Crazy Crafty Times

2012 Journal Day - Day 44

2012-02-13T16:42:00.000-06:00

I am fired up. David coaches basketball and earlier this week one of the parents sent him a note telling David of all the things he's doing wrong. Granted some of what he said was accurate .. but the thing that fired me up was this comment here:

"Not having a special needs child such as yourself, I have no idea what you must go through on an everyday basis with Zach, it must be tough."

There's just no way to even begin to describe my frustration. Zach is not a great basketball player, but who cares. He's playing for fun. But his so called lack of skills is all of a sudden attributed to a "special needs" issue? Seriously?!? Come on!

2012 Journal - Days 42-43

2012-02-13T06:28:00.003-06:00

Not much to say about the weekend. It was an ok weekend. On Saturday we spent some time working on things around the house. I started painting a new wall. I'm still working on Emily's crate, but something still isn't quite right. Zach's basketball game went well. The still lost, but they boys played much better. Saturday evening we went to a Valentine's banquet at the church and David and I got picked to play the "Not so Newlywed Game." We came in second place. Those questions were crazy, but it was fun. We had a picture taken and it's clear I need to do something about my weight. And why is it that we never look the same in pictures as we do in mirrors?

Yesterday was a little crazy. We were supposed to have church council (which was a much needed meeting), but it and all evening services got canceled on account of weather that might come in. The temps were low, but that was about it. Coming from Wyoming and Colorado, I just don't get people sometimes when it comes to weather.

2012 Journal - Day 41

2012-02-10T21:01:00.000-06:00

Today was a much better day. I spent a good portion of the day working at the church and then went into town to pick up some adoption certificates I had printed. Well unfortunately the prints that FedEx Office made weren't all that great so I had hubby pick up some specialty paper so I could print them at home and they turned out much better. The only problem was that even after David and I proof read the test copy I still found an error, so I'll be getting more paper tomorrow and reprinting them ... again.

The family watched "Mr Popper Penguins" tonight. It was the best movie I've seen in a while. David and I were rolling on the floor. Heather kept saying, "Stop laughing your making me laugh."

2012 Journal - Day 40

2012-02-10T06:07:00.004-06:00

Nothing much to speak of today. Got some laundry done, and worked on a few scrapbooking LO's. For whatever reason I was a little on edge this evening. The noise level from the kids was really getting to me and it seems they couldn't hear me because I had to keep telling them the same thing over and over. I finally had to just leave the house for a while so I wouldn't constantly be yelling at them.

2012 Journal - Day 39

2012-02-09T06:35:00.001-06:00

Oy! Was last night frustrating. We had 12 Cubbies last night which was fantastic. If we actually had everyone there we would have been at 14 Cubbies with 3 other possible. We have a total of 3 leaders so 12 Cubbies shouldn't have been a problem. But it was ... in a big way. I've been trying to set up a meeting so that we can discuss the topic of growth, adding a new leader, moving to a larger room, etc, but that meeting hasn't happened yet. Either way 12 shouldn't have been a problem. I know what the problem was and will address it soon ... just not sure how to go about doing it.

2012 Journal - Day 38

2012-02-07T17:45:00.003-06:00

Today actually turned out pretty good considering the crappy start, so we'll skip the start of my day and jump right to the good stuff. I got to have a quick but good heart-to-heart phone conversation with my daddy which made a big difference. After that I managed to get a lot more done than I expected so that was a very nice bonus.

I got Emily's stuffed animal crate stained. I need to wait for it to dry and mess it up a little because it looks too clean for my liking.
I finished up a paper crafting project I started last week and got it posted on the blog. You can find it here.
I started painting an old gate I found that I'm going to eventually place on our mantel.
I finished painting the first coat of paint on the wall I started a few days back. We're painting the entire down stairs ... well minus the ceilings and the moldings. It's going to be a long process so I'm taking it one wall at a time.
Made chili and cornbread for dinner.

Valentine Project

2012-02-07T12:26:00.001-06:00

Here's a little project I put together for my sweet darlin' using the new Crate Paper Paper Heart collection that Michelle sent me from A Million Memories.

And here's how I did it...

Step 1: Cut a piece of pattern paper and a piece of thin kraft board to 5x7. I used the kraft board that came with my scrapbooking papers. You could also use a cereal box for this.

Step 2: Mod Podge the pattern paper to the kraft board, the place inside a book while drying to keep any bubbles from forming.

Step 3: Mark a line 1/2 an inch from each edge on the back of the kraft board. Then punch holes around the board.

Step 4: Crochet a scalloped edge around each board. Start with a slip stitch in the first hole on one of the long sides, but not a corner hole. Chain 3 and then slip stitch in the next hole. Continue to do this until you get to the corner hole. At the corner hole chain 3 and slip stitch in the same hole. On the short sides the holes are a little further apart so I chained four on the sides. Repeat this until you have worked all the way around the board and slip stitch in the first slip stitch. To make the scallops you will stitch a single, half double, double, half double, and single crochet in each loop created by the chains from the first round.

Step 5: Embellish your board however you like.

2012 Journal - Day 36 & 37

2012-02-07T06:20:00.000-06:00

Sunday was not a good day at all so not even going to comment on it.

Yesterday was a little better. I spent the morning at the church and got the lesson ready for Cubbies and started setting goals for each of the areas involved in children's ministry. David came by and picked me up and took me out to lunch. By the time lunch was over I started getting a headache and just didn't feel well so he dropped me off at the church so I could get my van, head home and take a nap. Pretty much felt yucky the rest of the day.

2012 Journal - Day 35

2012-02-04T19:38:00.002-06:00

I have always been plagued by night mares. Mostly because that's how my mind processes things. Right now things are a bit chaotic and everything feels out of control. I don't know what to expect from one day to the next ... so naturally the dreams have started up again. The dreams are crazy and leave me terrified when I wake up from them even though there wasn't much content to the dream.

I had two dreams last night. One I remember very clearly, even down to the tiniest detail, but the dream right before it ... the one that scared me the most ... is just a blurry image. You know how if you stare at an object and then close your eyes you can see the shape of the image you were starring at? Well it's kind of like that. I just wish I could remember what it was.

Not a good day today. The pain was intense and I have no clue what to make of it. I don't really understand what God is doing or what His will is for me. One day, when the time is right, He will reveal His will for me.

2012 Journal - Day 34

2012-02-03T18:23:00.001-06:00

My heart has been heavy for my daddy this week. He's going through a transition and things have been quite busy for him. It's scary and exciting at the same time. God's going to do some really great things there.

I got started on that crate for Emily's room. All I have to do is put on the bottom and stain it. I'm can't really tell if I'm going to like it. I only made it 12 inches wide and I'm thinking I should have made it at least 18 inches wide. Oh well. It will probably look better once I get it stained.

I haven't tested out the new paint color for the house yet, but hope to get to that this evening.

2012 Journal - Day 33

2012-02-02T18:41:00.002-06:00

Today turned out to be a fairly decent day. Had a few issues with my inner child which I'm never really sure how to handle. Some days I wake up and feel like that scared little girl who needs her daddy. I must admit that I'm not the nicest person to my inner child. Most of the time I just wish she would go away, but until I can nurture her and help her to grow up and move on I'm going to continue to have days like today.

I started working on another project today. I'm going to build a crate, similar to those below, for Emily's stuffed animals. I got all the pieces cut and started on sanding them, but stopped long enough to run into town and have lunch with David. We then ran to Lowe's to pick out some paint for the house. That's going to be another project of mine.

I also added some crochet edges to a paper crafting project I'm working on, but it ended up stirring up a cyst I have in my wrist, so I've been trying to do what I can to get it to settle down.

Shadow Box from a Cupcake Box

2012-02-02T07:46:00.001-06:00

Today I am going to show you how to create a shadow box featuring the new American Crafts flutterbys.

Step 1: Grab a small empty box and carefully pull the sides and bottom apart to flatten the box.

Step 2: Using a ruler mark where you want to cut your window then cut it out. I marked mine half an inch from the creases.

Step 3: I wanted to inside to be on the outside so I had to re-crease the box to fold the way I wanted it to then I needed to prime the inside with gesso. You really only need to cover the edges, but my bottle of gesso spilled so I covered the whole thing.

Step 4: Measure and cut pattern paper to fit the bottom, back, and top of the inside of your box.

Step 5: Turn your box over, measure and cut a piece of coordinating pattern paper to frame the window on the front of your box.

Step 6: Flip the box back over so that you are looking at the inside and glue a strand of your flutterbys to the inside of the box. To give the flutterbys more dimension fold them in half before adhering.

Step 7: Start embellishing the inside of your box making sure to create layers. One thing that I did to give my elements a little depth was to take some poster putty, cut off small strips and hot glue them to my elements.

Step 8: Fold and glue your box together, then cut and cover the sides on the inside of your box.

Step 9: Measure and cut pattern paper to fit the top, sides, and bottom of your box. Adhere with mod podge and you're all done.

Michelle has two different types of flutterbys for you to play with. Check them out.

2012 Journal - Day 32

2012-02-01T17:05:00.001-06:00

I'm probably not going to have time to post this evening because Wednesday evenings are pretty busy for us so I decided to make a quick stop and post before all the craziness hits.

Today has been a really good day. Spent some time at the church getting ready for Cubbies, and then had lunch with my sweet darlin'. Made it home with just enough time to get some laundry done and get started on another scrappy project.

I had another trigger pop up on me today, and I must say I'm getting so sick of them. It was minor .. I guess... it kind of felt like it feels when someone jumps out and scares you, only the uneasy feeling doesn't go away as quickly. My mom gave Heather a watch that is shaped like a cross that she used to wear, and every once in a while Heather will wear it. I've never been bothered by it before, but today I noticed that watch on Heather and all of a sudden I start getting flashbacks. It kind of knocked the breath out of me. I finally had to ask Heather to put the watch away. It's really not a big deal, just feel kind of edgy now.

2012 Journal - Day 30 & 31

2012-01-31T20:02:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I woke up from a long night of dreams so I was extremely tired. I also ran into several environmental triggers that deal with the PTSD. It's actually been a while since I've had issues with the triggers so that's improvement ...

One thing I would like to know though is how do I get past the disconnect that was created by my biological father? I encounter times with my adopted daddy and my Heavenly father when there is a disconnect where I just can't internalize that they love me. I can know it in my head, but have a hard time getting past that and allowing myself to internalize that love.

I know that our view of God is first determined by our relationship with our earthly father, so my view is a bit skewed at times. I know He loves me and wants the best for me, but sometimes I can't help but see him pacing back and forth wondering if I'll ever get it right. And yes there are times when I am having a really rough time and I find myself apologizing over and over again for being such a failure. And yet, He's never once wondered if I'd ever get it right, and He's never seen me as a failure. I can only hope and pray that one day I will be able to see myself through his eyes and not through my distorted vision.

2012 Journal - Day 29

2012-01-29T20:17:00.001-06:00

Not much to post today. It was a great day! Spent the morning at church and got to watch my favorite 1 year old boy in the nursery during Sunday school. Spent a little time at home just chillin' and then headed to a nearby church for Night of Praise where several churches get together and just sing. It was awesome!

2012 Journal - Day 28

2012-01-28T22:06:00.003-06:00

Another good day. Started the day off with a call from my daddy and a super quick visit so he could give me my b-day card and give me a hug. Then Zach's basketball team won their game, and we had a somewhat enjoyable lunch at Texas Land and Cattle. By that time the kids were starting to get on each others nerves.

Next it was a trip to Payless Shoes, because when the kids are able to use their shoes as puppets you just can't put it off any longer. Luckily they have their BOGO sale going on and I got a new pair as well. Daddy would be so proud. He's always giving me fits for not wearing shoes.

After Payless we headed to Costco and then home. The kids fought the entire time. We tried to get them to go play outside, but they just couldn't seem to calm down and get along. I don't know what the deal was. Amidst all the fighting I did start working on another project, but I'll share more on that later.

2012 Journal - Day 27

2012-01-27T22:48:00.002-06:00

Today was a good day. Spent some time at the church this morning, came home and worked on a shadow box, and spent the evening with most of the family. Emily and Nathan went next door for a sleepover, but Nathan ended up coming home early.

AMM Sale - 50% off

2012-01-27T20:39:00.000-06:00

Just a quick post to let you know that you can take 50% off at the AMM store (excluding the AMM rosette fabric, Crate Paper "Paper Heart" collection and the American Crafts Flutterbys).

Michelle added a bunch of button tags in the store as well as October Afternoon products that were not previously in inventory. Check it out and take advantage!

Oh and did I mention that shipping within the US is $5.99?!!!

Use code CLEAR2 at checkout.

Enjoy!

Office Chair Transformation

2012-01-27T15:52:00.001-06:00

How this chair went from this ...to this...

I will say this took than I expected because I ran into a few little surprises.

Step 1: Remove the back, seat, and arms from the main assembly.

Step 2: Starting with the seat of the chair, remove the staples, remove the plastic cord, and then carefully remove the material from the cushion. The material on my chair was glued to the cushion so it took a long time to make sure I didn't take out any big chunks from my cushion.

Step 3: Repeat step 2 for the chair back.

Step 4: Using a seam ripper or a sharp pair of scissors remove the hem from each of the covers. Iron to flatten and then use as a template for your new covers. Pin each piece in place on your new fabric with the right sides down. Cut out each piece.

Once your pieces have been cut out you can stop here and just staple your fabric to each pieces or you can continue as I did.

Step 5: Create a 1/2 inch hem around each cover. Pin in place and then sew. Make sure you leave a slit in the middle at the back of each cover. This is where you will insert your plastic cord.

Step 6: Place your cushion over your cover and begin inserting the plastic cord and guiding it along the edge of the cover. This will gather your cover around the cushion. Now this is a really simple process IF you have enough of cord so you may want to purchase more so you have plenty to work with. I decided to just work with what I had, which wasn't exactly easy.

Step 7: Staple the cord in place and then staple around the corners. Repeat this process with the other two pieces.

Step 8: Spray paint your chair.

Step 9: Put everything back together and enjoy your new chair.

2012 Journal - Day 26

2012-01-27T07:17:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I'm posting my journal posts the day after they happen, but at least they are getting posted. Last night I was working on a project right up until bed time, so I didn't really feel like posting then. I spent pretty much the entire day doing laundry and recovering an office chair. It was kind of a spur of the moment project. My sweet darlin' had an old office chair out in his barn that ~~I took~~ he let me have for my office at the church. It was black and had a navy corduroy covering which also happened to be covered in cat hair. After seeing several projects on Pinterest.com where someone recovered an office chair, I decided I would do the same and make it more me. It is now pink and red. I'm still finishing up the spray painting, but I'll show pictures later today.

2012 Journal - Day 25

2012-01-26T06:21:00.003-06:00

Nothing out of the ordinary happened today, Yay! I spent the morning at the church working on stuff for Awana. I am quickly realizing that there is always more that could be done. It's going to be hard to keep myself to working just mornings. Next week I think I'm going to try to start work a little earlier and see if that helps.

I got the unexpected treat of taking daddy some lunch, which was a good thing considering he had a problem at work that kept him from being able to help out with the Cubbies this evening. It was an interesting evening. We had 11 Cubbies, one leader, and one leader-in-training, but it all worked out. At the beginning of the year we started with 10 Cubbies and now we are up to 15, when everyone is healthy. Praise the Lord! It's been really exciting to work with the preschoolers and to see the class grow.

Forever Reign by One Sonic Society

2012-01-25T15:10:00.003-06:00

You can get this song for free from K-Love this week. Click here.

2012 Journal - Days 23-24

2012-01-24T18:49:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was a normal day for the most part. I got settled into my office at the church. I've heard a number of people (who didn't know I was standing nearby) ask "Why does Jennifer need work space?" Apparently there are a number of people at the church who don't realize I'm the Children's Director. I'm sure that is partly my fault, which is what I am trying to rectify by spending time working from the church instead of from home.

Last night I dealt with a bit of fear and anxiety over today. Today is my birthday ... and I HATE my birthday. I know, I know ... hate is a strong word, but it's true. We actually celebrated on Saturday (which didn't turn out so well), but daddy and I were going to have lunch today and that was pretty much going to be the extent of it. However, last night I just couldn't get rid of the feeling that something wasn't going to go right. I chalked it up to nervousness, but once the day started things quickly unraveled and in the end daddy and I were not able to have lunch together.

For reasons I will not go into, it was an extremely rough day, but I got to spend a lot of time in prayer just talking to and listening to God. I also spent a little bit of time putting to paper what God shared with me regarding the role of a wife which I will share one day, and to top it off I actually got to read a book from start to finish. I don't remember the last time I was able to do that. Ok, granted it was one of the kids books. I like to know what they are reading to make sure they aren't reading something inappropriate, and most of the time I actually enjoy the books.

2012 Journal - Days 21 & 22

2012-01-23T09:20:00.002-06:00

Saturday and Sunday were not good days for me.

I did however learn a few important things about being a wife and about prayer, but I'll have to share those later because I'm running a little low on time this morning.

2012 Journal - Day 20

2012-01-20T22:49:00.000-06:00

Today was a pretty laid back day. I went into the church and did a few things then headed home for a relaxing afternoon. I was about halfway home when I realized I still needed to get groceries, so I had to head back into town. By the time all was said and done I still had two hours to just relax. I spent one hour catching up on "Grey's Anatomy" and the fell asleep for the second, which was desperately needed. I've been getting maybe 3 to 4 hours of sleep recently.

When the kids got home Nathan bounded up to me and told me that there was a note from his teacher in his binder. The note pretty much just said to check my e-mail. Nothing had come to my account so I checked David's and apparently Nathan has not been handling his anger well this week. The teacher said that this just wasn't like Nathan at all, and I'm sitting there thinking ... "this is exactly like Nathan!" Then my next thought was "Seriously! You waited three days before telling us there was a problem?" Oh well, we got everything handled ... for now.

Rosette Heart Tutorial

2012-01-20T14:07:00.001-06:00

Not too long ago, Michelle got some wonderful rosette fabric in the A Million Memories store, in creme, fuchsia, and turquoise. Each color is sold in 12.5x12.5" squares for $3.99. She sent Michelle, Marie and I each a square to work with. Today, I'm going to be working with the creme fabric so here's a pic of the other two colors.

So are you ready for me to show you what I'm going to teach you how make? A vintage inspired heart pillow.

Step 1: The first thing you need is a heart template. You can either freehand a heart and cut it out or you can print and cut one out.

Step 2: Fold your fabric so that the right sides are touching and then pin your template in place.

Step 3: Cut around your template then remove the pins and set your template aside. You should how have two perfectly mirrored hearts.

Step 4: Pin your hearts together so that the right sides are touching and pin in place.

Step 5: Using a 1/2 inch seam allowance sew 3/4 of the way around the heart. Secure the beginning with a back stitch, but not the end. Once you have sewn 3/4 of the way around smooth the fabric along the thread to make sure that there is no gathering. Once everything is smooth back stitch the end.

Step 6: Turn the heart right side out and stuff with fiber fill.

Step 7: Turn the ends of the opening 1/2 inch inside the heart so that the right sides of the fabric are touching and pin in place.

Step 8: Using a slip stitch sew the opening closed making sure that you start your thread inside the pillow so your knot is hidden.

Step 9: Embellish your heart. I used a vintage safety pin and added a jewel and a metal heart.

Rosette Fabric Sneak Peek

2012-01-19T18:52:00.000-06:00

The other day I mentioned that I was working on a project using this rosette fabric from A Million Memories.

I finished the other day and wanted to share a little sneak peek. I can't share the whole project until I get the ok from Michelle, but I will let you know that it will have step-by-step instructions with it.

2012 Journal - Day 19

2012-01-19T18:47:00.003-06:00

My kids are just sick and twisted. I usually cook on the grill, but haven't for about a week or so. At some point in time they decided to leave me a suggestion as to what to cook for dinner.

I aim to please so I put this poor deceased guy/girl on a bed of lettuce on a covered plate and told the kids we were having something really special for dinner tonight. Before lifting the cover I asked how many of the kids wanted a piece of what I had under the plate and each one of them raised their hands. A few were a little hesitant, but none of them wanted to miss out in case it was something really good. One of these days maybe I'll have someone make me a red velvet cake shaped and decorated like this poor lizard. Of course it would need to have strawberry filing to get the full effect. LOL. Yes ... I know ... I have a sick and twisted mind.

Michael and I finished moving all the furniture at the church this morning and he stayed and finish up hooking up all the computers, phones, fax, etc. I was released to have a wonderful lunch with my daddy at one of my favorite restaurants and then I headed off to get my hair cut, or rather to get bangs. I'm trying to grow my hair out so I only let her take off about a quarter of an inch.

2012 Journal - Day 18

2012-01-18T22:01:00.001-06:00

I can't believe today is already the 18th! This month has just flown by.

Today was another busy day at the church. We got the secretary moved into her office and the second office (the one the treasurer and I will share) is about halfway done.

Daddy and I had fun teaching the Cubbies this evening. Their lesson tonight was on King Josiah and I stacked several large blocks to resemble a portion of a wall and then just threw the rest of the blocks into a pile in front of the wall and hid their snack amid the blocks. After hearing the story (history) of how Hezekiah found the Book of the Law while repairing the temple of the Lord, and of Josiah's reaction, I had told the kids that I had hidden their snack in the room and they had to go look to find it. They all ran to the puppet theater first, then ran to the block wall. They were tossing blocks left and right trying to get to those snacks. It was a lot of fun.

2012 Journal Day 17

2012-01-17T20:26:00.001-06:00

Today was another busy day working at the church. We just about finished up the first office by the time I left and Michael was going to finish putting the baseboards on and then get someone to help him move the furniture in so it should be done sometime this evening. Then it's on to office number two, but all that needs to happen in there is painting.

So Emily was quite the busy bee yesterday. She had a friend over last night and they were supposed to have a sleep over, but that ended abruptly when one of them decided to pee in a tea cup and let Heather drink it. Then I found out today that the little girl (different girl) who came over to play earlier that day stole two dollars from Heather and "made" Emily keep one of the dollars. We had a big talk about right and wrong and how she needs to stand up for what is right every single time, especially when it's one of her siblings that's being wronged.

For the money incident, David had her read the story about Zacchaeus, which is found in Luke 19, and then tell him what Zacchaeus did for anyone he cheated out of money, and required her to do the same. Only catch is she has to pay four times the total amount that was stolen, rather than what she kept. On top of that she is going to have to call the mother of the other girl and explain what happened and request that the other girl give the money back.

Fun times here at the Longenecker household.

2012 Journal - Day 16

2012-01-16T22:14:00.001-06:00

Happy 12th Birthday Zach and Austin!

Today was my oldest boys birthday. We had a great time. One of Austin's friends spent the night and then they all helped me get cleaned up for a party of Capture the Flag. We had I think a total of 13 boys. They played several games of Capture the Flag and then came inside and demolished 5 or 6 pizzas. After everything had settled down and everyone went home I took Zach and Austin out to pick out their birthday present. It was a nice quiet time with them.

During the party Austin asked me what time he was born because he wanted to know what time he would turn 12. We got to looking at the times and figured that Zach was born 52 minutes before Austin. Austin was a breech baby and the Dr. was trying to get him turned around but couldn't so Austin came out feet first.

My computer crashed a few years back and I lost a bunch of pictures, but even so all of their baby pictures are on negatives or else I would include a picture of them as babies. But for the fun of it I did find this picture of them when they were 32 months old.

2012 Journal - Day 15

2012-01-15T22:03:00.003-06:00

Man am I tired. Still not sleeping as well as I would like, but tomorrow is a holiday for the kids so I don't have to worry about waking up early. Yay!

Had a great time at church this morning, came home and made some cupcakes for Zach and Austin's birthday tomorrow and then started working on a project using this fabric from A Million Memories.

I got to a point where I had to wait on one item to dry so I spent some time talking with my sweet darlin' while it dried. It wasn't long after that it was time to head back to church. Tonight was our visitation night (which basically means we stop by and say "hi" to people who have either visited our church before or have called and expressed interest in a visit for a time of prayer,) and usually we stay home because of the kids, but tonight we decided that we would take two cars and have each of us pair up with someone who has been visiting before. I don't think David liked it too much cause the boys were giving him some trouble, but I had a blast. I and the girls were paired up with a fun lady who's very outgoing and just as sweet as can be and we laughed the whole time.

Now it's time for bed, cause I am TIRED!

2012 Journal Day 14

2012-01-14T21:29:00.003-06:00

Today had been another awesome day!

Every Saturday morning some of the women from our church get together for a time of prayer and devotion. When I was coaching my cheer squad I couldn't make it, because the games always took place at the same time. Once cheer was over I kind of forgot about it. Every Friday I would plan on going, but come Saturday morning it wouldn't cross my mind until Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning. Yesterday I reminded myself over and over that I was going to go today, and I finally remembered. It was a great time and I learned a great deal. One thing that stuck with me was that when we pray we need to remember to thank God for the answer that He has already set in motion. This is particularly important with requests that take time before His answer is revealed. This response changes our attitude from a plea to a prayer thanksgiving and helps us acknowledge that God is moving even if we can't the effects just yet.

Zach had a basketball game today and his team gets better and better every week. They won their game 10-4. I had taken my camera intending to get pictures, but I had to keep the books again, which was a real bummer considering my daddy came to watch and I wasn't able to sit with him. After the game we all went to Serrano's for Zach and Austin's birthday lunch. While at Serrano's Nathan was doing something and I noticed that he was talking without speaking. I've had to get onto him about this recently because he will argue with me under his breath or talk bad about his siblings under his breath. When I caught him doing it at Serrano's I reminded him that he wasn't allowed to do that and he did it again and even more emphatically. Daddy started rolling with laughter and told me that David had told him a few minutes earlier that he had to turn his voice off.

I haven't been sleeping well so I was starting to get pretty tired during lunch and when I get tired my negative self talk has a tendency to take over. We got home and tried to take a nap, but that didn't really work well. I crashed hard for about 15 minutes and then woke up feeling worse. I decided to get up, have some Spiced Tea and spend some time doing my Bible study which always makes me feel better. I shot off a text to daddy for prayer and those negative thoughts quickly disappeared.

This evening I the kids had taken my computer upstairs to watch a movie and my sweet darlin' was working on the budget and getting our tax return prepared and I was kind of wandering around folding clothes and trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I sat down on the bed and reached over to pet one of our cats who is usually on the bed, but remembered that she had gone missing a few days ago. I had pretty much given up hope on finding her, but God nudged me and told me to go call her one last time.

I stepped out on our back porch and with everything I had called out her name and I immediately got a response. The cry was kind of muffled and week so I called again thinking that I was just making it up. Again, I got a response, but instead of just one cry it was several. I ran inside and grabbed a flashlight and headed in the direction I thought I heard the cry. As soon as I got to the edge of the deck it dawned on me where she was. Somehow she managed to get locked in our equipment barn. I was so happy to see her and she showed her delight as well.

2012 Journal - Day 13

2012-01-13T20:45:00.001-06:00

Today was a fantastic day. I just got home from working at the church. We're working on turning the old library into an office and we had to remove some old bookshelves. We were hoping it would be a pretty simple project, but whoever built the shelves seemed to have built the room around the shelves so it took an awful lot of elbow grease to get them out. We were also expecting to find paneling behind the shelves, but all we found was a bunch of pink insulation. The ceiling was also tiled to the bookshelf and no further, but we knew we were going run into that problem before we began.

Once the shelves were out we had to run to Home Depot to grab some paneling and the guys wanted to grab lunch while we were out. After lunch things started to go a little smoother. We got some ether net line run, got the paneling up, and got the ceiling up. Now all that is left is to paint and remove and replace the old carpet.

He's Always Been Faithful - Sara Groves

2012-01-13T07:39:00.001-06:00

I've got one reader who has been a great source of encouragement and she shared a link with me this morning that was very uplifting and I would like to share it with you.

Morning by morning I wake up to find

the power and comfort of God's hand in mine.

Season by season I watch Him amazed, in

awe of the mystery of his perfect ways.

All I have need of His hand will provide.

He's always been faithful to me.

I can't remember a trial or a pain

He did not recycle to bring me gain.

I can't remember one single regret

in serving God only and trusting his hand

All I have need of His hand will provide.

He's always been faithful to me.

This is my anthem, this is my song,

the theme of the stories I've heard for so long.

God has been faithful, He will be again.

His loving compassion, it knows no end.

All I have need of His hand will provide.

He's always been faithful to me.

If your not sure who the "He" is in this song it's God. The one and only true God who works everything for good to those who love Him. He has never failed to take something that looks and feels ugly and turn it into something beautiful. He is the master artist. He holds everything in His hands. He sees every outcome and will always do what is best for His children.

If you happen to be sitting there wondering, well what about all the bad that goes on in the world. Why do bad things happen to good people. Know this, God did not cause those things to happen. Bad things happen because sin entered the world through two sources, Satan and Adam.

Satan used to be an angel, but he sinned against God when he thought He could be higher and mightier than God. Isaiah 14:13 "You have said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne higher than the stars of God, I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain." But God, seeing what was in Satan's heart, cast him out of heaven. Isaiah 14:15 "But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit." And Satan now roams the earth. Job 1:7 ""The Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the Lord, "From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it."" Satan is restless and is doing everything He can to keep people from seeing the truth about God.

Adam was the first person God created. "The Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being." Shortly after creating Adam, God created Eve to be a helper and companion to Adam. God's design was for everyone to live with Him, for there to be peach, joy and happiness. No pain, no sorrow, no greed, no lust, no evil desires. God gave Adam and Eve access to the entire Garden of Eden, but told them you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:16-17 "And the Lord God commanded the man, you are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will certainly die." In enters Satan as a serpent and Adam and Eve eats of the fruit. The sin wasn't that Adam and Eve ate the fruit, the sin was that they ate the fruit because He wanted to become like God.

That sin separated man from God, but God made a way for us to be with Him when He sent His son to die on the cross for our sins. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." I know that sounds cruel, but Jesus did not stay dead. He was in the grave for 3 days and during those three days he defeated death and the grave and rose again. After His resurrection, He spent 40 days on earth before ascending to Heaven. Acts 1:3 "After His suffering, He presented Himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty-days and spoke about the kingdom of God." Acts 1:9-11 "After this He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, and suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee, they said, "why do you stand there looking into the sky? The same Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into Heaven."

Jesus is going to return and when He does He is going to gather all His children (those who believed in Him). 1 Thessalonians 4:16 "The Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that we (believers) who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds and so we will be with the Lord forever. The question is are you going to be gathered with them?

Jesus came to earth to save everyone from their sins. Romans 3:23 "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Sin separates us from God. That separation is also defined as death. Not death in the sense of our human body, but rather an eternal death of pain and torment in hell. The blood that Jesus shed on the cross, covers our sins saving us from death and giving us eternal life in Heaven, but that gift must be received. If someone has bought you a gift for Christmas it does not become yours until you receive it from them. Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." All you have to do to receive this gift is to believe that Jesus is Lord, meaning the One who came to save people from their sins. Romans 10:9-10 "If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified and it is with your mouth you confess and are saved.

If you have any questions please fill free to leave me a comment with your question. You can either leave me a way to contact you or I can do my best to answer your question here on the blog. All comments are moderated and I won't post anything that you don't want posted. Just say as much when leaving a comment.

2012 Journal - Day 12

2012-01-12T18:54:00.001-06:00

It's been a rough day and I've been debating whether or not to state why. At this point I think I am going to have to go with the old adage that says "when in doubt go without." I may end up posting about it later.

So between all the crying and praying I spent some time at the church going through the craft supply closet and getting it re-organized, then I went and had lunch with my sweet darlin'. Tomorrow I think there is going to be some demolition going on at the church, unless we decide it will be better not to tear that bookshelf out. Hmm.

David had to work late tonight so I ~~poisoned~~ treated the kids with McDonald's. That was a huge help and daddy came and kept us company for the short time we were there. We didn't say much, but it was nice having him there. Now the kids are gathered around their computer watching an episode of Garfield.

2012 Journal - Day 11

2012-01-11T22:15:00.003-06:00

Today was packed. I spent most of the day at the church. We have Awana on Wednesday evenings and today was our first day back after the holidays so to kick it off big we had "Black Out Night." The idea was to have all the lights off and decorate with glow-in-the-dark items. I teach the Cubbies with my daddy and we both felt that would be a bit much for the Cubbies so I went in and decorated our room around our lesson for the evening.

We were teaching about the time when God lead Moses and the Israelites through the Red Sea (not to be confused with the Reed Sea,) so I set up the room like a campsite and had a fake fire and hung Christmas lights from the ceiling for stars. I had planned to bring in some blue paper for the sea and some ocean/water sounds, but that slipped through the cracks.

While at the church I boxed up a bunch of books. In order to find me some office space we are having to clear out the so called "library" and moving the secretary to that room and then I will share an office with our financial guru. I'm excited to see what God is going to do.

Give-a-way over at A Million Memories

2012-01-11T17:08:00.003-06:00

Michelle over at A Million Memories has put together a package full of all the little extras that she has been collecting from previous kits, and she's giving you the chance to win that package. All you have to do is hop on over to the A Million Memories message board and leave us a comment about what you are currently working on. A winner will be announced on Saturday so hop on over there.

Here's a little sneak of some of the things that will be included in the package.

2012 Journal - Day 10

2012-01-10T19:13:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I think I mentioned that I wasn't going to bore y'all with the details of the day, but realized this morning that kind of defeats the purpose of journaling, so now you are stuck with all the boring details.

I finally got all the Christmas decorations down and put away and spent some time working on stuff for Children's Church. I got to spend a quick but wonderful, and much needed, lunch with my sweet daddy. After that I dropped off some stuff at Goodwill, picked up groceries and made it home in time to grab a few minutes for myself before the youngest three came home from school.

That pretty much sums up my day.

2012 Journal - Day 9

2012-01-09T22:06:00.000-06:00

I'm not going to bore you with the details of my day. It was a good day and it was a miserable day all wrapped up into one. This song pretty much sums up my day.

2012 Journal - Day 8

2012-01-08T21:19:00.002-06:00

When my mom was here two memories came to light. One thing I noticed when I was in counseling was that it took about two days before a recovered memory actually hit me. Well that tendency still holds true, today being that day. The nightmares have also started back up, so today was a little dreary.

Church was good and the council meeting afterward was very encouraging. I had already started setting goals for the Children's Ministry with the start of the new year and this has helped to fan that spark. Starting tomorrow I'm going to start working from the church two or three days out of the week so that I am better able to focus and not get distracted by the projects around the house that need to be done. It will also give me a chance to fellowship with other leaders and be able to bounce ideas off of them.

In the short break we had between council meeting and evening services I started working on some pillows my mother-in-law asked me to put together for her, so I guess that counts as my one crafty thing today. I've got a huge headache so I'm going to go take something for it and head off for bed. I hope you all have had a wonderful day.

2012 Journal - Day 7

2012-01-07T17:52:00.002-06:00

I woke up to a few extra house guests this morning. Last night right before midnight David's parents, brother, and nephew showed up for a very short stay. They were stopping over for the night on their way to Longview to visit with some family that way. The kids enjoyed getting to visit with them and I got some time to visit with Julie which doesn't happen very often.

Zach had a basketball game at noon so they left as we were heading to the game, but my mom joined us for the game and then headed on her way back home. The game didn't go in our favor, but in my opinion the team made great strides and performed better than the first game I got to see.

Once we got home I had a chance to finish up Austin's desk. At first I didn't feel like the distressing process was going very well because the stain wasn't doing what I had hoped it would. I had to push myself to continue and not make any judgments until I had finished. Once I was done I still wasn't too thrilled with how it came out so I decided to hit it one more time with the sander and that helped. I still feel that the stain is just a bit too dark, but it will lighten over time.

2012 Journal - Day 6

2012-01-06T21:17:00.001-06:00

Today was a really nice day. Mom and I had a good talk and things are healing there. After we finished talking we ate some lunch and then went and played. We like to check out antique shops so I showed her one of my favorite shops in Blanco.

I found so many things I would have loved to own, but came home with a few items that called out to me; a rusty old wagon, a step stool and a really cool ironing board cabinet. They all need a little TLC, but that's what I love about them. I have always found that I tend to find the best items outside. The ones that no one really wants because they need a little work. Those are the items that have the most character and seem to be the most reasonably priced. I didn't get a chance to take pictures yet ... but I promise to share them once I do.

2012 Journal - Day 5

2012-01-06T06:19:00.000-06:00

It was a busy day yesterday and by the time I remembered to post anything I was already in bed so I decided to post early this morning.

I spent a good portion of the morning and afternoon working on the desk and it's just about done. Everything is painted and assembled, all I need to do now is a little distressing.

When I wasn't working on the desk I was preparing dinner and getting the house cleaned up for company. My mom came into town and my daddy also joined us for dinner. I made a big fajita feast with homemade guacamole and salsa. After dinner we watched "Fair Game." It was an interesting movie, but what made it great was listening to daddy's antics as he watched the movie.

Have a great day.

2012 Journal - Day 4

2012-01-04T18:59:00.000-06:00

Worked some more on the desk today. I got the legs painted and put together and the bottom of the desktop is ready to be attached to the legs, but will have to wait to do that tomorrow.

My mom is coming into town tomorrow so we can talk about a few things and I'm really nervous. We haven't really spoken since about March. My defense mechanism is to withdraw into myself and I'm really having to fight that urge right now. I know this is God's will and that He is in control so I'm just going to have to rest in that knowledge and trust Him.

New song by Kutless

2012-01-03T20:30:00.001-06:00

This morning I got an early call from my daddy. The purpose of the call was to let me know of a problem at work that was going to make things pretty rough on him for the next few days and to ask for prayer. I went through my normal morning routine, praying as I went. When I got into the car to go get groceries I turned on K-Love and the song Carry Me to the Cross had just come on. The lyrics were perfect for the day I knew daddy was to face so I made a note of the song and later found the lyrics and texted them to him. It's really a powerful song and wanted to share it here as well.

2012 Journal - Day 3

2012-01-03T17:11:00.005-06:00

Have you ever felt giddy simply from trying something new? That's pretty much how I have felt all afternoon. I had planned on jumping right on in to working on the desk as soon as the kids got off to school, but I ended up mopping the kitchen floor and getting groceries instead. Once I got home I made some chili and brownies, and then started work on the desk.

I didn't have much time to work before lunch, but I did have enough time to cut the legs. The desk has crisscross legs so each end has to be cut at a 34 degree and 56 degree angle. That step was fairly pain free, but what I was really nervous about was marking and cutting the dadoes. That's the name of the section that is cut from each piece of wood so the two legs fit together nicely. After finishing the leg cuts, I put everything aside and went to have lunch with my dear husband.

While at lunch we talked through the project and how it was coming along and he suggested a way to mark where the dado would go that was so much simpler than what was written in the instructions. Having that information gave me the confidence I needed to get back home and continue on with this endeavor. Once everything was marked off I made the necessary cuts and chiseled away the unwanted pieces and low and behold I was left with a decent dado and better yet, everything actually fit together. It was so cool!

Here's a picture of the two pieces fitting together to make one leg.

After making the cuts for the dado I started assembling the desktop. Here's a pic of what I've gotten done so far.

Remember how I told you I painted everything ahead of time because I didn't want to paint inside those cubbies? I learned two things from that decision. First of all, I hate flat finish paint. The flat finish scuffs up way to easily and there's really no good way to clean it. Secondly, next time around I would finish a few more steps before painting. I still wouldn't wait until the desk was completed, but at least wait until the legs were completely assembled and the bottom of the desktop was assembled.

2012 Journal - Day 2

2012-01-02T19:03:00.002-06:00

Today has been another good day. I spent the first part of the day sanding down all the pieces to Austin's desk and the second part of the day painting them. The instructions don't say anything about painting first, but I really didn't want to mess with trying to paint inside each of those cubbies.

The girls spent the day at a friend's house and the boys stayed with me and hung out around the house. They spent a good portion of the day blowing things up with firecrackers. Later in the afternoon they decided to go for a walk and came home with four other boys and a dog. It turns out that a family just moved into a home on the block right behind us. The dog however belonged to someone else.

While playing in the front yard they found a fire ant nest and decided to blow it up, then they went and played in the back yard and discovered a short cut from our house to theirs.

I took this picture about an hour after the boys blew up the ant nest and the fire ants were furiously working to rebuild their nest. Those tiny red spots on the picture ... yep those would be the fire ants.

David's brother showed up for a short stay earlier this evening and is now off with David and Zach for basketball practice.

2012 Journal - Day 1

2012-01-01T13:46:00.003-06:00

I have no idea if this will actually last, but I have noticed that I have been documenting things less and less over the last few years so I'm trying different ways of documenting things to see which method works best.

My sweet daddy has been out hunting the last few days. It was his second chance (and last chance) to hunt this season. He's been having a great time with his boys and got his deer earlier this morning. So happy he's having such a great time.

I've got a project in mind that I want to start working on today. I came across it while browsing Pinterest, and think it will be a great addition to Austin's room. The good news is that we have everything I need from scraps that have been accumulating from DH's previous projects. Here's a pic of the inspiration.

Here's a link to the instructions.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T12:50:00.005-06:00

I am so glad that 2011 is finally over!

We had a really fun time last night. I had each of the kids come up with different activities they wanted to do to help keep them up until midnight and we threw all those activities into a jar. Starting at 5:00 pm we started drawing from the jar and completing the activities. Here are some of the activities we did:

Photo Booth - For the photo booth I found a tutorial to make your own photo props from Oh Happy Day! Click on the "Free Printables" tab for some really cute ideas.

Cookie on the Forehead - For this game we had two of the kids competing at once. They had to start with a cookie on their forehead and work it down their face to their mouth. They could not use their hands and if it fell on the floor they had to place it back onto their forehead. To make things more fun we made them hold some of the props used for the photo booth.

Cheetoe Head - We gave Austin and Nathan a whipped cream beard and had their teams throw cheetoes at their face to see how many cheetoes would stick before time was called. Believe it or not they loved this game.

Pictionary - no explanation needed here.

Glow-in-the-Dark Capture the Flag - David had just ordered a bunch of stuff for "Black Out Night" at AWANA and one of the things he ordered were some battery powered glow batons. We set each baton to a different color and used them as our "flags." It was a lot of fun.

Wii, Fireworks, Movie - No explanation needed here either.

We had several other activities left in the jar, but by 10:30 David and I were too worn out to complete any more activities so we opted for a nice quiet kid friendly movie. The kids had no problems staying up until midnight. I on the other hand was ready for bed long before then and finally got to crash into bed by 12:15. It was a great day though.

3 Down 2 to Go

2011-12-12T20:10:00.002-06:00

I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel on this whole process of moving the kids rooms around. I finished up with the boys rooms and got the downstairs cleaned. Now I need to tackle the upstairs. Almost there ....

Need to vent....

2011-12-12T11:55:00.002-06:00

I was taught by a good friend that when you apologize to someone you should admit to what you did wrong and state that it was wrong, and if possible state what you are going to do to correct the wrong you have done. You don't offer excuses or it nullifies the apology, and assumes the idea that you really didn't have a choice but to do wrong.

So here's my question; since when is saying "I'm sorry for whatever you think I did wrong," considered an apology? UGH.

Trudging Along

2011-12-05T20:15:00.002-06:00

In our house we have two levels. The upstairs level consists of one large open room, two smaller bedrooms and a little bathroom. After having been booted out of one craft room after another, I took over the upstairs room as my craft room. Recently my space shrunk as we decided to add a library/study area for the kids.

This worked for a while, but Zach and Austin occupied the bedrooms upstairs and had a really hard time keeping my space free of their junk. It helped them organize all their stuff so it was quick and easy to put everything away. That helped with the toy issue, but their clothes and school papers still drifted into my space and cluttered their study area.

I warned them that if they didn't keep all of that cleaned up that I was going to move them downstairs. Well this weekend I had to put action to my words and I am in the process of moving everyone to new rooms. Emily and Heather will now occupy the upstairs bedrooms and the main room will become the girls craft area, but will still hold the library. Zach and Austin will have to share a room for a while and Nathan will temporarily move to Heather's old room since he's in the only room that will really fit two people.

I had all the kids "pack up" their things yesterday and today I spent most of the day priming and painting Emily's new room. It's unreal how hard it is to get anything accomplished right now.

Every year we put up a little candy advent calendar going up the stairs, but this year I wanted to do something different and instead of doing candy I wanted to provide family activities for each day. I haven't got the new calendar completed, (and it may not get completed any time soon) but I did at least have an activity ready for today. We tore pages out of one of my old books and cut the pages into strips for a paper garland. The garlands are now adorning the fireplace and the windows in the living room. I had Austin help me paint some stars to hang with them. Tomorrow we're going to make some Russian Butter Balls for the DSES cookie exchange on Wednesday.

Gettin' a little real.

2011-12-02T12:10:00.002-06:00

So this year hasn't been a very good year for blogging. In fact it hasn't been a very good year when it comes to any of my happy past times. You see I've been dealing with a little thing called PTSD and I've kind of lost interest in a lot of things. I was diagnosed with PTSD back in March I believe, but to be quite honest I didn't really believe it until recently when I decided to sit down and do a little research on it. Once all the information was staring me right in the face there wasn't really any way I could deny it. I'm working on it though.

One of the suggestions in coping with PTSD is to not back away from your hobbies. Well I've been pretty good at doing just the opposite of that this year. So I'm going to put forth my best effort to be more active on my blog and to try and do something creative each day. I just need to take this one little step at a time.

I did make some microwave packs for the kids for Christmas earlier this week. I know it sounds lame, but I know they will love them. They are constantly stealing mine. I was going to take a picture, but the camera battery is dead so I'll have to wait until it recharges. I've, also put together a few scrapbook pages. I'm not coming up with my own designs, but rather I'm using the designs of others who have inspired me. This lessons the stress level and still gives me a sense of accomplishment.

It's been so long since I've posted anything I don't know if any of you are still out there. If you are please drop me a note and let me know you are there.

Hello?

2011-10-31T13:00:00.003-05:00

Yes, I'm still around. I know it has been a while since I have posted anything. It seems I have lost my mojo. I've put together a few LO's but I just cant seem to get into the groove. Here's what I've been working on over the last few weeks.

Nervous Habit or just being a kid?

2011-10-06T09:38:00.002-05:00

My kids crack me up. After getting the kids on the bus headed off to school I decided to go back to bed to catch up on a little sleep. After about an hour I gave up on that idea and got ready for the day.

As I walked into the kitchen I noticed a rather large puddle of water under our refrigerator. The refrigerator has been making some odd noises recently so my first thought was "Oh great, the refrigerator is busted." I opened up the freezer to find that everything was nice and cold and frozen, as it should be, so I closed the freezer door and started following the water.

Just a few feet away from the freezer I noticed water dripping from the cabinet onto the floor. Aha! Another large puddle on the counter. But where on earth is the water coming from? There were cups on the counter, but none of them were turned over and none were big enough to cause the mess I was seeing. I looked to the faucet, "I wonder .... nah. It couldn't be the faucet because the water would be coming from under the cabinet rather than on top of the cabinet."

Something made me take a second look at the faucet. It was turned around so that it was facing the window sill. That's odd. Directly underneath was a small white container that was filled with water and that container was sitting in a small puddle. I turned the faucet around and sure enough it was dripping about 1 drop per second.

That's the thing about my kids. They can't leave an empty cup, dish, or pan in the sink without it being filled with water? What's with that?

Two More

2011-09-30T07:24:00.003-05:00

Here are two more LO's from our Florida vacation...

This LO was inspired by last weeks Sketchy Thursday sketch.

and here's the other...

Summer Vacaton LO 1

2011-09-29T11:45:00.003-05:00

I can't remember if I shared this LO or not, but here's a LO from our Summer vacation to Floriday.

Color Inspiration 4 Midnight Peacock

2011-09-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

This is such a gorgeous picture. I love the jewel tones. I have noticed that these colors are being used quite a bit for eye make-up. There are even tutorials on how to achieve the peacock blend.

Fall Decor & More

2011-09-22T06:43:00.004-05:00

My second class, Fall Decor & More, has been added to the A Million Memories store. Here's a preview of what you will get instructions for.

This class has instructions on how to make the following:

Coasters
Bunting
Paper Bag Accordion Album
Bracelet

Color Inspiration 3: Country Afternoon

2011-09-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

I love, love, love this photo. I wish I could wear boots like that, but boot just don't really fit me right. Love the color though. This photo makes me think of a lazy country afternoon sipping on ice cold lemonade after a hard days work.

Color Inspiration 2: Prim and Proper

2011-09-14T07:00:00.000-05:00

Here's another color scheme for you. I'm just doing these for fun. I find photos on Pinterest.com that speak to me and then make up a color scheme that I can use for anything that might inspire me. I am a very color oriented person so just looking at these color schemes makes me happy.

My first Class/Kit

2011-09-12T10:28:00.003-05:00

My first scrapbooking class was just posted on the A Million Memories website. Here's a little peek at the class.

Michelle, has this class listed as a kit w/ instructions or you can purchase just the instructions. To find out more informaiton click here.

There's a sale going on at AMM and Michelle is offering a lot of specials so make sure you check this out too.

Sketch 1

2011-09-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

Just for the fun of it I thought I would go through some of my older LO's and make a few sketches up.

Here's the first one:

Here's the LO I did back in 2008

Color Inspiration 1: Summer Field

2011-09-07T07:00:00.005-05:00

Here's a color scheme inspired by a photo I found on Pinterest.com. I just love these colors especially the purples. Hardly anyone scraps with purple. Why is that?

Of course scrapbooking isn't the only reason to use these color schemes. I also use them when I crochet, when I'm looking for inspiration when decorating a room, or when I'm putting together an outfit.

This is a terrible way to pose the scarf but this is something I finished up a few days ago using Grape yarn from Loops and Threads.

Lovely Saturday

2011-09-03T08:05:00.003-05:00

The kids are still asleep and it's finally cool enough in the mornings for me to sit on the porch and enjoy the early morning sun. It has been crazy hot around here. This weekend, as for many, is a three day weekend for us. Emily, Nathan, and Heather have birthdays coming up this next week so we are taking advantage of this long weekend to celebrate.

They opted for a small family party so they could get big presents. Emily wants another rabbit so we will start building a hutch in the back yard for one and once that's done we'll make the trip down to the local animal shelter to pick out a sweet little bunny. It amazes me every time we go just how many bunnies they have there.

Heather wants her room re-done. I am a paint/color junkie so luckily we already had enough of a color she wanted. She also wants a canopy over her bed and we've got a bunch of other really cool ideas in store. I'll post pics once I'm done. I didn't think to get a before picture. Yesterday was a rough day and I was just going through the motions, and yesterday was when I started painting.

Nathan has no idea what he wants. At first he wanted a guitar. I asked him if he understood that a guitar is not a toy it is an instrument. He said he understood. Then I asked him if he understood that he would need guitar lessons and he said yes, that Papa John could give him lessons. Then I said do you understand that you will need to practice every day even when your fingers hurt. His mouth dropped open and his eyes got real big and he said "Seriously!" I said "Seriously, now do you still want a guitar." He lowered his head and his poor little shoulders slumped and he said gruffly "no." Silly boy.

A few LO's

2011-09-02T06:40:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since I've share any LO's so I'm working my way through all of my LO's to see which one's you have seen and which one's you haven't. I've got two AMM kits that I have worked with that I need to share, but they haven't gone live yet. As soon as they do, I'll post here.

This LO is a lift of Deanna Misner's Girl and Giggles and H2O LO.

Altered Mason Jars

2011-09-01T09:18:00.001-05:00

This is a tutorial I did for AMM a few weeks back and apparently forgot to post here as well.

Today I am going to show you a quick and easy way to alter a few mason jars to add a little touch of country to your home. First gather your supplies. You will need several mason jars, black and white photos, wood blocks, and sand.

Step 1: Fill the bottom of each jar with sand. You need about an inch or so of sand.

Step 2: Insert your photos into each jar pushing the photo into the sand.

Step 3: Add words to your wood blocks. I asked the kids to describe their favorite thing about summer using one word and this is what they came up with.

Step 4: Add the wooden block to each jar pushing the bottom into the sand. Paint the lids black and then tie some twine around the neck of the jar and your done. You can also add some Christmas lights for a little more fun. Unfortunately I couldn't find any for this tutorial.

AMM Sale and New Products

2011-09-01T08:57:00.005-05:00

AMM is finding new things in their warehouse everyday that they continue to enter into inventory and mark-down. This week you'll see that we added in some Crate Paper lines - Prudence, Lemon Grass and Mia, as well as many Graphic 45 lines. All of it is included in the 55% off sale. The only things NOT included in our 55% off sale are those items that we have listed in the "What's New" section of the store and a few AMM items that are already drastically reduced. Just remember to add in CLEAR3 at check-out and your items will all be slashed down to the sale price.

AMM has also just recieved the new Jenni Bowlin Halloween and Christmas lines as well as the new Crate Paper Random and Farmhouse lines. Here's a peek at the Crate Paper lines.

AMM Sale - This Week Only

2011-08-02T07:37:00.001-05:00

Color Schemes via Pinterest

2011-08-01T12:41:00.002-05:00

I have been gaining an awful lot of inspiration from Pinterest.com and one of the things I love are the colors in the photos. Last night I decided to take a few of my favorite photos that I found on Pinterest and make a color scheme from the. I did not edit the photos in any way shape or form and I don't know who the photos originate with so just know that I am not taking any credit for the photos in any way shape or form. Just used the photos as inspiration.

Blocking

2011-07-27T22:01:00.002-05:00

This week at A Million Memories we are focusing on Blocking. Blocking is a form of scrapboooking where the Creator will design their LO around a group of pictures that are in a similar shape. For my LO I chose to use a hexagon shape.

Step 1: Start by cutting out several shapes, some smaller than the others, then lay the shapes out on your page and get an idea of where you want everything to go. This is a good time to mark where you want everything to go.

Step 2: Start placing some embellishments on and around your shapes.

Step 3: Once you have determined the placement of your elements take your pattern paper shapes and add texture with paint, ink, and distressed edges.

Step 4: Now take each shape and adhere it to your LO. Next treat each shape as its own LO and add embellishments. I used a little trim, some chipboard, and some rub-on's. I also added a little doodling on a few pieces.

Step 5: To finish off the LO outline a few of your shapes with some embroidery floss then add your title and journaling and your done.

Sass Lass Challenge

2011-07-20T14:42:00.004-05:00

Earlier this week my hubby headed off to the lake house to finish a few things up. He was only planning on being gone for a few days so I decided to stay home and take advantage of the peace and quiet.

On Monday I made this bag to hold my Bible, Bible Study and journal. I absolutely love how it turned out.

Yesterday I worked on a project for the wedding reception of a few dear friends. I printed the pictures onto canvas and I love the way they turned out.

I also finally got the chance to do a little scrapbooking for myself. With a little help from a challenge from Sassafras Lass I completed this LO for my "All About Me" album. Again, I love the way it turned out.

Nothing crafty has happened today. My sista took me to see "The Deathly Hallows Part 2," and now I'm working on catching up on some laundry and housework. I've got a few hours before everyone gets home so I'm going to see what else I can accomplish before they all get home this evening.

AMM Sale this Weekend

2011-07-16T17:09:00.002-05:00

There is a HUGE sale going on this weekend over at A Million Memories! Take 50% off using code SALE3. This code is good for everything except some AMM trims and Echo Park Victoria Gardens! Yes, we have new Echo Park in the store! YAY! It's gorgeous too, come and take a peek!

Playing with paints and inks...

2011-07-10T21:14:00.000-05:00

Today I'm going to show you some of my favorite ways to add texture to your page elements with a little paint or ink. First grab your supplies. You will need some of your favorite paint colors, a can, some inks, a clean dish, a dish full of water, and a few flat tipped paint brushes.

Paint Technique 1: Cup Stain.

To achieve this look with out the cost of a stamp simple add a little dab of paint to your clean dish and then add some water to your paint with your paint brush.

Next paint the bottom rim of your can and stamp in place. Don't worry about the paint being a little runny ... it's a good thing if it is because your image will look more natural. You can re-stamp several times to get varying degrees of color.

Paint Technique 2: Edging with Paint

In stead of adding water to paint this time you are going to add paint to your water. Starting with a clean dish of water add a drop of of paint to the water and then stir with the tip of your paint brush.

Next using just the tip of your flat brush add the paint to the edges of your element. Allow the paint to dry and then add more paint for a more vibrant edge.

Paint Technique Step 3: Paint Mat

For this step you are going to add water to your drop of paint just like you did in the first technique. Then just brush across your work area to create a mat for a photo or other page element. The watered down paint dries with really cool variances in the texture.

Paint Technique 4: Making your own mist/ splatters

If you use a particular paint a lot it might be a good idea to turn that paint into a mist. To do this you will need a small spray bottle, some water and some paint. Add paint to the bottom of your bottle and then add water and shake to mix. Keep adding paint until you achieve thee color you are looking for. To create splatters dip your paint brush into the bottle, hold the paint brush over the area you want to splatter and then hit the top of the paint brush with your other hand.

You can do each of these techniques using any kind of paint or ink. One of my favorite inks to use is walnut ink.

A Little Around the House Project

2011-06-29T05:00:00.001-05:00

This week at AMM we are focusing on projects to help out around the house. I'm going to show you a real simple way to keep track of chores. With five kiddos I've tried a few different ways to keep track of weekly chores and I have found these envelopes to be the most effective. Each kid gets one and they are placed on the refrigerator. We rotate the chore cards every Saturday. There's also room to include a daily schedule if needed.

To get started you are going to need some card stock, patterned paper, an envelope template, and pictures of your kiddos.

Step 1: Print the following envelope template onto card stock and cut out.

Step 2: Trace the template onto the back side of your pattern paper and cut out.

Step 3: Fold the tabs where indicated on the template.

Step 4: Glue the small tab to the inside of the envelope. This will give you a clean top edge.

Step 5: Glue the two side tabs to each other then glue the large tab to the outside of the envelope.

Step 6: Add a photo to the front of the envelope.

Step 7: Cut the plain card stock to 2.75x4.50. Round the corners and stamp the chore onto the tab. Insert the card into the envelope and you're ready to go.

A Million Memories Sale

2011-06-22T08:31:00.001-05:00

We are currently working to clear out all items in stock, including goodies from CHA Winter. Take 50% off using cost SALE3 at checkout. This includes just about everything in the store, except for some of the AMM trims and finds (since these are already pretty dang cheap).

Re shipping ~ I have been advised that many people were being charged outrageous shipping rates. This was an error on the site and I believe it has been corrected. HOWEVER, if for some reason you have a shopping cart for $20 and are charged $50 for shipping, please let us know!

Butterfly Collage Banner

2011-06-17T21:37:00.003-05:00

Here's a post I shared on the A Million Memories blog today.

Today I'm going to show you how to use the collage technique to create this fun banner.

Grab your supplies. You will need a shaped chipboard album, paint, modpodge and other fun items like book pages, masking tape, tickets, fabric, stencils, etc.

Step 1: Paint each chipboard page. Since we are going for the collage look just do a dry wash so that some of the natural page is showing and so the paint appears thicker in some areas than others.

Step 2: Using Mod Podge sdd torn pieces of book pages making sure to overlap several pieces.

Step 3: Using water colors paint over thee book page strips

Step 4: Add strips of masking tape. Again making sure to overlap the strips.

Step 5: Add a line of acrylic paint over each masking tape section with a paint brush then get the brush wet and continue the brush the paint over each section.

Step 6: Again using the Mod Podge add torn strips of fabric.

Step 7: Paint a stencil or stamp with acrylic paint and stamp in bare areas.

Step 8: Add your sentiment.

Step 9: Tie on torn strips of fabric to complete the banner.

Nature Mini Book

2011-06-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

This week we are focusing on the great outdoors on the A Million Memories blog and today posted a quick way to make a super cute book for all those "weird" things you find outdoors that you can't resist taking a picture of.

I started with a Jenni Bowlin book and peeled away the top layer to reveal the rough chipboard underneath for a more natural look. Then I paper pieced together a tree from scrap paper and added a title.

Here's a close up of the tree trunk. I used a brown paper then coated it with walnut ink and let it dry. Once it was dry I added a crackle glaze.

For the inside pages I painted a photo mat using walnut ink then adhered a wallet sized photo. Next I doodled around the photo and added a heart cut from patterned paper and embossed with clear embossing powder.

Here's a look at the rest of the pages. I still need to add a few of our more recent finds, but you get the idea.

Quick Teacher Appreciation Gift

2011-06-01T07:00:00.001-05:00

It was my turn to provide a tutorial for the A Million Memories blog. This week we were focusing on Teacher Appriciation. This is what I came up with.

For this project you will need an embroidery hoop (I chose one of the smaller hoops), canvas circle cut larger than the embroidery hoops, 3 paper circles, 3 AMM vintage flowers, chipboard letterers, alpha stickers, embroidery floss.

Step 1: Glue your AMM vintage flowers to the center of your pattern paper circles.

Step 2: Cut small slits in the paper around the vintage flowers.

Step 3: Glue the flowers to the canvas and pull up every other petal on the pattern paper circle you just cut.

Step 4: Add your sentiment, then place your canvas circle inside the embroidery hoop.

Step 5: Add stems and leaves to the vintage flowers using embroidery floss. Cut the edges of the canvas ....

... and you have a cute little gift for a special teacher.

Working with Cupcake Liners

2011-05-23T18:22:00.001-05:00

I shared this little tutorial on the A Million Memories blog on Sunday and thought I would share it here as well. I hope you enjoy.

These little achievement medallions have become all the rage this last year at CHA so I thought I would show you how to make one using cupcake liners and an American Crafts Flair button.

I worked with the American Crafts Campy line, but here are a few others that have buttons:

October Afternoon 5& Dime Tin Pins
October Afternoon Rocket Age Tin Pins

Grab your supplies:
cupcake liners
ribbons
Flair button
adhesive
scrap paper

Step 1: flatten out the three cupcake liners that you want to use as the back of your medallion.

Step 2: Use a circle template and draw a circle on the second set of cupcake liners, then cut along the line. Make sure you keep the scraps, because you will use them in a later step.

Step 3: Take your scrap piece of paper and draw a circle on the reverse side just slightly smaller than the cupcake liners you just cut. Cut the circle out and then draw another circle with-in that circle.

Step 4: Take your scissors and cut slits to the inner circle to create a fringe effect.

Step 5: Glue your flair button to the front of the scrap piece of paper.

Step 6: Glue the piece you just worked on to the smaller cupcake liners.

Step 7: Glue what you have finished so far to the final set of cupcake liners.

Step 8: Grab your ribbon and the excess from the second set of cupcake liners and staple them together to form a tail.

Step 9: Glue your ribbon tail to your medallion with a hot glue gun and then attach another circle from your scrap paper and attach a metal clip.

May A Million Memories Challenge

2011-05-18T09:33:00.002-05:00

The May challenge is up and running over at A Million Memories. We've decided to start the challenges on the 15th of each month.

This month our hostes is Marie Ramirez and our sketch designer is Jennifer Longenecker. So here's the sketch ...

... and Marie's twist is to create a LO based on the sketch and using the following color pallet.

You have until the 5th of June to post your LO in the AMM gallery and leave a link to it in the May Challenge thread.

April A Million Memories LO's

2011-04-16T21:48:00.002-05:00

Wow this last week has been one really big roller coaster ride that I do not wish to go on again. With that being said let's move onto more pleasant things. I got to work with the fabulous April A Million Memories kit over the last week or so and wanted to share the projects I have completed so far...

I've also been working on a few sewing and crochet projects that I hope to share soon so please stay tuned.

Miniture Bird Cage

2011-04-10T05:00:00.000-05:00

Today I'm going to show you how to make these cute miniture bird cages...

To make these bird cages you are going to need some pattern paper, some die cuts, a lid, a brad, some string, and some moss.

Step 1. Cut your pattern paper into four thin strips. For mine I cut each strip 8 inches long.

Step 2. Punch a hole in the top of your bird die cut and thread some string through the die cute and each of the four strips. Secure the four strips and the string with a brad.

Step 3. Grab you lid. I got mine from one of my empty foundation containers.

Step 4. Add some moss to the inside of the lid using a hot glue gun.

Step 5. Secure your strips of paper to the outside of the lid.

Step 6. Add a punched boarder to the bottom of the bird cage to cover up the lid.

Step 7. Add embellishments and you've got yourself a super cute mini bird cage just in time for spring.

I used the new Crate Paper Neighborhood line which can be found here.

LO Inspiration

2011-04-09T14:01:00.003-05:00

Each month the design team members over at A Million Memories will be choosing a LO that inspires them and then lift it. For the month of April we chose this LO by Regi... What's not to love about this LO? She used one of my all time favorite lines so I had to use some Sassafras Lass on my LO as well. Since I decided to make a LO for my sister and her album is an 8x10 my canvas was a bit smaller than Regi's so I decided to focus on the design right around her photo and this is what I came up with...

Chloe Lou Give Away

2011-04-06T06:43:00.002-05:00

Want to win that gorgeous March A Million Memories kit?

Here's what you need to do. Post a recent layout or project in our gallery with a link to it on this thread. THEN, post about our giveaway on your blog or Facebook page, with a link back to this thread. We'll choose a winner next Tuesday.

April A Million Memories Kit Reveal

2011-04-02T08:48:00.001-05:00

April A Million Memories Kit Chloe Lou

Included in this kit... 6 Lily Bee Papers - Happily Lost 3 Crate Paper Papers - Emma's Shoppe 1 Crate Paper Emma's Shoppe 12 x 12 Chipboard Shapes Lily Bee 12 x 12 Alpha Sticker Shapes - Happily Lost Sassafras Lass Entwined Blossoms Lily Bee Happily Lost Cardstock Stickers My Minds Eye Always Together Tag AMM Tea Dyed Tag 1 yard AMM twine 1/2 yard AMM white venise trim 1 yard AMM blue venise trim 1 yard AMM yellow lace 2 AMM cream blossom flowers Prima burlap hydrangeas AMM Clear flower buttons April A Million Memories Kit Add-On Lou Lou

Included in this kit ... 3 My Minds Eye Papers 1 American Crafts Paper 2 Crate Paper Papers 1 pack Girls Paperie Blossoms 1 Lily Bee This & That Stamp set Fancy Pants Chipboard Alpha Crate Paper Emma's Shoppe Border Stickers 1 yard AMM cream lace April A Million Memories Vintage Trims Add-On

April A Million Memories Button Mix Add-On

Two LO's and a Sneak

2011-03-30T07:23:00.004-05:00

I completed these two LO's at the beginning of March but haven't been able to share them until now because they were for my sister's birthday. She is in Slovakia and got her package yesterday and of course she opened it a few days early. ;) She's been wanting a LO of the two of us. It's not the best picture of me, but it's a great picture of her. This one has a map to all of the places she's visited. I eventually embroidered a heart around the "Rome" heart but I guess I never took a picture of it after that. And finally here's a little sneak at the April A Million Memories kit:

Butterfly Tin

2011-03-29T05:00:00.000-05:00

Today I wanted to show you how to make this cute little tin using the new Butterfly Garden line from Pink Paislee, a Maya Road tin, and a little floral foam. Step 1: Gather your supplies. I chose to cut out the butterflies, flowers, and fair from the Butterfly Wings paper, but the clear pops would have been really cool for this project too. Step 2: Cut the images out. Step 3: Adhere the flowers and fairy to the tin using Glossy Accents and some pop dots to add dimension. Step 4: Add some of the fabulous AMM trim to the bottom of the tin. Step 5: Cut some floral foam to fit inside the tin. Step 6: Hot glue some green moss on top of the floral foam making sure to conceal it completely. Step 7: Add the flowers to floral pins or heavy gage wire. I didn't have anything heavy enough so I had to roll out a length of wire, fold it in half, twist it, fold it in half again, and twist it again to get the strength I needed. I hope you enjoyed this quick little project.

Win a copy of Page Maps 2

2011-03-28T09:51:00.000-05:00

Michelle has a signed copy of Page Maps 2 in her hot little hands and she wants to give it away. Check out this post on the A Million Memories message board for more details.

A little something for my momma...

2011-03-25T21:44:00.002-05:00

Here's something I've been working on today. I felt like my momma needed a little extra love. This banner was inspired by a picture we saw at a fabric store that she really liked.

AMM Sale March 24 - 26

2011-03-24T10:24:00.001-05:00

We are continuing a clear out of our warehouse here at AMM. Now through Saturday, enjoy 55% off of your order using code 555 at checkout. This is good for all items in the store, EXCEPT those items marked in categories as "NEW".

Crochet Bunting

2011-03-22T15:45:00.002-05:00

Here's a little something I worked on over Spring Break. I had intended on making a bunting from these half circles to hang over some curtains in our sunroom, but after making a headboard for the guest bedroom I decided I would rather hang it from the headboard. I may still do something similar for the curtains, but these little guys have found their place ... now all I need to do is finish it.

This will give you an idea of how they will be strung together.

March AMM Projects

2011-03-21T16:02:00.003-05:00

With Spring break and the mail being a tad slow I only just recently got to sit down and play with the super March kit from A Million Memories. This kit is packed full of My Minds Eye Stella and Rose products including a set of acrylic doily stamps.

The Makings of a Felt Flower

2011-03-13T22:12:00.000-05:00

One of the things that I saw at CHA that caught my eye were these felt flowers from Pink Paislee. Probably not something you would put on a LO intended to go in an album, but how fun would they be to use?

I took a close look at them and it's not too hard to figure out how to make them so I thought I would show you how.

Step 1. Cut a 12x3 strip of felt. Sorry about my ugly color ... I need to restock my felt supply.

Step 2. Fold the strip in half vertically so that you now have a 12x1.5 strip. Pin it in place.

Step 3. Sew it closed.

Step 4. Cut slits down the length of your felt strip stopping just before you reach your stitched line.

Step 5. Start at one end and secure with hot glue. Then start rolling toward you continuing to secure with hot glue as you go.

And here's what it will look like once you are done.

You can change the size by changing the width, length, and thickness of your felt. For the top flower use a die cut machine to cut out a few petals. I don't have anything that will cut through felt so I couldn't show you that step. Keep an eye on the A Million Memories store because all the new Pink Paislee lines will be arriving shortly.

A Challenge, A Sale, and A Social Network

2011-03-09T08:25:00.003-06:00

There's lots of stuff going on at A Million Memories. Firt off let's start with the best news... There's a 50% off sale going on to clear out all the old products and make room for the new CHA products.

Secondly design team members Wendy Sommers and Zoe Nemburt have put together a fabulous challenge for you and if you participate you could win a $10 gift certificate to the AMM store. All you have to do is create a LO based on the sketch below and use rainbows as your inspiration. You draw inspiration from the colors or just simply use rainbows on your LO. The sky is the limit on this one. You have until March 21st to complete your LO, upload it to our gallery, and post a link to it in our March Design Team Challenge thread on our message board.

And that brings me to my last announcement. A few months back the AMM message board and gallery got hacked and we had to shut them down for a while. The good new is that we are back up and running on a new site. Come by and check things out. The New AMM Message Board is so cool.

This made me happy today...

2011-03-04T21:41:00.003-06:00

I was having a rough start to the day today, but luckily had planned on spending time with my momma. We sat and talked for a while then she took me to check out the new fabric store here in town. I fell in love with it. They had all the good brands of fabric and lots of fun vintage displays to look at. They even turned an old claw foot tub into a chaise lounge. It was really cool.

Anyway I found these fat quarters with my color scheme for my scraproom and I couldn't resist them. Especially seeing as how I am very limited on mullah at the moment (because I spent the majority of my March allowance on the new CHA stuff that A Million Memories just got in stock) and I was able to get all four patterns for the same price as I would have 1 yard of just 1 pattern. I still haven't measured to see if I got the same amount, but I don't really care cause they make me happy and having my momma with me made it even better.

Ideas for my scraproom...

2011-03-03T16:39:00.004-06:00

As many of you know my scraproom has a vintage flair to it and I have been wanting to make some pillows for my chair and couch using some vintage hankercheifs. Thus I have been perusing etsy.com.

Here are a few that I found that I love that would work well in my scraproom.

This one would look so cool with a little embroidered scene on it.

While I was looking I found a few more ideas, most of which I can make myself...

Another peek into my scrap room...

2011-02-28T05:00:00.000-06:00

Hey all it's me again. It's my turn to share some more of my scrap space with you. I've spent a lot of time working in my scrap room this weekend getting it cleaned up and somewhat organized. I did take pictures of everything although most of the pictures turned out kind of crappy. Today I want to focus on my scrap desk. It is my favorite thing in my scrap room because I designed it and my daddy helped me build it. Take a look.

The top is made from reclaimed pallet boards, the legs are 4x4's and the brace is made from 2x4's. As you can see there's a spot where I can add a shelf to the bottom of the table if I ever need some more storage space. I still need to paint the legs of the table, but I'm going to leave the top as is. I may put a clear sealant on it though to protect the wood.

On my desk I have my Making Memories self healing mat, a 1940's colander to hold all my embroidery threads, a pic of my momma and daddy, my Making Memories carousel for my most used tools finally and my two paper trimmers. I want to find a wire basket that is wide enough to hold 12x12 sheets of paper so I can keep the contents of the most current A Million Memories kits close at hand but not strewn about my workspace.

The chair I found at an antique store. It's not an antique, but I loved the look of it and for $15 I couldn't pass it up. I spray painted it to match my other accents and then I carved out a heart and put hubby's and my initials inside and our wedding date beside the heart.

More February AMM Projects

2011-02-25T16:37:00.002-06:00

Here are a few projects I did using some of the left over papers and embellishments from the February A Million Memories kit. I still have enough to do a 9x9 page for my All About Me album so that's next on my list. I just need to figure out what I want the page to focus on.

I have been wanting to do something with an embroidery hoop for a while and I picked up several before I got the kit. I didn't know what I wanted to do until I saw one of the papers included in the kit and these cute little hangers. Now I don't know too many people who have just had a baby girl so I made this one for the daughter of one of my best friends.

As I was going through one of my baskets I found a little black and white sprial notebook and decided to spruce it up a little. I flipped the cover to the back and took it off the spiral, decorated the cover, punched the holes, and then put the cover back on.

I really love the Minds Eye Fine and Dandy layered stickers and wanted to make a tag using the love banner and this is what came together.