Tag Archives: crafts

a NEW boost of happiness and joy!

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frontdoorwreath

Happy Friday!

It’s been quite a while since I did anything crafty, and I realized I missed this fun hobby! After taking down the Christmas wreath, my front door has been bare, so I decided to do something about that. I didn’t want to spend too much, so I got most of the greenery from Walmart.  It’s amazing how a cheap, quick DIY project can give you a boost of happiness and joy!  Actually, it’s quite surprising the effect such a simple thing has on you!

I’m going to make a concerted effort to do more craft projects – although I’ll have to be choosey about them because I certainly don’t need more knick-knacks around here!

What have you done lately that has given you an unexpected boost of happiness and joy?

Have a great day! Do or learn something NEW!

 

 

a NEW finished project

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cards

Happy Wednesday!  Ahhh!  The feeling of accomplishment after finishing a project!  Just look at all these NEW homemade cards…Whew!  Although I realize they’ll disappear quickly, it’s good to have a stash on hand for now.

These were all in a kit I received for my birthday.  My friend and I did our kits together (therefore making sure we finished them)!  I’m feeling very productive :o)

Have a great day!  Do or learn or make something NEW!

a NEW wedding gift combo {and free card printable}

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lovinfromoven

Happy Friday!  So..in June when my son got married, I was so impressed with people’s creative wedding gifts!  I thought, WOW, how do people have the time to be so creative?!?   I then realized it probably didn’t take all that much extra time to just add a little something unique to the gifts, so I resolved to try to be a bit more creative.  Here is one idea:  Copy a cute and “lovey-dovey” saying on the bottom of a glass pan with a black sharpie. (I only wrote on one pan and left the other one normal)…add a couple of dish towels and oven mitts…top it off with a homemade card and whala!…a not-so-boring wedding gift! :o)

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I made up the card speedy-quick-like.  I used my NEW embossing machine for the textured bottom paper, then just added the graphic below (feel free to print it out for your use).

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OR…

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Let me know if any of you have any wonderful (quick-but-creatively-unique) wedding gift ideas!  This one might get over-used if I don’t have a few other ideas up my sleeve…so please share! :o)

Have a terrific day!  Do or learn (OR GIVE AWAY) something NEW!

Linking to: Skip to my Lou

 

 

Miscellaneous Monday…NEW stuff i gotta share

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thankyoucard

Happy Monday!  Well, in a previous post a few weeks ago, I mentioned I wanted to get an embossing gadget…so I did. :o)  I love creating NEW textures on plain paper.  And its soooo easy!  Here’s my latest card:  “Thank You…From The Bottom Of My Heart”.   I thought I should go buy some clear plastic for the inside of the heart, but….here’s my secret tip…I just cut a heart out of a sandwich baggie (the two sides keep my little thank you’s in place).  Yes, call me El-cheap-o!   But, hey…it works!

It seems I’m always sharing yummy-looking recipes I want to try, and this week is no different.  This Blackberry Peach Cobbler sounds delish! Right?!?!

cobbler

Check out PinkPolkaDot Creations (HERE) for the recipe.  PLUS there were WAY TOO MANY delicious-looking recipes at last Friday’s Foodie Linkup at Rattlebridge Farm blog.  I don’t know what to try first!  Probably the Garlic Parmesan Knots or the Lavender Lemon Sugar Cookies.  OH YUM!

Well, have a great week ahead!  Do or Learn OR bake something NEW!

 

 

Miscellaneous Monday…NEW stuff i gotta share

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cards

A VERY nice friend of mine tutored me on card-making last week…and guess what??? Now I MUST invest in this NEW gadget:

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It’s VERY cool!  I just may get hooked on card making if it’s that easy to make plain paper turn into REALLY pretty paper!  Check out her etsy shop {HERE}!

As you may know…another crafty NEW interest of mine is Zentangle; and I found a great site with fabulous designs!  Check out All things tangled!

And lastly…if you’re like me…not really a runner, but would love to be a runner and need to build up endurance, check out: How to build endurance in 5 steps.  Good to know.  Now to actually implement the ideas.  Too bad I’d rather be out shooting than running.  Maybe I can run a bit…take a pic…run a bit….take a pic….run…. :o)

Have a great Monday!  Do or learn something NEW!

 

 

 

 

 

Miscellaneous Monday…NEW stuff i gotta share

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nanasrules

Happy Monday!

Well, what’s NEW with you?  I have a few great NEW items to share with you:

1) The ‘Nana’s Rules’ plaque above is a gift I made for a friend recently.  She has a VERY CUTE grandkids play room, and when I saw a similar ‘Grandma & Grandpa’s Rules’ sign, I KNEW I had to tweak the words a bit and make one for her.  What do you think?

wonder

2) a NEW book review.  I read “Wonder” this last week.  I really enjoyed it.  It was a very easy-to-read, didactic novel about a little boy with birth defects.  My good friend mentioned that she thought it should be required reading in all middle schools.  :o)  Highly recommended!  Leave a comment if you’ve read it and let me know what you thought of it!

3) a NEW (to me) article: 5 Creative Ways to Find NEW locations to photograph.  I liked this article and hope to use some of its suggestions while traveling in the next little while.

Have a GREAT MONDAY!  Do or Learn something NEW!

 

 

Miscellaneous Monday…NEW stuff i gotta share

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sunlitweeds

Happy Monday!

Well my past week has been busy with a large project at home, and unfortunately photography sessions have NOT happened {so sad}.  This pic is from a while ago…I really love how even weeds can look kind of cool…in the right lighting! :o)

My large project has been switching my computer room with our guest room.  The guest room was MUCH larger and had an adjacent bathroom.  Very nice for guests, but we don’t have guests all THAT often!  So, I switched rooms and I LOVE IT!!!  So much better!  It’s now a computer room/craft room; and I now have a ‘Project Table’ right in front of a large window…(great for photography).  It’s just SUCH a more efficient set up.  Maybe I’ll take some pics after I’m all done organizing.  PLUS! There’s a large open area that I could even watch some exercise youtube videos and workout in my computer room/craft room!  My favorite YouTube exercise guru is Zuzka Light (I love her accent too)!

I also have a NEW interest: PYROGRAPHY!  I noticed this site {HERE} that had a cool project and it’s now on my bucket list of things I want to try.  Let me know if any of you have any tips!

Lastly!  I wanna share this site I found that had Post Race Recovery Tips.  I used a couple of these tips on Saturday after a long-hard bike ride.  I wasn’t sore the next day, which was really surprising, cuz it was a killer ride!  But I thought they were good tips.  AND…a tip from personal experience:  If you empty out, then turn off your freezer, before you head out for a 3-hour bike ride, when you get home you feel SO EFFICIENT!  It’s like you were multi-tasking and you just wipe out the NEWly defrosted freezer and WHA-LA!  Such a good feeling!

Have a GREAT Monday!  Do or Learn something NEW!

 

 

a few NEW signs and sign holders

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Happy Wednesday!  I’ve been trying to whittle down my wedding preparation to-do list, and thought I’d share our latest NEW project.  For my son’s wedding luncheon, we’re having the main course catered, but I’m doing a dessert bar and an Italian Soda bar.  SO!  Look what my fabulous hubby made:  wooden sign holders!  I like them a LOT.  I may distress the corners a bit…then again, maybe not.  Whatdayathink?

I printed the signs from Our Best Bites.

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There’s a few more projects on the list, so I’ll be busy trying NEW things!  Have a great day!  Do or Learn something NEW!

Linking to:

Simply Sweet Home

Miscellaneous Monday…NEW stuff i gotta share

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horsereflection

Here’s my FAVORITE photo from my rural towns shooting session last  week (see last post).  I’ve found it is rare to find a horse with its head up, so I was happy that at least I could see this one’s reflection to add a bit of interest to this shot!

A few other miscellaneous items I gotta share:

Lately I’ve enjoyed studying the different versions of The Lord’s Prayer, and I really LOVED listening to Andrea Bocelli sing it!  He is AWESOME!

AND….if I can find the time {this week’s calendar is looking pretty busy}…I’d like to try to make a few items on my EASTER PINTEREST BOARD! CuTe StuFF!!!  Hopefully I’ll get to at least a couple of projects!

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I especially LOVE these eggs from Project Alicia:

eggs

Have a great week!  Do or Learn something NEW!

 

 

 

 

 

 

old and NEW Easter decor

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easterbasket1

Whew!  I’m FINALLY done entertaining for a while!  We have had soooooo many ‘events’ around here lately! I’m kind of exhausted!!! :o)  However I did have a bit of energy to dig out the Easter decor over the weekend.  (None too soon, since Easter comes pretty early this year!)  I took a few pics: the ‘old’ decor is my fabric covered styrofoam easter eggs.  I’ve loved them for years…and the best part is: I didn’t make them!  My lovely Mother-in-law made them and gave them to us YEARS ago.    I poked around to see if there were any tutorials that I could share in case you’re interested in making some.   These are pretty close, but I think my MIL actually used a butter knife and tucked the fabric into the groove then finished off with embellishments.

sewingdaisieseggs Check these out at Sewing Daisies

undertableeggs Or these at By Stephanie Lynn

And,  of course, Pinterest has lots of fabric-covered easter egg ideas  Check these out HERE!

eggsandgrass1

My NEW decor this year is this VERY SIMPLE glass jar filled with eggs…finished off with  burlap and ribbon.  Truth be told:  I got these eggs for FREE.  You know when  you buy a washing machine at the local appliance store and they give you a “rebate” of $30-$40 to get to you come back into their store?….but the store really doesn’t have anything at all for that price?  (Well they have a very few things.  These eggs for example).  So that’s how I got them for ‘free’.