A Peek Into My Stamping Room

Have You Learned A New Skill?

Hello friends!  This self-isolation can really get you down, can't it?  Everyday, if you watch, the news has all bad news and I just can't handle it anymore.  I was chatting with my daughter, who is a nurse, the other day and she said her husband could really use some scrub caps.  That if he didn't get some, he was going to shave his head.  Well, they are newlyweds and I am thinking she really didn't want a bald husband....LOL   So I looked on YouTube and found a tutorial, dusted off the sewing machine and dug out my fabric stash.    That fabric stash is not very big but I made a few caps and they fit both of my nurses, so I will be making more for them to share.

Learning a new craft can be time consuming.  So check your stash!  Did you buy some paper crafting stuff at a convention and forgot how to use it?  If so, dig it out and check out YouTube because I guarantee you will find some kind of tutorials.   Sharing what you made and how you made it can also be a great help.   I know I have got to stay busy because this can really get you down.  I also can't spend all my time cooking!  LOL

So what do YOU have in your stash that you haven't touched in a long time? or maybe you have never touched it?  Start looking and I know you will be glad you have something new to occupy your time!

More Self Isolation.....

Hello friends.  I hope you are finding things to keep you busy during our self-isolation.  It's can be hard to find joy and peace right now.  There are a few things that are really helping me right now, one is to take time to pray, another is to listen to music and I am really having fun crocheting!  It's difficult to find peace and joy sometimes especially if you keep the news on all the time.  I encourage you to turn it off and try to only watch once or twice a day.  Believe me, they will still be reporting the same things all day long.  It's enough to drive you crazy, so just turn it off!

Did you have trouble finding some basic stuff at the grocery store?  Like bread?  Then you couldn't even find yeast to make your own bread!  That is what happened in my area.  While I was luck enough to have bread in the freezer, some of my friends were not.  Here is a yummy recipe that you can make that doesn't require yeast and the bread is delicious with any soup or stew.  Plus you can make a really yummy grilled cheese with this bread, too!  BEER BREAD

Also did you have trouble finding eggs?  Or just want to conserve them?  Here is a really yummy cake recipe that requires no eggs, milk or butter.  When I was growing up, my mom would make this cake and we called it Cock-eyed Cake.  It's an old recipe that was used alot during the depression.  If you don't have the stuff for the icing, don't ice it!  This cake is really good without icing and we usually just sprinkle some powdered sugar on top.    KING ARTHUR'S ORIGINAL CAKE PAN CAKE!

I don't really have any pictures to share with you today.  Sorry about that.  I know we are all feeling the walls closing in and the fear of the unknown can really get to you.  Here is a video that really helped me yesterday.  I hope it helps you.

 

 

 

 

Self Isolation Day #5

Hello friends!  Well I think it's been 5 days.  Staying home and chilling out is not a hardship for me.  I am a homebody!  I have been working on my latest crochet project and have a picture of it to share.  Now remember I haven't been crocheting all that long and this is only my 4th baby blanket so be kind!

I am a very visual learner so I was so happy to find a youtube channel that shows me exactly how to crochet.  I am loving Daisy Farm Crafts!  This is the Bobble and Mesh Blanket with a Back Loop Half Double Crochet Ribbed border.  Visit the  Daisy Farm Crafts youtube channel if you want to learn a new craft!  I have been having alot of fun.  Hopefully my crochet will get good enough to give one of these blankets as a gift one day!

Now did your husband buy a big bag of bananas at Costco like mine did?  I have no idea why he thought we would eat that many bananas but he might have had a hope of a banana dessert!  LOL  

So I am going to make some banana pudding first and if I have enough bananas left, I will bake some banana bread!  I just make a pretty simple banana pudding.  Layers of vanilla wafer cookies, bananas and then cover it all with some vanilla pudding.  Maybe some whipped cream or cool whip, whichever I have on hand.  I don't know how my husband stays thin but he has no weight issues.  Unlike me, who gains weight just thinking about banana pudding.  Oh well, I am not going to let any food go to waste now!

Did you get a loaf of bread during your stock up trip to the grocery store?  Well there wasn't a whole lot to choose from when I went, so thought I would bake up our favorite loaf.  It's an Oatmeal Bread from King Arthur Flour.  I have posted pictures of it before but I don't think I have shared the recipe.  So here is an easy bread recipe that turns out super yummy and makes great toast and sandwiches.

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/back-of-the-bag-oatmeal-bread-recipe

Check out King Arthur Flour for 12 Simple Bread recipes if you don't like oatmeal bread!  They have some of the best recipes for bread I have tried.  They give instructions for using a mixer, bread machine or your own hands!  Check it out!  Maybe this will be a new skill you learn!  

Thanks for stopping by!  Let me know what you are doing while you are home.  I would love to know!  Stay Healthy and I am praying for all of us!

It's A Trying Time....

Hello friends!  It's been quite awhile since I posted but I have been thinking that now is the best time to reconnect with my readers.  Life is very crazy right now, isn't it?  I wanted to take a moment and let you know you are not alone.  I am planning to share whatever I am working on every couple of days.  Sometimes I am baking bread, smoking some meat on our Traeger Smoker or crocheting a baby blanket.    I will not always be sharing paper crafts.  Honestly, I haven't created a card since November so we will see what self-isolation does for my creative mojo!  

Of course, if there is something you would like to see or talk about, let me know!  I just want to you all to know that my family and I are here, experiencing self-isolation just like you and your family.  We have a great way to communicate and share so let's take advantage of this great technology we have at our fingertips.

Here are a few ways I am staying sane in the next couple of days:

1. Enjoy the fact that my college student is home and there is no empty nest here at my house.
2. Turn off the news - it's all bad news right now and I can't take it anymore.
3. Get outside and enjoy my yard.  I live in a log cabin next to some woods and I am going to appreciate it!
4. Take some time for prayer and bible study.
5. Finish some crochet projects I have started (new craft for me!)
6. Maybe organize my crafty room (honestly this is probably a last resort lol)
7. Cook some special meals and desserts for my family and I am not going to worry about calories!

What are some things you are going to do?  I would love to hear from you all.  Please stay healthy!  Talk to you soon!

A Great Start To Our Summer....

*WARNING! - this post is all about my personal life.  No crafts today!!  Hello friends!  Well we started out our summer with some real excitement.  On May 12, my daughter, Caitlyn, graduated from Quincy University & Blessing Rieman College of Nursing with her BSN.  We are so very proud of her and very excited because she will be working in labor/delivery at a large hospital not far from our house!

Here are my girls.......

From left to right, Colleen, Caitlyn and Cassie.  I can't believe how lucky I am to be their mother.

The day after graduation, Caitlyn and her boyfriend Michael and 9 others from Quincy University left for Italy.  They had 10 days to enjoy all the sights in Italy.  About the third day they were gone, I got this photo with the message.....She said Yes!

We are so happy for them!  What a romantic way to propose, don't you think!  I think EVERYONE knew Michael was going to propose except Caitlyn.  I am very excited for them and kinda excited to get started with the wedding crafts again!

Now it's time for us to kick the graduation party plans into gear and get on with the rest of the summer.  I am going to ignore the fact that I am now the mother to a Senior in high school.  

I should have a ton of crafty to share over the summer.  I am designing for Crafter's Companion still and in July they will be having another crafty day on HSN.  Plus I am expecting a big box of goodies from Tonic Studios soon.  I am not really designing for any other companies, so expect some posts using stuff I really love.  I really enjoy sharing my creations with you but with the change in the industry (as far as designers go), I am not sure how long I can maintain this blog and continue to share my creations.  That is one of the reasons why I started using affiliate links to try and cover some of the costs of keeping my blog, etc.  I sure do appreciate it anytime you click on something I link too and make a purchase.  Every little bit helps!

So now that you are caught up with me and my family, let's get the crafty show on the road!

What Have You Been Up Too.....??

Hello friends!  Hope you are having a great summer.  I took a blog break and did some fun stuff with my family.  Here are a few things we did......

Yep my hubby took me to visit The Pioneer Woman's Mercantile.  We were visiting the newlyweds in Kansas City, Mo and just drove 3.5 hours to Pawhuska, OK to visit the Merc!  LOl  My hubby knows me, that's for sure!  It was awesome!  We ate 1 dinner and 2 breakfasts at the Merc and enjoyed every meal.  Here are a few more pictures.

I got a copy of PW's new magazine.  It's very nice!  Plus I got myself a very nice refillable plastic wrap box.  This box is really awesome.  No sharp edges to cut yourself plus it's super sturdy and you can refill it!

This is the hubby after we stood in the heat for 45 minutes waiting for dinner.  Considering that he never waits for food, I was very happy to sit down and get a large mason jar full of white peach lemonaide and just sit in the AC!

My hubby considers vacation to include dessert before dinner or even sometimes instead of dinner.  Here he is eating Prune Cake with ice cream before his Fancy Grilled Cheese sandwich with homemade chips!  LOL  It was really good.....

Yep that is THE Marlboro Man.  While we didn't get to chat with him, he was roaming around the Merc chatting and drinking his soda!

This was my dinner.......PW's Chicken Fried steak with Mashed Potatoes and the best gravy ever!!

This is some fancy coffee we had the next morning with our breakfast.  We enjoyed all the food and just seeing the Merc as I am an avid follower of PWs blog for years!  We stayed in Pawhuska, OK at the Historic Whiting Bed and Bath for two nights.  After breakfast, we took a drive around.  We visited the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve.  Now this is just what you would think it is, miles of grass and gravel roads.  But we did see a few Bison roaming free and enjoyed a nice stop at the Visitor Center to learn more about the Preserve.

Then we drove to Bartlesville OK and visited the Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve.   It was really awesome and we saw quite a bit of American West art in the museum.  It was so hot that day but we also looked around outside......

I am getting better at selfies!  But the views here were so beautiful!  But at this point in the day, I was beyond hungry and headed into hangry.  One of the locals that worked at the museum told us about a place in town where we could get something called a Hot Hamburger......

Um yeah.....toast, hamburger patties, homemade fries, brown gravy.....it was delish!  The hubby got his gravy on the side.  But we enjoyed this little place very much!    We enjoyed visiting Pawhuska, OK and the Merc plus some surrounding places.  If you decide to visit the Merc, make sure you get there early for breakfast as you won't have to wait as long.  OR go for dinner when the weather is cooler!  LOL

So what have you been doing this summer?  I would love to see your adventures.  Leave me a link to your blog or pictures!!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Made It!!

Hello friends!  Wow the last week has been a worldwind!  The wedding is over and all I need to do is recover and do lots of laundry!  From Wednesday on thru to the wedding on Saturday, the whole family was in high gear....go go go......get it all done.  But thankfully it was a beautiful day (very hot) and it was a beautiful wedding.  Here are a few pictures, taken by a friend, that I wanted to share with you all.

 

I will have more to share later!!  Talk to you soon!

The Countdown Begins......

Hello friends!  Sorry it's been a few days since I posted.  My middle daughter, Caitlyn, had some health issues and I needed to be with her.  Thankfully everything is getting better and she is definitely on the mend.  Now I am home and it's time for the countdown to the wedding to begin.  June 1 means there are only 16 days until the wedding.  Today I am continuing to make these coffee filter flowers.......

I bought a huge package of coffee filters at Costco and dyed them using Victorian Velvet and Antique Linen distress ink.  I put about 3 inches of water in a plastic container and use a whole refill bottle of the Victorian Velvet and about half of a refill bottle of the Antique Linen inks.  Then I just dunked in stacks of the coffee filters and laid them out to dry on a towel lined table.  It took at least 2 days for them to dry but I had other stuff to do!  LOL  For the center pearl, I used the Sizzix Twist 'n Style tool and 22 gauge wire.  I will do a tutorial on how to make these flowers later because they are really awesome!

I also gave my mom a mission!  We needed 25 Frappacino bottles for the centerpieces, too.  She was up to the task and drank them for us.  So we took the labels off the bottles and ran them thru the dishwasher.  After that I wrapped the neck with twine and lace.....

I just used some glue dots for the adhesives on these bottles.  We will put some babies breath in them a few days before the wedding.  The coffee filter flowers in a vase and the bottles with babies breath plus a lantern will all sit on these wood slabs that were cut by my hubby!

He cut, sanded and sealed them.  Now he is adding some felt on the bottom of them to prevent scratching but also so they are level.  Yep, this wedding is a whole family affair!  I will share more pictures of our decor after wedding day (June 17).  I doubt I will have many regular card projects to share until after the big day but you just never know!

Thanks for stopping by today!!

Wishing You Everything Wonderful

Hello friends!  Hope you are having a great Monday so far.  I have a bit of a family update but I promise there is a new project in this blog post!   This past weekend was so much fun for our whole family.  My oldest daughter graduated from college with her Bachelors degree in Music Education.  Right now she is looking for a job but we are keeping a positive attitude and know that whoever hires her will be blessed with a great teacher!  If you have been following my blog, then you will remember this is my daughter who was so sick back in September.  She is so healthy now!  She is ready to go out and change the world!  LOL   We are very thankful!  This is my hubby and I with our daughter!

 

This week we will also be celebrating my mom's birthday.  Here is a card I created for her using the Sara Davies Signature Collection - Floral Delight plus some other Crafter's Companion stuff from other collections!

The base of this card measures 5 1/4 x 5 1/4 square.  I used Kraft cardstock for the base.  I don't know why but Kraft is just my go-to cardstock!  The papers are from the Signature Collection by Sara Davies - Floral Delight 6x6 paper pad.  I even cut out the roses from another sheet of the same patterned paper.  The sentiment is from the Vintage Floral Collection EZMount Stamp Set - Verses.  The die is the Downton Abbey Metal Die - Ornate Mirror.  I added some Diamond Stickles on the roses that I cut out plus I added some pearls in all 4 corners.

I think my mom will love this card!  I really love the Floral Delight collection.  

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies Used:  (these links are just for your information)

• Signature Collection by Sara Davies - Floral Delight 6x6 paper pad
• Vintage Floral Collection EZMount Stamp set - Verses
• Downton Abbey Metal Die - Ornate Mirror
• Downton Abbey - Pearls (white and cream)

 

• Other Supplies:  Diamond Stickles, Kraft & White Cardstock; Tuxedo Black Memento Ink pad, 3d foam squares

I'm Back........

Hello Friends.  Thank you so much for you love, support and prayers during the last 2 weeks.  I try not to get too personal here on my blog because I know most of you are here for the paper crafts!  LOL  But the last two weeks have been a real roller coaster.  About 2 years ago, my oldest daughter was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease.  We thought things were going ok with her course of treatment but we found out the hard way that wasn't the case.  Due to scarring, her small intestines developed a blockage that required surgery.  So you see I have been with my daughter while she went thru a very hard surgery and started her recovery.  She is 5 hours away from home at college but we were very blessed that she was in a fantastic hospital with even better doctors, nurses and staff.  So now she has a new doctor and a new course of treatment that gives us all hope that she can get back to a normal life.    

Since we found out about the Crohn's Disease, I have been praying, asking God to heal my daughter.  Well this wasn't exactly what I had in mind but it is yet another reminder that God is in ultimate control.  After the surgery, my husband was able to come be with us for a few days.  We went to the hospital cafe to have a quick bite and while I was filling our water glasses I was having a conversation with God (in my head) telling him how sorry I was for being impatient and that I know he has a good plan for Colleen.  I looked over at the person standing next to me and saw his name tag......Jesus was his name.  I kinda laughed out loud!  I told my husband and he said I should have told the man "Hey I was just thinking about you!" but to me, that sounded creepy!  LOL  God gives us signs and answers in his own time.....someday I will definitely learn that lesson!

Here is my hubby and I when he picked me up from the train the other night.  I think he was glad to see me!

I will be getting back to regular postings again and have started working on my crafty design team projects.  It was very weird to not create when I was very stressed out.  Usually when I feel stressed, crafting helps me thru those feelings but this time I was far from home.  So as things get back to normal, I just wanted to give you all an update and say thanks!

I will sharing some new crafty projects starting Monday morning!