Happy New Year!

May 2011 bring health, wealth, and happiness......plus many crafts, fun and beading! Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays from our family to yours! See you all next week! Enjoy!

Seriously CUTE!!!!!

Hello all! Aren't these bobby pins seriously too cute?? I am IN LOVE! Fantastic idea from Heather Powers of Humblebeads! Find her instructions HERE, from her blog! I, for one, had NO idea they even made bezeled bobby pins! WOO HOO! My crafty brain is on overdrive with ideas! I foresee Madelyn getting candy filled ones for her hair! A little candy......a little resin.....oh swoon! She is going to love them! A big thank you to Heather for educating me once again! Oh my poor bank account.......maybe I should ask for a Hobby Lobby gift card from Santa! Enjoy!

I Drool......

Triz Designs

Patrizia Tager

Hello all! I seriously can not remember how I came to find Triz Designs on Facebook, but let me say.... I am soooooo glad I did! The designs are like a muse to me. They make me WANT to do and try new things....like beadweaving, which as the old saying goes, "Never say never". I always thought, "Oh. I could NEVER do that"and "I would never be interested in that kind of design". Gah. Proved me WRONG! I LOVE beadweaving and have been searching and Googling all kinds of videos and how-to's. I am now.....should I say it? A seed bead addict. Is there any hope left for me now?

Head over and check our Tirz Designs beautiful work on the Blog, in the Etsy Shop, on Flickr, on Twitter, and on Facebook

You won't regret it! Enjoy!

A Little Humor on a Icy Day

Hello all! Here is a little humor to watch on this extremely icy day! No school in session due to ice, and not enough workers showed up at the TWO after school daycares for us to be able to take Maddy there for the afternoon so I can go to work. So Maddy and I are surfing the web, and someone posted this to Facebook, which led to uncontrollable laughter and watery eyes! You have been warned! :)

Now, to go and get ready to go to work after Tim gets home to relieve me of the stay home duty, which has been really fun actually! I forgot how much I missed our "Mommy-Maddy Days"! Enjoy!

Baby Food Chandelier

Hello all! I frequently check my sidebar and my Feedjit to see where people come from to get here on my blog. While doing that, I came across THIS site. And ON that site I saw this chandelier.....not sure what it was about it, the way it looks, that it is made from recycled parts and pieces, the organic, slightly medieval look to it??? Anyway, I am smitten! And I wanna add this to my ever growing larger things to make list! Just wanted to share my crafting ADD with you all today.

The days are getting closer to Christmas and my husband and I are realizing that we are NOT as far ahead of the game as we would like to be with gift shopping, mailing, decorating, grocery shopping, menu planning, etc, etc...... Wish us a lot of luck! The past few years this time of year I was a stay at home kinda mommy.....this year, well, you all know I am not, so factor in the full-time nursing job and we have crazy hectic, "Oh no! Really? It's NEXT week? Argggg!" syndrome going on. So much for being on the ball! Lesson learned! :)

Take care! Have a great day! Watch the weather if you are in the Missouri area......I'm not too sure even the weather forecasters know where this storm is heading! Ta ta!

Ooh La La Christmas!

Hello All! Today I am showing off two fantastic ideas from the ever impressive Fusionbeads Blog! I can NOT wait to give these a try! My favorite things; Resin, Glitter and beadweaving! CLICK on the photos to take you to the blog posts, and instructions! Hope you all peruse the rest of their site too! Many great things to be seen there! Enjoy!

Thank You!!!

Hello all! I just wanted to say a BIG "Thank You!!" to Art Bead Scene editor Cindy Gimbrone for choosing my design for the Art Bead Scene Featured Designer of the Week! Thank you so much Cindy and ABS! You have made my week! Happy Holidays!!

DIY-Danish Paper Stars

Hello all! I am enchanted with these beee-uuu-tee-ful paper stars! Around the holidays one of my favorite blogs to visit is Allsorts. While perusing the site I saw these stars! Love them! I was directed to a new blog site, Jurianne Matter. Both sites direct you to these instructions! It may look daunting with so many steps, but I believe it is doable!!! Enjoy!

Art Bead Scene December Challenge

Hello all! I have not contributed to the Art Bead Scene Challenge in a long time! There was something about the two inspiration paintings for the December Challenge that really grabbed me. And, well, the muse hit and here is my submission to the Flickr Group for ABS. I am really happy with it!

The pendant was made by myself which is inspired by The Storm, John Anster Fitzgerald. Components: Vintaj Brass, polymer clay beads from Jibby and Juna, beaded ring made by me, recycled glass beads, Czech glass beads, vintage brass curtain ring, Irish Linen waxed cording, brass components and chain, and a vintage Monet brass toggle bar.

Thanks for checking in! Enjoy! :)

More Favorite Blogs

Art Bead Scene Blog
Elegant Bloggery
Humblebeads Blog
PussDaddy Blog
Kabs Blog

Early Christmas Present

Hello! In our house the only rooms that have carpet are the three bedrooms. The rest are Shaw Laminate flooring. I'm going to let you all in on a little secret....they look good....but are a PAIN to keep clean. My husband is...well.....VERY picky about the floors. So, since we have lived here he is the floor guru and floor "keeper". In other words, he is in charge of the floors in this house.

He told me one night, while looking through the Bed Bath & Beyond mailer, about a new floor cleaning robot. You see, we have always wanted one, but the ones we have researched have rotating brushes that can leave scratches on laminate flooring.....so, no go on those. Until Tim saw the Mint Floor Cleaner!

We decided that it would be a great, yet early, Christmas present to us from us! Let me tell you all....IT ROCKS!! In the bathrooms we have vinyl flooring, so Tim sprayed some Swifter liquid cleaner down on the floor and away he went....scrubbing and cleaning all on his own while we ate dinner! AWESOME! I am giddy!

I have heard that some people give names to their robot floor cleaners. I call ours Minty for a lack of a better name at the moment! If you all have any suggestions, feel free to help us name it!

Take care!

Friday Tutorial

Hello! While walking through the living room one day, I caught a glimpse of a commercial on the TV my daughter was watching. They were showing how to make Photo Frame Tree Ornaments on NickJR. It was under the tittle Dora The Explorer, which I think, quite possible my daughter was the only child never to be real interested in. BUT it looked cute and EASY! So off to the computer I went!

Take a look HERE! Too cute! I think it could be a fun activity for the family, and a great gift to give Grandparents or family! Could be used to top a gift! I am thinking of making it more adult and using black felt with silver accents to use in my home decor for the holiday....maybe to line the mantle! Maybe with black and white photos???? Who knows! Go crazy with it...use that imagination!

Enjoy!

Reminders

Hello! I want to remind you all of some of my old blog posts that are still being viewed according to my FEEDJIT in the sidebar. They are just in time for the holidays!

Holiday Trees From Magazines

Cinnamon Dough Ornaments

Yearly Interview with your Child

Hello December

Hello! And welcome to the last month of 2010! Where did it go? I am pretty sure that I just started my new job yesterday, you know right after we got back from our Florida vacation......what? That was in JUNE you say? WOW!

It is time to get the holiday shopping nose-to-the-grindstone in gear! I need to purchase some Christmas cards.....like, yesterday!

Oh yeah. And that little thing called The New Year will be here soon to. Got to make way for that! Do I really have to make the same resolution that I make and fail at every year? I think it is time for a change! Any ideas?

I will say that we are changing up our Christmas day a little here on the homestead. I will tell you a little secret! Some of you might NOT approve, but with that being said, I will tell you we are doing VERY little cooking that day. My mother, my husband, my daughter and I are having our dinner made and my mother is picking it up on her way in Christmas Day. We are ordering THIS, and adding a ham and our favorite holiday casseroles! Easy Peasy and we ALL get to enjoy the day without slaving in the kitchen. We always go to my husbands families residence on Christmas Eve and stuff ourselves. It is also tradition to have a breakfast of cinnamon rolls while opening presents! We used to do Christmas Eve fondue with my family in the Northwest along with a day of sea kayaking on Puget Sound.........those were the days! How I miss those times!

This year my two lovely nephews will be going to New Zealand with their father to see his family! And my sister is going to Cabo San Lucas (yes, lets string her up now) for her holidays!

What are your plans? And what are some of your traditions? I would LOVE to hear about them!

Happy first day of December to you all! Let us all make the last month memorable! Take care!

Music Tuesday

On my iPod:

Adele

Amy Winehouse

Bette Midler

Beyonce

Britt Nicole

Casting Crowns

Clint Black

Eminem

Marvin Gaye

Miley Cyrus

Steelheart

Third Day

30 Seconds to Mars

Metallica

and so much MORE.........

What's on yours???

Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.

- Christopher Robin to Pooh

Blogs I HAVE to Visit Daily.....

...or my day is just not complete!

Just Something I Made

Lorelei's Blog

The Pioneer Woman

Lisa Leonard Online

Living With Lindsay

Monday Morning Musing

(Madelyn in the ball pit at a birthday party)

Musings: A product of contemplation; a thought.

I have TONS of these now a days! They range from, Why can I NOT get rid of this strep throat? to Why have I tried EVERYTHING to get rid of this Internet Redirect Virus on my computer and it is STILL there?!

*Why can I NOT get motivated enough to finish what I started?
*Why can I NOT remember certain important things these days...like jewelry orders?
*Why is it that Madelyn and I keep getting every illness under the sun and my husband has not been ill once?
*How can I improve my immune system?
*Should I take certain things happening in my life as a sign?
*Why can I NOT shut off my brain with these questions?
*Why, why, why? How, how, how? What, what what? When, when, when? GAH!!!

Why does our brain take us on mental trips that we DO NOT want to go on? Why can it not take me on a trip to Florida instead? Now THERE is a trip I'd happily go on! :)

This Looks VERY Intersting!

Light Your Fire!

for mamas who rock business from Danielle LaPorte on Vimeo.

Halloween Pictures

Taylor, Macie, and Madelyn, AKA Princess, Blue and Rapunzel

Rapunzel

Rapunzel

My Lapband Progress

Hello all! Today, I am laying it ALL out here! I thought I would stop in and give a weight loss update. The pictures are bad...I know. No makeup, nasty mom-frazzled hair. The pictures of me in the purple/pink shirt were taken March 21, 2010, before the surgery which was April 30th.....not quite at 250 pounds, but almost (started out 250, but the pre-op diet had me down to 236?). The picture in the white shirt is today.....209.6 pounds. Size 24/26 to a size 18. I am just maybe a week over 6 months post-op. My goal was to be UNDER 200 long before now, but patience is something I am learning with this journey! Thank you all for subjecting yourselves to these pictures!! I also know that you have to look HARD to see any real change, or at least I think so anyway.

Thanks for stopping in! Have a great weekend! :)

What My Husband Has Me Hooked On

AWESOMENESS!!!!!