Thankful Thursday

It looks like it's time to make a new Thankful Thursday button--something springy! I am taking a class in how to use My Digital Studio better so hopefully will be able to make great blog headers and Thankful Thursday buttons:) The first class was great and I learned some ways of doing things easier. And don't we love easier?!!!

This week I am thankful for...

#1...So much yummy food to eat! My hubby is a great grocery shopper and has been bringing home LOTS of delicious fresh fruits and vegetables like strawberries, mangoes, asparagus, avocados, pineapple, baby kale, spinach, baby portabello mushrooms and everything you would want to put in a salad. I always feel sooo much better when I eat fresh food:)

#2...Great blog readers! I am so thankful for each and every one of you who visit and leave such nice comments. Thank you!

#3...My wonderful new custom made Knitting Bag that Carla is making:)

#4...The eczema on my elbow is gone. It has plagued me for 4 years but is now gone. For how long I don't know as it has come and gone several times over the 59 years of my life but it is so nice to have it gone for now!

#5...My precious granddaughter who is looking forward to Gramma's next visit on April 1! Sometimes I wish I had more grandchildren but most of the time I am just thankful I have one.

What are you thankful for on this fine Thursday?

Kat

Custom Made Knitting Bag

Photo by Carla at My 1/2 Dozen Daily

Tuesday Carla at My 1/2 Dozen Daily posted a tote bag she made as a custom order for a knitter. I knew I HAD to have one of my very own! So I talked to my darling son to find out if he wanted to get me a new knitting bag for Mother's Day and of course he said YES! I did promise to get rid of a couple of my old ones:)

I told Carla I wanted the bag in purples and lime green. The picture above is of the fabrics she suggested. Aren't they beautiful?!!! Along with the tote bag that will have a roomy pocket for yarn, she is making me a long zippy wallet to hold knitting needles and a smaller zippy wallet for notions. 

When I checked Carla's blog this last evening I saw...

Photo by Carla at My 1/2 Dozen Daily

Whoo Hoo! She has already started my beautiful new Knitting Bag! I don't think I have ever had anything custom made before and I am feeling pretty special about now:)

I will be sure to show you pictures when she is finished!

Have you ever had anything custom made...

just for you? What was it?

Have a great day!

Kat

A to Z April Challenge

I don't know what I was thinking but I signed up with over 900 other bloggers to participate in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. As I understand, last year there were over 1700 bloggers participating by the starting date on the first day of April.

Here's how it happens: for the month of April I will be blogging six days a week and each day I will be using a letter of the alphabet starting with A. I am already planning out my topics on an April calendar.

So, why did I decide to join the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge? Well, I have always secretly (or not so secretly) wanted to be a writer--every since I was in elementary school. I started blogging because it would force me to write on a regular basis and that's what makes a person a writer...they write! The Blogging from A to Z Challenge will challenge me to come up with blog topics I might not otherwise think of. We'll see how I do!

You might want to visit some of the other bloggers who will be participating in Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. Just be aware that if AC appears after the blog link, it contains Adult Content.

Do you have any ideas for my April blog posts? I would love to hear what you would like to have me write about.

Easter Lattice

I wanted to share another Happy Stampers Club project with you. This is another project I saw on Pinterest. I didn't write down who made it. I will be working on that as I really want to give credit where credit is due.

I think this card is stunning! I love everything about it! And it was fun to make:)

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

• Card stock: So Saffron, Early Espresso, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
• Punches: Boho Blossom, Bird Builder, Scallop Oval
• Big Shot with Lattice Bigz Die and Little Leaves Sizzlits Die
• Classic Stampin' Pads: Marina Mist and Early Espresso
• Sentiment is from Easter Blossoms stamp set (retired)
• Other: Mini Glue Dots; Dimensionals; brads (not Stampin' Up!)

I hope you enjoy seeing the cards as much as I enjoy making them and showing them off!

Have a great day!

Kat

Easter Bunny Card

This was a really fun, though time-consuming, card we made at our Happy Stampers Club last week! The bunny is made entirely using punches (except the cotton ball tail, of course)! I saw this project on Pinterest but forgot to write down who made it so if it was you or someone you know, please let me know and I will be happy to give credit where credit is due:) 

For this super cute card, I used the following Stampin' Up! products:

• Paper: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Basic Black, Pool Party and Lucky Limeade card stock; Sycamore Street Designer Series Paper (one of the free choices during Sale-a-bration with a $50 order)
• Punches: Full Heart Punch (for head and body); Extra Large Oval (outside ears); Large Oval (inside ears and feet); 3/4" Circle (cheeks and heel pads); Crop-a-dile (small toe pads but could use 1/16" Circle handheld); Small Heart (nose); 1/2" Circle (white of eyes); Circle from Itty Bitty Punch Pack (for black of eyes); Scallop Oval and Large Oval (sentiment layers)
• All White pieces of bunny were sponged with Pretty in Pink Classic Stampin' Pad ink
• Sentiment stamp from Teeny Tiny Wishes set
• Other: Dimensionals, Sycamore Street 5/8" Ribbon in Pool Party (one of the free choices during Sale-a-bration with a $50 order), White Uni-ball Signo Gel Pen, cotton ball (not SU!)

I will be back tomorrow with another of our Happy Stampers projects--another Easter card! Have a great day!

Kat

Happy Homemaker Monday

Participating in the Happy Homemaker Monday really helps to make Monday that much better! Thanks, Sandra, for starting us off each week on a positive note. You will find Sandra's blog at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

The weather...It was only 30 degrees (F) when I woke up this morning at 5:00 but now at 10:00 it has warmed up to 40 degrees (F). It is windy but looks like I might have blue skies by noon.

Right now I am...Sitting in front of the wood stove with a cup of Yerba Mate. I just finished my Stampin' Up! order and am ready to settle down to do Happy Homemaker Monday.

Thinking...About what I need to do today.

On my reading pile:

• Spiritual: Bible and Desire of Ages
• Personal: Just magazines and catalogs for now--Weight Watchers, Better Homes and Gardens, Paper Crafts, Crochet World, Mary Maxim catalog
• Read Alouds: Santa Cruise by Mary Higgins Clark and Jubal Sackett by Louis L'Amour--nearly finished with both of these

On my tv...Not sure this week but I want to do some crocheting so will likely find some movies on SpiritClips. I still have several episodes of McLeod's Daughter's to watch.

Favorite Blog post...

My Favorite Sin by Melane (aka Smalls)

Something fun to share:

A friend of ours is gluten intolerant and I have been told I would do well to eat more gluten free foods so was excited to find the above cookbook at Amazon! It is on my wish list! Finding gluten free cookbooks is easy these days and I have even seen some gluten free vegetarian but this was the first gluten free VEGAN I had seen.

On the menu for this week...

Monday--Pasta sauted with olive oil mushrooms, spinach, kale and garlic

Tuesday--Artichokes with big green salad

Wednesday--Tacos with Quinoa Taco Burger

Thursday--Mushroom Barley Soup

Friday--

Saturday--

Sunday--Mizidra

On my "to do" list...

• Laundry (is it ever done???)
• Make Thank You cards (again)
• Make Easter cards
• Get tax stuff ready for accountant
• Clean the bathroom
• Wash out the refrigerator (least favorite household chore)

What I am sewing, knitting, crocheting or crafting...

• Still haven't picked up the doily I'm making since being sick. I really need to do that THIS week!
• Still have unfinished pair of socks to work on--I may have to start over at this point.

Homemaking Tip...My husband's Aunt Lee shared with me several years ago that to keep black clothes black, NEVER put them in the dryer! I have a bar above my dryer with hangers plus a very nice wooden clothes rack that I hang ALL our black and navy blue clothes on to dry. I also don't hang them on the line outside because the sun will fade them. Works like a charm:)

Looking around the house...Dishes need done; laundry needs started; bed needs made:( Our three dogs are sprawled out across the living room floor sleeping in the warmth of the wood stove.

From the camera...

On my prayer list...

• Friends who want to adopt a child
• Friends with health issues
• Sister's extreme pain
• Church family

Bible verse; Devotional...

"He (God) knows the journey is difficult. He knows life is rarely fair. Jesus fought the same frigid winds of distraction, discouragement, and doubt that keep us from knowing God's love. But like the Father, he longs to gather us in his arms. He longs to trade the flimsy blankets of our own self-sufficiency for his all-sufficiency. The Lord Jesus invites us to cast our doubts, our fears and anxiety upon him, to discover how much he really does care." 

--from Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver

Well, that's it for my Happy Homemaker Monday. I will be back a little later with the supplies for that cute Bunny card I showed yesterday.

Kat

Sunday Night Chit-Chat

Happy Stampers Club project from last week (more on that later)

It's time for the Sunday Night Chit-Chat:) We are started off each week by the very talented and super busy Carla at My 1/2 Dozen Daily! Check out the beautiful purple mug rug and coffee cozy she made for a custom order! Oh so pretty!!! If you want to play along, check out Carla's blog post to find out the "rules" then be sure to put a link for your post in my comment section as well as Carla's! You can also play along in the comment section if you wish! So, let's get started!

I am...

Reading...I know you won't believe this but I finally finished all three books in the Happiness Key series by Emilie Richards!!! The first one was hard for me to get through (probably me, not the book) but the last two were really quick reads! Not sure what to read next. For our read aloud we are almost finished with Jubal Sackett by Louis L'Amour (only 12 more books to go in this series)

Watching...We watched Larry Crowne with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts! It was great! Hard to have a bad movie with both of them in it!

Listening to...I feel like a broken record because every Sunday night I am listening to our English Bulldog, Rocky, snore but that is the only sound going on in the house right now!

Baking/Cooking...We have a friend who is gluten intolerant so yesterday I made him Black Bean Brownies and GF Cornbread. The Black Bean Brownies were good but I want to make a few changes (will keep you posted). I will share the Cornbread recipe later this week.

Happy I accomplished this week...

• Finished and posted March Design Team project for The Cupboard Trilogy Challenges
• Finished and delivered February swap card
• Got ready for and completed our monthly Happy Stampers Club (three projects)

Looking forward to next week...Not having to go anywhere:) I have plenty to keep me busy here at home.

Thankful for today...Hubby and I are both well! Plus he is going on a business appointment tomorrow that we thought he lost out on when he was sick. Rarely is my husband so sick he can't work but this time he was really down!

BONUS QUESTION: Have I ever left the house in my pjs? I know I did when my 40 year old son was in school and I had to take him to the bus early, early in the morning. We live waayyy out in the country without another house in sight and I do go outside in my pjs frequently. But I don't wear them where anyone could see. My granddaughter has pajama day at school once a year and I have threatened that if I was there when she was having pajama day I would take her to school in MY pajamas:)

Well, that's it for me tonight! I do think this is the latest I have ever done the Chit-Chat (almost 9:30 pm--past my bedtime) so it will be off to bed for me! Have a great night and I will be back tomorrow with the list of supplies I used to make the card above!

Kat