When it's cold I......

When it's cold I stay inside and scrap and I actually finished 2 layouts and some cards. I've spent so much time putting my stamps into CD cases that I really felt the need to make something. Funny thing is I went to a garage sale the other night at Melanie's (another crafter who by the way is celebrating her birthday today HAPPY Birthday Mel!) and got some flowers and some neat paper...........not that I NEED paper right? But I actually used it today on these layouts.

The 1st layout are pictures of my son Travis and my grandson Alex from their trip to California last fall. I love the paper and I love the picture of Alex trying to catch up to his daddy. When you get paper like this you really just need to find pictures to compliment it and not much else is needed to complete it.

The paper I used on the next layout was totally awesome. The black flowers are actually shiny and almost a metallic look. So from the 2nd piece of that paper I cut out the black flowers and layered them on top of the big white flower in the right hand corner for a 3d look. I added little white flowers to the center of all the flowers and then black brads to the center of the flowers. I also used a little green glitter on the flower petals and some of the brads. The paper was so pretty but adding more flowers to the page just made it POP! My mother is 72 and plays golf just about every day. I sure hope I look that pretty when I am her age!

Well I better go check my flowers to see if they survived the frost last nite. It was 28 when I woke up at 5am this morning.............and this is MAY.......go figure!

A new pond addition

I bet you thought I meant fish didn't you? I got these 2 Jade turtles and a 3 legged Jade frog from my friend Patty yesterday. While we were unpacking boxes for her consignment store I came across all these Jade frogs and turtles not knowing she used to teach Feng Shui and these were items that she sold. I was ecstatic thinking how kewl will they look around my pond. So she let me pick 3 of them out and I brought them back to their new home. I am hoping that the frog which stands for wealth will jump start some money trees to grow in the gardens back there .

So the 2 smaller ones I got yesterday from Patty and the big concrete one behind it was bought about 3 years ago when we took a nice road trip to Tennessee. They look so darn natural in the stream don't they?

These cute little camouflage boots were found at a garage sale and might soon get a little plant in them.......not sure yet but they look darn cute in one of my flower beds! Plus the weather still needs to warm up before I take out the 20 morning glory plants that were started from seed. The weather still has been in the 50's & 60's with even chillier temps at night. Just a few days ago it got down to 32. Next Monday we will see 70 again but right now it is rainy & chilly! Sounds like a good day to get some cleaning done in my scraproom since I just got 2 new kits in the mail the past few days and I can't start them until I get everything back in place. Have a great day everyone!

a new day

Well I waited ALL day for any of my sons to call but not one did...........so instead of getting all depressed my dh & I kept busy in the yard. I weeded some flower beds and he worked around the pond............did I say work......I think there has to be a better work. He took all the pavers out of the circle near the pond that our patio set had set on and he lined them up and down the path along the flower beds. Then he dug out 3 inches of dirt from there after we went and bought a truck load of sand. After filling it with sand we then put our swing in there so not only can we now have a better view of the waterfall but will be able to see the fish swim in the pond once we get some more. Here's a pic of the final project. Talk about peaceful and serenity...........sitting in that swing, watching the birds and butterflies..............life cannot get better! Lots of green plants coming up but only my bleeding heart is flowering but I will take another picture soon to show you how fast it changes. Hoping this morning's temp of 32 won't hurt anything out there.

But wait it did............My friend Jen appeared as we were just finishing up and she had made me a Mother's day card and gift knowing the situation with my sons. That was above and beyond the friendship call and let me show you what she made. Not only is the star box decorated so darn cute but the candle inside is also adorable. Thanks so much Jen.............you will never know how much this meant to me! This is one more BIG reason why I am proud to be a Fiskateer cuz that is how I met her a little over a year ago.

Happy Monday everyone!

I've been a busy bee lately

When things are troubling me or I am worried, I am one of those gals that just keeps busy busy busy. So this week I would do house work and yard work around our house in the mornings and then every afternoon I would head downtown and help out a friend who is opening a consignment shop. It's kinda funny to be doing that after owning one myself for 15 years but Patti has rented a building downtown just off the main street that is like 125 years old so it has the high ceilings, lots of room and character.

One day we did nuthing but move things and fixtures that she had bought and then the next day we set up her desk/sales area and showcases. The last few days we have been painting the back room where she will have intake etc. We did it in a kinda shabby chic method of a tan and light purple so it is very unique but talk about hard work as the wood was all so old, uneven and unfinished. The good part is it brightened it up considerably. After working there all afternoon I would come home get supper ready and finish things around the house and yard. Speaking of the yard we had big plans to do some stuff this week-end but didn't count on not only getting our first rain but temps were in the 40's. Can you believe 70 on Friday and then 40 the next day? Way too cold to stay out there long so we hit a few yard sales and Kevin actually found some nice Titleist irons for a fantastic find. I didn't have much luck for myself. Came home and was patiently waiting for the mailman hoping for some happy mail ( I know my mom sent me a little something and my brother sends me a mothers day card knowing how my sons are) but none of it arrived..........how sad. I am happy to say that I did get a card from son #3 Todd who is the only one that is speaking to me. He is a God send and the funny part was that when he was in those 15 to 19 year old years he was such a "wild child" that I never thought he would turn into the caring son who calls at least 2x a week now. I am truly thankful he is in my life!

Well I hope you all have a great Mothers Day! I made my mom a beautiful mini book but actually was in such a hurry to send it that I forgot to take pictures of it or the card I made her. But I did take a picture of the card I made my mother in law. Enjoy!

Fabulous Finds

Last Saturday I went garage saling with a friend and found some amazing things for my scraproom. The first one started out as glass jars on a spiral turntable that was meant for spices but I could see buttons in them. I spent one night watching tv and sorting buttons by colors and here is the end result. Not the greatest picture but I'm sure you get the drift.

I also found some complete NEW sets of stampin up...........one matched a truck set I just got a few months ago at full price and the other is some adorable kinda sassy stamps. $5 each set....you can't beat that price! There are more to this set but these 3 were so cute. Make sure you click on the picture so it enlarges and you can read them.




Last but not least I found this at Goodwill and it is a huge wooden bird house storage unit. It must stand 4 feet tall and has a terrific magnet latch that is strong. I think it's gonna need some of my TLC as far as some painting etc but I think it will be nice out on the patio and store some of the things we use often.






















We have had some nice sunny days so I have doing allot of yard work for the past 4 days. I have moved some perennials and weeded flower beds and last nite after getting the pond all cleaned out we replaced the pump and got that running. Now all we have to do is add fish LOL! Last year we had a couple of dozen different goldfish swimming in there but come winter we gave them away to good homes so time to start over. I have collected many yard/garden decorations over the past 7 years so it takes time to haul them all out and find a good place for them too. But the end is worth it when we sit on our swing and gaze over the pond and the gardens......it is so peaceful...........our own private retreat. During the winter the retreat is my scraproom but I love being outside and today we saw our 1st hummingbird at our feeder too. Gotta love spring!

NSD RAK winner

Well it was a busy week-end and I can't say that I got allot of crafting done. Yesterday I spent the morning garage saling with a friend and I found lots of nice things for myself and my craft room. Even some brand new stampin up stamps that I had been wanting! The weather was nice and sunny too this week-end so we spent allot of time in the yard. We cleaned out pond out so we are ready to get some fish to put back in for the summer. I got 4 flower beds weeded and cleaned up while Kevin got the lawn all mowed. We both are feeling right now and it will probably be an early night to be to rest our weary bones.

But anyways I did draw a winner for all those nice flowers and raindots and it is.....................
Patty #2832! So email me your snail address and I will get those out to you tomorrow! I hope everyone had a fun week-end and did some crafting and thank you for all the wonderful comments.

NSD RAK!

NSD RAK............lots of initials there and just in case you are not a scrapbooker or crafter it means National Scrapbook Day (tomorrow May 2nd) and Random Act of Kindness also known as a giveaway or Blog candy. We do not have a local scrapbook store so there is nuthing going on in Stevens Point but there are quite a few virtual online crops that I might partake in tomorrow.

So in honor of this I am giving away a dozen packages of embellishments (a mix of flowers and raindots etc). Adding these to your cards or pages can turn them from ordinary into amazing.

I like that the Heidi Grace flowers come with matching brads too! Oh there are 2 packages of the metal shapes & words also. So to win just leave a comment and tell me about your best mothers day gift that you either got or have given to your own mom! I used to love when my sons were small and made me precious cards with their crayons and picked me dandelions off our lawn. Now they are all in their 20's and I'm lucky if they take the time to pick up the phone just to call. So share your good memories and I will draw on Sunday night so you will have them before Mother's Day in case you need them to make that special card!