In My Own Defense...

I got really busy yesterday and didn't get to take pictures to post. I had a long day at work and then my blood sugar dropped, completely my fault for not eating and had to rush home and eat something before I had what I will just call "an episode". I laid down for a bit before going to the store and picking up a few groceries.

I did cook some hot links on the grill and had my friend Lisa come over to watch the final episode of The Hatfield's and McCoy's. If you missed that mini series you missed a good one! We really enjoyed it and from what I know about the feud the series was pretty darn accurate, at least according to most of the history I have read.

If you know anything about grilling hot links then you know the only way to grill them is nicely charred! *okie's mouth waters just remembering the wonderful taste*

Oh I had to get a new modem/router because my connection kept dropping and UPS dropped it off yesterday. It took me all of about 15 minutes to get it up and running and hopefully I won't have the problems I was having before.

Ya'll don't tell anyone but I am not sure I am going to be able to make it to the Swarm on Saturday. My brakes are grinding on my van and I have to find a someone to fix them. I am sure not driving 35 miles to Linda's with bad brakes. I guess I can spend the weekend putting my card kits together here at the house if I don't get to make it. I will be glad when this series is over so I can move on to something else...like laying out in the pool floating my fat azz in the water! HA HA HA HA HA

I am not even gonna say I will get some pictures taken and edited because at this point I never know what is gonna happen to hold me up from doing it. I will try to get them done soon though!

Anyone Want A Cup Of Coffee?

*okie walks in humming a tune, feather duster in her hand and gets busy wiping away cob webs and wonders if she should rearrange the furniture...turns to check the other side and is startled* OH MY! You guys gave me a fright! I didn't know anyone was here. *okie grabs her cup of coffee and sits in the nearest comfy chair* I appreciate the comments and emails I have gotten recently and thought I better get in here and make a post before someone sends out a posse lookin for me! *okie cracks up laughing* Oh would anyone like a cup of coffee? The pot is in the kitchen *okie points toward the kitchen* Just help yourself.


I can't believe it's been like two weeks without me posting *okie blows on her coffee to cool it a bit*. I don't think I have ever went that long. I got really busy at the end of the school year and had graduations, a wedding *okie sighs* and no it wasn't mine, a workshop to attend, working on my summer schedule, kids running in and out of the house and those aren't mine either *okie cracks up laughing* and just haven't had anything to post. I guess I could have been posting about what I have been doing so I will try to catch ya'll up a bit.

My daughter, her friend Kita and her boyfriend Chuck got my pool drained and cleaned out and then Chuck and I worked on the pool for a few days getting it leveled up and running. It sure was handy to have him around to help. He has been a great student on learning how to keep an eye on the salt level and keep the pump skimmer and filter cleaned out. Chuck spent the weekend at the house while my daughter was on a trip with her friend Kita. I really enjoyed his company and he quickly learned about my "SQUIRREL" problem. Ya'll might remember me posting about it a few weeks ago.

My summer schedule is always a dilemma for me because I have to provide my own structure and don't have to be anywhere at a certain time. During the school year I start at 8 so I know I have to be there every morning because the school expects me to be, but in the summer I have to find my own motivation to get up. After all these years it isn't too hard anymore to get up and get going. I was really concerned about my hours going down but I think I am going to be okay. I did pick up two new clients right before school was out and have two intakes today so that should keep me covered. The majority of my work is going to be at the ICF/MR this summer which you all know I love anyway.

I have been working on some cards, think I mentioned it in my last post. I still haven't finished the series. I will have 12 in the series and I am making 12 of each. I swear if I would stop matting, inking and doodling I could get them done a lot faster but they sure wouldn't be as cute. I am actually wanting to sell these so I know I better make them look good. I am thinking I will put 6 in a set and sell for $30, that includes shipping or if someone wants the whole series the cost will be $55 and that will include shipping. I will let you guys be the judge if they will be worth it. The series is based on the sentiments from the Ecard site. This is an example of the card sentiments from that site, I didn't do this one but I love the sentiment and might have to do one on based on this sentiment!!

I kept seeing people post things on Facebook and thought some of those were just too good not to make into cards. While this won't be as popular as the Naughty Princess series I still think people will like the twist I put on them...and with that I shouldn't say anymore until I get them done and start posting them. I have four more cards to finish for the series. Well I have two of those all cut and ready to put together and still have the other two to do. I am going to take them to the swarm on Saturday and work on getting them finished up...but there sure seems to be a lot of squirrel at swarms so I don't usually get much accomplished!

I will try to get some pictures of some of the other projects I have done and get them posted. *okie thinks for a minute* Yeah think I told ya that before so I wouldn't hold my breath HA HA HA. But seriously I will get the camera out this afternoon and get some pictures made and edited.

*okie stands up and stretches* Well I better get to work. I have those two intakes to do today and they take awhile. Ya'll feel free to browse around *okie points to the shelves* and look at past projects and I will get some new ones added this week. *okie walks toward the door and then turns* Oh and if ya'll haven't been watching The Hatfield's and McCoys on the History Channel this week ya'll are really missing out! The last episode is tonight but they are re-running the episodes every night. *okie sits her empty cup by the door and walks out waving good-bye over her head*

Happy Mother's Day - sharing a few memories

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I have been bogged down at work with some things but hopefully after this weekend it is going to let up and I can get back to posting. I have been trying to craft some in my spare time and do have some projects to post this coming week.

I have started working on a new series of cards that I will be posting at the end of the month. I haven't decided what to call this series yet but I will give my standard warning of **if you are easily offended by off color humor or bad language please do not check my website during the time the series is posting** and I will post the warning again when the series starts to post.

Anyway, I wanted to wish all those mothers a wonderful Mother's Day today. I haven't celebrated the day with my mother since 2001 and over the years it has gotten easier and now I am able to spend the day thinking about memories of my mom and smiling to myself. My mother and I didn't always have a good relationship and there were a few years we didn't speak to each other. But, thanks to God and my Aunt Betty, we were able to be best friends the last 3 years of her life and there is NOTHING in the world I would trade to have had that time with her and get to work through our issues and truly love each other and enjoy each others company. So in celebration of Mother's Day I thought I would share some of my memories of my Momma.

First off, I am adopted, and I think I have mentioned that before but I can thank my Momma for saying some things to me that let me know that being adopted was not a bad thing.

• When I was first adopted I was 5 1/2 years old and quite the inquisitive child. I guess I have always been one to contemplate things, even back then. I asked her one time if I was different because I was adopted. She told me "yes you are, I had my other children so they were mine because God gave them to me. I got to pick you so that makes you special". Ahh, wise words to say to a small child!
• I am not sure why Momma came up with this next one, but it was something I took to heart and still to this day am thankful to my biological mother for giving me up. Momma told me one time "She didn't give you up because she didn't love you. She gave you up because she loved you so much that she wanted someone to be able to love you and take care of you the way you deserved because she knew she couldn't". My biological mother was an alcoholic and I vaguely remember seeing her a few times when I was a small child, it was always with a child welfare worker as we weren't allowed to be with her alone due to the neglect that she had shown in the past.

I think it was those things that kept me from ever feeling bitter or hurt about being adopted. I know there are some that do feel that way and I always wonder if it is a nature vs. nurture thing and I think it might be a combination of both. But for now I can't think about nature vs. nurture or we will have a "Squirrel" moment and I will get off on another tangent away from the subject of this post since that can send me into literally hours of deep thought *okie hears someone snickering in the back because it's hard for folks to accept okie can be a deep thinker* HEY! STOP SNICKERING!! IT'S TRUE I TELL YOU!!

Random memories

• When I was about 13 we got a bad snow storm and we were stuck in the house. Of course living 12 miles from town there wasn't much we could go do anyway, but this time we could barely make it out and only went out to feed the cows, but my Daddy did that. I think Momma knew she needed to entertain me some how and she told me we were going to bake some potatoes the old fashion way. We proceeded to wash some potatoes, wrap them in foil and then take them to the fire place and put them in the bottom and surrounded them with coals. Every now and then we would go and turn them over and rearrange the coals. I think that was the best baked potato I ever had!
• When I was 9 my sister was getting married and Momma was making the wedding dress. I wanted to help so bad as I already knew how to sew since Momma had taught me a year earlier how to use the sewing machine. Being the wise woman she was she told me that she needed to sew the dress, because I am sure my sister would have been mortified if I had been allowed to sew her wedding dress. But truth be told I could sew better than my sister, and my sister would tell you to this day that it is completely true! Momma was able to pacify me by allowing me to hand sew the pearls on the train of the dress and told me how important it was that they were secure and how that is what was going to make the dress beautiful. I of course took right to the job and my sister was okay with me doing that task, I honestly think she knew what a tedious job it would be and she wasn't wanting to do it *okie sighs now knowing how much her sister, who was 9 years older, was really good at tricking okie into doing icky jobs but making okie think it was the best thing in the world*. I sewed for days getting the pearls on the dress and I did a very good job, my Momma and my sister even said how wonderful the pearls were and it made me feel like I had been the one to make the dress so beautiful. Of course at the wedding I bragged to everyone about how I did all the pearls and basked in the praise from all those compliments and my sister and Momma would tell them "yes she did that all by herself".

I could go on with some memories but now I need to stop because I have some things to do today and if I keep on typing this out I will never get those things done! As I sit here reading over this I can realize I have my Momma to thank for helping me be a person that accepts things whether good or bad and see the positive in most situations. I haven't always been that way, but you know how teenagers can be at times, but as an adult I went back to the things my Momma said to me and it helped me realize that even in unpleasant life moments, unusual life moments....there are positive things to focus on and realize we are blessed.

I think it boils down to that I really was given to her by God, or actually she was given to me by God, or God had her and Daddy "pick" me as their child because He knew in the end we would realize what a blessing we were to each other.

And with that....


HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL MY READERS!! MAY YOU BE BLESSED WITH CHERISHED MEMORIES!

Little Ladybug Girl - Card

I got this image in an email recently and I thought I needed to make a card with this little cutie! I have to admit I totally lifted the layout and colors from an image I saw on the internet. The design varies slightly but pretty much...yep I lifted it! *okie is so ashamed* But in my defense, I was fighting a migraine all day and didn't get it licked until right before bed time. Oh, and I did make 6 of this design. Anytime I am doing a coloring card I always tried to make 6 so I don't have to go back and do more later.

Supplies Used:
Ladybug Image
ProMarkers
Pattern Papers of:
  Cosmo Cricket
  Bo Bunny
  Martha Stewart
  My Minds Eye
Stampin Up Cardstock
Stampin Up Boho Blossom punch
EK Success Medium Daisy Punch
EK Success Photo Corner Punch
1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon
Signo UM-153 Gel Pen
Colorbox Chalk Inks
Brad
Mounting Foam

I printed of several of the images so I could practice coloring with the ProMarkers since I haven't used them in quite some time and it's a good thing I did because I screwed up quite a few of them. I finally got the colors down that I wanted but I think I still need to work on my shading.

I had a hard time with the black because I wasn't sure how to shade it but I finally got it with using just a bit of black and the warm greys. I would like to tell you the rest of the colors I used but I honestly don't remember. I know I used 3 different reds and 3 different colors for the flesh.

I still haven't gotten pictures made of the other drink gift bags and I hope to do that this week. My job is keeping me pretty busy since getting back from vacation and I am in the middle of transferring some of my caseload to another database *okie wonders if people's eyes are glazing over like her's does when someone is telling her something she isn't interested in or doesn't understand* and basically that just means a lot of time doing a bunch of paperwork....which I H to the A to the T to the E! But the good thing is school will be out soon and I will have a lot more time to do some crafting, no money for extra goodies but I think I got enough in my scraproom to keep me busy for awhile!

Some Realizations Just Smack....

YOU RIGHT IN THE FACE!!

Naomi called me and was asking why I hadn't been out in a few days. I told her I had been busy with work stuff and explained about having to do new intakes on half my caseload due to changes in the database and trying to still get all my sessions done and have been tired. She and I talked for quite awhile. She was telling me a story about a woman that had met a man over the internet and ended up with some odd disease from where he kissed her on the cheek and wanted me to be careful about men I meet. Then she said "oh you met that last one from a text message though didn't you. I guess he wouldn't have a disease" and we both cracked up laughing.

We discussed what I had done today and also about her family having a weenie roast and they were going to go lay outside and watch the moon tonight. She asked me if I had seen the moon and I told her I planned on looking at it. She told me to go outside and tell her what it looked like. I went out in the yard and explained it was in the southeast sky right now and that it was a light orange and rather large. I told her you could see the craters pretty good as well and how it had a nice glow about it.

She asked if I had been to Walmart and I told her no and that I need to go soon because I haven't went and gotten groceries in about a month and a half *okie hates grocery shopping* and I am getting down to nothing. I let her know if I go tomorrow I will come and get her list and get her stuff for her.

We chit chatted about other stuff for a bit and then she said "well I'll letcha go. Remember if you get out tomorrow to come get my list" and I assured her I would do so, and then she added "but if it's hot again don't bother getting out". Like hot weather has ever stopped me from going and running errands for her before *okie giggles about how silly Naomi can be sometimes*.

I was posting on Facebook about Naomi calling and after I made my original post I had a sudden realization that is now leaving me almost in tears. After a year and a half I still miss having her right next door. It was so easy to just run over there anytime I needed to talk to her or if she needed anything. Even though Ada is not a big town she is still on the other side of town now and it's not so easy and convenient. But the thing that hit me the hardest tonight was realizing that when Naomi was right next door I always had someone to talk to and spend time with but now that she is no longer there...well, I do get lonely. I don't like feeling lonely....

The Things I Have To Explain...

If you read my blog regularly you know that I spend several afternoons a week at an ICF/MR where I counsel with those who suffer from developmental delay issues. I wrote a post sometime ago about a woman I see for sessions and walking with her and her finding happiness just from finding grasshoppers. I had a session with her again yesterday and while it was not inspirational but was rather humorous!

We were walking and talking again yesterday and made our way to the Koi fish pond and sat at the gazebo for a little while as she talked about some things she had going on and her feelings on some issues and we discussed how she can cope, because you know that is what counselors are suppose to do.

Winding down her session we started walking back to the workshop so she could return to her job duties. She noticed all the butterflies flying around and started talking to the butterflies, she often talks to insects, which is quite therapeutic for her. She said things like "oh hello pretty butterfly, isn't it a pretty day" "my aren't you a pretty butterfly", etc. We discussed some of the colors of the butterflies and then a beautiful yellow butterfly flew in our path and landed on the sidewalk. We stopped immediately just looking at the butterfly when my clients said "My you are a beautiful butterfly! Would you like to choke my chicken?" OH EMMM GEEE!! I about fell over!! As hard as I tried I just couldn't stifle my laughter.

Making me laugh is something she enjoys so she kept repeating this "want to choke my chicken?". I was finally able to gather myself take a deep breath and ask her if she knew what it meant. She told me "no" and said a male peer asks her that sometimes. I tried to think of the most appropriate way to inform her what the phrase was referring to and finally just told her "he is asking you to grab his penis". She stopped and looked down like she was thinking very hard and then slowly turned her head to me and said "he is asking me what?". I told her again what the phrase meant and she took a deep breath and sighed deeply shaking her head and said "well that just isn't very nice and I think I will tell him he can choke his own chicken". Since she was being so serious I knew I could not laugh so I bit on my lower lip so I wouldn't laugh and simply told her "yes, that might be a good idea".

On the drive home I got to thinking about this all over again and just about had to pull over because I was laughing so hard. Sometimes I have to talk with clients where there are no easy explanations...loss of a loved one, overcoming years of abuse, how to deal with emotions you don't understand, how to deal with mean people, etc. But yesterday, well the explanation I had to give in that session had to be one of the most entertaining!

Love Creative Imaginations

Creative Imaginations really has some good products and I love some of their paper lines. I have been able to pick up some of their papers at different scrapbook events and also clearance sales at different websites on the internet.

Linda and I went to a swarm a few months ago and the store we were at had some stuff on clearance. I picked up this Creative Imaginations Bare Elements Wood Words "CREATE". I had forgotten about this until I was moving some stuff around the other night and decided I would get it altered. The letters are approximately 3" x 5" each.

Supplies Used:
Creative Imagition BE Create
K & Co Susan Winget Best Of
Cuttlebug Daisy Quilling Set
Cuttlebug Carnation/Rose Quilling Set
Cuttlebug Butterfly Die
Hot glue
Scotch Quick Dry Glue
Various Ribbon
Shrinky Dink Material



You might have to click the picture and make it bigger to see the little Shrinky Dink butterflies I did. There is one on the C, E and T. I added a little hot glue to the back and stuck them on the flowers.

This is what the letters look like before altering them.

I am very limited on wall space in my craft room due to storage units and shelves so about the only place I could find to put the word was above my Bygel rods that hold my punches. I think it looks pretty darn good there and when people walk in it will be the first thing they see on that wall. 

Now my little Cricut Plushie has something pretty to be happy about besides sitting amongst a bunch of ugly punches.

I think I really like altering chit.....