LOOK WHAT I MADE

A few weeks ago I was watching one of Kathy's Paper Phenomenon live Ustream classes and noticed on her work space a very curious looking box. Needless to say I was not the only PITA BABE who was curious and finally one of the BABES asked what it was. Well, Kathy had made little holders to place her "Stickles" in, point down! HOW CLEVER!!!! So of course I had to make one. I decided to use an ArtBin box with a handle - the one that holds 12x12 paper. Here is what I did (with dear hubby's help of course) . . . First I went to the local Home Depot to purchase PVC pipe . . . then at home dear hubby set up his band saw (it's really mine-he bought it for one of my birthdays-I bought him a microwave when it was his birthday = fair trade) anyhoooooo away I went cutting & making a mess . . . I next sanded any rough edges and wiped the dust off and finally I hot glued them all together . . . I then placed the glued tubes on a sheet of foam (that I had cut to the inside size of the box) and here is the finished project . . . There are a total of 92 holes!!! Needless to say it looks like I am going to have to go shopping for more Alcohol Ink, Liquid Pearls & Stickles to fill up the empty holes (HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY) . . . Well, that's all for now . . . thanks for stopping by to visit . . . until next time Hugs & Kisses . . . LindaB PS . . . bigger does not mean better, it just means heavier!!!

LITTLE BOXES MADE OF TICKY TACKY

During the past year I have been very inspired by the extremely talented Karin of the blog "Creative Chaos." Among the many items she creates she has made these pretty, pretty little "cake boxes." Well I got sooooooo inspired that I decided to try my hand at creating some of these boxes also and giving them as gifts to friends celebrating their birthday. Here are a few examples of the cake boxes which I created (one of these days I will remember to take pictures of things I make before I give them away) . . . I made the following Winter cake box as a decoration in my home and of course that cake box decided to have "babies" which were given to a few of my scrappy friends . . . As you can see some of the boxes were decorated with flowers I purchased and some of the flowers were made by me. And there is glitter, glitter, glitter everywhere (and I don't mean just on the boxes). Well, that's all for today . . . I hope that you will check out Karin's blog . . . thanks for stopping by for a visit . . . Hugs & Kisses . . . LindaB

ADMIRATION

I have great admiration for people who have a blog and post on it regularly. I have all these great plans to keep my blog "up-to-date" but then I don't make the time to follow through. Don't know why it just seems to be the way it was. Notice that I said "WAS," because I am going to make time to do at least weekly postings to this blog, whether anyone reads them or not. Soooooooo this is my first post to my crafting journal . . .

WONDERFUL DISCOVERIES

In the process of getting the spare bedroom ready for holiday guests I decided to clean out that room's closet last week and found all kinds of wonderful discoveries. This closet not only contains all my dressy/party clothes it also gets the overflow projects and supplies from the small office/craft room that I share with my husband . . . In this closet I discovered a couple of big plastic boxes containing miscellaneous craft supplies (you know - those crafty items that you bought but for some strange reason you cannot remember where you put them), finished scrapbook layouts (no pictures), some scrapbook kits (must be a least 3 years worth-that should keep me out of trouble) and 4 big plastic bins of yarn. Well all the purging (I mean cleaning) came to a screeching halt because I had to go through all those boxes of yarn, right? Of course right! I found scarfs and hats that were half way completed, the yarn & pattern for making my granddaughter a baby blanket (she will be 6 years old next month so this will now become a little throw blanket), yarn that I have no idea what I was going to make with it and a completed right foot crocheted slipper. Yes, that's right, only one slipper had been completed - I can only guess that it was a time issue and that is why I did not complete the slipper for my left foot. Soooooooooo I put everything (I mean everything-didn't get rid of anything) back in the closet except the lone completed slipper. I started right away crocheting the slipper for my left foot and 1-1/2 days later it was completed. YAY!!!! But wait, I wasn't done yet . . . the slippers now needed to go through the washing machine because they had to be felted . . . soooooooooo after 4-1/2 days of air drying (its winter after all) and 1 night (painted zig zags, using puffy paint, on the soles & paint dried overnight) the slippers are COMPLETED and here they are - PURPLE MARY JANES!!!!

Aren't they cute . . . and they keep my footies toasty warm! Well that's all for today . . . I have to get busy decorating the house for Christmas (which takes about a week) . . . so thanks for stopping by . . . Hugs & Kisses . . . LB

I'M BACK!!!!!!

OH MY!!! It has almost been one year since I last posted on my blog and what a year it has been! A lot of good things have happened this year (daughter is engaged I have been in cancer remission for 1 year). . . a not so good thing (lost my job on August 30th) and a whole lot of everyday living! I have a lot I want to share - but for now I have to become familiar with this new version of blogspot and how to change backgrounds, etc. sooooooo please bear with me. Have to go for now - need to run a couple of errands for dear hubby and find the pictures of last years christmas decorations so I have a hint of how I will decorate our home this year (funny thing - the decorations do not always appear in the same place from year to year) . . . I will post pictures of the this as I go along . . . sooooooooo TTFN . . .

DECEMBER 3 - DECORATIONS

Well as you can see the decorations are still in containers/boxes (12 to be exact)however they are one step closer and my 4-1/2 year old granddaughter will be coming over this afternoon after preschool to help YaYa deck the halls-walls-tables-shelves-tree . . . no doubt there will not be a bare spot in the house (now I am glad it is a small home) . . .

In getting ready to begin the decorating at home I decided to begin putting up the decorations at work . . . still need to get the greenery and candy/cookies put out . . . but its getting there . . .




Thanks for stopping by to visit . . . until later . . HUGS & KISSES!

DECEMBER 2 - HANDMADE SANTA ORNAMENT

Well . . . it's the second day in December and I still have not decorated the house or tree yet - hubby has promised that he will bring in all the boxes today . . . I did however want to share with you a picture (from last year's tree) of the very first handmade ornament that I ever made . . . it's unbelivable that this Santa is 41years old this year . . .

my husband was still in college when we got married in 1969 and as typical college students we could not afford anything . . . we had purchased a Christmas tree (thanks to a Christmas check from my grandmother) but we did not have one thing to put on it . . . no lights, no ornaments, no tinsel - nothing . . . I remember how that poor tree looked so sad standing naked in our living room . . .

a few days after we purchased the "tree" my mother-in-law's care package arrived (she worried about us starving & freezing - sooooooo every month she would send us a box with strange food/clothing/books & magazines in it - anything that she thought we poor college students would need - I remember she sent us a box of "hamburger helper" when it first came out and had us rate it - it was terrible! - glad to hear they have improved the product over time) . . .

anyway back to the Santa ornament . . . in this particular box was a McCall's Christmas craft magazine and it had the cutest Santa and Snowman hand puppets and all you needed was felt, glue & some hand sewing - hey I could do that - I could afford those items . . . soooooooo off I went to the local Ben Franklin's (the town we lived in did not have a fabric store) . . . now I know I said that this Santa was suppose to be a hand puppet but as I am not very good at math I did not enlarge the pattern and so I ended up with cute 5" Santas and Snowmen (stuffed with cotton balls) . . .

over the years most of the Santa's and all of the Snowmen have gone to Santa/Snowman heaven (felt & glue just were not made to stand the test of time apparently) so all I have left now is this little jolly fellow . . . he is falling apart but he will always have a place of honor in the very front of our Christmas tree every year and he brings back such wonderful memories of Christmas's past . . .

Well that's all for today . . . thanks for taking the time to stop by and visit . . . I will have more to share tomorrow . . . HUGS & KISSES

DECEMBER 1

WOW . . . I cannot believe that we are already in the month of December . . . it seems that the older I get the faster time goes by and the slower I move . . . I mean I do not have one, not one, Christmas decoration out yet . . . usually by this date I have started decorating the house, I have baked at least two different types of cookies, the tree is up and we are beginning to trim it (this takes a whole month), and I am beginning to wrap presents (you know all those special gifts that you purchased/made during the past year and that are hidden throughout the house). . . welllllllll I have done NOTHING, NADA! . . . I am going to have to have my dear hubby start bringing in the decoration boxes tonight as I have a little girl (my precious granddaughter) wanting to help me decorate (this has become a yearly tradition with her & I). . . I should have taken this week off from work!!!!! Oh . . . and throw into the mix that I am hosting a sit down potluck dinner party for 16 people in my tiny tiny tiny home (945 sq. ft)Sunday, December 12th!!!!!!!!

Well I had better get started and in the meantime you should check out a couple of blogs for inspiration . . . these talented ladies are Christie Bryant (she is on the Graphic 45 design team) and Irene Tan (she is on the Tim Holtz design team) . . .

Soooooo HI HO - HI HO it's off the decorating I go!!!!!! . . . thanks for stopping by . . .