at Michaels, but neither is in my budget.
5.  Heat!  I have no heater vent in my craft room so in the winter it is very cold.  Space heaters are great, but make me a little nervous when I have so much paper in the room.  So a clear space for a "safe" heater would be a great thing :)


Kate's post today talks about me... well, actually she talks about herself but she might as well be talking about me.  We are lazy crafters!  I would rather craft that put stuff away and pretty soon, my crafting space becomes too cluttered to create anything and I can't find anything.  That is when I start spreading to other areas of the house and my  hubby threatens to call Hoarders Anonymous.

So, I am going to end this post right now, but I will be back to show some creative spaces I looked at last night and some organizing tips.  I forgot to mark where I got them from so now I have to go on a scavenger hunt and find them again!

Hugs,
Becky

Craft Room Cleanse

Kate over at Sparkle Tart is doing a 30-day Craft Room Cleanse and I am joining her!  Unlike Kate, I have a whole room to myself (sort of) and some cupboards and lots of stuff to use, but I am woefully unorganized and a mess maker so I need to do this cleanse.  However, it may take me a little longer than 60 days....  I know, it sounds like a cop-out, but my room does have stuff in it that belongs to other members of the family and in order to get it out of my space, their space has to be rearranged too, so that part of my cleanse is not totally dependent on me.  So to begin with, and I think this will be embarrassing enough to actually make me do this since I will be posting pics and keeping you all posted on my progress, here are some pics of what my "craft room" looks like right now

I told you it was scary!  This is from the doorway.  To the left you can see a closet, which is filled with my hubby's stuff.  So that has to be moved out.  To the right behind the water bottle, is a bunch of boxes and stuff that we all need to go through.  Above those is my window.  It does get pretty nice light in the daytime and I have the dreaded fluorescent bulbs in the ceiling.  And I have the lovely Clip it Up by Simply Renee but it is definitely not being used to its full potential.

I have cabinets up and down and they are metal which are great - I like to print out current challenges I am working on and have them up there with magnets so I can refer to them as I craft.  That counter underneath is pretty much unusable as I have it covered with stuff.  The magazine holders I got from the dollar store and they are perfect for holding 8-1/2 by 11 paper, but I don't know where to store my 12 x 12 paper.  I do have a paper holder from Creative Memories but it does not nearly hold all my paper.  I have a bit of a paper addiction.  and the same goes for my ribbons.  Yes that basket is full of reels of ribbon which have come unrolled and I have left them that way - I know it is shameful.

 I was looking for specific stamps and left all my stamps out all over - yes I need a new way to organize those.

These 2  pics above show my "work space"  I have a 4 foot table in the middle of my room which I can work on, but I have so much stuff on there that I leave myself about a 2 foot space to work, but the bottom picture is what my work space looks like right now.

So now you have seen a little of what I am working with.  What I did not put in my pictures is what else is in my room.... One wall is filled with my boxes of fabric - about 10 large plastic boxes of fabric and fabric related stuff - once upon a time I thought I would have time to sew.  I have actually down-sized my fabric already.  If I could clean out the closet, that is where my fabric would go.  On the other side of my room is my hubby's reloading table (for reloading bullets) which he has not used in 20 years but won't get rid of so we need to find a place for it.  Also other assorted boxes of stuff I need to go through, things like the kids' school projects which need to either be put in memory books or something, not sure what, and wrapping stuff for wrapping presents.  Also some more cupboards which are filled with my crafting magazines - cannot seem to get rid of them, but these I have not looked at for years so will be going through them again to see what I can live without now.  Also 2 cupboards that have lazy-susans in them which I cannot even get to because of the crap that is in front of them.

Now, see why I said it might take more than 30 days?  But I am determined to at least get my crafting area cleaned up.  So now I am going to go browse some web sites to get some ideas for what I would like to do and figure out my lists for what I have, need and want like Kate has done.

If you are interested in doing this for your own craft room, join us!  I can use all the encouragement I can get.  Needless to say, I may not be crafting for a while.  Lately I have been using my work desk (I work at home) and so now my "office" looks like my craft room and no I am not posting pictures of that!!!

Wish me lots of luck - I am going to  need it!

Hugs,
Becky

Kristin's doing it again!

Remember that wonderful goody box I won from Kristin a while back, that is Kristin from LilSweetpea's Place...  Well now she is being extremely generous again with a $100 GC to scrapbook.com!  Just think of all the goodies you could get with that!  She is starting a new blog and wants you to check it it out.  It is called Kristin Wilson Handmade and you can check out both blogs to find out info on this giveaway, but you can only sign up on one - don't be naughty :)  Good luck everybody!

God Bless,
Becky

My POSH organizer - picture/chat heavy

Hey friends!  I still have not made anything new to share, but here are the pictures of the POSH organizer that I made using Kathy Orta's tutorial from Paper Phenomenon! Personal Organized Simplified Handbook - that is what POSH stands for and you have got to check it out over on Kathy's blog.  She has it on Ustream I think, or it might be Youtube, can't remember it has been a couple of months since I made it, but I bought the tutorial and then made it along with her.  And I love it!  I made it for a friend who has not decided if she is going to keep it or sell it in her little boutique store in Ephraim (that is a small town in central Utah).  Kathy has the option when you buy her tutorials to either buy a personal copy that you can use for yourself and/or for gifts, or you can buy a commercial copy so you can sell them or a licensed copy which you can then teach it.  I bought the personal, but will be updating to a commercial if I decide to have her sell them.  Anyway, too much rambling - sorry.  

This book plate or whatever it is called is from Kristin - that big box of goodies I finally posted about a couple of days ago.  It says Live With Passion and I thought it was perfect for this little book.  This is a plain elastic closure which I colored with a Sharpie and the paper is from Walmart - Colorbok I think?  All of the papers in this little min were from the same 12 inch pad.  

 

That elastic in the middle is for a pencil or pen, which I forgot to add.  This tutorial comes with the calendar printouts for 4 years starting with 2011.  It also comes with the Things to Do and other papers that you can print out to put in the pockets.  It is hard to tell from this picture but both sides open up from here.

This is the left side from the picture above opened up.

and this is the right side opened up.

some of the other pages in the book.  They all have the calendar on the top and then open up to reveal the long vertical pocket and a small corner pocket and then on the back is another corner pocket.

and the bag has a notebook that is inserted in a slot so when it is empty, you can insert a new one.

So, if I have confused you totally by taken only stills, I am sorry, don't have a video camera at my disposal at the moment.  Just go check this out on Kathy's Ustream and you will see how cool this really is!  A little time consuming, but well worth it and I think now that I have made one, it won't be so hard to do it again.  I always have to actually do the project to learn it, then once I have made all my mistakes with the first one, I can take it from there :)  

Happy first day of spring - what is left of it.  It is evening here in my world and cold today :( but hopefully it will warm up again soon.  Hugs!

God Bless,

Becky

Stickpin swap

Tanya over at Scrappy Scavenger has been having stickpin swaps for the last couple of months.  We are about to end the 3rd one at the end of this month.  I just love making stickpins and I love getting new ones even better - so many fabulous pins from all over!  It is just too much fun.  So wanted to show you the pins I got in February.  With the play rehearsals and such, I never had a chance to post these.  I am sorry to say that I took them all off their cards a while ago and I cannot remember who made what, but they are all lovely!

Here is the whole lot - sorry really bad picture.  I used orange paper hoping that would offset some of them better...

Wanted to show a close up of that cute puppy bead

Love the silk flower and the gold button and that really cool bead inside a silver square - these are all so much pretty and sparkly in person.  Love the tiny pearls too.

This one is so gorgeous and about 5 inches long - need to find out where to get pins that long!

This one is so amazing!  Wish I could remember who sent this one... 

These were mine - very simple, especially compared to the other gorgeous ones I got.

So that is that - I might have missed one.  I think I used one of them already.  I gotta go finish my cornbeef and colcannan for dinner.  Will try to put pics of the organizer later. 

God Bless, 

Becky

Box of goodies from Kristin

Ok, I while I go I posted that I had won a fabulous box of goodies from Kristin from Lilsweetpea's place and I had made a movie with my daughter and her new video camera and she had erased it.  So I was going to make another, but she cannot locate her charger at the moment and I don't want to forget....  besides I am dying to use some of this stuff so I took still pics instead.  Not the greatest, but at least you can see what was in that amazing box.

  2 packs of recollections paper - love Recollections!

15 sheets of chipboard goodies, some alphabets, some words, some name plate and such!  I must admit I have used a few of those already :)

  Various clear stamps - sorry this picture is bad

another bad picture -this is a 12 x 12 pack of bright CM paper, colors like orange and teal - yummy!

G45 travelogue stamps and 8 x 8 pad of paper- I love everything G45!  Can't wait to use this - I am thinking my honeymoon album (we went to the Carribbean) is perfect for these :)

Two mini albums ready for me to decorate :)

Some page kits and project pad

Another page kit that includes ribbon and buttons and the paper is gorgeous.

Two punches - can never get enough of those!  Love the cute steaming mug!

Flower frame and acrylic buttons - aren't they cute!

Assorted little embellishments

More fun buttons, stamps, ribbon and teardrop in one of my favorite colors - avocado!

Bling!!!!

and 4 boxes of Maya Road goodies (love MR) - including Chipboard blossoms - I was just looking at those the other day to buy them :) and the rest are vellum - alphabets in black and white and Tickets - love love love these things!

See...  I told you it was fabulous!  Thanks again so much Kristin and sorry it took me so long to post this!

Much love to you Kristin!  

God Bless, 

Becky