Stamping on Ceramic Tiles

All I can say is "What took me so long?" I saw a video about two years ago by Tami White at Stamp with Tami and knew I wanted to try stamping on ceramic tiles but just kept putting it off. Surely it couldn't be as easy as it looked. So, I sent hubby to buy some tumbled, unglazed tiles for me so I could try it! Well, I am hooked! Now I want to try every stamp set I own on a tile!!! It is sooo fun and super easy! These 4" x 4" tiles are under 80 cents each in packages of 10 and can be purchased from Home Depot or Lowe's. Depending on where you live, you might have to special order them. I had hubby get me the little felt circles to put on the bottom so they make wonderful coasters!

My Happy Stampers were able to choose between the two tiles above for the one they made and most chose the tree.

For these projects I used the following supplies:

• 4" x 4" Ceramic Tumbled Tiles
• Stamp sets: Harvest Blessings (top photo) Lovely as a Tree (bottom photo) by Stampin' Up!
• Stazon Ink
• Art Chalk to color
• Spray Sealer
• Felt Bumper Pads

I am thinking of making these for Christmas gifts--packaged together in a set of 4! I hope you enjoyed this project!

Our state fair starts tomorrow and we are planning to go on Sunday! I always look forward to the state fair--lots to see and do! I will need to be sure to take my camera this year!

Have a great day!

Kat

Happy Stampers Sneak Peek

I was so super excited about this project I got ready for my Happy Stampers! We meet tonight and I don't want to ruin the whole surprise so will just show you a bit of it! I will show you the "full meal deal" tomorrow and tell you how I did it! Another hint? I am making these for Christmas gifts this year...but only ones that don't have to mail! You will not believe how cheap and easy these are to make!

Have a great day!

Kat

Happy Homemaker...Tuesday

As you could see from my previous post, Happy Homemaker Monday had to move to Tuesday for me! Fortunately all is working out...car is getting fixed and we have two other cars to shuffle between three of us. I just have to keep reminding hubby that he can't make appointments on Wednesday because I need a car! The very busy and super talented Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom is our weekly host for Happy Homemaker Monday.

So, let's get started with my Happy Homemaker...Tuesday!

The weather...It will likely be in the mid 90's today but may start cooling down a little.

Right now I am...Writing this post.

Thinking...About all I need to get done today.

On my reading pile...Just starting The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber. Do audio books count?!!! I am finishing up House Rules (audio) by Jodi Picoult--excellent book!!! Our read aloud is another book in the Sackett series by Louis L'Amour, Galloway. 

On my TV...Not much TV watching lately because I am enjoying reading but do watch Secret Millionaire on Sunday nights!

On the menu for this week...Still no menu but fall is coming so I may start doing a menu when things cool off a bit so I can do more cooking without turning the air conditioner on.

On my to do list...Biggest thing is to get ready for my Happy Stampers stamping club meeting tomorrow night.

In the craft basket...Sadly, I haven't done any knitting, crocheting or sewing for a couple weeks. I haven't figured out how to knit and read at the same time but maybe could do audio books...hmmm!

Looking forward to this week...Meeting with my Happy Stampers tomorrow night!!! We always have sooo much fun!

Looking around the house...As usual, dogs and dog toys everywhere! I need to throw out the flowers hubby got me a couple weeks ago and straighten the coffee table and end tables.

From the camera...

Our cute little nectarine tree...with nectarines on it!!!

On my prayer list...

• Friends who are babysitting their great-grandchildren for ten days!
• Friend in Germany who is struggling with lots of changes in her young life.
• Friends struggling with lots of issues
• My mom
• A friend coming up on the first anniversary of his wife's death--always difficult
• Friend Margarita who just moved to Japan with her family (hubby stationed there via Navy)--that their adjustment will be quick and painless. 

Bible verse; Devotional...I just attended a wedding on Saturday so I Corinthians 13 comes to mind; it was read during the wedding ceremony...

13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 

² And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 

³ And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,^[a] but have not love, it profits me nothing.

⁴ Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 
⁵ does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 
⁶ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 
⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
⁸ Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there aretongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 
⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 
¹⁰ But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 
¹² For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
¹³ And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Have a great day and I hope to have something crafty to show you tomorrow!

Kat

Not on My List!

Good Morning! I had every intention of posting yesterday but...stuff happens! So I thought it might be interesting to show the difference between what was on MY list and what actually got done!

My List:

• Blog doing Happy Homemaker Monday
• Write email to my Happy Stampers reminding them about stamping club on Wednesday night.
• Nap
• Dishes
• Work on the projects for Wednesday night's stamping club
• Laundry--2+ loads

What actually happened:

• One load of laundry--washed and hung up
• Hubby's car wouldn't start so he had to cancel his appointments and call the auto repair. They said it was most likely the starter and told him how to start it so I quickly got dressed and drove 1 1/2 hours to The Dalles to take the car to the shop--fortunately we didn't have to have it towed! See there's always a silver lining:) Hubby drove the pickup so we could leave the car for a few days (hopefully just a few days).
• Hubby and I met with his supervisor over lunch.
• We got home in time to start dinner--by that time I am done! Productivity (if there was any) is over!
• Dishes actually got done.
• Took the clothes off the line, folded them and put them away.

Today should work more according to plan. Hubby is off to the Tri-Cities for his appointments; I have one load of clothes on the line and the dishes are done! I wrote the email to my Happy Stampers and will scoot upstairs to work on some projects:) Plus, I am still planning to do the Happy Homemaker Monday...on Tuesday!

Have a great day! 

Kat

Sunday Night Chit-Chat

Oh dear! It looks like it's been a week since I last posted:( Last week was such a busy week! So glad I can participate in the Sunday Night Chit-Chat this week:) Carla at My 1/2 Dozen Daily is our host for the weekly Chit-Chat! So, let's get started!

Our severely pruned tree is coming back!

I am...

Reading...Just finished Silver Boat by Luanne Rice and am just finishing up The Covenant by Beverly Lewis. I'm anxious to get started on my new Debbie Macomber book, The Inn at Rose Harbor (a visit back to Cedar Cove).

Watching...Secret Millionaire--love it! We watched Despicable Me this afternoon:) So cute!

Listening to...Rocky snoring and the TV.

Baking/Cooking...Haven't done much baking or cooking lately.

Happy I accomplished this week...I kept my head above water this week and sometimes that's enough!

Looking forward to next week...It's time for my Happy Stampers to meet this week and I so enjoy getting together with these ladies...my friends!

Grateful for this week...For the last month, our dear young friend Marie from Germany has been visiting her former host family. She was a Foreign Exchange Student a couple years ago and we became such good friends with her. Last week we were fortunate to have her spend the night and then we took her to the airport the next day. I miss her so much already but was so happy we got to spend some time with her.

*Bonus Question* What is my favorite candy treat? I really like red licorice but also enjoy dark chocolate:)

Well, that's it for me today! 

Kat

Sunday Night Chit-Chat

It's time for the Sunday Night Chit-Chat! Each week we are hosted by the very talented and super busy Carla at My 1/2 Dozen Daily.

My picture for the Chit-Chat is of our early peach tree. The peaches are sooo sweet and yummy! Unfortunately, Friday we had a huge wind and thunder storm; half the peaches ended up on the ground:( 

So now, let's get started!

I am...

Reading...second reading of The Fast Metabolism Diet (lots to digest)!

Watching...The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel; tomorrow night I am looking forward to watching Secret Millionaire:)

Listening to...The movie we're watching.

Cooking/Baking...Too hot to do either so just fixing quick and easy meals!

Happy I accomplished this week...Not sure I really accomplished anything this week. lol 

Thankful for...All the delicious food in the garden! I think this is what I was thankful for last week but it's still wonderful:)

Bonus Question: Can you walk well in high heels? Do you wear them often?
I love high heels but not over 3" high! I used to wear them more than I do now. Now I just wear them to church and for special occasions. I don't do the super skinny heels anymore.

A Little This and a Little That

Just a quick post today! I drove to the post office this morning to make sure my Artist Trading Card Swaps went out in the mail TODAY! Whew! I always love getting the mail and today was no different. I had my certificate from Stampin' Up! for promoting to Senior Supervisor, a swap card from my darling daughter,  Stampin' Success Magazine (for Demonstrators Only!), Costco Coupon Book (love those), plus the new book I ordered, The Fast Metabolism Diet by Haylie Pomroy (more on this later)! Now my die-hard readers may be saying, "Isn't that the book she was reading last week?" And you would be right! Hubby ordered the book from Amazon and I started reading some of it on Amazon but then decided to just download the Kindle version to my iPad! 

And also in the box from Amazon was my new Eat Smart Precision Tracker Bathroom Scale...

Whoo Hoo! Do you detect a theme here?!!! Oh my! Our old bathroom scale weighed different every time I stepped on it!  One day I weighed three times, one right after the other, and ever time was different! Sooo frustrating! Hopefully this scale will be different plus we can program in each family member and it will automatically know who it is! Now that I've got to see!

Sorry to leave you with a tickler but you can get a pretty good idea of what I have in mind from the items above. Will share with you next week!

Have a great weekend!

Kat

Cards from Ellen

A couple days ago I shared with you the wonderful package I received from Ellen in Minnesota but today I wanted to show each individual card with a breakdown of what I "think" is going on in each one. 

This first card is a super fun card! I love the Epic This and That dsp!

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

• Paper: Whisper White and Calypso Coral card stock; Epic Day This and That Designer Series Paper
• Ink: Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green and Calypso Coral
• Yippee-Skippee! stamp set
• Other: 7/16" burlap-inspired Trim

This card uses one of my very favorite new stamp sets...Flower Shop--LOVE IT! And don't you love the way she used the new Envelope Liner Framelits on the envelope?!!! I don't own those Framelits yet but they are on my list!

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

• Paper: Whisper White and Daffodil Delight card stock; Epic Day This and That (I think) Designer Series Paper
• Ink: Basic Black
• Stamp Sets: Flower Shop and Happy Day
• Other: Pansy Punch and Envelope Liner Framelits

For this last card, Ellen let the Epic Day This and That Paper take center stage! I love it!

For this card Ellen used the following Stampin' Up products:

• Paper: Basic Gray and Calypso Coral card stock; Epic Day This and That Designer Series Paper
• Ink: Basic Gray and Calypso Coral
• A Fitting Occasion stamp set
• Other: Basic Gray 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, 1 1/4" Scallop Circle Punch

I hope you enjoyed seeing Ellen's cards up close and personal today! I sure enjoyed receiving them. 

Kat

Trip to Moses Lake

View from BIL's back patio--lots of birds eating grass seed

We recently went to visit my husband's 2nd oldest brother and his wife who live in Moses Lake, WA. Accompanying us was hubby's 3rd oldest brother and his wife. We were having a mini family reunion. One brother and a sister were missing.

My SIL was sooo brave because brother #3 and his wife plus hubby and I are vegan (well, I am 95% of the time anyway--salmon calls my name occasionally). SIL eats meat and brother #2 is vegetarian. I think we freaked her out a little bit:( However, she did a marvelous job feeding us! She even baked a Tropical Cream Pie--totally vegan! Good Job! I forgot to get the recipe so will have to email her for it! She barbecued salmon burgers and veggie burgers (guess which one I had...yup! the salmon burger) that we ate with corn on the cob, watermelon and salads! Like I said, she did a good job! I don't she'll be so fearful the next time she has a Vegan Invasion!

I don't think I have ever been to Moses Lake before and it is beautiful! For a small town, they really have a lot going on! There is a Water Park, Farmer's Market, Concerts and lots of water activities. The lake is huge! There are several RV parks and motels with wonderful lakefront access!

Another view from the back patio

BIL took us for a boat ride to see the lake. WOW! It was impressive! There were several boats on the lake as well as Jet Skiers but where did all the water skiers go?!!! We didn't see one water skier! My SIL indicated that people just don't water ski any more! Is that true?!!!

We had a great time visiting the Farmer's Market and attended the Five Suns Bluegrass Festival on Saturday night! We spent a lot of time visiting and enjoying family!

I hope you are enjoying your summer with family and friends!

Kat

Super Happy Mail

In May I signed up with VC Rocks to have a summertime Virtual Convention experience! I was not able to participate as much as I had hoped but had some wonderful experiences none-the-less. I participated in a couple of challenges, the Fancy Fold Card Swap and signed up to have a Virtual Roomie! My virtual roommate is Ellen from Minnesota and she has been fun to email with and we have sent a few cards back and forth. We were each required to send our roomie a box of goodies which I received last week. Oh my goodness! It was (is) amazing! Check it out!

She sent such a fun assortment of goodies!

3 cards handmade by Ellen! I will give details on each card in another post.

Postcard Series Wildflowers of Utah (Ellen went to the Stampin' Up! convention in Utah) plus dsp and that red flower is a magnet which is currently on my refrigerator!

A BIG package of Twizzlers! And yes, I got into them before I took the picture:)

Glittering delight! Silver Glimmer Paper, Brushed Silver card stock, Basic Rhinestones and Silver Sparkle Dazzling Details all tied up with some pretty ruffled ribbon!

This beautiful framed piece with butterflies from the Papillon Potpourri stamp set. My photo doesn't do it justice! Oh so pretty!

Am I spoiled or am I spoiled?!!! Thank you Ellen for all my goodies!

I have one more mission to accomplish before VC Rocks closes it's "doors" at the end of August--the Artist Trading Card Swap! I will be sending those off the end of the week to be sure they are to their destination by August 14. VC Rocks will lie dormant till next May when the ladies will rev up their engines for Weekly Challenges, Blog Hops, Swaps and lots of visiting back and forth via email!

Kat

Happy Homemaker Monday

Good morning and welcome to Happy Homemaker Monday! We are hosted each week by Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. You will enjoy reading about Sandra's adventures going from Air Force Wife to Country Life. I am also enjoying reading about her brother and family coming to live in Idaho from South Africa!!! Now, that's an adventure!!!

The weather...
It will be exceedingly warm today...probably high 90's but it feels a little muggy which is rare for us.

Right now I am...
Relaxing in my recliner writing this post.

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

On my reading pile...

• The Fast Metabolism Diet by Haylie Pomroy
• The Covenant by Beverly Lewis (yes, I am still reading this...not because it's not good; I just got side-tracked)
• A Little Bit Country by Debbie Macomber
• Read aloud: Mustang Man by Louis L'Amour (another book in the Sackett series)

On my TV...

I think I found a new favorite TV show! It's called Secret Millionaire and is on Sunday nights! LOVE IT!!! 

What I found while surfing the net...

We have food allergies at our house and wheat seems to be causing some issues here lately. I read that sprouted wheat might be a good alternative so was checking out websites and found Chef Tess Bakeresse! She has so much on her website but am particularly interested in the Sprouted Wheat Bread and Sprouted Wheat Tortillas.

On the menu for this week...A whole lot of green salad! When it's hot I don't feel like eating much so will likely pair whatever sounds good with a big yummy green salad!

On my to do list...

• Laundry (I try to do one load every day and that keeps me pretty well caught up)
• Purge and organize in Craft Room
• Can a few more quarts of apricots 

In the craft basket...

Still working on the Granny Square Afghan. I took a little break but am ready to get back to it!

Looking forward to this week...Making a significant dent in my craft room mess.

Looking around the house...

• Dishes need to be done from breakfast
• My end table is a little messy with magazines
• Window above the couch needs washed clean of Rocky's nose prints
• Dogs and dog toys everywhere!

From the camera...

A visitor to our home last week! He was in the garage on Hubby's tool box!

On my prayer list...

• Friends needing prayer
• Margarita and her family as they move to Japan. Hubby is in the Navy and will be stationed there for awhile.
• Kylee as she is getting ready for her wedding this month!

Bible verse; Devotional...

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." --Isaiah 26:3

Well, I had better get to that "to do" list if I want to get any crafting done this week!

Kat

Sunday Night Chit-Chat

I have been away from my blog for sooo long it has cobwebs on it:( All is well just a few things going on that have made it difficult to blog so I didn't. I am hoping that I will be able to start blogging regularly again this week but if not, soon:) I thought a good time to jump back in would be for the Sunday Night Chit-Chat!

The Sunday Night Chit-Chat is hosted weekly by the super busy and uber talented Carla at My 1/2 Dozen Daily! Their family is hosting R from China for a month so check in with her to see what they have been up to!

Hubby still brings me flowers and sings me love songs...even after 34 years:)

Sooo, let's get started!

I am...

Reading...The Fast Metabolism Diet by Haylie Pomroy (ready to read through the second time--lots to digest); you will hear more about this book in the next month. 

Listening to...Our sweet Rocky snoring:) He always seems to be snoring when I am writing this post!

Watching...Probably nothing; I have been doing a lot of reading.

Cooking/Baking...Hot today so will likely have Green Salad, Corn-on-the-cob and ??? for dinner.

Happy I accomplished this week...My craft room is a disaster and I'm not exaggerating! I made some significant headway on it this week. I took before pictures so will show them when I am finished! Hopefully this week I will be equally productive on the project:)

Looking forward to next week...Being able to do some crafting and making some more headway on my craft room!

Thankful for today...Lots of good food to eat from the garden and orchard--zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, kale, raspberries, strawberries, apricots...yum!

Bonus Question: What was my least favorite subject in school?
Oh, I forgot about gym till I read Carla's but I hated so many things about gym class--Dodge Ball (ouch), showering, soft ball throw (I throw like a girl)! Second in line would have been history. I love history now but hated memorizing all the dates and events. 

Well, that's it for me today! I will be back tomorrow for Sandra's Happy Homemaker Monday!

Kat