Flower Shop Step-up Card

Yesterday was not a good day! About 7:00 Sunday night my muscles and joints started aching--even my fingers and toes! I was miserable! Then yesterday the pain continued but I woke up this morning and other than feeling like somebody beat me up, I am sooo much better!

This is the original card I posted last week...

The supplies I used can be found HERE. To be honest, I really like the simplicity of this card and those large pearls really jazz it up. However, I made a stab at "stepping it up". I didn't do as much as I wanted to because I wanted to stay with the same colors but didn't have any ribbon that would work.

For this one I used Candy Dots instead of Basic Pearls; Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine (retired); Pansy Punch and Dimensionals!

Which one do you like best?

I am working on some WOW! cards today so can't wait to share them with you:) Oh, and I got my new Envelope Punch Board that I will be playing with as well! Woo Hoo!!!

Kat

Sunday Night Chit-Chat

Guess what time it is? Yes, you would be right...Sunday Night Chit-Chat time:) We are hosted each week by the super talented Carla at My 1/2 Dozen Daily. 

My picture this week is of my DS checking out the new Kubota tractors at the state fair. I think he left a little drool on this one. We didn't take one home with us but it's not because we didn't want one!

Let's get on with the Chit-Chat!

I am...

Reading...The Magnesium Miracle by Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D.

Listening to...The saw as hubby and DS are finishing up the deck repair.

Watching...Hoping to watch Secret Millionaire tonight but it wasn't on last week so hope it is tonight!

Cooking/Baking...I made the yummiest salsa today...Tomatillo Onion Avocado Salsa. It was so good I was eating it with a spoon:) Super quick and easy in the food processor.

Happy I accomplished this week...I got nearly half the cards made and delivered that needed to be done. About 15 more this week and I should be caught up!

Looking forward to next week...My Happy Stampers meet this week! A week early because I will be visiting DD and DGD the following week:) 

Thankful for today...All the yummy fruit in the garden, especially the grapes right now! Also thankful that hubby and DS are finishing up the deck project. Whew! Now they will clean the whole thing (old and new) with a peroxide mixture and then seal it up so it will be good for winter! And thankful that one of my Happy Stampers has prepared two projects for us to do on Wednesday which leaves me only one to prepare! Thank you, Kim!

*Bonus Question* Do I have a celebrity crush? WOW! That's a tough one because it's pretty hard to be hunkier than my hubby but I would have to say Tom Selleck would be a close 2nd:P Sean Connery has always been a favorite as well!

Well, that's it for me tonight! Tomorrow is Happy Homemaker Monday! 

Kat

Five Things Friday

Today I am a little bit scattered and maybe a bit discombobulated! Not sure why, just one of those days! I call these my ADD days! Just bouncing from one thing to the next but not finishing anything! Let's see if I can finish this post!

We have had thunderstorms the last couple of days so turned our internet off Wednesday night and yesterday to avoid a hit. A couple months ago we got a hit and it took out one of our phones and the internet. Fortunately, hubby was able to plug the internet into another port on the board and we were back up. We didn't turn it on until last night when I wanted to download the next book in Louis L'Amour's Sackett series, Treasure Mountain. Only three books left to go in this series of 17 books. 

When I saw that Carla at My 1/2 Dozen Daily was doing Five Things Friday, I thought I would play along! Sooo...

1. Cardmaking...This week I made and mailed off one Thank You card to hubby's client plus made and delivered 9 cards to my Stampin' Up! customers. I have my "stepped-up" card completed but still need to make 3 more for my wonderful downline! Hope to get those mailed off on Monday. I need to make 4 downline cards and 8 customer thank you cards for last month when I wasn't feeling up to making cards at all. Sunday and Monday I will be getting ready for my Happy Stampers Club that's meeting on Wednesday--a full week early because I be visiting my DD and DGD the following week!

2. Garden...We are enjoying the very last of our peaches:( But the grapes are on and producing great! I can't seem to get enough of them!!! We also have LOTS of raspberries that I need to quit eating and put in the freezer:) The tomatoes are producing slowly...lots of green ones! Cucumbers, oh so yummy! We don't have as much in the garden this year but what we have is delicious!!!

3. Knitting...I am working on my sock but am at a place where I need to tear out a bit. I got messed up on the gusset so will tear back to the end of the heel flap and see if I can figure out where I went wrong. However, if I can't figure it out I have a wonderful friend (Barb) who can help me out of my jam:) I am hoping I will have two sock finished here soon!

4. Reading...Well, a couple weeks ago I went to the Library and saw an audio book by Nora Roberts called The Perfect Home. But discovered this was book 3 of The Inn Boonsboro Trilogy. Well, the library didn't have book 1 on audio but had it in book form which I prefer anyway. So I got book 1 and 2, read them and picked up book 3 this week and finished it up this morning. I hadn't read Nora Roberts before and probably won't again but this was an interesting read--obviously as I read 3 books in less than 3 weeks! Nora Roberts is one of my daughter's favorite authors. Now, I can settle down and finish The Iodine Crisis by Lynne Farrow to be followed by The Magnesium Miracle by Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. As I said above, we are still working through Louis L'Amour's Sackett series for our read aloud most evenings.

5. Cooking...When it's hot I don't cook much; we mainly eat raw or quick and easy. However, last night I was in the mood for Garbanzo Oat Burgers and wasn't disappointed! Yummy! Today I am going to have some with baked sweet potatoes and a salad! I need to make a big batch of Granola so may mix up a batch today to bake tonight. It turns out perfect when I let it bake at a low temperature overnight--no need for stirring!

6. Blogging...I know it's supposed to five things but I just wanted to add one more! Some people might think that when a blogger doesn't blog it's because they don't have anything to share and that might be the case with some. However, for me that will NEVER be the case as I have sooo many things I want to share! Some of my readers have commented to me privately or asked me if something was wrong as over the last couple of months, even when I did blog, it wasn't with the same enthusiasm as I normally have. Depression set in for me just before my birthday in July (no, it wasn't age related) and didn't leave until just recently. I felt guilty because I have sooo much to be thankful for and no reason to be depressed but that didn't help either. Well, the crisis has passed. Thank you to all who realized something was wrong and were praying for me. Sometimes it's hard to ask for help in the midst of the storm.

Well, I think I have sufficiently told you more than you care to know so I will be off to get this messy house cleaned and some cooking done!

Have a great weekend and I will be back Sunday night for the Sunday Night Chit-Chat! 

Kat

Flower Shop Thank You

Yesterday afternoon was spent delivering Stampin' Up! orders to my Happy Stampers and visiting my little heart out! It was a good day! Tucked into each Stampin' Up! bag was a Thank You card made by me:) This card was totally inspired by Robin Messenheimer at Robin's Craft Room. I will be working on a "stepped up" version today to send to my wonderful downline so hopefully will have that one for you tomorrow.

For this card I used the following Stampin' Up! supplies:

• Card Stock: Whisper White and Wisteria Wonder
• Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder and Lucky Limeade (retired)
• Stamp Sets: Flower Shop and Sassy Salutations
• Other: Large Basic Pearls

This was a fun card to make and super quick and easy! I made 10 cards, start to finish, in less than an hour:) While I love to make fussy, complicated cards it's nice to have an arsenal of quick and easy cards for when you need them!

Have a great day!

Kat

September Design Team Projects

Good Morning to all of you in blogland! Summer is coming to an end and I can feel the nip in the air that signals Fall's fast approach. We are having nippy nights and very warm days. I try not to complain about the heat because I know that all too soon we will have frost on the ground and I will have to trade in my flip flops for warm fuzzy boots! I hope my flip flops can remember how much I love them through all those cold months! Oh, but that's not what this blog post is about! I could do a whole week of blog posts on SHOES! But, alas, I will spare you:)

This month I created two Design Team projects for The Cupboard Trilogy Challenges! Usually I feel really lucky to get just one done plus commenting on my share of the entries. Last month we had an amazing 75 entries--WOW! There were some pretty amazing cards entered! The theme for September is Male--my hardest category! However, when I think of Male cards, my mind immediately goes to The Open Sea stamp set by Stampin' Up! Love it!!! So that is the first one I took out to make this card...

I started out by deciding I wanted to make a 5" x 5" square card. Then I decided to create a background for my ship so stamped the log image in Crumb Cake and the world image in Early Espresso. Looking at it now, I think I would stamp the world image in Soft Suede but it is what it is:) My son saw this card and loved it so I guess when I finish the inside it will be his birthday card come November.

For this card I used the following Stampin' Up supplies:

• Card Stock: Midnight Muse, Soft Suede and Very Vanilla
• Classic Stampin' Pads: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso and Midnight Muse
• The Open Sea Stamp Set
• Punches: 1 3/8" Circle and 1 1/4" Circle
• Other: Stampin' Sponges, Dimensionals, Antique Brad and Linen Thread

For my second card I pulled out a retired favorite, . So what to do that I hadn't already done?!!! Nothing fancy but...

This time I decided cut my card stock at 4 1/4" x 11" and folded it in half to make the card 4 1/4" X 5 1/2", then laid it on it's side (opening on the right). 

For this card I used the following Stampin' Up! supplies:

• Card Stock: Midnight Muse (can you tell I love that color!), Bashful Blue (retired) and Whisper White
• Ink: Midnight Muse and White Craft Ink
• On the Fly Stamp Set (retired)
• 7/16" Burlap Inspired Trim--Love it!!!

This one was super quick and easy! Move that left hand fishy to left a little bit and it would be "perfect"!

I have so many things backed up over the last month that I want to share with you but will just go one day at a time and do what I can do!

Thank you for stopping by today! I have more for you tomorrow so be sure to visit again!

Kat

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello and Happy Monday to you! Also Happy Labor Day! Actually, Hubby and DS are laboring on the deck at the moment; replacing boards that were rotting after nearly 20 years in the elements.

Welcome to Happy Homemaker Monday hosted each week by Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. Thanks, Sandra! Okay, let's get started...

The weather...We started out with a cool morning but it is heating up fast so will likely be in the high 90s today! We have a few clouds and some wind.

Right now I am...Waiting for the dishes in the dishwasher to cool off so I can put them away and waiting for the laundry to finish in the washing machine so I can hang it out.

Thinking...About all the cards I need to get made today.

On my reading pile...The Iodine Crisis by Lynn Farrow; The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts (book 2 in The Inn Boonsboro Trilogy); 350 Best Vegan Recipes (yes, I read recipe books); and our read aloud is Galloway by Louis L'Amour (another book in the Sackett series)

On my TV...Nothing! I was hoping to watch Secret Millionaire last night but it wasn't on. I have been reading a lot.

On the menu for this week...I will start planning menus next month. For now, it's whatever sounds good at the moment.

On my to do list...

• Pack up some stuff to take to the thrift store
• Make about 30 cards
• Clean out refrigerator
• Trip to town tomorrow to deliver Stampin' Up! and take stuff to thrift store

In the craft basket...

• Granny Square afghan--I will get back to it when it cools down a little; probably later this month.
• Socks--I took the sock apart I was working on and have it knitted through the heel flap and am working on the gusset. I have to take it apart again to the end of the heel flap cuz something's funny but will work through it. Hopefully will have at least one finished sock by next week. 

Looking forward to this week...I am looking forward to seeing friends tomorrow and to doing some stamping this week.

Looking around the house...Dining room table is littered with mail and books from the weekend. It tends to be our drop spot:( Kitchen is clean; dogs are sleeping in the living room. Hubby and DS had to make a run for more lumber (1 1/2 to the store and the same back).

From the camera...

Hubby found the Dave's Killer Bread Store in Clackamas last week!
He brought home lots of good sprouted wheat bread:)

On my prayer list...

• My granddaughter as she starts school this week--3rd grade.
• Joan, an 82 year young friend who has started sharing her faith through a blog I helped her create. This is helping her cope with the loss of her husband and her failing health. You can visit her at Vital Concerns. Leave her a comment or send her an email to encourage her:)
• Some friends making poor choices.

Bible Verse; Devotional...

"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10

Well, it looks like even with several interruptions, I still made it through this post! I will be back tomorrow with my Design Team projects for The Cupboard Trilogy Challenges. I actually did two this month!

Have a great day and a wonderful week!

Kat

Sunday Night Chit-Chat

I am beyond apologizing for not posting for the last week. I don't know what has been wrong with me for the last couple of months but surely this month I will be able to get back on a schedule so I can get something done!

It is time for the Sunday Night Chit-Chat hosted each week by the super busy and talented seamstress Carla at My 1/2 Dozen Daily. Her creations just keep getting better and better so hop on over if you get a chance to see what she has been sewing. Mondays are a favorite day for me to visit her blog because it's Warp & Weft Reveal Day! Always something fun to see! But let's get started with the Chit-Chat!

New cookbook hubby bought me last week:)

I am...

• Reading: The Iodine Crisis by Lynne Farrow
• Listening to: The gentle whirr of the ceiling fan and my hubby using the drill and skill saw outside (he's replacing boards on the deck).
• Watching: We just finished watching Abel's Field--great movie! I hope to watch Secret Millionaire tonight.
• Cooking/Baking: Still a little warm for much cooking or baking. Yesterday we made Eggplant Pizzas--very yummy! I ate the leftovers for breakfast this morning:) 
• Happy I accomplished this week: I caught up on some emails that were long overdue; survived week 4 of a special diet I have been on (more on that later); got my Design Team project done and submitted to The Cupboard Trilogy Challenges.
• Looking forward to next week: Getting back on some kind of a schedule!
• Thankful for today: God's love and saving grace.
• Bonus Question: What is your favorite thing about the fall months? I like the changeover to my fall wardrobe and being able to use the fall colors on my cards. 

Okay, that's it for me this week! I hope you are having a great Labor Day Weekend and I will be back tomorrow for Happy Homemaker Monday:)

Kat